Outlining a dissertation

While writing dissertation framing a layout can prove to be very help. In a dissertation the writer has to put all his/ her experiences learned through different incidents occured in life on the paper. In a dissertation one has to bring all his logical abilities onto the paper. One has to conclude based on his leanings on the topic through out his life. This becomes tough when you are writing straight from your mind. Thus before proceeding with the dissertation framing of outline will give you clear picture of what the final result is going to like. Plan all the parts in the outline that is going to be included in the dissertation and prevent any future disasters.

There are two key points that will help you getting the perfect dissertation:

A. Dissertation proposal:

A brief background to the proposed study

• Review of the Literature
• Theoretical Model  (if used)
• Statement of the Problem

Design of the Study

• Hypotheses or Questions
• Definition of Terms
• Instrumentation
• Population and Sample
• Data Collection
• Significance of the Study
• Limitations of the Study

Data Analysis

• How are you going to analyse the data, tools that you are going to use and how are going to represent it?
• What kinds of operations will you put the data through to result in your findings?

Important points you should remember:

• The proposal should not be very lengthy, a maximum of 20 pages will work out perfectly.
• More emphasis should be given to review of literature and the research design. Lets say half of the proposal should talk about review of literature and another half about research design.
• Must go through several sample dissertation before submitting the proposal.

B. Outline of the project
This outline can be modified as per the university’s requirement of submisson:

Chapter I (Introduction)

• Background of the study
• Problem statement
• Purpose of the study
• Research questions
• Hypothesis or objectives

 Chapter II (Review of literature)

• Introduction
• Review of empirical studies.

Chapter III (Research Methodology)

• Research design
• Sample size
• Instruments to be used for computation of data
• Data analysis

Chapter IV (Data analysis & results)

Chapter V (Conclusion)

• Final findings of the study
• Interpretation of results
• Limiations of the study

Finally at the end its the refferences and appendices. Its crucial to properly mention all the reffered material and calculation sheets here.

Now that you have unlocked the secrets of writing a dissertation. Now start up your work, without even thinking of messing it up.