what is the structure of a phd thesis

• Manuscript Preparation

Know How to Structure Your PhD Thesis

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In your academic career, few projects are more important than your PhD thesis. Unfortunately, many university professors and advisors assume that their students know how to structure a PhD. Books have literally been written on the subject, but there’s no need to read a book in order to know about PhD thesis paper format and structure. With that said, however, it’s important to understand that your PhD thesis format requirement may not be the same as another student’s. The bottom line is that how to structure a PhD thesis often depends on your university and department guidelines.

But, let’s take a look at a general PhD thesis format. We’ll look at the main sections, and how to connect them to each other. We’ll also examine different hints and tips for each of the sections. As you read through this toolkit, compare it to published PhD theses in your area of study to see how a real-life example looks.

Main Sections of a PhD Thesis

In almost every PhD thesis or dissertation, there are standard sections. Of course, some of these may differ, depending on your university or department requirements, as well as your topic of study, but this will give you a good idea of the basic components of a PhD thesis format.

• Abstract : The abstract is a brief summary that quickly outlines your research, touches on each of the main sections of your thesis, and clearly outlines your contribution to the field by way of your PhD thesis. Even though the abstract is very short, similar to what you’ve seen in published research articles, its impact shouldn’t be underestimated. The abstract is there to answer the most important question to the reviewer. “Why is this important?”
• Introduction : In this section, you help the reviewer understand your entire dissertation, including what your paper is about, why it’s important to the field, a brief description of your methodology, and how your research and the thesis are laid out. Think of your introduction as an expansion of your abstract.
• Literature Review : Within the literature review, you are making a case for your new research by telling the story of the work that’s already been done. You’ll cover a bit about the history of the topic at hand, and how your study fits into the present and future.
• Theory Framework : Here, you explain assumptions related to your study. Here you’re explaining to the review what theoretical concepts you might have used in your research, how it relates to existing knowledge and ideas.
• Methods : This section of a PhD thesis is typically the most detailed and descriptive, depending of course on your research design. Here you’ll discuss the specific techniques you used to get the information you were looking for, in addition to how those methods are relevant and appropriate, as well as how you specifically used each method described.
• Results : Here you present your empirical findings. This section is sometimes also called the “empiracles” chapter. This section is usually pretty straightforward and technical, and full of details. Don’t shortcut this chapter.
• Discussion : This can be a tricky chapter, because it’s where you want to show the reviewer that you know what you’re talking about. You need to speak as a PhD versus a student. The discussion chapter is similar to the empirical/results chapter, but you’re building on those results to push the new information that you learned, prior to making your conclusion.
• Conclusion : Here, you take a step back and reflect on what your original goals and intentions for the research were. You’ll outline them in context of your new findings and expertise.

Tips for your PhD Thesis Format

As you put together your PhD thesis, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. Here are some tips that might keep you on track.

• Don’t try to write your PhD as a first-draft. Every great masterwork has typically been edited, and edited, and…edited.
• Work with your thesis supervisor to plan the structure and format of your PhD thesis. Be prepared to rewrite each section, as you work out rough drafts. Don’t get discouraged by this process. It’s typical.
• Make your writing interesting. Academic writing has a reputation of being very dry.
• You don’t have to necessarily work on the chapters and sections outlined above in chronological order. Work on each section as things come up, and while your work on that section is relevant to what you’re doing.
• Don’t rush things. Write a first draft, and leave it for a few days, so you can come back to it with a more critical take. Look at it objectively and carefully grammatical errors, clarity, logic and flow.
• Know what style your references need to be in, and utilize tools out there to organize them in the required format.
• It’s easier to accidentally plagiarize than you think. Make sure you’re referencing appropriately, and check your document for inadvertent plagiarism throughout your writing process.

PhD Thesis Editing Plus

Want some support during your PhD writing process? Our PhD Thesis Editing Plus service includes extensive and detailed editing of your thesis to improve the flow and quality of your writing. Unlimited editing support for guaranteed results. Learn more here , and get started today!

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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10 tips for writing a PhD thesis

Ingrid curl shares simple rules for keeping your work clear and jargon-free.

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Writing up a PhD can often take place in a frenzy of activity in the last few months of your degree study, after years of hard work. But there are some steps that you can take to increase your chances of success.

• Do not be daunted by the task of “writing up”. Work on the text as your PhD takes shape, remember that all writers need editing, and help yourself by using these basic tips to make life easier. Read what great writers say about how to write before you start, and take their advice to heart. There is no dark art to clear, concise work; it is mostly a result of editing, and editing again. Above all, keep Elmore Leonard’s advice in mind: “If it reads like writing…rewrite it.”
• Plan the structure of your thesis carefully with your supervisor. Create rough drafts as you go so that you can refine them as you become more focused on the write-up. Much of writing comprises rewriting so be prepared to rework each chapter many times. Even Ernest Hemingway said: “The first draft of everything is shit.”
• Academic writing does not have to be dry. Inject some flair into your work. Read advice on writing and remember George Orwell’s words in Why I Write : “Never use the passive where you can use the active”; and Mark Twain’s on adjectives: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” If you prefer, Stephen King said: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
• Do not write up in chronological order. Work on each chapter while it is fresh in your mind or pertinent to what you are doing at that moment, but come back to it all later and work it up into a consistent, coherent piece, restructuring sections where necessary.
• Think carefully about your writing. Write your first draft, leave it and then come back to it with a critical eye. Look objectively at the writing and read it closely for style and sense. Look out for common errors such as dangling modifiers, subject-verb disagreement and inconsistency. If you are too involved with the text to be able to take a step back and do this, then ask a friend or colleague to read it with a critical eye. Remember Hemingway’s advice: “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Clarity is key.
• Most universities use a preferred style of references. Make sure you know what this is and stick to it. One of the most common errors in academic writing is to cite papers in the text that do not then appear in the bibliography. All references in your thesis need to be cross-checked with the bibliography before submission. Using a database during your research can save a great deal of time in the writing-up process. Helpful software includes EndNote or Paperpile. Managing your bibliography from day one may seem obsessive but it will save you a great deal of time and stress by the end of the PhD process.
• Use a house style. Professional publications such as Times Higher Education use a house style guide to ensure consistency in spelling. For example, do not use both -ise spellings and -ize spellings, stick to British spelling and be consistent when referring to organisations or bodies. Because dictionaries vary in their use of hyphenation, use one dictionary and stick to it throughout the writing process. If you consult the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors , you will note the extraordinary number of words with alternative spellings. It can also be a very useful guide to preferred spellings, use of italicisation and foreign phrases.
• Take care when quoting from other sources. Ensure you note whether the italic emphasis is in the original and take careful notes when you are collecting quotes for your thesis. Transcribe them accurately to save work later and keep original spellings (even if they differ from your chosen style) to ensure fidelity to your source.
• Think about plagiarism. If you are quoting from works, quote from them accurately and paraphrase where necessary for your argument. This is where careful note-taking and use of references is invaluable and will help you to avoid even inadvertently plagiarising another work.
• Remember that your thesis is your chance to present your work in the best possible light. Consider your opening paragraphs, entice your reader with your writing and above all be clear about your hypothesis and your conclusion. Append material where it adds value but not where it merely bulks out your work. Consider your reader at all times. This is your chance to showcase your work.

If you stick to these simple rules, your writing will be clear and jargon-free. Above all, take to heart Orwell’s advice: “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.”

Ingrid Curl is associate editor of  Times Higher Education , and a former PhD student.

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Structuring your thesis

Time spent thinking about and planning how you will structure your thesis is time well spent. Start to organise the material that you have already written into folders relating to each chapter. The following techniques may help you to decide upon a structure.

• Discuss the structure with a colleague, explaining it as a continuous story you're trying to write 
• Use visual techniques like mind-mapping
• Create a storyboard for your thesis. This tells the ‘story' of the thesis in a small number of panels that mix text and pictures
• Sort index cards with key ideas into a coherent structure
• Use post-it notes with key ideas on a whiteboard to make connections with lines and colours.

Analysing existing theses is a good starting point to get an idea of typical structures in your field. Theses will usually contain most or all of the following sections:

• Acknowledgements
• Contents page(s)
• Introduction
• Literature review (sometimes within the introduction)
• Materials/sources and methods (can be part of every chapter if these are different per chapter)
• Themed topic chapters
• Discussion or Findings
• Conclusions
• Your publications

Once a rough structure is sketched out, it is a good idea to assign each chapter a likely word length and, if possible, a deadline for a first draft.

Writing preferences

People have different preferences in terms of writing. Think about the approach that will work best for you. For example here are two examples of writing preferences. 

Planning writers tend to have a highly structured approach to writing and if this is your approach you may find the following tips helpful.

• Under each chapter heading define a series of sections
• Break these into sub-sections and keep breaking these down until you are almost at the paragraph level
• You can now work methodically through this set of short sections
• Check completed sections or chapters agree with your plan

Generative writers prefer to g et ideas down on paper and then organise them afterwards. If this approach suits you try the following approach.

• Choose a chapter and just start typing
• Then you need to do some work to impose a structure
• Summarise each paragraph as a bullet point
• Use this summary to gain an overview of the structure
• Re-order the writing and strengthen the structure by adding sub-headings and revising what you have written to make the argument clearer

Reviewing your structure

As your research and writing develop you will want to revise and rework your structure. Try to review do this on a regular basis and amend plans for future chapters as you become more aware of what the thesis must contain.

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The Structure of the PhD

What does a phd thesis actually look like.

The quickest way to find out what a PhD thesis actually looks like is to go to a university library and take a look at a few PhD theses. This will give you an idea of the content and standard required. However, you may be puzzled at the differences in the format and layout. The best thing would be to look at PhD theses in the subject area that you propose to do your research. Look at the more recent ones and try not to go back more than ten years. You may find that the layout for a PhD in management may differ in detail, but generally contain the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: literature review, chapter 3: research methodology, chapter 4: results, chapter 5: conclusion.

• Bibliography or References

The above represents the minimum number of chapters and their logical sequence. However, you may come across theses with more than five chapters. For instance, my thesis (Ahmad, 2001) is divided into eight chapters as follows:

• Chapter 4: Selection of Companies and Data Collection
• Chapter 5: Results (1)—Descriptive Statistics and Correlation
• Chapter 6: Results (2)—Complementary Fit: The use of hierarchical logistic and multiple regression in the analysis of the interaction effect between person and environment
• Chapter 7: Results (3)—Supplementary Fit: Co-worker congruence and superior—subordinate congruence
• Chapter 8: Discussion and Conclusion
• Bibliography

Notice that I have three results chapters and a separate chapter on the selection of companies and data collection. I conducted many statistical analyses and they were far too lengthy to be contained in a single chapter. So I divided them into three separate chapters according to themes. ‘Complementary fit’ and ‘supplementary fit’ are technical terms that I do not wish to elaborate in this book. Suffice to say that these are related but separate issues, and it is therefore logical to separate them into different chapters. Selection of companies and data collection are usually described in the research methodology chapter. However, I wrote about them in a separate chapter immediately after research methodology. It was more logical to do so as there were specific criteria for the selection of companies, due to the nature of my research. These criteria had to be described in some detail. Combining the chapters would make the resultant chapter too lengthy.

Thus, the issue of whether one should have more than five chapters, and what the additional chapters should be, would vary from thesis to thesis. Essentially, the main criteria would be one of length. If you find that your results chapter is too long, break it down into different chapters according to themes. If you feel that you should describe something in a separate chapter in order to draw special attention to it, by all means do so. This is of course provided that the new chapter is not too short. Generally there should not be chapters that are too long or too short. However, it is generally accepted for the introduction and conclusion chapters to be shorter compared to the other chapters in the thesis. Literature reviews and research methodology chapters tend to be long. It is always useful to look at other theses and compare them with your own. However, do not abandon your judgement and common sense. If you are completely lost, then ask your supervisor for his opinion!

On a general note, all the chapters should have an introduction and a conclusion as subtopics. For instance, the literature review should have an introduction as the first heading and a conclusion as the final heading. The same applies to the research methodology and other chapters. This enables the reader to grasp the essence of the chapter, by merely reading the introduction and the conclusion, without having to read the entire chapter.

I will now explain in detail what the chapters are that should be written and what each should contain.

The introduction sets the scene and generally hints at why the current research is necessary. I can safely say that I have yet to read a thesis that does not have an introduction. So, what should an introduction contain? My thesis (Ahmad, 2001) had the following sub-headings in the introduction chapter:

1.1 Historical development and current importance 1.2 Main purpose of this research

Another question that might be asked is, ‘What is the purpose of an introduction?’

The purpose of the introduction is to set the scene. It first gives a brief overview of the topics involved and more or less tries to justify why the current research is important. It gives an overview of the subject area of the research, the constructs involved, the problems with past research and to what extent the current research aims to address these problems. Now this might sound like a lot. Perhaps the reader can get a better idea of this by simply reading several theses to see exactly how other students have written their introductions.

A valuable tip that I can give you is the introduction should never be the first chapter that you write . In fact, a colleague of mine recommended to me that it should be written last. I feel that it can be written simultaneously with the conclusion after most of the other chapters have been written. The rationale for doing so is that the PhD process is rarely sequential. It is only after experimentation that you finally decide on what should be reported in your thesis. Of course, before embarking on a research you must be clear on what is it that you are trying to do: what constructs will be involved in your research, what research methodology you will be using and what statistical analyses you will be carrying out. However, the PhD research is very often fine-tuned as it progresses. What you have proposed earlier on may not be feasible now. You may have found a better method along the way. As I mentioned earlier, the PhD process is a process of discovery. You discover and learn things progressively up to the end, rather than learn it all from the beginning. You are constantly improving yourself every step of the way. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that things that you proposed in the early stages can be substituted by something better. In fact, this was what happened to me. During my research proposal, I merely planned to look at three-dimensional graphs to investigate the interacting effects of group work environment on the relationship between personality and satisfaction. Subsequently, I found a better method, i.e. using a statistical test of hierarchical regression to investigate the moderating effect of the work environment on the personality-satisfaction relationship.

Another crucial point which I found recently is that you should address issues relevant to the study at hand and not describe at length, factors or variables which are not part of the study. If you do so, you are actually inviting the examiners to question you about their relevance, or possibly worse, ask you to justify why you have not included these variables in your study.

This is probably one of the first chapters that you will write. However, you probably have to keep amending the same throughout your entire PhD period. The literature review should discuss the constructs (e.g. job satisfaction, personality) which are used in the current research. A literature review is a way of demonstrating that you have a full professional grasp of the background theory relating to your subject and that you are aware of the controversies, developments and breakthroughs that are currently exciting or engaging leading practitioners in the subject. Thus the literature review should not be a mere recitation of what other researchers have done in the area of the proposed research; instead, it should be a critical evaluation of what other researchers have done. It should identify a gap in the literature (i.e. an area or issue that no previous reported research has addressed) that the proposed research intends to fill. The literature review should identify the strengths and weaknesses of previous research. The articles should be arranged in such a way that the writer can build up his case from one article to the next. The literature review should also end by showing how these different variables are related. In addition, it should end with a summary of all the weaknesses and omissions of previous research—weaknesses and omissions that the current research will address. In other words, you are not only criticising previous research but you are able to devise a research design that will overcome the criticism that you are making. So, the literature review chapter may end with the proposal of a new model that will capitalise on the strengths of previous research while avoiding their weaknesses.

Of all the chapters in the thesis, the literature review probably contains the most cited articles/books—generally around 200 in total.

The research methodology chapter should contain the following:

• The research design.
• An enumeration of the predictor variables.
• An enumeration of the dependent variables.
• Demographic data, e.g. age, sex, etc.
• Rationale for the use of questionnaires (or whatever method used).
• Detailed description of the questionnaires used. A brief description of alternatives available and why they were not chosen.
• Possible sources of error.
• Development of theory and hypotheses.

The research methodology is similar to the literature review because articles of previous studies are also cited here. However, whereas the literature review focuses on the constructs, the research methodology focuses on the instruments that measure these constructs. The research methodology should describe in detail the instruments/questionnaires that were actually used in the study. It should also include a brief description of alternative instruments or methods available and why they were not chosen. Students should resist the temptation to enumerate in their theses all the different methods of data collection that are available, as well as detailed descriptions of the pros and cons of each method. In short, the student should not reproduce the textbook. I have seen instances where students were not awarded PhDs due to this reason. This is the difference between PhDs and MBAs. PhD students are expected to be already well acquainted with the existence and the pros and cons of the different methods of research. What is expected in a thesis is evidence that a rational decision has been made. Thus a thesis should contain a detailed description of the method chosen, and only a brief statement that the student is aware that there are other alternatives available, but that they were not chosen for the reasons given. If the reasons for the choice given were illogical, rest assured this issue will be raised in the viva.

I will now explain briefly the different research methods available. There are basically two main types of research— experimental and ex post facto (or after-the-fact research). Experimental research is one where the conditions are controlled so that one variable can be manipulated at a time in order to test a hypothesis. Put in another way, only one variable at a time (the independent variable) is manipulated and its effect on another variable (the dependent variable) is measured while all other variables that may confound the relationship are held constant or controlled. Only experimental research can allow the evaluation of causal relationships among variables. It usually involves two groups of subjects—the test group and the control group. Measurements of both groups are taken immediately prior to the test. Thereafter, in the case of the test group, one independent variable is manipulated while holding all other variables constant. In the case of the control group, no changes in any variables are made. Thereafter, measurements are made of both groups. Any changes in readings in the test group that were not in the control group can therefore be attributed to the change in the independent variable. One of my classmates used experimental research to measure the impact of certain advertisements on consumers' perceptions. He called in two sets of people—the test group and control group. First, he took measurement of their perceptions. Certain advertisements were shown to only the test group but not to the control group. He then took measurements of perceptions of both groups. He found that there were some changes in perceptions of the test group, but not of the control group, after he showed them the advertisements. Thus he could confidently say that the changes in perceptions were due to the advertisements. The objection towards experimental research is that it lacks external validity. This is because people are subjected to artificial conditions. They may not react the same way in real life. The next type of research, ex post facto , is more popular among social science researchers.

Ex post facto research takes measurements only once. No control of variables is attempted. Therefore, no causal relationship can be tested. Why is it then the more popular choice of research? This is probably because it is much simpler to conduct and respondents can be more easily accessed and at lower cost compared with experiments. Furthermore, there are a wide variety of ways in which data can be collected in ex post facto research. For instance, data can be collected via survey or observation. Via survey, data can be collected by questionnaires or by personal interviews. Self-administered questionnaires can be sent through the post or via email, or they can be completed in the presence of the researcher. Personal interviewing can be done face to face or by telephone. Face-to-face interviewing can be conducted by mall intercept, door to door or at the office by prior appointment. There are obvious advantages and disadvantages of each method. For instance, questionnaires sent by post can be relatively cheap, time saving and can cover wide geographical regions. However, they are notorious for their low response rate. The benchmark, i.e. acceptable response rate, has been said to be around 20 per cent. While this may be more easily achieved in countries such as Britain, it is an almost impossible task in Malaysia. I have heard some of my colleagues at University of Malaya complaining that they had sent out around 1,000 questionnaires and only managed to get around twenty-five questionnaires completed and returned (i.e. 2.5 per cent). Obviously, the low response rate can have some implications of response bias and a lack of validity, i.e. whether there are differences in characteristics between the few people who did respond, and the many who did not.

A student of mine at the University of Malaya tried to distribute her questionnaires by email. She also complained of an extremely low response rate. The filling of forms is an activity loathed by many Malaysians and this culture is not helping PhD students and other researchers at all. I feel that getting respondents to complete questionnaires in front of you is the best method of data collection, from the point of view of not only ensuring a high response rate, but also in terms of accuracy of results. This is because respondents will find it more difficult to refuse if you are physically present. Another advantage is that if the respondents are unclear of anything in the questionnaire, they can immediately seek clarification from you. In fact, I used this method of data collection in my PhD research. My collection of questionnaires took respondents approximately three hours to fill! Therefore, a lot of coaxing and persuasion had to be done on my part to ensure that the respondents completed all sections of all the questionnaires. Also, any questions raised by the respondents were immediately answered. In this way I managed to maintain the motivation and co-operation of the respondents.

Some of my classmates at the Manchester Business School collected their data by interview. They would interview the respondents at their workplace at an appointed date and time. Questions were structured (i.e. the same questions for all respondents) but open ended (i.e. respondents were free to phrase their answers as they wish). Although this method allows flexibility and the preparation of such questionnaires does not take as long (as answers do not have to be thought out by the researcher beforehand), a lot of time has to be spent subsequently in coding (i.e. translating the answers into numbers for use in a statistical software). In fact, I had only a few questions in my questionnaire that were open-ended. However, I spent much time trying to categorise certain words for the purposes of coding. It is an extremely tedious and time-consuming process and I would recommend that you should try to avoid asking open-ended questions, as much as possible.

In addition to carrying out a survey, additional data can also be collected by way of observation. Observation can be overt or covert. In overt observation the subject of observation knows that he or she is being observed, whereas in covert observation, the subject does not. Such data can be used to enhance and explain the data that were collected by survey. In my research (Ahmad, 2001), I used both overt and covert observations. After completing the questionnaire, I would follow the respondents to the shop floor and observe them at work. I also took note of the working conditions, the seating arrangements, the physical space, noise levels and the size of the team. From my observations, I was able to see that the physical arrangements allowed the assembly workers to interact with each other as a team. They were working sufficiently close to each other and the noise levels were sufficiently low to enable them to have a decent conversation with each other. However, what I also observed through overt and covert observations, was that although they were close to each other, the workers tended not to interact very much with each other. In fact, one of the supervisors said that the team members were working rather independently of each other. Thus valuable information can be obtained through observation, which can be used to support or supplement data collected by survey. So, even though most of my data were collected by closed-ended survey questionnaires, I supplemented the same with data collected by observation and even by some open-ended interviews with a few supervisors.

The research methodology chapter should usually end with the development and enumeration of hypotheses. Having said this, however, I do recall having seen PhD theses without a single hypothesis stated. So it appears that hypotheses are not mandatory in PhD theses. However, I have been informed by several professors that the more ‘modern’ approach for want of a better word, is to have the hypotheses stated prior to data analyses. As a rule of thumb, a thesis should contain at least two but not more than seven hypotheses. However, this is only a general guide. A thesis can have more than seven hypotheses if the student can show that they are actually related and can be grouped in say, three themes. For example, there can be three main hypotheses but each hypotheses is subdivided into four hypotheses, making twelve sub-hypotheses in total (Ahmad, 2001). A thesis that has thirty hypotheses or more will probably leave the examiner with an impression that the researcher lacks focus. The rationale behind insisting that there should not be too many hypotheses is that a PhD thesis should be focussed, i.e. it have considerable depth, not width.

The population, sampling method and the sample itself are usually described in the research methodology chapter. It may however, be placed in a different chapter if the student wishes to elaborate on the issue at length and the research methodology chapter is already too lengthy. For instance, I placed it in a different chapter with the headings as follows:

Chapter 4: Selection of Companies and Data Collection Introduction Part 1: Criteria for selection 4.2 Criteria for selection 4.3 Rationale for the choice of only one occupation and a few companies Part 2: Data collection 4.4 Introduction: Chronology of events 4.5 Pilot testing 4.6 Selection of companies 4.7 Brief description of the companies 4.8 Collection of qualitative data 4.9 Selection of the sample 4.10 Data collection methods 4.11 The data 4.12 Conclusion

A common mistake by students is to cite articles relating to methodology (such as the questionnaires) in the literature review when they should be in the research methodology chapter. Similarly, students sometimes make the mistake of citing articles relating to the variables in the research methodology chapter when they should be placed in the literature review chapter.

This usually begins with a statement of the preliminary analyses i.e. checking the missing data, linearity of distribution and homogeneity of variance. It should briefly describe the analyses used; for example, if the researcher used regression analyses, the regression equation should be stated. Results of analyses should be reported in tables and salient points reported in the text.

If analyses are many and detailed, it is better to present them in separate chapters. Thus there may be more than one results chapter. For instance, in Ahmad (2001), there were three separate results chapters and these were divided according to themes. For instance, the first results chapter contains the report of the preliminary analyses, basic statistics (frequencies, mean) and correlation. The second results chapter contains the hierarchical regression analyses pertaining to complementary fit. The final results chapter contains analyses pertaining to supplementary fit.

Graphs and tables should obviously be included in these chapters complete with numbered headings. However, what is less obvious is, how much should be included? Should the SPSS printouts be included? The answer is no, SPSS printouts should never be inserted directly in the chapters. Rather, only salient or pertinent figures should be inserted and presented in tables in the chapters. Computer printouts should only be included in the appendices. Furthermore, you may need to exercise your discretion on what printouts to include if there are too many. As a rule of thumb, appendices should never form more than half of the bound volume of the thesis. You cannot impress examiners with volumes of computer printouts. Essentially, appendices should be provided with the purpose of enabling the examiner to search for more information if he or she so desires. Thus the student should be able to discern the more important ones from those less so.

This should be a summary of all the previous chapters. The conclusion also reiterates what you set out to do from the beginning (i.e. your objectives) and assesses to what extent you were successful. Often the conclusion ends with a statement of the limitations of the study as well as proposals for future research. Usual limitations mentioned are:

• Having a small sample size.
• The study is conducted in a limited number of companies and occupations.
• The study is conducted in one country only.

The above limitations usually mean that the results of the findings cannot be generalised to the rest of the population, or to other populations. However, this in itself is not fatal. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised by the fact that the lack of external validity (inability to generalise findings) is a rather common limitation among PhDs in the social sciences.

A very important point that I wish to stress is that you should only make conclusions based on your data. I have seen students' theses, where the data points to ‘A’ but they conclude ‘B’ based on their own feelings and intuitions. If you are going to rely on intuitions, why collect data in the first place? So, do not make conclusions beyond your data, or worse still, do not make conclusions which actually contradict your results. This might sound terribly obvious and no one will make that mistake, you say. Believe me, I have seen that happen more than once.

Other Sections

In addition to the main sections mentioned above, your thesis should contain, at the beginning, an abstract that summarises your work. My supervisor advised me that the abstract should be written in such a way that readers would be able to know and understand what is contained in your thesis without having to read it fully! This means that it must be a concise, yet a complete summary of what you have done. The usual mistake made in the abstract is not summarising the results. The abstract should summarise the entire thesis. I feel that the easiest way for you to understand this is to have a look at other theses.

In addition to the abstract, there are the acknowledgements, layout of title, and contents pages. Normally there should be separate contents pages for tables, diagrams and appendices. Also there are requirements as to the width of the margins, paragraph spacing, type and size of fonts. You should consult your university's regulations regarding these. Another important section is the bibliography or references section. The importance of this is often underestimated by the students. It is without a doubt the most boring part of preparing a thesis. Yet time, care and effort have to be expended in preparing it as examiners are extremely fond of picking out mistakes in it. The rationale is that if you are relying on a particular theory that has been put forward by somebody else, then due credit should be given to him or her. Also, as a courtesy to your readers, you should give them a means to be able to find more information on the study, should he or she so desire. Students should consult previous PhD theses in their universities for the acceptable format. This is because formats used in PhD theses can differ slightly among universities.

A common complaint of supervisors is that their students' theses are ‘dry as dust’ or good cures for insomnia. I remember that when I was doing my PhD in Manchester, my late father told me that he was very interested in reading a PhD thesis. So I lent him one that was written on leadership. However, after a few days he complained that it was extremely dry. He stopped after having read only one third of the thesis. It is a fair statement to make that in general, theses are boring to the layman as they are rather technical. They are nothing like novels. So, do not be put off if your supervisor complains that your thesis is boring. It may be boring because he or she has to read it instead of being able to take a walk down to the pub. However, what you should be more concerned with is whether your thesis has sufficient merit for you to be awarded a PhD.

Here is a checklist of what must be included in the different chapters of a thesis:

• The introduction should contain the uniqueness, significance and contribution of the study and why the study should be conducted—i.e. there should be a theoretical contribution and a practical contribution.
• The main variables should be introduced here, setting the scene.
• Do not discuss at length in the introduction, variables which are not investigated in the current research.
• The literature review should discuss in depth all the variables which are subjects of the study.
• The literature review should also explain why and how all the dependent and independent variables in the study are related to one another.
• The literature review should be a critical review rather than mere recitation of previous research.
• The literature review should identify a gap in previous research. 8. If possible, identify a methodological weakness in previous research and how that has been overcome in your research. (In my opinion, this is preferable but not mandatory. However, some examiners may feel that it is mandatory and it is better to be safe than sorry).
• The research methodology should contain a diagram of the conceptual model, which should be described.
• The research methodology should cite articles reporting previous research which have made use of the questionnaires you have adopted in your research (if you use questionnaires)—this will justify the use of the questionnaires.
• The research methodology should also cite articles reporting previous research from which you have adopted your research design—this will justify your choice of the research design.
• The hypotheses must be formulated in accordance with your research questions and theoretical model.
• The items in your questionnaires should relate to your hypotheses.
• Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means, standard deviation and normality of distribution should be conducted. 15. Reliability and validity tests should also be conducted.
• More importantly, your results chapter should describe statistical tests that you have conducted in order to find support for your hypotheses.
• Report explicitly whether the results support the hypotheses or not—do not leave it to the examiners to figure it out for themselves.
• Report whether the results are consistent or contrary to your expectations; if they are contrary, explain why.
• The conclusions and recommendations should be based purely on the results obtained and not on the student's intuition. However, the student may attribute certain factors to be the cause, but the student must make it explicit that it is only a suggestion on the part of the student and the research can in no way confirm that. In other words the student can only offer a suggestion as a possible explanation of the events, although the research cannot confirm the same.
• The bibliography conforms to APA ( American Psychological Association ) style or whatever stipulated style.
• Ensure that all the articles mentioned in the thesis are listed in the bibliography and there are no articles which have been mentioned in the text but are not in the bibliography (NIBs—Not in bibliography).
• Also ensure that the bibliography does not give the citation of articles which have not been mentioned anywhere in the thesis (NITs—Not in text).

Although at the time of writing this checklist I have tried to come up with a comprehensive list, I cannot help but feel that I may have left something out or that new criteria may have arisen. So my advice to you is that the above list should be treated as containing the more obvious criteria, but should not be treated as exhaustive. It is absolutely critical that you should at the very least, make sure that you have all the items in this checklist, before submitting your thesis.

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• Structuring your thesis
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• How to write a thesis

The best structure for your HDR thesis will depend on your discipline and the research you aim to communicate.

Before you begin writing your thesis, make sure you've read our advice on thesis preparation for information on the requirements you'll need to meet.

Once you've done this, you can begin to think about how to structure your thesis. To help you get started, we've outlined a basic structure below, but the requirements for your discipline may be different .

If you need help determining a suitable structure:

• read other theses in your discipline – you can search for UQ theses on the Library website. For prime examples, search for theses that received commendations from their examiners
• check with your advisor.

A basic thesis structure includes the following sections:

Introduction and literature review

Results or findings.

An abstract is a summary of your entire thesis and should provide a complete overview of the thesis, including your key results and findings.

An abstract is different to your introduction, and shouldn't be used to advertise your thesis — it should provide enough information to allow readers to understand what they'll learn by reading the thesis.

Your abstract should answer the following questions:

• What did you do?
• How did you do it?
• Why was it worth doing?
• What were the key results?
• What are the implications or significance of the results?

As your abstract will have a word limit, you may be unable to answer every question in detail. If you find yourself running out of words, make sure you include your key findings before other information.

All theses require introductions and literature reviews, but the structure and location of these can vary.

In some cases, your literature review will be incorporated into the introduction. You may also review literature in other parts of your thesis, such as in the methods section.

Other options for structuring an introduction and literature review include:

• a brief introductory chapter with a longer, separate literature review chapter
• a long introductory chapter with a brief introductory section followed by literature review sections
• a brief introductory chapter with detailed literature reviews relevant to the topic of each chapter provided separately in each chapter — this is common in a thesis comprised of publications.

If you have a separate introduction and literature review, they should complement, not repeat, each other.

The introduction should outline the background and significance of the broad area of study, as well as your:

• general aims – what you intend to contribute to the understanding of a topic
• specific objectives – which particular aspects of that topic you'll be investigating
• the rationale for proceeding in the way that you did
• your motivation or the justification for your research – the level of detail can vary depending on how much detail you will be including in a literature review.

The literature review should provide a more detailed analysis of research in the field, and present more specific aims or hypotheses for your research. What's expected for a literature review varies depending on your:

• program – a PhD thesis requires a more extensive literature review than an MPhil thesis
• discipline – analyse well-written examples from your discipline to learn the conventions for content and structure.

To get some ideas about how to structure and integrate your literature review, look at how to write a literature review and an example analysis of a literature review , or talk to your advisor.

A possible structure for your methods section is to include an introduction that provides a justification and explanation of the methodological approach you chose, followed by relevant sub-sections. Some standard sub-sections of a methods chapter include:

• Participants
• Procedures.

How the methods section is structured can depend on your discipline, so review other theses from your discipline for ideas for structure.

Regardless of structure, the methods section should explain:

• how you collected and analysed your data – you only need to include enough detail that another expert in the field could repeat what you've done (you don't have to detail field standard techniques or tests)
• why you chose to collect specific data
• how this data will help you to answer your research questions
• why you chose the approach you went with.

You may want to present your results separately to your discussion. If so, use the results section to:

• specify the data you collected and how it was were prepared for analysis
• describe the data analysis (e.g. define the type of statistical test that was applied to the data)
• describe the outcome of the analysis
• present a summary and descriptive statistics in a table or graph.

Use tables and figures effectively

Reports usually include tables, graphs and other graphics to present data and supplement the text. To learn how to design and use these elements effectively, see our guides to:

• incorporating tables, figures, statistics and equations (PDF, 1.2MB)
• graphic presentation (PDF, 2.9MB) .

Use the discussion section to:

• comment on your results and explain what they mean
• compare, contrast and relate your results back to theory or the findings of other studies
• identify and explain any unexpected results
• identify any limitations to your research and any questions that your research was unable to answer
• discuss the significance or implications of your results.

If you find that your research ends up in a different direction to what you intended, it can help to explicitly acknowledge this and explain why in this section.

Use the conclusion section to:

• emphasise that you've met your research aims
• summarise the main findings of your research
• restate the limitations of your research and make suggestions for further research.

In some cases, the discussion and conclusion sections can be combined. Check with your advisor if you want to combine these sections.

• Thesis writing tips

Learning Advisers

Our advisers can help undergraduate and postgraduate students in all programs clarify ideas from workshops, help you develop skills and give feedback on assignments.

How a Learning Adviser can help

Further support

Writing a clear and engaging research paper Thesis and dissertation writing: an examination of published advice and actual practice Scientific writing

• How to Write an Abstract for a Dissertation or Thesis
• Doing a PhD

What is a Thesis or Dissertation Abstract?

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines an abstract in academic writing as being “ a few sentences that give the main ideas in an article or a scientific paper ” and the Collins English Dictionary says “ an abstract of an article, document, or speech is a short piece of writing that gives the main points of it ”.

Whether you’re writing up your Master’s dissertation or PhD thesis, the abstract will be a key element of this document that you’ll want to make sure you give proper attention to.

What is the Purpose of an Abstract?

The aim of a thesis abstract is to give the reader a broad overview of what your research project was about and what you found that was novel, before he or she decides to read the entire thesis. The reality here though is that very few people will read the entire thesis, and not because they’re necessarily disinterested but because practically it’s too large a document for most people to have the time to read. The exception to this is your PhD examiner, however know that even they may not read the entire length of the document.

Some people may still skip to and read specific sections throughout your thesis such as the methodology, but the fact is that the abstract will be all that most read and will therefore be the section they base their opinions about your research on. In short, make sure you write a good, well-structured abstract.

How Long Should an Abstract Be?

If you’re a PhD student, having written your 100,000-word thesis, the abstract will be the 300 word summary included at the start of the thesis that succinctly explains the motivation for your study (i.e. why this research was needed), the main work you did (i.e. the focus of each chapter), what you found (the results) and concluding with how your research study contributed to new knowledge within your field.

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States of America, once famously said:

The point here is that it’s easier to talk open-endedly about a subject that you know a lot about than it is to condense the key points into a 10-minute speech; the same applies for an abstract. Three hundred words is not a lot of words which makes it even more difficult to condense three (or more) years of research into a coherent, interesting story.

What Makes a Good PhD Thesis Abstract?

Whilst the abstract is one of the first sections in your PhD thesis, practically it’s probably the last aspect that you’ll ending up writing before sending the document to print. The reason being that you can’t write a summary about what you did, what you found and what it means until you’ve done the work.

A good abstract is one that can clearly explain to the reader in 300 words:

• What your research field actually is,
• What the gap in knowledge was in your field,
• The overarching aim and objectives of your PhD in response to these gaps,
• What methods you employed to achieve these,
• You key results and findings,
• How your work has added to further knowledge in your field of study.

Another way to think of this structure is:

• Introduction,
• Aims and objectives,
• Discussion,
• Conclusion.

Following this ‘formulaic’ approach to writing the abstract should hopefully make it a little easier to write but you can already see here that there’s a lot of information to convey in a very limited number of words.

How Do You Write a Good PhD Thesis Abstract?

The biggest challenge you’ll have is getting all the 6 points mentioned above across in your abstract within the limit of 300 words . Your particular university may give some leeway in going a few words over this but it’s good practice to keep within this; the art of succinctly getting your information across is an important skill for a researcher to have and one that you’ll be called on to use regularly as you write papers for peer review.

Keep It Concise

Every word in the abstract is important so make sure you focus on only the key elements of your research and the main outcomes and significance of your project that you want the reader to know about. You may have come across incidental findings during your research which could be interesting to discuss but this should not happen in the abstract as you simply don’t have enough words. Furthermore, make sure everything you talk about in your thesis is actually described in the main thesis.

Make a Unique Point Each Sentence

Keep the sentences short and to the point. Each sentence should give the reader new, useful information about your research so there’s no need to write out your project title again. Give yourself one or two sentences to introduce your subject area and set the context for your project. Then another sentence or two to explain the gap in the knowledge; there’s no need or expectation for you to include references in the abstract.

Explain Your Research

Some people prefer to write their overarching aim whilst others set out their research questions as they correspond to the structure of their thesis chapters; the approach you use is up to you, as long as the reader can understand what your dissertation or thesis had set out to achieve. Knowing this will help the reader better understand if your results help to answer the research questions or if further work is needed.

Keep It Factual

Keep the content of the abstract factual; that is to say that you should avoid bringing too much or any opinion into it, which inevitably can make the writing seem vague in the points you’re trying to get across and even lacking in structure.

Write, Edit and Then Rewrite

Spend suitable time editing your text, and if necessary, completely re-writing it. Show the abstract to others and ask them to explain what they understand about your research – are they able to explain back to you each of the 6 structure points, including why your project was needed, the research questions and results, and the impact it had on your research field? It’s important that you’re able to convey what new knowledge you contributed to your field but be mindful when writing your abstract that you don’t inadvertently overstate the conclusions, impact and significance of your work.

Thesis and Dissertation Abstract Examples

Perhaps the best way to understand how to write a thesis abstract is to look at examples of what makes a good and bad abstract.

Example of A Bad Abstract

Let’s start with an example of a bad thesis abstract:

In this project on “The Analysis of the Structural Integrity of 3D Printed Polymers for use in Aircraft”, my research looked at how 3D printing of materials can help the aviation industry in the manufacture of planes. Plane parts can be made at a lower cost using 3D printing and made lighter than traditional components. This project investigated the structural integrity of EBM manufactured components, which could revolutionise the aviation industry.

What Makes This a Bad Abstract

Hopefully you’ll have spotted some of the reasons this would be considered a poor abstract, not least because the author used up valuable words by repeating the lengthy title of the project in the abstract.

Working through our checklist of the 6 key points you want to convey to the reader:

• There has been an attempt to introduce the research area , albeit half-way through the abstract but it’s not clear if this is a materials science project about 3D printing or is it about aircraft design.
• There’s no explanation about where the gap in the knowledge is that this project attempted to address.
• We can see that this project was focussed on the topic of structural integrity of materials in aircraft but the actual research aims or objectives haven’t been defined.
• There’s no mention at all of what the author actually did to investigate structural integrity. For example was this an experimental study involving real aircraft, or something in the lab, computer simulations etc.
• The author also doesn’t tell us a single result of his research, let alone the key findings !
• There’s a bold claim in the last sentence of the abstract that this project could revolutionise the aviation industry, and this may well be the case, but based on the abstract alone there is no evidence to support this as it’s not even clear what the author did .

This is an extreme example but is a good way to illustrate just how unhelpful a poorly written abstract can be. At only 71 words long, it definitely hasn’t maximised the amount of information that could be presented and the what they have presented has lacked clarity and structure.

A final point to note is the use of the EBM acronym, which stands for Electron Beam Melting in the context of 3D printing; this is a niche acronym for the author to assume that the reader would know the meaning of. It’s best to avoid acronyms in your abstract all together even if it’s something that you might expect most people to know about, unless you specifically define the meaning first.

Example of A Good Abstract

Having seen an example of a bad thesis abstract, now lets look at an example of a good PhD thesis abstract written about the same (fictional) project:

Additive manufacturing (AM) of titanium alloys has the potential to enable cheaper and lighter components to be produced with customised designs for use in aircraft engines. Whilst the proof-of-concept of these have been promising, the structural integrity of AM engine parts in response to full thrust and temperature variations is not clear.

The primary aim of this project was to determine the fracture modes and mechanisms of AM components designed for use in Boeing 747 engines. To achieve this an explicit finite element (FE) model was developed to simulate the environment and parameters that the engine is exposed to during flight. The FE model was validated using experimental data replicating the environmental parameters in a laboratory setting using ten AM engine components provided by the industry sponsor. The validated FE model was then used to investigate the extent of crack initiation and propagation as the environment parameters were adjusted.

This project was the first to investigate fracture patterns in AM titanium components used in aircraft engines; the key finding was that the presence of cavities within the structures due to errors in the printing process, significantly increased the risk of fracture. Secondly, the simulations showed that cracks formed within AM parts were more likely to worsen and lead to component failure at subzero temperatures when compared to conventionally manufactured parts. This has demonstrated an important safety concern which needs to be addressed before AM parts can be used in commercial aircraft.

What Makes This a Good Abstract

Having read this ‘good abstract’ you should have a much better understand about what the subject area is about, where the gap in the knowledge was, the aim of the project, the methods that were used, key results and finally the significance of these results. To break these points down further, from this good abstract we now know that:

• The research area is around additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) of materials for use in aircraft.
• The gap in knowledge was how these materials will behave structural when used in aircraft engines.
• The aim was specifically to investigate how the components can fracture.
• The methods used to investigate this were a combination of computational and lab based experimental modelling.
• The key findings were the increased risk of fracture of these components due to the way they are manufactured.
• The significance of these findings were that it showed a potential risk of component failure that could comprise the safety of passengers and crew on the aircraft.

The abstract text has a much clearer flow through these different points in how it’s written and has made much better use of the available word count. Acronyms have even been used twice in this good abstract but they were clearly defined the first time they were introduced in the text so that there was no confusion about their meaning.

The abstract you write for your dissertation or thesis should succinctly explain to the reader why the work of your research was needed, what you did, what you found and what it means. Most people that come across your thesis, including any future employers, are likely to read only your abstract. Even just for this reason alone, it’s so important that you write the best abstract you can; this will not only convey your research effectively but also put you in the best light possible as a researcher.

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• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

Published on 15 September 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on 5 December 2023.

A thesis is a type of research paper based on your original research. It is usually submitted as the final step of a PhD program in the UK.

Writing a thesis can be a daunting experience. Indeed, alongside a dissertation , it is the longest piece of writing students typically complete. It relies on your ability to conduct research from start to finish: designing your research , collecting data , developing a robust analysis, drawing strong conclusions , and writing concisely .

Thesis template

You can also download our full thesis template in the format of your choice below. Our template includes a ready-made table of contents , as well as guidance for what each chapter should include. It’s easy to make it your own, and can help you get started.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

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Table of contents

Thesis vs. thesis statement, how to structure a thesis, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your thesis, frequently asked questions about theses.

You may have heard the word thesis as a standalone term or as a component of academic writing called a thesis statement . Keep in mind that these are two very different things.

• A thesis statement is a very common component of an essay, particularly in the humanities. It usually comprises 1 or 2 sentences in the introduction of your essay , and should clearly and concisely summarise the central points of your academic essay .
• A thesis is a long-form piece of academic writing, often taking more than a full semester to complete. It is generally a degree requirement to complete a PhD program.
• In many countries, particularly the UK, a dissertation is generally written at the bachelor’s or master’s level.
• In the US, a dissertation is generally written as a final step toward obtaining a PhD.

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The final structure of your thesis depends on a variety of components, such as:

• Your discipline
• Your theoretical approach

Humanities theses are often structured more like a longer-form essay . Just like in an essay, you build an argument to support a central thesis.

In both hard and social sciences, theses typically include an introduction , literature review , methodology section ,  results section , discussion section , and conclusion section . These are each presented in their own dedicated section or chapter. In some cases, you might want to add an appendix .

Thesis examples

We’ve compiled a short list of thesis examples to help you get started.

• Example thesis #1:   ‘Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the “Noble Savage” on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807’ by Suchait Kahlon.
• Example thesis #2: ‘”A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man”: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947’ by Julian Saint Reiman.

The very first page of your thesis contains all necessary identifying information, including:

• Your full title
• Your full name
• Your department
• Your institution and degree program
• Your submission date.

Sometimes the title page also includes your student ID, the name of your supervisor, or the university’s logo. Check out your university’s guidelines if you’re not sure.

Read more about title pages

The acknowledgements section is usually optional. Its main point is to allow you to thank everyone who helped you in your thesis journey, such as supervisors, friends, or family. You can also choose to write a preface , but it’s typically one or the other, not both.

Read more about acknowledgements Read more about prefaces

An abstract is a short summary of your thesis. Usually a maximum of 300 words long, it’s should include brief descriptions of your research objectives , methods, results, and conclusions. Though it may seem short, it introduces your work to your audience, serving as a first impression of your thesis.

Read more about abstracts

A table of contents lists all of your sections, plus their corresponding page numbers and subheadings if you have them. This helps your reader seamlessly navigate your document.

Your table of contents should include all the major parts of your thesis. In particular, don’t forget the the appendices. If you used heading styles, it’s easy to generate an automatic table Microsoft Word.

Read more about tables of contents

While not mandatory, if you used a lot of tables and/or figures, it’s nice to include a list of them to help guide your reader. It’s also easy to generate one of these in Word: just use the ‘Insert Caption’ feature.

Read more about lists of figures and tables

If you have used a lot of industry- or field-specific abbreviations in your thesis, you should include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations . This way, your readers can easily look up any meanings they aren’t familiar with.

Read more about lists of abbreviations

Relatedly, if you find yourself using a lot of very specialised or field-specific terms that may not be familiar to your reader, consider including a glossary . Alphabetise the terms you want to include with a brief definition.

Read more about glossaries

An introduction sets up the topic, purpose, and relevance of your thesis, as well as expectations for your reader. This should:

• Ground your research topic , sharing any background information your reader may need
• Define the scope of your work
• Introduce any existing research on your topic, situating your work within a broader problem or debate
• State your research question(s)
• Outline (briefly) how the remainder of your work will proceed

In other words, your introduction should clearly and concisely show your reader the “what, why, and how” of your research.

Read more about introductions

A literature review helps you gain a robust understanding of any extant academic work on your topic, encompassing:

• Selecting relevant sources
• Determining the credibility of your sources
• Critically evaluating each of your sources
• Drawing connections between sources, including any themes, patterns, conflicts, or gaps

A literature review is not merely a summary of existing work. Rather, your literature review should ultimately lead to a clear justification for your own research, perhaps via:

• Addressing a gap in the literature
• Building on existing knowledge to draw new conclusions
• Exploring a new theoretical or methodological approach
• Introducing a new solution to an unresolved problem
• Definitively advocating for one side of a theoretical debate

Read more about literature reviews

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework, but these are not the same thing. A theoretical framework defines and analyses the concepts and theories that your research hinges on.

Read more about theoretical frameworks

Your methodology chapter shows your reader how you conducted your research. It should be written clearly and methodically, easily allowing your reader to critically assess the credibility of your argument. Furthermore, your methods section should convince your reader that your method was the best way to answer your research question.

A methodology section should generally include:

• Your overall approach ( quantitative vs. qualitative )
• Your research methods (e.g., a longitudinal study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., interviews or a controlled experiment
• Any tools or materials you used (e.g., computer software)
• The data analysis methods you chose (e.g., statistical analysis , discourse analysis )
• A strong, but not defensive justification of your methods

Read more about methodology sections

Your results section should highlight what your methodology discovered. These two sections work in tandem, but shouldn’t repeat each other. While your results section can include hypotheses or themes, don’t include any speculation or new arguments here.

Your results section should:

• State each (relevant) result with any (relevant) descriptive statistics (e.g., mean , standard deviation ) and inferential statistics (e.g., test statistics , p values )
• Explain how each result relates to the research question
• Determine whether the hypothesis was supported

Additional data (like raw numbers or interview transcripts ) can be included as an appendix . You can include tables and figures, but only if they help the reader better understand your results.

Read more about results sections

Your discussion section is where you can interpret your results in detail. Did they meet your expectations? How well do they fit within the framework that you built? You can refer back to any relevant source material to situate your results within your field, but leave most of that analysis in your literature review.

For any unexpected results, offer explanations or alternative interpretations of your data.

Read more about discussion sections

Your thesis conclusion should concisely answer your main research question. It should leave your reader with an ultra-clear understanding of your central argument, and emphasise what your research specifically has contributed to your field.

Why does your research matter? What recommendations for future research do you have? Lastly, wrap up your work with any concluding remarks.

Read more about conclusions

In order to avoid plagiarism , don’t forget to include a full reference list at the end of your thesis, citing the sources that you used. Choose one citation style and follow it consistently throughout your thesis, taking note of the formatting requirements of each style.

Which style you choose is often set by your department or your field, but common styles include MLA , Chicago , and APA.

Create APA citations Create MLA citations

In order to stay clear and concise, your thesis should include the most essential information needed to answer your research question. However, chances are you have many contributing documents, like interview transcripts or survey questions . These can be added as appendices , to save space in the main body.

Read more about appendices

Once you’re done writing, the next part of your editing process begins. Leave plenty of time for proofreading and editing prior to submission. Nothing looks worse than grammar mistakes or sloppy spelling errors!

Consider using a professional thesis editing service to make sure your final project is perfect.

Once you’ve submitted your final product, it’s common practice to have a thesis defense, an oral component of your finished work. This is scheduled by your advisor or committee, and usually entails a presentation and Q&A session.

After your defense, your committee will meet to determine if you deserve any departmental honors or accolades. However, keep in mind that defenses are usually just a formality. If there are any serious issues with your work, these should be resolved with your advisor way before a defense.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5-7% of your overall word count.

When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

If you only used a few abbreviations in your thesis or dissertation, you don’t necessarily need to include a list of abbreviations .

If your abbreviations are numerous, or if you think they won’t be known to your audience, it’s never a bad idea to add one. They can also improve readability, minimising confusion about abbreviations unfamiliar to your reader.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organise your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation, such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

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