Visualize….. You have only 4 weeks from today. You are on your dissertation writing work, You’re at graduation. You heard your name called, You march across the stage. The spot light falls upon you. Your advisor hoods you and hands you your degree. Yes you did it! Applause applause applause applause……….?
Are you still absolutely clueless about what to include in each chapter of your Dissertation?
Have you written all the chapters and sub topics of your dissertation but still not sure whether your content has met the requirements of university? And all your efforts of dissertation writing will be wasted in writing something that will not add value to your dissertation.
Do you feel embarrassed asking your supervisor too many questions too many times repeatedly? Are you afraid your supervisor is going to insult you for not attending your class and not taking notes while he was delivering lectures?
If you are facing even one of the above dilemmas, then one of your biggest problem is “what your dissertation should consist of?”
Most, if not all of the students face the problems to have the proper guidelines for the chapters of the dissertation. And because of this problem they remain stuck in progressing their dissertation writing.
What if you have to complete your dissertation and you have only few weeks to go? The time left will only allow you to just write your dissertation. You have absolutely no luxury to invest more time in researching. You can’t even approach your dissertation supervisor to know about the chapters; guideline as you are afraid he may hurt your ego by saying;
“What were you doing since so long and now you have come to me for help? So, you finally managed to get some time out of your hectic schedule of partying with friends. I can’t help you; there is no time for it. Just submit your dissertation and I’ll mark it accordingly…”
After hearing such disheartening comments from your supervisor, you’ll lose even very slim hope that was keeping you motivated to complete your dissertation writing.
If that’s the case, then don’t lose hope because you can still complete your dissertation writing before the submission deadline with quality and WOW your dissertation supervisor….
Here are precise Guide lines to successfully writing each chapter of your Dissertation
See how you could be able to achieve higher level of appraisal in front of Dissertation Panel members!!! Chapters and contents of a Dissertation:
7 Chapters make your Dissertation Writing complete and more comprehensive.
Proposing A Topic
Your choice of dissertation topic for research is likely to be influenced by such factors as:
Relevance: its perceived relevance to the academic department(s) in which you are studying
Supervision: the availability of tutors/supervisors within the department(s) who are interested in the topic and their willingness to supervise such a dissertation
Interest: your existing knowledge of that topic and the strength of your desire to learn more about it
Competence: your likely ability to employ the proposed methods of data gathering and data analysis
Scale: the feasibility of completing the study within the time and resources available
It Includes:
Title Page
Explanation of Academic Importance of the Topic, based on existing published research
Outline of Proposed Methodology for data gathering and analysis
Provisional schedule for key stages with dates and time
Rationale And Theoretical Framework Rationale Document
Why are you studying and why the topic is important?
Theoretical Framework:
Includes:
Outline of existing theories related to your Topic
Names of key theorists in the field
What are key debates and what arguments and evidence have the key theorists put forward?
What questions remain unresolved?
How are research questions in the field framed, and how are they related to research?
All questions should be closely- connected questions
Reviewing the literature
Academic dissertations at all levels in the social sciences typically include some kind of ‘literature review‘.
The broader survey
General survey of the related research literature
Your survey (which exists in writing only in your notes) should help you in several ways, such as
To decide on the issues you will address
To become aware of appropriate research methodologies
To see how research on your specific topic fits into a broader framework
To Help You Not To ‘Reinvent The Wheel
To help you to avoid any well-known theoretical and methodological pitfalls
To prepare you for approaching the critical review
What is a literature review for? The review can serve many functions, some of which are as follows
To indicate what researchers in the field already know about the topic
To indicate what those in the field do not yet know about the topic – the ‘gaps’
To indicate major questions in the topic area
To provide background information for the non-specialist reader seeking to gain an overview of the field
To ensure that new research (including yours) avoids the errors of some earlier research
To demonstrate your grasp of the topic
Include in a literature review.
Research projects which are closely related to your own topic
Focus on the most recent papers
Key studies which are widely cited by others in the field, however old they may be
Review studies representing different methodologies; do not over-represent any single methodology unless it represents that which you intend to use
Methodology
It is the choice and use of particular strategies and tools for data gathering and analysis. Such as content analysis, ethnography and semiotic analysis
Data-gathering methodologies include interviews, questionnaires and observation
Data analysis methodologies include content analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic analysis and statistical analysis
It includes:
Rationale for the choice of methodology for data gathering and for data analysis
What alternative methodological tools might have been employed (particularly those which are related studies have employed)
Their advantages and limitations for the present purpose, for instance
Why did you choose to undertake interviews?
Why open-ended interviews?
Why did you opt for audio-recording (for instance)?
On what basis did you choose your participants?
What limitations of your sample should your readers be alerted to?
Data Gathering and Analysis
Present your readers with sufficient data in an appendix for them to test your approach and to draw their own conclusions
Underline the theoretical basis for your selection of relevant data
Include the interpretation of the data, in the form of percentage, averages, graphical charts, and others
Findings and Discussion
Where your findings differ you should offer a suggested explanation
What new research questions are raised by your study?
Make clear what the limitations of your own study are
What are the limitations of your ‘sample’?
To what extent are your findings specific to a particular socio-cultural context?
In what ways is your interpretation of your findings related to your own theoretical assumptions (outlined earlier)?
What insights into the phenomenon does your study seem to offer?
What could others learn from your study?
Discuss any broader implications in relation to your theoretical framework
Illustrations
Your argument may be considerably strengthened by your inclusion of appropriate diagrams
Illustrations should be labeled as either Figures or Tables
Each should have a short and appropriate descriptive caption
Reference Format
In-text references to sources should be at the end of sentences in this form: (Smith 1990: 25-9), omitting page numbers when the reference is to on-line sources. Note the avoidance of ‘page’, ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’ here. The list of references should appear at the end of the paper in alphabetical order as below.
Final Thoughts
Above guidelines will allow you to have an immediate progress on your dissertation works? You don’t have to look here and there and feel insulted to ask for the guidelines from your supervisors asking him again and again and put the impact on others that you are not on right path with your dissertation writing.
