Whether
you are considering a PhD program or recently passed your comprehensive exams,
you may be wondering how to craft a dissertation. Writing, researching, and
defending a dissertation focuses on representing a critical phase in earning the
doctorate. There are certain steps that you need to consider when crafting a
dissertation.
Selection
of a Topic
It
may sound like a simple step, but selecting a topic can play a critical role in
the success of the whole dissertation. In some cases, your dissertation supervisor
would suggest a topic. However, in other cases, you will have to come up with a
topic by yourself.
After
extracting some domains for the research or questions, consider what is
feasible with the resources. You must talk to your supervisor regarding your
ideas and then integrate their feedback.
Conducting
the Research
Before
starting a dissertation, you would have to carry out research. You can find
similar research papers in databases like Google Scholar or ProQuest. Then, you
can develop a similar topic that is doable obviously. Don’t come up with a
highly complex topic that you cannot do.
Secondary
Literature Analysis
To
develop a strong basis for the research, you need to conduct a secondary
research analysis. In this analysis, you will have to extract research papers
in your domain and then analyze them. Dissertations often include the
literature review chapter that discusses the literature in detail. To develop
that section, you will have to conduct secondary research and then interpret
and discuss the past studies. In the literature review section, you can also
conduct a critical analysis of past studies.
Continuous
Research
Doctoral
or even master dissertations can make the original contribution to the domain,
and your research will be the basis of that contribution. The form that your
research takes will rely on the academic discipline. For instance, in the
computer science domain, you may have to evaluate the complex dataset for
determining machine learning. In English, you may have to read the unpublished
papers of an author or poet. In the psychology field, you have to devise a
study or test the stress response. However, in other fields, you may have to
create surveys and apply relevant statistical tests.
Writing
the Body Chapters
After
choosing the topic, defending the proposal, and conducting the research, now is
the time to organize your whole research work into different chapters.
Normally, a dissertation is divided based on an Introduction, Literature Review,
Methodology, Findings and Analysis, Discussion, and Conclusion.
Your
department will surely provide you with the dissertation guide that will help
to structure your work. In several disciplines, the dissertations include
chapters on methodology, literature review, and findings. However, in some
fields, each chapter functions like the article that develops the whole
argument.
Editing
the Draft
After
completion of the dissertation draft, you now need to edit that draft. The
process of editing can be quite challenging compared to writing or researching
the dissertation. The majority of dissertations are between 50-100 pages, with
some even going to 300 pages.
After
the editing and proofreading, now you can say that the dissertation is complete
finally. You can submit it to the professor and then wait for his feedback. To
get an A, you need to follow this guide and you must focus on RESEARCH and
WRITING.
