How to Choose an Appropriate Structure for the Dissertation

The most challenging writing project is the dissertation. This writing project is assigned to graduate students and doctorate students who are preparing for the last step of their degree seeking goal. If you write a dissertation, you will most likely only write one - unless of course, you decide to earn more than one advanced degree. The dissertation has a very specific type of style and format due to the nature of the project, which is to decide on a specific topic and prove it through extensive research.

Key Features

As you write your dissertation, there are a few key features to consider when you are structuring the project. You should always have a well-focused question that you have thoroughly researched. The research and the question should be connected with specific terminology which will show that you know your topic. You will need to analyze and evaluate your topic instead of just writing a summary or description. Each dissertation needs to be purposefully and accurately documented with citations, too.

Introductory Materials

The content of your paper is equally important as the formatting that you use. Your formatting style will be based on the citations that you are required to use. These are all needed in a dissertation, but actual style will be based on whether you need to use APA, MLA, or another style. You will need to begin with a title page that includes the necessary features. Then, you write an abstract, which is a short summary of your dissertation. You will also need to write an acknowledgement which includes the names of everyone who has helped you complete the project. The table of contents follows the acknowledgements and a table of figures comes next.

Body Section

The body of the paper begins with an introduction that includes the problem that you are tackling with this paper. After the introduction, you begin the main part of the paper. This is where you support your argument with evidence and facts. You also need to analyze and evaluate in the body of the dissertation, too. This section will include many paragraphs. You will also include a conclusion that share your findings, too.

Concluding Sections

Once the body of the paper is complete, there are two sections left. The first is the bibliography or works cited page that includes all of the sources that you used to support your idea. You then finish with an appendix that should include all of the extra information that you used and discovered during the research process.