What is a dissertation?

The dissertation has two main purposes. The first is to prove that the student knows how to work and research independently. The second is to confirm that the student can communicate effectively with the academic and scientific community. The doctoral dissertation also aims to make an original and significant contribution to the area of ​​research. The dissertation is the longest and most complex document you will produce as a graduate student. In addition, the dissertation will probably be your first formal attempt to produce a document that demonstrates your ability to investigate, develop and synthesize knowledge of a field of study. These recommendations will help you finish the dissertation with a minimum of setbacks. Even though you can hire some of the best essay writing services to get the job done, but still you should know what it takes to develop a perfect dissertation idea.

Dissertation Definition

1. Spend enough time preparing the document

Many students believe that preparing the dissertation is a simple task that they can complete in a few weeks at the end of the semester. When they begin to work and face the magnitude of the project, these students become frustrated and abandon the effort, or work hurriedly and produce a lower dissertation that will surely face problems during the defense test. He plans to dedicate a semester without commitments that take up much time to the preparation of the dissertation. Include in your plans the time your counselor will need to correct the draft documents. If you have difficulty with the language, consider hiring a person to help you improve the document. If you can`t catch up with idea you can just look for the best essay writing service.

2. Plan and meet your goals

Still, now you don’t really know what is a dissertation? Prepare a dissertation outline and discuss it with the members of the graduate committee. The dissertation will be more manageable if you divide it into sections that you can complete in a relatively short time. Finishing the first section will stimulate you to reach the next goal and continue working until you finish the project. He works with the dissertation every day, even if initially for a short time. In a few days, you will get used to the routine, you will dedicate more and more time to the project and you will see the goal of finishing on time and paying a job of excellence.

3. Communicate regularly with your counselor

When your counselor accepted you as a student, he also accepted the obligation to guide you and help you finish the degree. However, counselors have other commitments and often resent that the student appears at the last minute with urgent requests, queries, and demands. To avoid these setbacks, set up a calendar of meetings with your counselor to keep you informed, discuss doubts and solve problems. Also, meet with the other members of the committee to discuss your latest advances and inform them in advance when you plan to give them material for review.

4. Write for the audience

It is natural that you write the first version of the dissertation for yourself because at that stage you are the only person in the audience. However, later versions have to be addressed to a wide audience. Some thesis are written in such a way that only the author can understand them; In many of these thesis the title does not faithfully reflect the content of the work, the summary does not contain all the important information, the materials and methods do not have all the necessary information to repeat the investigation and the conclusions do not contain the outstanding points of the discussion. So far you may have developed a good idea of what is a dissertation.

Read more: What is the Difference Between a Thesis and a Dissertation?

5. Adopt a style and follow it consistently

The dissertation must have the same style, format, and organization throughout the entire document. Study this guide carefully and the one suggested by your counselor, and apply them accordingly. The following instruction is an indispensable requirement for the publication of any work that is subject to public scrutiny, doing so will avoid problems now and when you face the even more rigorous rules of professional journals.

6. Review the manuscript carefully

The document that you will submit before the exam must be an almost final version of the dissertation and not a preliminary draft that will undergo substantial modifications after the exam. The practice of submitting a draft to meet the deadline is undesirable because after the exam you will not have the time or willingness to make major changes. Review each version of the document with the grammar checker of the word processor, but remember that this tool has limitations; for example, the proofreader does not detect words that have been replaced by other words spelled correctly (eg, species by species).

How to develop a perfect dissertation idea?

Cover page

The cover includes the title of the dissertation, the name of the student, the year of delivery of the final document and the names (with their signatures) of the members of the examining committee, the director of the department and the director of Ph.D. Studies. The names of the professors and of the officials are followed by the superior academic degree of each one (eg, MS . Or Ph.D. ) The title is a precise, clear and concise description of the content of the dissertation; check it several times during the preparation of the document so that it faithfully reflects the nature of the work. The title has no endpoint, nor do the titles of the dissertation divisions.

Preliminary Pages

Abstract

The abstract in English explains the content of the project in a single paragraph of no more than 150 words for the master’s thesis and 350 words for the doctoral dissertation. The abstract must inform the reader of the objective of the investigation, the main methods used, the main results obtained and the most important conclusions.

Summary

Include a summary of what you intend to delivery while attempting this research.

Copyright declaration

Use the symbol © followed by your name and the year of delivery of the final dissertation to Graduate Studies. Some students include additional information, for example granting permission to the library to reproduce the dissertation for academic use, but this is unnecessary and has no legal value.

Dedication

Many students include a dedication as a tribute or thanks to one or more people who influenced the success of the research.

Acknowledgments

It is customary to thank economic support, help in data collection, loan of literature and equipment, assistance in the preparation of tables and illustrations, useful suggestions for the development of research, ideas that helped explain the results, and help with critical reading and correction of the document.

Table of contents

All chapters and sections should appear in the table of contents, with their corresponding pages and headings as they appear in the text. A thesis that have many subdivisions must use a logical system to organize the table of contents and the text.

List of tables

Use the same titles that appear in the text but without the explanatory notes that follow after the initial description of the table.

List of figures

Use the same legends that appear in the text but without the explanatory notes that follow after the initial description of the figure.

List of symbols or abbreviations

Recommended if the dissertation has many symbols or abbreviations.

List of appendices

Use the same titles that appear in the appendices but without the explanatory notes.

How to develop a perfect dissertation

Introduction

The first chapter of the dissertation describes the project, announces its objectives and establishes its importance. Even if you think that the purpose of the work is obvious or that it follows from the title of the dissertation, it is never enough to announce it directly: “The purpose of this research is …”. Remember that one of your main goals is to produce an ambiguity free text. Depending on how long is a dissertation this section also establishes the importance of the project (its theoretical value or practical application) and describes any theoretical or practical limitations of the work.

Literature review

This section is a complete and usually chronological account of previous research and current knowledge of the subject. Many students unnecessarily extend the literature review with papers that are not directly relevant to research.

Materials and methods

This section describes the materials and methods used to do the research. It is imperative to provide all the information that a competent researcher needs to repeat the work and validate the results. If the section is very long you can divide it by themes or make a section of materials and another of methods. This section is written in the past tense (it was measured, visited, etc.).

Some procedures are so well known that you can name them without further explanation. If the technique is published it is enough to cite the article, although it is preferable to describe it if the process is short or if the publication is difficult to achieve. If you modified a method of another researcher you must give the bibliographic reference and explain the change. Depending on how long is a dissertation if you used a new method you will have to describe it and explain it (perhaps justify it) thoroughly. You do not have to specify the brands and models of laboratory equipment if there are several instruments that can do the same. In this section, you also inform and defend the statistical tests used to analyze the data.

Results

The results are usually presented by means of text, tables or figures. Text is the fastest and most effective way to expose a few data. Tables are preferable for presenting accurate or repetitive data. The figures are ideal when the data show important trends or patterns. Avoid presenting the same data in more ways than one, since professional journals do not favor this practice and you could waste time preparing tables or illustrations that you should delete later. Use the international system (SI or modern metric system) for the units of weight and measurement. The results are presented in the past tense (it was counted, observed, etc.).

Tables

Before preparing a table, verify that it is really necessary and that it contributes significantly to the content of the dissertation; many students prepare an excessive amount of pictures that must be removed when submitting articles for publication. Pay special attention to shortboards; Often its content can be presented properly by text.

Depending on how long is a dissertation as a general rule, the body of the table should not have blank spaces. A blank space can mean that there is no data that it exists but that the author does not have it, or that it was omitted by mistake. Blank spaces can be filled with a symbol explained with a note; Four frequent symbols are ND for no data, NA for not applicable, + for present and – for absent. Do not include rows or columns with the same data throughout the entire table, or columns with data that can easily be calculated from adjacent columns. It is also not recommended to include columns of non-significant data.

Illustrations

The illustrations are ideal for presenting data that have trends or patterns that are not clearly visible in the tables. Figures are also indispensable for presenting complex ideas and images that cannot be easily described with words. As with the tables, before preparing an illustration you must confirm that it is really necessary and that the dissertation value increases significantly.

The legends are placed below the illustrations. If the illustration is very large and the legend does not fit on the page, then it is centralized on a sheet placed opposite the figure. In both cases, the material is oriented so that the text is read from left to right when the paper is turned in favor of the clock. These figures (and the tables placed sideways) are preferably numbered in the upper right corner of the paper, as in the rest of the dissertation It totally depends on how long is a dissertation.

To fulfill its purpose, illustrations must be easily and quickly understood; avoid very complex graphs, loaded with data and curves that intersect excessively. Color illustrations should be understood if reproduced in black and white. Convert the photographs to jpg format so that the dissertation does not become excessively big; try at all times that the entire dissertation is a single Word document (or the word processor you use).

Placement and numbering of tables and illustrations

Tables that occupy more than one page bear the title only on the first page. The following pages carry the table number accompanied by the word continuation and the column headings. Footnotes are placed on the corresponding page or grouped at the end of the table.

Tables and illustrations can be numbered in several ways; The two main systems are consecutive numbering from the beginning to the end of the dissertation (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, etc.) and chapter numbering (Table 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, etc.). The material placed in the appendices is numbered separately.

Read more: How To Write Just About Anything You Want

Equations

The equations are numbered and centralized on the page or placed along the left margin. The equation a = b + c (6.1) includes in parentheses the chapter number (before the period) and the number of the equation (after the period). The equation a = b + c (11) includes in brackets the number of the equation without indicating the chapter. You don’t have to number the equations that are part of a derivation. Make sure everything is well defined and in its place so that you can prove it in your dissertation defense.

Other materials

Consult with your supervisor on the inclusion in the dissertation of non-traditional materials, such as recordings, videos, compact discs or computer programs.

Discussion

This section explains the results of the investigation and compares them with previous knowledge of the subject. Just explain the results; don’t present them again. The results are discussed by reference to the literature on the subject, research in progress and unpublished information provided by other researchers. It holds a pivotal value when you will stand the dissertation defense. Quoting too much hinders reading and understanding the text; three quotes should be sufficient to support an assertion. Ask your counselor about the discussion of results that are not significant; some counselors think they should be discussed while others think otherwise.

Conclusions

This section should inform whether or not the objectives of the work were met. The section can number the main results of the investigation or briefly recap the content of the article, mentioning the purpose, the main methods, the most important data and the main meaning of the results. This section should be short and should not give details of the results, excessively duplicate the content of the summary, or refer to articles, tables or figures. Make sure you conclude it like a pro so that you can stand well in the dissertation defense.

Recommendations

This is optional and consists of a short section suggesting future research suggestions for researchers interested in the subject.

Bibliography

Although the terms bibliography, cited literature, and references are commonly used as synonyms, the first should be used when the section contains a complete compilation of the literature (including all references cited in the text), the second when only articles cited in the text and the third when a selection of articles is provided for future reading (rare in a dissertation). Depending on how long is a dissertation this section includes articles published in newspapers and professional journals, articles accepted for publication in professional journals [cited in the text as (in press) or ( in press )], book chapters, books, thesis, documents ( eg., maps and climate data published by government agencies) and information published on the Internet.