dissertation project requirements

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• Education /

What is a Dissertation? Meaning, Projects, Report Work

• Updated on  
• Feb 26, 2022

A dissertation is a long academic piece of writing based on a student’s independent research . It is usually submitted in the final semester of UG, PG and PhD courses . It takes about 1-2 years to complete the dissertation as it requires a lot of research and written documentation . The aim of writing a dissertation is to test a student’s research skills. It allows students to develop their research, problem-solving, project management and numerical skills . During the course of writing a dissertation, students become able to present their research-based findings to the proposition they chose for themselves.

This Blog Includes:

Empirical dissertation, non-empirical dissertation, skills you need to show, how long is a dissertation, empirical dissertation structure, non-empirical structure, dissertation project example, checklist for dissertation, helpful tips for writing a dissertation, difference between a dissertation and essay, dissertation vs thesis, types of dissertation.

The type of dissertation you may be doing completely depends upon the field of your study. However, there are 2 types of dissertation mentioned below in the table:

If you are a student of sciences or social sciences, you’ll be required to write an empirical dissertation . Its focus is mainly on collecting original data and analysing every aspect of the data. Students can choose different research methods such as surveys, observation, laboratory experiments and interviews . Keeping in mind that the aim of an Empirical dissertation is to produce standardized scientific knowledge, students must consider the variables they will investigate, the reliability of their measurements, and choose the correct sampling method.

Non-empirical research is generally done for subjects such as arts and humanities . Choosing a particular topic and collecting the data from primary and secondary sources is the first step of starting with this type of dissertation. While working on non-empirical research, a student does the work with existing research or other texts, presents original analysis, argumentation, but there is no original data . The aim is to analyse theoretical texts and interpret the sources with your own understanding.

Regardless of the type of dissertation you write or the topic you pick, you’ll need to demonstrate the following abilities:

A dissertation’s length varies by study level and location, although it normally ranges from 10,000 to 12,000 words for undergraduates, 15,000 to 25,000 words for master’s students, and up to 50,000 words or more for PhD students.

Structure of a Dissertation

A dissertation is basically divided into chapters and sections . Both empirical and non-empirical dissertations have different kinds of structures that are supposed to be followed while writing a dissertation. Empirical dissertations usually have a more standardized structure than that of a non-empirical dissertation which is more flexible.

The structure may be slightly different but an empirical dissertation must include the following chapters:

•   Introduction: Explanation of your topic and research questions
•  Literature Review : Evaluation of your research topic
•  Methodology: Description of the research method 
• Results: Explanation of the found research
•  Discussions: Interpret what your results have revealed
• Conclusion: Final reflection of what you’ve found through the thesis

The structure or outline of a non-empirical dissertation is quite flexible as it involves existing research and texts . The aim of non-empirical research is to present original and independent analysis based on theoretical research . It is basically an extended essay but while writing a non-empirical thesis, the text must be presented precisely to serve your arguments in a logical manner. However, mentioned below is a general outline that must be followed while writing a non-empirical dissertation:

•  Introduction: Explanation of your topic and Research Questions
•  Main Body: Development of your analysis of the text or source
•  Conclusion: Summarisation of what the analysis has contributed so far

*The main body is divided into 2-4 chapters.

Non-Empirical Dissertation Structure Example

Depending on the topic you’ve chosen, the main body can be divided into different types.  One of the most common topics of non-empirical research is history-based . The following mentioned is an example of a renaissance based topic:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Origins of the Renaissance in the Classical World
• Chapter 2: Artists of the Renaissance
• Chapter 3: The Spread of the Renaissance
• Chapter 4: The Renaissance and the Reformation

Mentioned below is a checklist to make sure you’ve included all the required information:

• Title page includes all the information
• Acknowledgements
• Concise summary of the dissertation 
• Table of contents
• Clear and precise introduction
• Literature review that includes patterns, themes, and debates
• Theoretical framework of the research
• Description of the used methodology
• Clear mention of the questions answered
• Relevant recommendations for further research
• Citations and bibliography
• Reference list at the end of the thesis
• Format provided by the university is followed
• Start with time management . Make a proper daily schedule and set your deadlines Decide how much time you need to write a section or chapter . Choose the hours and start working on the it. In this way, you’ll be able to complete the this in the given time.
• Remember that the first writing draft is not the final dissertation . Make sure to proofread your writing several times. This will make you present your augmentations in a more precise way,
• Skip the introduction part and leave it for the end. Try to write the main body first, so that you get time to gather your thoughts. This way you will be able to present the introduction in a clear manner as you’ve been working on the this for a long period of time.
• Don’t wait for the end time to get feedback from your supervisor . Try to share the research work more often and a lot earlier than the submission time, so that you get time to improve your mistakes. It may save you from rewriting several chapters and sections.
• Use a reference manager to make it easier for you to mention the citations without taking much time.

PhD must include over  60,000 words and should not exceed the limit of 80,000 words.

It takes around a year or two to complete a dissertation but if you manage time properly and catch up the speed you may be able to complete it in less than 8 months.

Hopefully, this blog assisted you in finding out what is Dissertation, its structure and more. If you require any assistance regarding your application process while enrolling for your further studies, our experts at Leverage Edu are just one click away. Call us anytime at 1800 572 000 for a free counselling session!

Damanpreet Kaur Vohra

Daman is an author with profound expertise in writing engaging and informative content focused on EdTech and Study Abroad. With a keen understanding of these domains, Daman excels at creating complex concepts into accessible, reader-friendly material. With a proven track record of insightful articles, Daman stands as a reliable source for providing content for EdTech and Study Abroad.

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• StudySkills@Sheffield
• Research skills
• Research methods

How to plan a dissertation or final year project

Information on how to plan and manage your dissertation project.

What is research?

Research sometimes just means finding out information about a topic. However, research in an academic context refers to a more rigorous process that, when undertaken effectively, will lead to new insights or perspectives. 

The classic definition of academic research is that it leads to an original 'contribution to knowledge' in a particular field of inquiry by identifying an important question or problem and then answering or solving it in a systematic way.

The University of Sheffield prides itself on being a research-led university . Crucially, this means that teaching is informed by cutting-edge research in the academic field.

It also means that you are learning in an environment where you develop and use research skills as you progress. Your dissertation or final-year project is a chance to put all of this experience together and apply it to make your own contribution to knowledge in your own narrow and specific area of interest. 

It also presents a number of new challenges relating to the scale, scope and structure of a piece of work that is likely to be more substantial than any you have undertaken before. These resources will help you to break the process down and explore ways to plan and structure your research and organise your written work.

Dissertation Planning Essentials workshop: book here

Defining your project

A good research project will be as narrowly defined and specific as possible to allow you to explore the area as fully as possible within the time and space constraints that you are facing. But how do you go from a general area of interest to a fully-formed research project?

This Project Design Template will help you to work through this process. Access the template and read more about how to use it below.

Access the Project Design Template (google doc)

Your dissertation or final-year research topic

You may have lots of ideas of things you would like to explore in your project; you may not be sure where to start. Either way, writing down some relevant key words is a good first step to help you to identify the area(s) of interest. 

Once you have some key words in place, can you break them down further to identify any sub-topics of interest. For example if you are interested in sustainable building design, what is it about that topic that you would like to find out more about? The use of green walls? Natural light? Air circulation? Are you interested in civic buildings, schools or homes? Do you have a geographical area of focus in mind? 

Once you have your key words and sub topics in place, you can have a go at formulating them into a mission statement for your project setting out exactly what it is you want to achieve. For example, ‘This project will compare the use of natural air circulation design features in Chinese and British school buildings.’ 

Don’t forget, your mission statement is something that you can keep coming back to and tweaking as your project takes shape.

Relevant literature

How much do you need to read to develop your literature review? There is no simple answer to this question and the answer will depend on your project and its scope. However, you can help to answer that question yourself by identifying the key themes from the literature that you will need to include in your review. Aim for somewhere between 3-5 themes to help create a structured and focused literature review. 

Once you have your themes in place, you will need to identify the key texts that have informed your thinking. Try to aim for 3-5 sources per theme and make sure you have included the most influential and the most recent research within that list.

Book workshops on Dissertation Writing: Effective Paraphrasing, Summarising and Referencing, Writing Persuasive Introductions, Conclusions and Discussions, and Writing Effective Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences.

More information

Book a writing advisory service appointment for feedback on your work and advice on dissertation writing

make an appointment (student login required)

Your research

What is it that you want to find out, explore or test in your research? Most research projects will involve several research objectives that will allow you to fulfil your mission statement. Aim to begin with the broadest, most significant objective and try to keep the number of objectives manageable to maintain focus. 

What data or information will you need to collect in order to meet each objective? Remember that the data that you use for your research will need to be valid, sufficient, reliable and feasible within the timeframe. You can find out more about how to develop your research methodology in order to collect this information on our How to identify your research methods page.

• How to identify your research methods

Project planning

The key to completing a research project successfully is to invest time in planning and organising your project.

A student research project, whether a dissertation or a research placement, will usually involve tight timescales and deadlines. Given the wealth of tasks involved in a typical dissertation project, this can seriously limit the time available for actual data collection or research. 

As an early stage of the planning process, have a go at breaking your project down into its constituent parts: i.e. all of the tasks that you will need to complete between now and the deadline. How long will each of them take? For example:

Using Generative AI for planning

You may want to consider using a Generative AI tool to help with the planning process. The key things to consider in your approach to planning with GenAI are the following:

• Provide as much detail as possible about your schedule and requirements when you are designing your initial prompt.
• Be sure to build some contingency time into the plan to allow for unforeseen eventualities.
• You may need to use multiple prompts to refine and tweak the output to generate a plan that works for you.
• You will need to sense check the output to ensure that it is realistic and meets your needs.

Generative AI can help you to plan an overall schedule for your project and/or break down individual tasks. The following prompts may give you some inspiration for how to use GenAI to plan your dissertation project:

[PROMPT] I am a [final year undergraduate] student planning a dissertation project. I have an intermediate deadline for my literature review on [15th April 2025]. The word count for the literature review is [3000 words]. I will be on holiday from [1 April-11 April 2025]. I would like to spend [7] hours per week on this. Create a plan to help me meet this deadline. 

[PROMPT] I am a [masters] student planning a dissertation project. My research will involve [a survey] with a goal of receiving [100 responses]. I need to have this data by [20 May]. What key stages do I need to include in my planning process?

Visit How to use Generative AI for productivity for further information.

Project management

Once you have an idea of the tasks involved in your project and the rough timescales that you intend to work towards, you will need to make sure that you have a strategy in place to monitor your progress and stay on track. 

You might want to consider using one or more of the following strategies to manage your time on your dissertation project.

A simple timeline can be a clear visual way to keep track of tasks and organise them chronologically. 

Try using a large sheet of paper with a timeline drawn across the middle horizontally. Add tasks and deadlines to post-it notes and arrange them along the timeline, overlapping where the tasks allow it. 

Stick your timeline on the wall behind your desk and cross off tasks as you complete them, or move them around and add to them if your plans change or new tasks arise along the way. 

Gantt charts

A Gantt chart provides a more structured visual representation of your project and its milestones. 

Identify tasks in order down the left-hand side of the chart, identify deadlines and colour in the corresponding number of days or weeks that you anticipate the task will take. 

A Gantt chart will allow you to identify high priority ‘blocker’ tasks that need to be completed before subsequent tasks can be ‘unlocked’. For example, your ethics review will need to be complete before you are able to move onto data collection. 

You can access a free Gantt chart template via Google sheets.

Access a free Gantt chart template (Google Sheets)

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a powerful tool to help manage your time on an independent research project. The following steps will help you to make the most of your calendar to organise the individual tasks relating to your project:

• Add the milestones that you have identified to the top bar of your calendar. 
• Block out any existing or planned other commitments in your calendar to help you to keep track of how much time you have available to devote to your project.
• Plan ahead and identify blocks of time that you can spend working on your dissertation, aiming to keep this as protected project time.
• Using your task list and your milestones, identify what specifically you intend to use each block of time to work on and add it to the event in your calendar. 

Planning ahead and committing this time to your dissertation will help you to sense check the time you have available and stick to your plan.

Trello is a simple and accessible online tool that allows you to identify and colour code tasks, set yourself deadlines and share your project plan with collaborators

You can use Trello to create a project ‘workflow’ with tasks allocated to the following sections:

• Low priority: the tasks that are coming up in the future but which you don’t need to worry about right now.
• High priority: the tasks that you will need to start working on soon or as a matter of urgency.
• In progress: the tasks that you are actively working on now. Try to keep the number of in-progress tasks to a minimum to maintain your focus.
• Under review: you may need to share progress with your supervisor or want to review things yourself. Keep tasks here until you feel they are complete.
• Complete: tasks that are now finished and will need no further attention.

Over the course of a project like a dissertation, you will hopefully see all of your tasks move from low priority through the workflow to the point of completion. You can see an example Dissertation Planning Trello board here and some guidance for students on using Trello (Linked In Learning).

View an example Trello board Access guidance on using Trello (LinkedIn Learning)

Working with your supervisor

Your supervisor will be your first point of contact for advice on your project and to help you to resolve issues arising. 

Remember, your supervisor will have a busy schedule and may be supervising several students at once. Although they will do their best to support you, they may not be able to get back to you right away and may be limited in their availability to meet you. 

There are a number of things that you can do to make the most out of the relationship. Some strategies to consider include:

• Share plans/ideas/work-in-progress with your supervisor early 
• Plan for meetings, sketch out an informal agenda 
• Write down your main questions before the meeting. Don’t leave without answers!
• Be receptive to feedback and criticism
• Take notes/record the meeting on a smartphone (with your supervisor’s permission!)

To find out more about how to get the most out of working with your supervisor, explore our interactive digital workshop.

Launch the Supervisor/Supervisee Relationships interactive workshop

• Read other dissertations from students in your department/discipline to get an idea of how similar projects are organised and presented. 
• Break your project down into its constituent parts and treat each chapter as an essay in its own right.
• Choose a topic that interests you and will sustain your interest, not just for a few days, but for a few months!
• Write up as you go along - writing can and should be part of all stages of the dissertation planning and developing process. 
• Keep good records – don’t throw anything out!
• If in doubt, talk to your supervisor.
• How to write a literature review
• How to gain ethical approval

Further resources

• University of Sheffield Library Research Skills for Dissertations Library Guide

Use your mySkills portfolio to discover your skillset, reflect on your development, and record your progress.

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101:

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: writing a proposal.

• Starting Your Dissertation
• Choosing A Topic and Researching
• Devising An Approach/Method
• Thinking Of A Title
• Writing A Proposal

What is a Proposal?

Before you start your dissertation, you may be asked to write a proposal for it.  

The purpose of a dissertation proposal is to provide a snapshot of what your study involves. Usually, after submission of the proposal you will be assigned a supervisor who has some expertise in your field of study. You should receive feedback on the viability of the topic, how to focus the scope, research methods, and other issues you should consider before progressing in your research. 

The research proposal should present the dissertation topic, justify your reasons for choosing it and outline how you are going to research it . You'll have to keep it brief, as word counts can vary from anywhere between 800 to 3,000 words at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels.  

It is worth bearing in mind that you are not bound by your proposal. Your project is likely going to  evolve and may move in a new direction . Your dissertation supervisor is aware that this may occur as you delve deeper into the literature in your field of study. Nevertheless, always discuss any major developments with your supervisor in the first instance.  

Reading for your Proposal

Before writing a proposal, you will need to read. A lot! But that doesn’t mean you must read everything. Be targeted! What do you really need to know?  

Instead of reading every page in every book, look for clues in chapter titles and introductions to narrow your focus down. Use abstracts from journal articles to check whether the material is relevant to your study and keep notes of your reading along with clear records of bibliographic information and page numbers for your references.  

Ultimately, your objective should be to create a dialogue between the theories and ideas you have read and your own thoughts. What is your personal perspective on the topic? What evidence is there that supports your point of view? Furthermore, you should ask questions about each text. Is it current or is it outdated? What argument is the author making? Is the author biased?  

Approaching your reading in this way ensures that you engage with the literature critically. You will demonstrate that you have done this in your mini literature review (see Proposal Structure box).  

If you have not yet started reading for your proposal, the Literature Review Guide offers advice on choosing a topic and how to conduct a literature search. Additionally, the Effective Reading Guide provides tips on researching and critical reading.  

Proposal Structure

So, how is a dissertation proposal typically structured? The structure of a proposal varies considerably.

This is a list of elements that might be required. Please check the dissertation proposal requirements and marking criteria on Blackboard or with your lecturers if you are unsure about the requirements.

Title : The title you have devised, so far - it can change throughout the dissertation drafting process! A good title is simple but fairly specific. Example: "Focus and concentration during revision: an evaluation of the Pomodoro technique."

Introduction/Background : Provides background and presents the key issues of your proposed research. Can include the following:

Rationale : Why is this research being undertaken, why is it interesting and worthwhile, also considering the existing literature?

Purpose : What do you intend to accomplish with your study, e.g. improve something or understand something? 

Research question : The main, overarching question your study seeks to answer. E.g. "How can focus and concentration be improved during revision?"

Hypothesis : Quantitative studies can use hypotheses in alternative to research questions. E.g. "Taking regular breaks significantly increases the ability to memorise information."

Aim : The main result your study seeks to achieve. If you use a research question, the aim echoes that, but uses an infinitive. E.g. "The aim of this research is to investigate how can focus and concentration be improved during revision."

Objectives : The stepping stones to achieve your aim. E.g. "The objectives of this research are 1) to review the literature on study techniques; 2) to identify the factors that influence focus and concentration; 3) to undertake an experiment on the Pomodoro technique with student volunteers; 4) to issue recommendations on focus and concentration for revision."

Literature review : Overview of significant literature around the research topic, moving from general (background) to specific (your subject of study). Highlight what the literature says, and does not say, on the research topic, identifying a gap(s) that your research aims to fill. 

Methods : Here you consider what methods you are planning to use for your research, and why you are thinking of them. What secondary sources (literature) are you going to consult? Are you going to use primary sources (e.g. data bases, statistics, interviews, questionnaires, experiments)? Are you going to focus on a case study? Is the research going to be qualitative or quantitative? Consider if your research will need ethical clearance.

Significance/Implications/Expected outcomes : In this section you reiterate what are you hoping to demonstrate. State how your research could contribute to debates in your particular subject area, perhaps filling a gap(s) in the existing works. 

Plan of Work : You might be asked to present your timeline for completing the dissertation. The timeline can be presented using different formats such as bullet points, table, Gantt chart. Whichever format you use, your plan of work should be realistic and should demonstrate awareness of the various elements of the study such as literature research, empirical work, drafting, re-drafting, etc.

Outline : Here you include a provisional table of contents for your dissertation. The structure of the dissertation can be free or prescribed by the dissertation guidelines of your course, so check that up. 

Reference List : The list should include the bibliographical information of all the sources you cited in the proposal, listed in alphabetical order. 

Most of the elements mentioned above are explained in the tabs of this guide!

Literature-based dissertations in the humanities

A literature-based dissertation in the humanities, however, might be less rigidly structured and may look like this: 

• Short introduction including background information on your topic, why it is relevant and how it fits into the literature. 
• Main body which outlines how you will organise your  chapters .
• Conclusion which states what you hope your study will achieve. 
• Bibliography .  

After Writing

Check your proposal! 

Have you shown that your research idea is: 

Ethical? 

Relevant? 

Feasible with the timeframe and resources available?  

Have you: 

Identified a clear research gap to focus on? 

Stated why your study is important? 

Selected a methodology that will enable you to gather the data you need? 

Use the marking criteria for dissertation proposals provided by your department to check your work.  

Locke, L.F.,  Spirduso, W.W. and Silverman, S.J. (2014).  Proposals that Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals . Sage.

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• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/starting-your-dissertation

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