How to Determine How Long a Dissertation Should Be

A dissertation project is one of the most challenging tasks graduate students face while pursuing their academic careers. The project is a prerequisite that comes before one can be awarded a master’s or Ph.D. degree in most disciplines.

One general question students have concerns the dissertation length. This article will tackle that question and provide you with some details for the chapters of your dissertation.

How long is a dissertation?

The plain answer to this question is that there is no particular size or length. A lot of elements determine the length of a dissertation. The three biggest factors that determine the length are the department’s prerequisites, the kind of study you are carrying out, and the time you have to carry out this research and write it.

A student is required to work at close range with their advisor to determine the length of the thesis dissertation. The project will have to be accepted and will go through modifications as the project starts.

What may have commenced as a short dissertation of about 125 pages can turn out to be a considerable project of about 200 pages. Every project is unique, and the final page count is dependent on what is needed to address every research question adequately.

Dissertation Chapters

A standard thesis dissertation must include at least six chapters: the introduction, the literature review, the methodology, the results, the discussion, and the conclusion. Since every discipline varies, you should search for dissertation examples available online and at your institute’s library.

The introduction gives your reader insight into your study by summarizing the content of the dissertation. The literature review picks already valuable content related to your research and allows the reader to understand the limitations of these documents.

The methodology aspect talks about how you will carry out your study and establish the items or materials you will be using. The results section gives the reader the exact result without interpretation. Then the discussion section follows, where the results are given will be explained.

Lastly, the conclusion communicates your findings during the research process to your readers. Also, in this chapter, you can tell your readers about any extra work that you believe should be carried out.

The dissertation acknowledgments section is a chance for you to pass across your thanks to anyone or persons that played a great role in aiding you to complete the dissertation project.

This aspect of the document, customarily located after the title page, is not more than a paragraph. Whoever you decide to acknowledge, it totally up to you, but you must stick to tradition. You can check out other samples before writing yours, so you don’t miss any important person.

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