The uncertainty of the chapters required in your thesis is one of the most horrible ways to begin your dissertation. Frequently, faculties may provide various parameters on their preferred sections, with some combining the discussion and conclusion and others supplying varying word counts for these sections.
If you are facing any confusion on the sections of a dissertation, you’ve come to the right place. To assist you to cover all the relevant data within the pertinent chapters, this article will emphasize the dissertation chapter structure and the content to address within each chapter.
How many chapters are in a dissertation?
Depending on your faculty’s preferences, a dissertation may be divided into six to eight chapters. The following chapters are commonly approved for a dissertation: introduction, literature review, methods, findings, discussion, and conclusion.
These dissertation chapters are all important in constructing your thesis and may be combined or eliminated depending on your research methods. Therefore, it is essential to refer to your faculty’s guidelines or review previously submitted papers to become more familiar with the recommended dissertation structure.
What are the chapters of a dissertation?
Without further ado, let’s look at the content tackled within various chapters of a dissertation.
- Abstract
The abstract, which normally contains between 200 and 300 words, is the initial part of your research paper. This part provides a succinct summary of your paper, assisting the researcher in determining the suitability of your work for their purposes.
The research objectives, data collecting and analysis procedures, key findings, and their relevance to the subject are all highlighted in the abstract to demonstrate your interest in the issue.
- Introduction
The introduction, which accounts for between 700 and 3000 words, or 15% of the entire word count, is more in-depth than the abstract. This section opens with a hook that draws your reader’s attention to the topic at hand.
The hook can be a fact that emphasizes your main area of research, a statistic, or a rhetorical question. After your hook, briefly describe the background of the subject to explain the knowledge gaps that called for your investigation. Finalize your introduction by addressing your thesis statement and all the research questions that will be covered.
- Literature review
Among the different chapters in a dissertation, the literature review may be the longest. This chapter, which accounts for about 25% of the entire text’s word count, analyses the available sources to show how much has been learned about the subject and where more research is required.
The literature review demonstrates to your audience that you have done the necessary research and aids in bringing to light the research questions that you are most interested in.
- Methodology
The data collecting and analysis techniques employed in your research are highlighted in the methodology chapter to enable replication of the study and corroborate your findings. Thus, by emphasizing the type of study carried out, the methods of data collecting and analysis, the materials used in your research, and the methods you employed to overcome any flaws, this chapter aids the reader in evaluating the validity of your conclusions.
To help the reader understand why you favored the chosen technique over alternative approaches, you should also justify the methodologies utilized in this section. It’s also important to note that since the technique discusses procedures that have already been carried out, it should be expressed in the past tense.
- Results
This section of your research report should present your findings and list any discoveries that are pertinent to your work. This part emphasizes the connections between the data that was acquired rather than interpreting your findings in light of previous sources.
To remind the reader of the goal of your research paper, this chapter’s introduction restates your problem statement and research questions. The next step is to provide visual aids in the results chapter so that the reader may conclude the large amount of data you have gathered.
- Discussion
This dissertation chapter evaluates your results and provides appropriate sources to back up your assertions. Here, go over all the findings and demonstrate how they correspond with those from the previous sources.
Also, disclose any limits in your research and address any counterarguments to your claims.
- Conclusion
The findings of your paper are summarized in this chapter, which also discusses the key finding that supports your thesis. The reader can become confused if you include any new points in the conclusion, so stick to the topics you’ve already discussed.
Consider including advice in the conclusion to help other researchers achieve better outcomes and get over any obstacles you encountered while doing your research.
Final take
We sincerely hope that this article has taught you how to write chapters for your dissertation. Please feel free to contact our knowledgeable team for support if you run across any additional problems with your dissertation.
