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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 Straightforward Steps + Examples

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.

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21 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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Dissertation 101: Tips for researching and writing a doctoral dissertation

By Elizabeth Exline

When Rose Lorenzo got close to finishing her  master’s degree  at University of Phoenix (UOPX), she came to a crossroads. She could walk away with her degree and focus on building her company,  Lorenzo Financial , or she could scratch the itch for more academic knowledge and pursue her doctorate.

Lorenzo chose the latter. (And  still  managed to build her company, lay the groundwork to  launch a new school  and eventually get accepted to law school.)

“Although I knew what I wanted to study, I wish I had known how to choose the right topic and how to narrow that topic down before I started,” Lorenzo recalls.

Lorenzo, of course, is talking about the  dissertation , that book-length document that’s both the capstone of the doctoral degree and the driving force behind a doctoral program’s years of study and academic research.

But settling on a topic is just one part of a process that can intimidate even the most determined scholar. What’s exactly involved in a dissertation? And what’s the point of one anyway? Here, we take a deeper dive into the dissertation experience.

What is a dissertation?

A dissertation is an academic document prepared by a doctoral student that contains  original research  about a topic. The student identifies the  topic, conducts the research, writes the dissertation and defends it in front of a committee led by a dissertation chair and other doctoral faculty who decide whether the research meets the doctoral level research standards. If it does, the student will successfully complete the doctoral program, have their dissertation published in ProQuest and earn a terminal degree , which means the highest education level that can be earned in a field.

The dissertation, in other words, is important. But why all the fuss in the first place? According to Rodney Luster, PhD, a dissertation can enhance society’s overall  knowledge and understanding about an issue and ignite a person’s area of interest and expertise, as well as enhance that expertise .

Luster is the chair for the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research within the College of Doctoral Studies at University of Phoenix , and he points to his own dissertation by way of example. 

His research concerned what is currently known as vicarious trauma, a phenomenon he witnessed among his college students after the 9/11 attacks. His students hadn’t been anywhere near the attack, and yet he noticed they displayed classic signs of trauma. This piqued his interest.

“I was able to conduct what I understand was the first research study looking at  vicarious trauma  in the general population, and that has opened up a lot of doors,” Luster explains.

Now an expert on the concept, he has seen the phenomenon after subsequent events, such as Hurricane Katrina.

Lorenzo’s research was more tailored to her area of interest. She ultimately whittled down her topic from how leadership impacts entrepreneurial success or failure to how it impacts female entrepreneurs specifically.

Topics, in other words, offer the freedom for students to follow their curiosity and experience with the goal of potentially  solving a problem  or  adding to a field’s body of knowledge .

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Practitioner doctorate vs. PhD – 5 things to know before getting started

Dissertation vs. thesis — what's the difference.

Some people may confuse a dissertation with a thesis, but they’re not the same thing. While similar in nature in that they are both the capstone of an academic program, the biggest difference is where a dissertation and a thesis fit in the educational journey. As explained, a doctoral student completes a dissertation, while a thesis is a research paper for a master’s-level student or sometimes within a bachelor’s program. 

There are other differences as well. One is the level of research involved. Often, a thesis is based on existing research. This means that an undergrad or graduate student will compile various research findings to defend a theory or idea in a thesis. A dissertation on the other hand requires doctoral students to conduct, present and defend their own research.

The two documents differ in length too. A thesis is often much shorter and can range from 40 to 60 pages for an undergraduate thesis and from 60 to upward of 100 pages for a master's thesis. A dissertation is 150 to 300 pages, or 80,000 to 100,000 words. As noted, whether it’s presented in front of a panel of faculty or academics as an oral defense is another key difference. This is often required for a dissertation, but oral defense of a thesis may depend on the program or institution.

How to write a dissertation

Figuring out a dissertation topic is a process as individualized as the students in a doctoral degree program. Luster usually encourages candidates to  begin with a title .

“That’s going to be your selling point for everything, and it has to be understandable. It must be concise. It must have a theoretical construct in it. The title will take you a lot of places and will help lead you into the writing process.”

To this Lorenzo adds a less lofty but equally valid cross-check: She learned to really drill down any topic with the question, “ Who cares? ” If there are people who are invested in learning more about the topic (if there are, in other words, people who care), it may warrant further research.

These preliminary exercises lay a solid foundation for the dissertation process, but the actual research and writing can still feel intimidating. Luster, for example, had written a book before starting his dissertation, and points out that a dissertation “is not like any other writing that you’ve done.”

So, where do you start? At UOPX, you start in your first class.

Understanding ACCESS

The dissertation process at UOPX was revamped and rolled out in September 2019, notes Shawn C. Todd-Boone, EdD, the associate dean for ACCESS, research and residency at the College of Doctoral Studies.

Luster says the process was reimagined based on extensive feedback and on a desire to make the process more effective and efficient.

One of the first ways the dissertation process changed was with the development of  ACCESS , an acronym for “ advancing community, critical thought, engagement, scholarship and success .”

This sequence is incorporated into the first three interdisciplinary courses of any doctoral program at UOPX with an eye toward introducing doctoral candidates to what Luster calls a “theoretical mindset.”

The ACCESS program attempts to nurture a culture of inquiry that helps retain doctoral candidates while inspiring them to innovate in their fields, Boone says.

ACCESS, in other words, sets the tone for the entire doctoral process, which is founded on innovation, research and critical thinking.

The five phases of the dissertation

Writing the dissertation occurs in what Luster describes as five phases over the course of different classes. These are:

• Phase 1: Develop a  prospectus , which is an outline of the research project.
• Phase 2: Draft the first chapter of the dissertation, which is known as the  précis .
• Phase 3: Undergo a  concept review  and develop the second chapter.
• Phase 4: Focus on the  proposal , write the third chapter and review chapters one through three.
• Phase 5: Obtain the approval of the  Institutional Review Board , which evaluates research according to the University’s ethical standards.

Better together: How three friends made earning their doctorates a team sport

The uopx difference.

The five phases of the dissertation writing process aren’t ubiquitous. Doctoral students work on a dissertation while going through the program at UOPX — which was very much intentional, according to Boone.

“We have five phases in the dissertation process and a deliverable at the end of each phase to encourage students to finish and to complete on time if they commit to the process,” Boone explains.

This is a notable improvement, according to Lorenzo. “It is more effective to start your research on day one than wait, because it's easier to identify the gap in research and eliminate wasted research time on topics that are not relevant to your study, and [it] helps contribute to the literature review of the study,” she says.

But this process isn’t the only benefit UOPX students enjoy. The doctoral program has several other distinctive features:

• Once upon a time, students interviewed potential research chairs to take on the oversight of their program. The result was stressful, with doctoral candidates often casting a wide net in the hope of securing a chair and then potentially ending up with someone who wasn’t quite the perfect fit. Today, UOPX takes the stress and potential mismatch out of the equation. “Students do not search for  dissertation committee members ,” Boone says. “We assign them.”
• Dissertations from UOPX tend to focus on  functional application  more so than just theory, Luster notes. This means topics have real-world applications, and communities and industries may benefit from the research. For example, one recent dissertation explored the integration of nurse graduates into hospital settings during COVID-19.
• Doctoral candidates have access to  diverse and extensive resources . In addition to comprehensive documentation about the dissertation process at UOPX, candidates can leverage one-on-one appointments with the University’s library staff, engage in workshops with research chairs and seek opportunities to work as research assistants.
• Rather than what Luster calls a sink-or-swim approach, UOPX has invested in a  mentor-driven approach . “I think that makes us largely different and successful with students, especially adult learners,” Luster says.

In the end, that sense of a safety net — both in terms of mentorship and the doctoral community itself — is one of the biggest reassurances doctoral candidates enjoy.

Lorenzo, for example, keeps in touch with a core group of colleagues she met through the program. “No one understands what you’re going through except for [your peers],” she notes.

Or, as Luster puts it: “You don’t have to worry, because you’ll acquire this information along the way, and you have a lot of good people to help you.”

How long is a doctoral dissertation?

Most are 100 to 300 pages and organized by chapters and/or sections and subsections. There are also often requirements for text size, page size and spacing that can depend on your doctoral program.

What are the parts of a dissertation?

A dissertation generally includes a Dissertation Acceptance Certificate, a title page, a copyright statement, an abstract (detailing the objective of the research, the methods and the outcome), a table of contents, the research itself and supplemental information (either as an appendix with charts and tables or as an uploaded file with digital information). Some dissertations include front and back matter, such as acknowledgments, a dedication, a glossary, a bibliography and related features.

Is a dissertation required for a doctorate?

Not always. While most doctoral and PhD degree programs require a dissertation, some don’t, and others require a capstone project.

What's the difference between a PhD and a doctorate?

Individuals who complete a PhD focus on producing new knowledge to contribute to a theory or body of research. Individuals who  complete a practitioner doctorate , on the other hand, focuses on how to apply knowledge to a field or particular issue.

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