Subsections of a Dissertation

Many graduate students become stumped when it comes time to start out writing their dissertation. As a grad student, you've got completed your course work, taken the exam to become a PhD Candidate, and it's now time to finish your dissertation so as to graduate with a doctorate in your field. One thing you'll find helpful is to seem over dissertations written by previous students in your program. the rules of the grad school regarding the format of the dissertation can also help, as can your dissertation committee and former students.

The dissertation structure can vary from one field to a different or maybe from institute to a different, but typically a dissertation starts with an introduction. Some students find that it's easier to write down the introduction after the dissertation is complete and that they know what the entire dissertation presents, while others might want to start out the introduction early within the writing process so as to possess a thought of the direction of the project. A review of the literature, or a summary of previous work on the subject of interest within the dissertation, is usually required. Other parts include a discussion of the research methodology and therefore the data and/or sample also because of the presentation of the study results. The methodology section lets the reader skills the author investigated the research questions. Many dissertations even have a chapter focused on the conclusions and implications of the research. Other requirements are often enforced by the grad school, like the format of the document, table of contents, list of figures, and so on.