how to write a dissertation in a week (QUICK Guide)

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how to write a dissertation in a week

A dissertation predetermines one’s academic journey. Individuals search for their dream jobs after obtaining a doctor of science degree. PhD and master’s degrees increase the chances of finding a prestigious job in one’s preferred field. You will benefit hugely once you read this guide to the end. If you face challenges accomplishing a dissertation, don’t hesitate to contact us at Studygroom.com and order an essay and get top-quality help.

 

A dissertation is a piece of writing based on data or research that a scholar has gathered throughout their studies. The goal of a dissertation is for students to bring all the skills a student has learned together. These skills include methodological and research skills.

 

A dissertation can be defined as a culmination of the essays and assignments that a student has had to write throughout their higher education. This includes data collection, data synthetization and putting the data in academic form. This can be an opportunity to explore a student’s field of study. Problems that students encounter while writing dissertations include:

  • Desire to postpone their assignment until the last minute
  • Inability to define the dissertation and its goals properly
  • Inadequate writing skills
  • Lack of research skills

We recommend reading this guide to learn more about the doctoral dissertation’s meaning and how to write it since the challenge is overwhelming. 

Formatting requirements

Font size: use some clear font like times new roman or Arial and 10-12 font size.

Margins: 

  • Right margin: 1.5 inches for all pages.
  • Left margin: 1.5 inches for all pages.
  • Top margin: 2 inches for Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, each chapter, Bibliography, and Appendices. 1.25 inches other pages.
  • Bottom margin: 1.25 inches for all pages.

 

Spacing: double spacing for block quotations, bibliographies, footnotes and body. Single-spacing for a list of illustrations or figures, a list of tables, and lengthy tables. 

 

One of the primary steps in the drafting process of any dissertation is proposal writing. A dissertation proposal sets the stage for the research the author has done. It acts like the outline for your research. The proposal will help you write the work and should be 10-15 pages long. The length can, however, be determined by your instructor. Always be ready that your data collection may not be the way you expected. Take time to prepare your dissertation proposal to avoid getting lost while writing your dissertation. 

Dissertation vs thesis

A dissertation is usually written for a doctorate, while a thesis is commonly written for a master’s degree. Thesis papers resemble research papers written when studying for an undergraduate degree. You need to research a topic, analyze the information you collected and determine how it relates to the subject matter you study. You need to research a topic, analyze the collected information and determine how it relates to the particular subject matter you study.

 

The thesis aims to showcase your ability to think critically about a topic and to discuss information in-depth knowledgeably. Sometimes the definition of thesis is also interchangeable with the definition of dissertation. In dissertation writing, you usually need to merely utilize others’ research as guidance in coming up with and proving your unique concept, theory or hypothesis. In a dissertation, the main part of the information is written by you.

 

A doctoral dissertation should be much longer since it involves a great deal of background and research information, along with every detail from your proposal and how you arrived at it. A dissertation is almost twice or thrice the length of a thesis and is usually a complex academic paper. 

A dissertation’s research

It would be wise to seek out a database and find other works related to your field before you embark on the writing process and check the structure of some samples. If you cannot find a dissertation that would be helpful to you while writing your own, you can order one online. You will have a ready-made custom dissertation to base your work on that way or an exceptionally written example that you can use for your reference anytime. You will need to set up how the development of your dissertation will go during the research period. The research process should be methodological and practical, as nobody wants to waste time reading and analyzing irrelevant resources. 

Below are some important tips that can help you get through the research process:

Create a timeline for the research stage. 

It is vital to find the appropriate amount of resources for your dissertation. Many students think they need to read and analyze everything ever written regarding the dissertation they chose, which is a mistake they make. They may end up spending too much time on the research stage instead of moving to the writing stage. A timeline will help in such a situation. 

 

Search the right places for sources. 

The internet is a good starting place during the research stage, but you should not be limited to it. Besides, not everything you find on the internet will be 100% true. A google scholar can be used to locate reliable academic sources. Although Wikipedia is not a reliable source, it can help you locate some great publications if you check out the list of references on the pages you are interested in. At this point of project development, librarians are helpful as they can help you find some interesting and unique sources. 

 

Organize your resources

A good idea to organize resources is to take notes. This will help you avoid confusion and forget important sources that could be great for your dissertation. 

Dissertation outline

Selecting a topic, question, and title is the primary stage of writing a dissertation – what problem will your project tackle, and why is it vital to find a solution to the chosen problem? How will the evidence be collected, and how will you get answers? You need to create an outline that will help you with these questions. The outline should include:

  • Title page objectives
  • Table of contents
  • List of tables
  • List of abbreviations in alphabetical order
  • Introduction, including your research question or hypothesis
  • Literature review – how your research topic is set and how it fits into the existing field of study. Don’t be in a hurry! Start writing this part after asking your instructor about any recommended sources you can use and the preferred format for the paper dissertation format. 
  • Research – the central part in which a student should elaborate upon their ideas of their research problem
  • Methodology – explain why you opted for the methods you are using to respond to your research question. 
  • Findings – add predictions of where you will end up, along with a description and presentation of your data, evidence or case study. 
  • Discussion – discuss the cumulation of your argument: methodology, literature, and findings to create synergy.
  • Timeframe – this shows the way a writer will handle the stages of dissertation writing. 
  • Conclusions and recommendations – reflect on the research and give recommendations and a final evaluation of your research. New ideas should not be included as they should go in the discussion. 
  • List of references/ bibliography – it is a list of all the external sources used in research and is arranged alphabetically. 
  • Appendices include questionnaires, pilot reports, interview transcripts, detailed tables, etc. 

Title page

It is also known as the cover page of your dissertation and should contain all the primary information about your academic paper. A title page should contain: 

Title

Name

Document Type

Department and institution where you study

Degree program

Date of submission

In some instances, a title page can also include your supervisor’s name, student number and university logo. Your department informs you what should be included on your title page and how it should be formatted. 

Dissertation acknowledgements

This is the section where you thank those who supported and helped you during the research and writing process, including both personal and professional acknowledgements.

Dissertation abstract

This is the section that summarizes the entire dissertation. It should give an overview of the research that you have done. An abstract’s purpose is to give the reader an idea of what the dissertation discusses and why it is important to consider the problem. Consider all the elements of your proposal and attempt to include them. The hypothesis and research question should be included. 

  • Elements contained in an abstract
  • A statement of the problem
  • The methods used for research
  • The main results or findings
  • The main conclusions and recommendations

An abstract should not be longer than a page. It appears after the cover page and acknowledgements section. 

Table of contents

In this part, you need to list all sections and subheadings along with their page numbers. This section gives the reader an overview of your structure. This makes it easy to navigate your academic paper. In this part, you should include all parts of your dissertation, including the appendices. 

List of figures and tables

You need to itemize figures and tables in a numbered list if you use figures and tables in your dissertation. 

 

List of abbreviations

If your dissertation contains a lot of abbreviations, you can include them in an alphabetized list of abbreviations. Your readers will be able to easily look up their meanings this way. 

Glossary

This section contains highly specialized terms that are not familiar to the reader. The terms can be arranged alphabetically, and each term is explained with a brief definition.

Dissertation introduction

You should set up your dissertation topic, main relevance and purpose and tell readers what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. 

In the introduction:

  • Establish the research topic and provide the necessary background information
  • Narrow the focus and explain the scope of the research
  • Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing the relevance of your work to a broader debate or problem
  • State your objectives and research questions clearly and indicate how you will answer them
  • Give an overview of the structure of your dissertation

You should understand that in the introduction, everything should be engaging, clear and relevant to your research. Readers should understand what to expect from your work by the end of the introduction. 

Dissertation literature review

You should conduct a literature review before you begin your research to gain a deep understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. To conduct a literature review:

  • Collecting sources like books and journal articles and selecting the most relevant ones
  • Evaluating and analyzing each source
  • Drawing connections between the sources to make an overall point

You should not just summarize existing studies, but instead, you should develop a clear structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your research. A literature review, for instance, might aim to show how your research:

  • Creates a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
  • Addresses a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic. 
  • Strengthens existing knowledge with new information
  • Proposes a theoretical debate
  • Offers a new solution to an old and unresolved problem

This section usually becomes the basis for your theoretical framework, where you define and analyze the key theories, models and concepts that frame your research. You can answer descriptive research questions about the relationships between concepts or variables.

Methodology

This chapter is where you explain how you conducted your research. Readers will be able to assess its validity. In this part, include the following:

  • The type of research you conducted. It can be quantitative, qualitative, ethnographic or experimental research
  • The methods you used for collecting data. It can be surveys, interviews or archives
  • Specified details of when, where and with whom the research occurred
  • The methods used for analyzing the data
  • The tools and materials used 
  • An evaluation or justification of your methods

 

Results

This is where you write about the actual results of your research. You can structure this section around hypotheses, sub-questions or topics.

Discussion

This is the part where you need to discuss the meaning and implications of your results about the research question. You should interpret the results and explain whether they met expectations or not. 

Conclusion

Answer the main research question in this section. Finishing your dissertation by reflecting on what you did and how you did it is a great idea.

Reference list

This is the part where all the sources used are cited in full, following the formatting style used in the writing of the paper.

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