dissertation approach meaning

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

Knowledge Base
Dissertation

What Is a Dissertation? | 5 Essential Questions to Get Started

Published on 26 March 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 5 May 2022.

A dissertation is a large research project undertaken at the end of a degree. It involves in-depth consideration of a problem or question chosen by the student. It is usually the largest (and final) piece of written work produced during a degree.

The length and structure of a dissertation vary widely depending on the level and field of study. However, there are some key questions that can help you understand the requirements and get started on your dissertation project.

Make your writing flawless in 1 upload

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

When and why do you have to write a dissertation, who will supervise your dissertation, what type of research will you do, how should your dissertation be structured, what formatting and referencing rules do you have to follow, frequently asked questions about dissertations.

A dissertation, sometimes called a thesis, comes at the end of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. It is a larger project than the other essays you’ve written, requiring a higher word count and a greater depth of research.

You’ll generally work on your dissertation during the final year of your degree, over a longer period than you would take for a standard essay . For example, the dissertation might be your main focus for the last six months of your degree.

Why is the dissertation important?

The dissertation is a test of your capacity for independent research. You are given a lot of autonomy in writing your dissertation: you come up with your own ideas, conduct your own research, and write and structure the text by yourself.

This means that it is an important preparation for your future, whether you continue in academia or not: it teaches you to manage your own time, generate original ideas, and work independently.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

During the planning and writing of your dissertation, you’ll work with a supervisor from your department. The supervisor’s job is to give you feedback and advice throughout the process.

The dissertation supervisor is often assigned by the department, but you might be allowed to indicate preferences or approach potential supervisors. If so, try to pick someone who is familiar with your chosen topic, whom you get along with on a personal level, and whose feedback you’ve found useful in the past.

How will your supervisor help you?

Your supervisor is there to guide you through the dissertation project, but you’re still working independently. They can give feedback on your ideas, but not come up with ideas for you.

You may need to take the initiative to request an initial meeting with your supervisor. Then you can plan out your future meetings and set reasonable deadlines for things like completion of data collection, a structure outline, a first chapter, a first draft, and so on.

Make sure to prepare in advance for your meetings. Formulate your ideas as fully as you can, and determine where exactly you’re having difficulties so you can ask your supervisor for specific advice.

Your approach to your dissertation will vary depending on your field of study. The first thing to consider is whether you will do empirical research , which involves collecting original data, or non-empirical research , which involves analysing sources.

Empirical dissertations (sciences)

An empirical dissertation focuses on collecting and analysing original data. You’ll usually write this type of dissertation if you are studying a subject in the sciences or social sciences.

What are airline workers’ attitudes towards the challenges posed for their industry by climate change?
How effective is cognitive behavioural therapy in treating depression in young adults?
What are the short-term health effects of switching from smoking cigarettes to e-cigarettes?

There are many different empirical research methods you can use to answer these questions – for example, experiments , observations, surveys , and interviews.

When doing empirical research, you need to consider things like the variables you will investigate, the reliability and validity of your measurements, and your sampling method . The aim is to produce robust, reproducible scientific knowledge.

Non-empirical dissertations (arts and humanities)

A non-empirical dissertation works with existing research or other texts, presenting original analysis, critique and argumentation, but no original data. This approach is typical of arts and humanities subjects.

What attitudes did commentators in the British press take towards the French Revolution in 1789–1792?
How do the themes of gender and inheritance intersect in Shakespeare’s Macbeth ?
How did Plato’s Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia influence nineteenth century utopian socialist thought?

The first steps in this type of dissertation are to decide on your topic and begin collecting your primary and secondary sources .

Primary sources are the direct objects of your research. They give you first-hand evidence about your subject. Examples of primary sources include novels, artworks and historical documents.

Secondary sources provide information that informs your analysis. They describe, interpret, or evaluate information from primary sources. For example, you might consider previous analyses of the novel or author you are working on, or theoretical texts that you plan to apply to your primary sources.

Dissertations are divided into chapters and sections. Empirical dissertations usually follow a standard structure, while non-empirical dissertations are more flexible.

Structure of an empirical dissertation

Empirical dissertations generally include these chapters:

Introduction : An explanation of your topic and the research question(s) you want to answer.
Literature review : A survey and evaluation of previous research on your topic.
Methodology : An explanation of how you collected and analysed your data.
Results : A brief description of what you found.
Discussion : Interpretation of what these results reveal.
Conclusion : Answers to your research question(s) and summary of what your findings contribute to knowledge in your field.

Sometimes the order or naming of chapters might be slightly different, but all of the above information must be included in order to produce thorough, valid scientific research.

Other dissertation structures

If your dissertation doesn’t involve data collection, your structure is more flexible. You can think of it like an extended essay – the text should be logically organised in a way that serves your argument:

Introduction: An explanation of your topic and the question(s) you want to answer.
Main body: The development of your analysis, usually divided into 2–4 chapters.
Conclusion: Answers to your research question(s) and summary of what your analysis contributes to knowledge in your field.

The chapters of the main body can be organised around different themes, time periods, or texts. Below you can see some example structures for dissertations in different subjects.

Political philosophy

This example, on the topic of the British press’s coverage of the French Revolution, shows how you might structure each chapter around a specific theme.

Example of a dissertation structure in history

This example, on the topic of Plato’s and More’s influences on utopian socialist thought, shows a different approach to dividing the chapters by theme.

Example of a dissertation structure in political philosophy

This example, a master’s dissertation on the topic of how writers respond to persecution, shows how you can also use section headings within each chapter. Each of the three chapters deals with a specific text, while the sections are organised thematically.

Example of a dissertation structure in literature

Like other academic texts, it’s important that your dissertation follows the formatting guidelines set out by your university. You can lose marks unnecessarily over mistakes, so it’s worth taking the time to get all these elements right.

Formatting guidelines concern things like:

line spacing
page numbers
punctuation
title pages
presentation of tables and figures

If you’re unsure about the formatting requirements, check with your supervisor or department. You can lose marks unnecessarily over mistakes, so it’s worth taking the time to get all these elements right.

How will you reference your sources?

Referencing means properly listing the sources you cite and refer to in your dissertation, so that the reader can find them. This avoids plagiarism by acknowledging where you’ve used the work of others.

Keep track of everything you read as you prepare your dissertation. The key information to note down for a reference is:

The publication date
Page numbers for the parts you refer to (especially when using direct quotes)

Different referencing styles each have their own specific rules for how to reference. The most commonly used styles in UK universities are listed below.

You can use the free APA Reference Generator to automatically create and store your references.

APA Reference Generator

The words ‘ dissertation ’ and ‘thesis’ both refer to a large written research project undertaken to complete a degree, but they are used differently depending on the country:

In the UK, you write a dissertation at the end of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and you write a thesis to complete a PhD.
In the US, it’s the other way around: you may write a thesis at the end of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and you write a dissertation to complete a PhD.

The main difference is in terms of scale – a dissertation is usually much longer than the other essays you complete during your degree.

Another key difference is that you are given much more independence when working on a dissertation. You choose your own dissertation topic , and you have to conduct the research and write the dissertation yourself (with some assistance from your supervisor).

Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:

An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000–15,000 words
A master’s dissertation is typically 12,000–50,000 words
A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000–100,000 words

However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.

At the bachelor’s and master’s levels, the dissertation is usually the main focus of your final year. You might work on it (alongside other classes) for the entirety of the final year, or for the last six months. This includes formulating an idea, doing the research, and writing up.

A PhD thesis takes a longer time, as the thesis is the main focus of the degree. A PhD thesis might be being formulated and worked on for the whole four years of the degree program. The writing process alone can take around 18 months.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05). What Is a Dissertation? | 5 Essential Questions to Get Started. Scribbr. Retrieved 11 November 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/what-is-a-dissertation/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to choose a dissertation topic | 8 steps to follow, how to write a dissertation proposal | a step-by-step guide, what is a literature review | guide, template, & examples.

Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: devising an approach/method.

Starting Your Dissertation
Choosing A Topic and Researching
Devising An Approach/Method
Thinking Of A Title
Writing A Proposal

Formulating a Research Question or Hypothesis (Dissertations)

Research is about finding answers to questions (sometimes expressed in terms of hypotheses). It is also important to frame your research question or hypothesis as this will narrow down a broad topic of interest to a specific area of study.

To frame your research question / hypothesis, you should take the following steps:

Start with a broad topic that you are interested in. Use mind mapping techniques to group ideas together, organise and connect them.

Look up current debates and topical issues to identify gaps in knowledge.

Try coming up with potential research questions by narrowing down your topic. You can develop these questions by either challenging the view of others or attempting to fill the gaps in knowledge you have identified so far.

Check the strength of your potential research questions / hypotheses (see below for more information).

Hulley et al (2007) suggests using the FINER criteria to determine the strength of your research question / hypothesis.

Ask yourself if your questions are:

F – Feasible Can the study be completed with the timeframe given and the resources which are available?

I – Interesting Is your research question / hypothesis of interest to the wider academic community?

N – Novel Does your research question / hypothesis promise to offer new insight into your field of study?

E – Ethical If you are gathering original data, would your research question / hypothesis be approved by panels and review boards?

R – Relevant Is your research question / hypothesis relevant to public interest or the debates currently circulating within the wider academic community?

Research Question or Hypothesis?

Normally, in a dissertation you will have a research question OR a hypothesis. 

When to use research questions or hypotheses?

If you use mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) research you may need to have both hypothesis (for the quantitative part) and research question (for the qualitative part). See also the Methodology Guide .

Formulating a Research Question

We advise you to formulate a research question if

Your project is exploratory, meaning you are not looking for a specific result.

Your project method is qualitative, seeking to understand concepts, thoughts and experiences through non-numerical data.

Characteristics of good research questions:

Feasible : you must be able to answer it within your means (skills, time, financial means). It is better to have a thoroughly researched answer to a small question than to fail to find the answer to one which is too big or diffuse!

Focused : deal with a single problem or issue that you can answer thoroughly. We recommend the use of one, maximum two, research question(s).

Complex : find a topic that can be addresses in the space of your dissertation. No short yes or no answers!

Relevant : find something relating to your course, and ideally helpful to society as well.

Original : try to fill a gap in the knowledge.

Developing strong research questions Further tips on how to develop strong research questions.
Research question examples Examples of poor research questions, and of how to rewrite them to be stronger.

Formulating a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a reasoned, provisional statement capable of being empirically tested. As a statement, it predicts what you think the outcome of the study will be. A hypothesis is generally associated with quantitative studies (studies based on numerical data).

Characteristics of good hypotheses:

Testable : the hypothesis has to be capable of being proved or disproved by testing.

Informed : make sure you take into consideration existing knowledge and experiments.

Simple : try to make your hypothesis as simple as possible. Usually, it will be a hypothesis that shows the relationship between two variables where one is called the independent variable or ‘cause’ and the other is the dependent variable or ‘effect’.

Research Question, Hypothesis, Aim and Objectives

This video helps you to formulate the research question(s), hypothesis(es), aims and objectives of your dissertation. It defines these terms and provides tips for writing these elements well.

Slide from research questions, hypotheses, aims and objectives workshop

Handout This handout includes activities to get the best from the video. Open it!
PPT slides PPT slides on research questions, hypotheses, aims and objectives
Feedback form Please give us feedback on our videos!

Devising Your Research Methods

Once you have decided on your research question or hypothesis, you can start to think about your research methods. The method is the way you will provide an answer to your research question, or test your hypothesis.

Are you going to use literature (secondary sources) only? Or are you going to use primary sources too? If so, existing data (secondary data, e.g. statistics, company data) or data you’ll find yourself (primary data, e.g. interviews, questionnaires, experiments)? Is the research going to be qualitative or quantitative? Will you need ethical clearance?

To get started on devising your methodology you might want to have a look at the research methods others have used. When considering which methods to use, ask yourself:

Is this a good method?

What makes it a good method?

Why did the researchers choose this method?

Are there any limitations?

Were any factors not considered?

Were there any biases?

Why would this work/not work for my research?

Can I improve this method in any way?

For more guidance on approach, check out the Methodology Guide .

Creswell, J. and Creswell, J. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches . London: Sage

Hulley, S., Cummings, S. and Browner, W. (2007). Designing Clinical Research . England: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Locke, L., Spirduso, W. and Silverman, S. (2014). Proposals that work . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.