How to write a dissertation

Once a topic has been decided and approved by a tutor, making a schedule for the process of research and writing is essential. A dissertation is a long-term project and will often be completed over a whole semester, a year or even longer. Many students make the mistake of putting off writing and editing under the assumption that they have plenty of time. This is rarely the case and will only cause more stress later in the process. 

The dissertation process can often be split into four sections: planning, researching, writing, and editing. The planning section should be the shortest, lasting only a week or two. The research section is significant and should take up about half of the process. Writing a first draft will vary depending on the word count but could take anywhere from a month to three months. Editing is another significant process and can take a significant amount of time. You should check the recommended time allocations with a dissertation supervisor while creating your schedule. They have often worked with many students on their dissertations and know how long each part of the process should take. 

A dissertation will often be split into chapters or sections. Students should aim to create a chapter plan which outlines the structure of their dissertation and the subtopics they will discuss in each chapter. 

It is also this time that students should write a bibliography: a list of all the secondary research that they plan to read and reference. Secondary research can be found on websites such as google scholar or in the university library and library database. Certain subjects might also want to make use of facilities such as national historical records, museums, and galleries. You should write the bibliography in its official format: using the referencing system given by your school at this point in the process instead of later. It will prevent the stress of having to reference all your sources just before the deadline, especially if you end up behind schedule. It also gives you a chance to read over your bibliography later to make sure there are no formatting mistakes. 

Secondary research will take up a large portion of the dissertation process. Students will often receive a considerable amount of their marks for the analysis and criticism of existing published work so research should be extensive, and individual commentary should be detailed and thoughtful. 

Starting research with a premade list of secondary sources and a project schedule gives students a better idea of how much time they should be assigning to each one. Read or look through each source systematically, noting important quotes, data points or features which you may mention in your dissertation. 

Alongside these quotes, you should note any thoughts you have about analysis of the secondary material or the source as a whole. You may write about whether the source supports or contrasts your argument, how the author arrived at their conclusions, whether anything was done differently or experimentally during this study and how this perspective contributes to the wider conversation about the topic. It may also be useful to find out if the source has been peer reviewed or other sources have commented on it. This could also be used in a dissertation, but make sure to then add the peer review to your bibliography.

Certain subjects such as the sciences, engineering, geographical and sociological studies may require students to conduct a study or experiment as a part of their dissertation. This should be done as early as possible in the research phase so that any issues can be rectified in plenty of time. 

The experiment should be designed and conducted by the student with thought given to whether the data produced will be accurate and reliable. Potential anomalies should also be identified in advance. Students should make sure that their study or experiment is safe and ethical, particularly if it involves human participants. 

Once the experiment has been conducted, you should organise your findings as quickly and clearly as possible. It is important that you can easily access your raw data later in the research and writing process. It may be the case that the data is displayed in a more visual or succinct manner in the final dissertation, but any information collected should always be recorded in detail. 

The writing process for any dissertation should begin with a detailed plan. Use the chapter plan, which outlines the subtopics of each chapter or section, to create this more detailed plan which outlines the points which will be made, the primary data and secondary sources used, and any point of analysis in each paragraph. This means that, when drafting the dissertation, you can be solely focused on the writing and will not have to think about structure or any new ideas. 

When the writing process begins, you should aim to meet a word count per day which will ensure that you are able to complete the first draft within the allotted writing time. It is also a good idea to set a word count which means that the draft will be completed a week or two before your self-assigned editing deadline. This means that if something comes up such as illness, other assignments, or personal matters, you will still be able to complete the draft without increasing your workload later or cutting into your editing time. If you do not end up needing this extra time, it will allow you to take a break from the dissertation before the editing process begins. 

It is advisable for students to do four complete rounds of edits before their final deadline. 

The first edit should aim to rectify any big structural changes that you wish to make. Read the dissertation and considering firstly if the structure works or if a different structure would create a clearer point. You should also consider whether some sections are overwritten or whether there are sections which are missing something significant and add or delete, as necessary. 

The second round of edits should look at smaller details of the writing. Read the dissertation again to identify sections where the writing is not as clear or developed as it could be. Rewriting these sections will allow the examiner to better understand the point you are trying to make. Writing in a clear and confident tone will show the examiner all the work and thought that has gone into the project so it is important to get this right. 

The third edit should ensure that the project reaches the word count. Most universities allow dissertations to be within ten percent of the assigned word count. This means, if the word count is 10,000, for example, a final dissertation could be anywhere from 9,000 words minimum to 11,000 words maximum. It is important to double check this with your dissertation supervisor. If the dissertation is under or over the maximum or minimum word count, this should be fixed now. 

The final round of edits can be completed a week or two before the final deadline. During this process, you should read your dissertation for a final time with the aim of making sure that there are no small mistakes such as spelling or grammatical errors. This should include the bibliography to make sure that all secondary sources are referenced properly. 

Once all four rounds of edits have been completed, the final dissertation can be submitted for marking.