A Step-by-Step Guide for Dissertation Writing

What makes dissertation writing difficult for the students? Is it the complex chapterization of the paper, its massive length, or the depth of research required for the task? The answer varies from one person to another. But the secret to preparing a good dissertation remains the same for students across all disciplines and academic levels.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

There are a number of dissertation writing services online that make things a lot easier for the students. However, one cannot always count on external support for academic success. Irrespective of whether it is your undergraduate, masters, or Ph.D. dissertation, you should comply with the following measures to produce a remarkable dissertation on your own.

1. Choose your dissertation topic carefully:

It is absolutely important that you choose a topic that you find engaging and meaningful. The dissertation is an opportunity to display your thoughts and ideas, investigate an area in greater depth, and combine your previous knowledge. So, when you pick a familiar topic that you are genuinely interested in will allow you to stay motivated throughout the long process of dissertation writing.

If you are struggling to find the perfect topic idea, you can research course materials, newspapers, academic journals, and other media to identify current affairs that relate to your field and find some inspiration in the process. Moreover, you should work with your supervisor (if you have one) to polish your research question, benefitting from their understanding of the research area, correct methodology, and what can be achieved in the particular time frame.

2. Under the requirements:

Before you start working on your chosen dissertation topic, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the ethics protocols of your faculty, referencing style guides, and module handbooks to avoid making any errors in the paper.  It is recommended that you understand what is expected of you. You should know:

• The basic academic writing standards in your discipline
• The ideal word count of the paper
• The submission date

If you know any senior researcher in your field, you can also ask him/her the following questions regarding dissertation writing in your discipline:

• How to structure the dissertation?
• What type of sources should be used?
• How to use these sources?
• What kinds of analysis are considered appropriate for a dissertation in your discipline?

Having a good rapport with your supervisor is essential to your dissertation success. You develop a shared understanding of what you need to do with the dissertation through discussion with your supervisor.

3. Have a clear goal and structure:

The first thing you need to draft for your dissertation is the dissertation proposal. This paper should demonstrate how your research area is relevant. Once you work on this part, drafting the introduction, literature review, and methodology becomes a lot easier to deal with. The proposal outlines the purpose of your dissertation and how you want to conduct the research work.

Sticking closely to the plan allows you to remain focused without getting too overambitious with the research, enabling you to develop a strong and coherent argument. Having a clear goal and purpose lets you stay on track on track and ensures that you only make relevant points.

While you decide how to structure your dissertation to achieve the desired goal, you should consider having a list of things that you need to do before the submission of the paper:

• Reading and researching
• Collecting and analyzing data
• Structuring and restricting
• Writing and redrafting
• Editing and proofreading
• Printing and binding

Having a clear goal from the beginning of the dissertation writing process helps you perform all the steps with perfection.

4. Write as you proceed:

While you write the dissertation, you should get some target for yourself – such as writing 1,000 words every week. This way, you are more likely to finish the lengthy task on time. As you write the dissertation, use the writing process as a tool to better understand the topic. Always check with your content and make sure you have addressed all the issues that you wanted to cover once a chapter is complete.

Your writing allows you to make better sense of the topic as you aim to develop the narrative, and as you understand the topic more, your analysis and interpretation of the topic change. You need to frequently back up, make notes of your research and maintain a proper list of sources you use. This measure will help you save a lot of time while working on the bibliography part of the paper.

5. Keep asking questions:

It is important that you continue asking questions and maintain a critical mindset throughout the dissertation writing process – both in relation to your work as well as those of others. Ask yourself how strongly convinced are you by a certain argument or interpretation and why, and whether there are any potentially valid alternatives to your argument.

As you write the dissertation, you need to explain your reasoning to the readers. A point that seems obvious to you may not seem convincing to someone who is reading the information for the first time. Your assessor will not give you credit for forming a strong argument unless you provide evidence of how you reached a particular point.

6. Editing is important:

While writing a 20-page long paper, you are most likely to make some formatting mistakes, spelling errors, and other goof-ups along the writing process. A thorough editing process ensures that none of those mistakes are there during the time of submission of the paper. You need to leave yourself enough time to conduct a number of levels of editing – reassessing the logic, proofreading the text, and checking if you have complied with the guidelines or not.

You also need to check the information pieces are properly cited as per the citation style. And most importantly, run several plagiarism checks of the paper to ensure that the paper has zero traces of plagiarism in it. If possible, keep the plagiarism report handy while you submit your dissertation paper in the class.

Final thought

These were the major steps that you should perform while preparing your dissertation. You may also need to use a few writing measures to boost the readability of the paper. But that is a discussion for another blog.