motivation section dissertation

How To Write A Dissertation Introduction

A Simple Explainer With Examples + Free Template

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By Dr Eunice Rautenbach (D. Tech) | March 2020

If you’re reading this, you’re probably at the daunting early phases of writing up the introduction chapter of your dissertation or thesis. It can be intimidating, I know. 

In this post, we’ll look at the 7 essential ingredients of a strong dissertation or thesis introduction chapter, as well as the essential things you need to keep in mind as you craft each section. We’ll also share some useful tips to help you optimize your approach.

Overview: Writing An Introduction Chapter

• The purpose and function of the intro chapter
• Craft an enticing and engaging opening section
• Provide a background and context to the study
• Clearly define the research problem
• State your research aims, objectives and questions
• Explain the significance of your study
• Identify the limitations of your research
• Outline the structure of your dissertation or thesis

A quick sidenote:

You’ll notice that I’ve used the words dissertation and thesis interchangeably. While these terms reflect different levels of research – for example, Masters vs PhD-level research – the introduction chapter generally contains the same 7 essential ingredients regardless of level. So, in this post, dissertation introduction equals thesis introduction.

Start with why.

To craft a high-quality dissertation or thesis introduction chapter, you need to understand exactly what this chapter needs to achieve. In other words, what’s its purpose ? As the name suggests, the introduction chapter needs to introduce the reader to your research so that they understand what you’re trying to figure out, or what problem you’re trying to solve. More specifically, you need to answer four important questions in your introduction chapter.

These questions are:

• What will you be researching? (in other words, your research topic)
• Why is that worthwhile? (in other words, your justification)
• What will the scope of your research be? (in other words, what will you cover and what won’t you cover)
• What will the limitations of your research be? (in other words, what will the potential shortcomings of your research be?)

Simply put, your dissertation’s introduction chapter needs to provide an overview of your planned research , as well as a clear rationale for it. In other words, this chapter has to explain the “what” and the “why” of your research – what’s it all about and why’s that important.

Simple enough, right?

Well, the trick is finding the appropriate depth of information. As the researcher, you’ll be extremely close to your topic and this makes it easy to get caught up in the minor details. While these intricate details might be interesting, you need to write your introduction chapter on more of a “need-to-know” type basis, or it will end up way too lengthy and dense. You need to balance painting a clear picture with keeping things concise. Don’t worry though – you’ll be able to explore all the intricate details in later chapters.

Now that you understand what you need to achieve from your introduction chapter, we can get into the details. While the exact requirements for this chapter can vary from university to university, there are seven core components that most universities will require. We call these the seven essential ingredients . 

The 7 Essential Ingredients

• The opening section – where you’ll introduce the reader to your research in high-level terms
• The background to the study – where you’ll explain the context of your project
• The research problem – where you’ll explain the “gap” that exists in the current research
• The research aims , objectives and questions – where you’ll clearly state what your research will aim to achieve
• The significance (or justification) – where you’ll explain why your research is worth doing and the value it will provide to the world
• The limitations – where you’ll acknowledge the potential limitations of your project and approach
• The structure – where you’ll briefly outline the structure of your dissertation or thesis to help orient the reader

By incorporating these seven essential ingredients into your introduction chapter, you’ll comprehensively cover both the “ what ” and the “ why ” I mentioned earlier – in other words, you’ll achieve the purpose of the chapter.

Side note – you can also use these 7 ingredients in this order as the structure for your chapter to ensure a smooth, logical flow. This isn’t essential, but, generally speaking, it helps create an engaging narrative that’s easy for your reader to understand. If you’d like, you can also download our free introduction chapter template here.

Alright – let’s look at each of the ingredients now.

#1 – The Opening Section

The very first essential ingredient for your dissertation introduction is, well, an introduction or opening section. Just like every other chapter, your introduction chapter needs to start by providing a brief overview of what you’ll be covering in the chapter.

This section needs to engage the reader with clear, concise language that can be easily understood and digested. If the reader (your marker!) has to struggle through it, they’ll lose interest, which will make it harder for you to earn marks. Just because you’re writing an academic paper doesn’t mean you can ignore the basic principles of engaging writing used by marketers, bloggers, and journalists. At the end of the day, you’re all trying to sell an idea – yours is just a research idea.

So, what goes into this opening section?

Well, while there’s no set formula, it’s a good idea to include the following four foundational sentences in your opening section:

1 – A sentence or two introducing the overall field of your research.

For example:

“Organisational skills development involves identifying current or potential skills gaps within a business and developing programs to resolve these gaps. Management research, including X, Y and Z, has clearly established that organisational skills development is an essential contributor to business growth.”

2 – A sentence introducing your specific research problem.

“However, there are conflicting views and an overall lack of research regarding how best to manage skills development initiatives in highly dynamic environments where subject knowledge is rapidly and continuously evolving – for example, in the website development industry.”

3 – A sentence stating your research aims and objectives.

“This research aims to identify and evaluate skills development approaches and strategies for highly dynamic industries in which subject knowledge is continuously evolving.”.

4 – A sentence outlining the layout of the chapter.

“This chapter will provide an introduction to the study by first discussing the background and context, followed by the research problem, the research aims, objectives and questions, the significance and finally, the limitations.”

As I mentioned, this opening section of your introduction chapter shouldn’t be lengthy . Typically, these four sentences should fit neatly into one or two paragraphs, max. What you’re aiming for here is a clear, concise introduction to your research – not a detailed account.

PS – If some of this terminology sounds unfamiliar, don’t stress – I’ll explain each of the concepts later in this post.

#2 – Background to the study

Now that you’ve provided a high-level overview of your dissertation or thesis, it’s time to go a little deeper and lay a foundation for your research topic. This foundation is what the second ingredient is all about – the background to your study.

So, what is the background section all about?

Well, this section of your introduction chapter should provide a broad overview of the topic area that you’ll be researching, as well as the current contextual factors . This could include, for example, a brief history of the topic, recent developments in the area, key pieces of research in the area and so on. In other words, in this section, you need to provide the relevant background information to give the reader a decent foundational understanding of your research area.

Let’s look at an example to make this a little more concrete.

If we stick with the skills development topic I mentioned earlier, the background to the study section would start by providing an overview of the skills development area and outline the key existing research. Then, it would go on to discuss how the modern-day context has created a new challenge for traditional skills development strategies and approaches. Specifically, that in many industries, technical knowledge is constantly and rapidly evolving, and traditional education providers struggle to keep up with the pace of new technologies.

Importantly, you need to write this section with the assumption that the reader is not an expert in your topic area. So, if there are industry-specific jargon and complex terminology, you should briefly explain that here , so that the reader can understand the rest of your document.

Don’t make assumptions about the reader’s knowledge – in most cases, your markers will not be able to ask you questions if they don’t understand something. So, always err on the safe side and explain anything that’s not common knowledge.

#3 – The research problem

Now that you’ve given your reader an overview of your research area, it’s time to get specific about the research problem that you’ll address in your dissertation or thesis. While the background section would have alluded to a potential research problem (or even multiple research problems), the purpose of this section is to narrow the focus and highlight the specific research problem you’ll focus on.

But, what exactly is a research problem, you ask?

Well, a research problem can be any issue or question for which there isn’t already a well-established and agreed-upon answer in the existing research. In other words, a research problem exists when there’s a need to answer a question (or set of questions), but there’s a gap in the existing literature , or the existing research is conflicting and/or inconsistent.

So, to present your research problem, you need to make it clear what exactly is missing in the current literature and why this is a problem . It’s usually a good idea to structure this discussion into three sections – specifically:

• What’s already well-established in the literature (in other words, the current state of research)
• What’s missing in the literature (in other words, the literature gap)
• Why this is a problem (in other words, why it’s important to fill this gap)

Let’s look at an example of this structure using the skills development topic.

Organisational skills development is critically important for employee satisfaction and company performance (reference). Numerous studies have investigated strategies and approaches to manage skills development programs within organisations (reference).

(this paragraph explains what’s already well-established in the literature)

However, these studies have traditionally focused on relatively slow-paced industries where key skills and knowledge do not change particularly often. This body of theory presents a problem for industries that face a rapidly changing skills landscape – for example, the website development industry – where new platforms, languages and best practices emerge on an extremely frequent basis.

(this paragraph explains what’s missing from the literature)

As a result, the existing research is inadequate for industries in which essential knowledge and skills are constantly and rapidly evolving, as it assumes a slow pace of knowledge development. Industries in such environments, therefore, find themselves ill-equipped in terms of skills development strategies and approaches.

(this paragraph explains why the research gap is problematic)

As you can see in this example, in a few lines, we’ve explained (1) the current state of research, (2) the literature gap and (3) why that gap is problematic. By doing this, the research problem is made crystal clear, which lays the foundation for the next ingredient.

#4 – The research aims, objectives and questions

Now that you’ve clearly identified your research problem, it’s time to identify your research aims and objectives , as well as your research questions . In other words, it’s time to explain what you’re going to do about the research problem.

So, what do you need to do here?

Well, the starting point is to clearly state your research aim (or aims) . The research aim is the main goal or the overarching purpose of your dissertation or thesis. In other words, it’s a high-level statement of what you’re aiming to achieve.

Let’s look at an example, sticking with the skills development topic:

“Given the lack of research regarding organisational skills development in fast-moving industries, this study will aim to identify and evaluate the skills development approaches utilised by web development companies in the UK”.

As you can see in this example, the research aim is clearly outlined, as well as the specific context in which the research will be undertaken (in other words, web development companies in the UK).

Next up is the research objective (or objectives) . While the research aims cover the high-level “what”, the research objectives are a bit more practically oriented, looking at specific things you’ll be doing to achieve those research aims.

Let’s take a look at an example of some research objectives (ROs) to fit the research aim.

• RO1 – To identify common skills development strategies and approaches utilised by web development companies in the UK.
• RO2 – To evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies and approaches.
• RO3 – To compare and contrast these strategies and approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses.

As you can see from this example, these objectives describe the actions you’ll take and the specific things you’ll investigate in order to achieve your research aims. They break down the research aims into more specific, actionable objectives.

The final step is to state your research questions . Your research questions bring the aims and objectives another level “down to earth”. These are the specific questions that your dissertation or theses will seek to answer. They’re not fluffy, ambiguous or conceptual – they’re very specific and you’ll need to directly answer them in your conclusions chapter .

The research questions typically relate directly to the research objectives and sometimes can look a bit obvious, but they are still extremely important. Let’s take a look at an example of the research questions (RQs) that would flow from the research objectives I mentioned earlier.

• RQ1 – What skills development strategies and approaches are currently being used by web development companies in the UK?
• RQ2 – How effective are each of these strategies and approaches?
• RQ3 – What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these strategies and approaches?

As you can see, the research questions mimic the research objectives , but they are presented in question format. These questions will act as the driving force throughout your dissertation or thesis – from the literature review to the methodology and onward – so they’re really important.

A final note about this section – it’s really important to be clear about the scope of your study (more technically, the delimitations ). In other words, what you WILL cover and what you WON’T cover. If your research aims, objectives and questions are too broad, you’ll risk losing focus or investigating a problem that is too big to solve within a single dissertation.

Simply put, you need to establish clear boundaries in your research. You can do this, for example, by limiting it to a specific industry, country or time period. That way, you’ll ringfence your research, which will allow you to investigate your topic deeply and thoroughly – which is what earns marks!

Need a helping hand?

#5 – Significance

Now that you’ve made it clear what you’ll be researching, it’s time to make a strong argument regarding your study’s importance and significance . In other words, now that you’ve covered the what, it’s time to cover the why – enter essential ingredient number 5 – significance.

Of course, by this stage, you’ve already briefly alluded to the importance of your study in your background and research problem sections, but you haven’t explicitly stated how your research findings will benefit the world . So, now’s your chance to clearly state how your study will benefit either industry , academia , or – ideally – both . In other words, you need to explain how your research will make a difference and what implications it will have .

Let’s take a look at an example.

“This study will contribute to the body of knowledge on skills development by incorporating skills development strategies and approaches for industries in which knowledge and skills are rapidly and constantly changing. This will help address the current shortage of research in this area and provide real-world value to organisations operating in such dynamic environments.”

As you can see in this example, the paragraph clearly explains how the research will help fill a gap in the literature and also provide practical real-world value to organisations.

This section doesn’t need to be particularly lengthy, but it does need to be convincing . You need to “sell” the value of your research here so that the reader understands why it’s worth committing an entire dissertation or thesis to it. This section needs to be the salesman of your research. So, spend some time thinking about the ways in which your research will make a unique contribution to the world and how the knowledge you create could benefit both academia and industry – and then “sell it” in this section.

#6 – The limitations

Now that you’ve “sold” your research to the reader and hopefully got them excited about what’s coming up in the rest of your dissertation, it’s time to briefly discuss the potential limitations of your research.

But you’re probably thinking, hold up – what limitations? My research is well thought out and carefully designed – why would there be limitations?

Well, no piece of research is perfect . This is especially true for a dissertation or thesis – which typically has a very low or zero budget, tight time constraints and limited researcher experience. Generally, your dissertation will be the first or second formal research project you’ve ever undertaken, so it’s unlikely to win any research awards…

Simply put, your research will invariably have limitations. Don’t stress yourself out though – this is completely acceptable (and expected). Even “professional” research has limitations – as I said, no piece of research is perfect. The key is to recognise the limitations upfront and be completely transparent about them, so that future researchers are aware of them and can improve the study’s design to minimise the limitations and strengthen the findings.

Generally, you’ll want to consider at least the following four common limitations. These are:

• Your scope – for example, perhaps your focus is very narrow and doesn’t consider how certain variables interact with each other.
• Your research methodology – for example, a qualitative methodology could be criticised for being overly subjective, or a quantitative methodology could be criticised for oversimplifying the situation (learn more about methodologies here ).
• Your resources – for example, a lack of time, money, equipment and your own research experience.
• The generalisability of your findings – for example, the findings from the study of a specific industry or country can’t necessarily be generalised to other industries or countries.

Don’t be shy here. There’s no use trying to hide the limitations or weaknesses of your research. In fact, the more critical you can be of your study, the better. The markers want to see that you are aware of the limitations as this demonstrates your understanding of research design – so be brutal.

#7 – The structural outline

Now that you’ve clearly communicated what your research is going to be about, why it’s important and what the limitations of your research will be, the final ingredient is the structural outline.The purpose of this section is simply to provide your reader with a roadmap of what to expect in terms of the structure of your dissertation or thesis.

In this section, you’ll need to provide a brief summary of each chapter’s purpose and contents (including the introduction chapter). A sentence or two explaining what you’ll do in each chapter is generally enough to orient the reader. You don’t want to get too detailed here – it’s purely an outline, not a summary of your research.

Let’s look at an example:

In Chapter One, the context of the study has been introduced. The research objectives and questions have been identified, and the value of such research argued. The limitations of the study have also been discussed.

In Chapter Two, the existing literature will be reviewed and a foundation of theory will be laid out to identify key skills development approaches and strategies within the context of fast-moving industries, especially technology-intensive industries.

In Chapter Three, the methodological choices will be explored. Specifically, the adoption of a qualitative, inductive research approach will be justified, and the broader research design will be discussed, including the limitations thereof.

So, as you can see from the example, this section is simply an outline of the chapter structure, allocating a short paragraph to each chapter. Done correctly, the outline will help your reader understand what to expect and reassure them that you’ll address the multiple facets of the study.

By the way – if you’re unsure of how to structure your dissertation or thesis, be sure to check out our video post which explains dissertation structure .

Keep calm and carry on.

Hopefully you feel a bit more prepared for this challenge of crafting your dissertation or thesis introduction chapter now. Take a deep breath and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day – conquer one ingredient at a time and you’ll be firmly on the path to success.

Let’s quickly recap – the 7 ingredients are:

• The opening section – where you give a brief, high-level overview of what your research will be about.
• The study background – where you introduce the reader to key theory, concepts and terminology, as well as the context of your study.
• The research problem – where you explain what the problem with the current research is. In other words, the research gap.
• The research aims , objectives and questions – where you clearly state what your dissertation will investigate.
• The significance – where you explain what value your research will provide to the world.
• The limitations – where you explain what the potential shortcomings and limitations of your research may be.
• The structural outline – where you provide a high-level overview of the structure of your document

If you bake these ingredients into your dissertation introduction chapter, you’ll be well on your way to building an engaging introduction chapter that lays a rock-solid foundation for the rest of your document.

Remember, while we’ve covered the essential ingredients here, there may be some additional components that your university requires, so be sure to double-check your project brief!

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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42 Comments

Thanks very much for such an insight. I feel confident enough in undertaking my thesis on the survey;The future of facial recognition and learning non verbal interaction

Glad to hear that. Good luck with your thesis!

Thanks very much for such an insight. I feel confident now undertaking my thesis; The future of facial recognition and learning non verbal interaction.

Thanks so much for this article. I found myself struggling and wasting a lot of time in my thesis writing but after reading this article and watching some of your youtube videos, I now have a clear understanding of what is required for a thesis.

Thank you Derek, i find your each post so useful. Keep it up.

Thank you so much Derek ,for shedding the light and making it easier for me to handle the daunting task of academic writing .

Thanks do much Dereck for the comprehensive guide. It will assist me queit a lot in my thesis.

thanks a lot for helping

i LOVE the gifs, such a fun way to engage readers. thanks for the advice, much appreciated

Thanks a lot Derek! It will be really useful to the beginner in research!

You’re welcome

This is a well written, easily comprehensible, simple introduction to the basics of a Research Dissertation../the need to keep the reader in mind while writing the dissertation is an important point that is covered../ I appreciate the efforts of the author../

The instruction given are perfect and clear. I was supposed to take the course , unfortunately in Nepal the service is not avaialble.However, I am much more hopeful that you will provide require documents whatever you have produced so far.

Thank you very much

Thanks so much ❤️😘 I feel am ready to start writing my research methodology

This is genuinely the most effective advice I have ever been given regarding academia. Thank you so much!

This is one of the best write up I have seen in my road to PhD thesis. regards, this write up update my knowledge of research

I was looking for some good blogs related to Education hopefully your article will help. Thanks for sharing.

This is an awesome masterpiece. It is one of the most comprehensive guides to writing a Dissertation/Thesis I have seen and read.

You just saved me from going astray in writing a Dissertation for my undergraduate studies. I could not be more grateful for such a relevant guide like this. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much Derek, this has been extremely helpful!!

I do have one question though, in the limitations part do you refer to the scope as the focus of the research on a specific industry/country/chronological period? I assume that in order to talk about whether or not the research could be generalized, the above would need to be already presented and described in the introduction.

Thank you again!

Phew! You have genuinely rescued me. I was stuck how to go about my thesis. Now l have started. Thank you.

This is the very best guide in anything that has to do with thesis or dissertation writing. The numerous blends of examples and detailed insights make it worth a read and in fact, a treasure that is worthy to be bookmarked.

Thanks a lot for this masterpiece!

Powerful insight. I can now take a step

Thank you very much for these valuable introductions to thesis chapters. I saw all your videos about writing the introduction, discussion, and conclusion chapter. Then, I am wondering if we need to explain our research limitations in all three chapters, introduction, discussion, and conclusion? Isn’t it a bit redundant? If not, could you please explain how can we write in different ways? Thank you.

Excellent!!! Thank you…

Thanks for this informative content. I have a question. The research gap is mentioned in both the introduction and literature section. I would like to know how can I demonstrate the research gap in both sections without repeating the contents?

I’m incredibly grateful for this invaluable content. I’ve been dreading compiling my postgrad thesis but breaking each chapter down into sections has made it so much easier for me to engage with the material without feeling overwhelmed. After relying on your guidance, I’m really happy with how I’ve laid out my introduction.

Thank you for the informative content you provided

Hi Derrick and Team, thank you so much for the comprehensive guide on how to write a dissertation or a thesis introduction section. For some of us first-timers, it is a daunting task. However, the instruction with relevant examples makes it clear and easy to follow through. Much appreciated.

It was so helpful. God Bless you. Thanks very much

I thank you Grad coach for your priceless help. I have two questions I have learned from your video the limitations of the research presented in chapter one. but in another video also presented in chapter five. which chapter limitation should be included? If possible, I need your answer since I am doing my thesis. how can I explain If I am asked what is my motivation for this research?

Thank you guys for the great work you are doing. Honestly, you have made the research to be interesting and simplified. Even a novice will easily grasp the ideas you put forward, Thank you once again.

Excellent piece!

I feel like just settling for a good topic is usually the hardest part.

Thank you so much. My confidence has been completely destroyed during my first year of PhD and you have helped me pull myself together again

Happy to help 🙂

I am so glad I ran into your resources and did not waste time doing the wrong this. Research is now making so much sense now.

Gratitude to Derrick and the team I was looking for a solid article that would aid me in drafting the thesis’ introduction. I felt quite happy when I came across the piece you wrote because it was so well-written and insightful. I wish you success in the future.

thank you so much. God Bless you

Thank you so much Grad Coach for these helpful insights. Now I can get started, with a great deal of confidence.

It’s ‘alluded to’ not ‘eluded to’.

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How to Write an INTRODUCTION Chapter (of a Thesis)

So it seems like you’ve read my previous article on how to develop a fantastic marketing or management thesis idea , right?

That is great. But perhaps now you have a clear idea of what to do for your research project but you don’t know exactly how to start your bachelor or masters thesis?

No worries! We’ve got your back. Here are some (hopefully) useful tips to do a great job and impress your supervisor and reviewers!

First of all: There is NO specific correct way to structure the Introduction chapter. But I suggest you cover the following structure:

***********************************************************

• Introduction

1.1 Personal Motivation

1.2 Research Aims and Objectives

       1.2.1 Aim

1.2.2 Objectives

1.3 Structure of the Thesis

Let’s discuss each topic in detail so that you don’t miss anything and can look impressively smart!

Imagine that your grandma is going to read your thesis and it is entitled “Applying Machine to Machine Interaction to Improve Sustainability Practices in Music Festivals”.

Would she know what “Machine to Machine Interaction” is? (Maybe she does and even more than us two put together!). But let’s assume she has no clue!

Would she know which sustainability practices are applied in music festivals? (Well, maybe she went to Woodstock in 1969, had an affair with Jimmy Hendrix and helped them reduce water consumption!). But let’s assume she has no clue of what it is!

This is exactly the point of an introduction! The reader (whoever he/she may be!) has to be able to read your introduction and have an OVERALL idea and be FAMILIARIZED with the CONTEXT of your study.

And how do you achieve it? SIMPLE. Do the following:

• What is it? When did it start?
• Which are they? What are examples of practices applied to music festivals?
• What is the trend within the industry sector/product type/service type you are discussing? In the last decade, has it increased? Decreased? How large is the global/regional market size? What are sales volumes of key players?
• Use RELIABLE sources for your data: renowned institutions and organizations, research groups, scientific publications.
• Make sure to REFERENCE all your data.

Video Support: Introduction Chapter 

In case you are enjoying the article, do not forget to watch the video with further support on how to write the introduction chapter of your thesis.

Here is the section of the thesis where you describe your motivation for conducting a study on this topic.

In other words: Explain why you are writing about “Applying Machine to Machine Interaction to Improve Sustainability Practices in Music Festivals” and not about any other random topic such as: “If there is life on other planets, aliens would also be fans of The Beatles”.

To explain your motivation and why you chose this topic you should ideally be very personal and even write this section in the first person ( other academics might disagree with me on this, but it’s ok ).

And keep this section SHORT. Two GOOD paragraphs should be enough.

Here it is VERY SIMPLE. You have read the recommendations on LiveInnovation.org on “ How to Develop a Research Project (or Thesis) Idea ”, right? NO? (Oh man, it’s not easy being your supervisor. Honestly!). So go check the site for it!

If you have, (Good on you, I’m proud!), then simply describe your aim in a sub-section 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 your objectives.

The objectives in 1.2.2 can even be stated in bullet points.

And here it is absolutely easy!

Even if you have a headache, you team has lost, you ran out of Oreo Ice cream Sandwich in the fridge and  your 6 year old neighbor is learning to play the violin, you can still write this section.

It will only take you one or two paragraphs to describe in GENERAL terms what will be discussed in the following chapters.

ONE SUGGESTION: Leave this for last and only write it once you have finished the entire thesis.

So basically you should have done the following in this chapter:

• First you have familiarized your reader with the context of your study, regardless of who is reading (Your former hippie grandma or Michael Jordan).
• You have familiarized the reader with YOU, by explaining WHY you are writing about this topic.
• You have explained what the thesis will be about.
• Finally you have anticipated the reader with what he/she/it will face on the coming chapters until the end of the thesis.

So now you are DONE with Chapter one and can focus on the rest of the thesis!

(In case you want to thank me later: I truly enjoy beer, Port wine and Whiskey).

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Did you like this article? Would like to have these recommendations with you while studying?

GREAT! Simply download the file here with all details:  LiveInnovation.org - Introduction Chapter of a Thesis.pdf

In case you would like to have more research suggestions, check our research resources section .

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The purpose statement

The purpose statement is made up of three major components: (1) the motivation driving your dissertation; (2) the significance of the research you plan to carry out; and (3) the research questions you are going to address. Starting the first major chapter of your dissertation (usually Chapter One: Introduction ), the purpose statement establishes the intent of your entire dissertation. Just like a great song that needs a great "hook", the purpose statement needs to draw the reader in and keep their attention. This article explains the purpose of each of these three components that make up the purpose statement.

The "motivation" driving your dissertation

The "significance" of the research you plan to carry out, the "research questions" you are going to address.

Your choice of dissertation topic should be driven by some kind of motivation . This motivation is usually a problem or issue that you feel needs to be addressed or solved. This part of the purpose statement aims to answer the question: Why should we care? In other words, why should we be interested in the research problem or issue that you want to address?

The types of motivation that may drive your dissertation will vary depending on the subject area you are studying, as well as the specific dissertation topic you are interested in. However, some of the broad types of motivation that undergraduate and master's level dissertation students try to address are based around (a) individuals , (b) organisations , and/or (c) society .

Individuals face many problems and issues ranging from those associated with welfare , to health , prosperity , freedoms , security , and so on. From a health perspective, you may be concerned with the rise in childhood obesity and the potential need for regulation to combat the advertising of fast food to children. In terms of welfare and freedoms , you may be interested in the introduction of new legislation that aims to protect discrimination in the workplace, and its implications for small businesses.

Organisations also have a wide range of problems and issues that need to be addressed, whether relating to people , finances , operations , competition , regulations , and so forth. From a people perspective, you may be interested in how organisations use flexible working options to alleviate employee stress and burnout. In terms of regulations , you may be concerned with the growth in Internet piracy and the ways that organisations are dealing with such a threat.

Society is another lens through which you can view problems and issues that need to be addressed. These may relate to a wide range of societal risks or other problems and issues such as factory farming, the potential legalisation of marijuana, the health-related effects of talking on cell phones, and so forth. You may be interested in understanding individuals? views towards the potential legalisation of marijuana; or how these views are influenced by individuals? knowledge of the side-effects of marijuana use.

When communicating the motivation driving your dissertation to the reader, it is important to explain why the problem or issue you are addressing is interesting : that is, why should the reader care? It is not sufficient to simply state what the problem or issue is.

Whilst the motivation component of your purpose statement explains why the reader should care about your dissertation, the significance component justifies the value of the dissertation. In other words: What contribution will the dissertation make to the literature? Why should anyone bother to perform this research? What is its value?

Even though dissertations are rarely "ground-breaking" at the undergraduate or master's level (and are not expected to be), they should still be significant in some way. This component of the Introduction chapter, which follows the motivation section, should explain what this significance is. In this respect, your research may be significant in one of a number of ways. It may:

Capitalise on a recent event

Reflect a break from the past

Target a new audience

Address a flaw in a previous study

Expand a particular field of study

Help an individual, group, organisation, or community

When writing your purpose statement, you will need to explain the relationship between the motivation driving your dissertation and the significance of the research you plan to carry out. These two factors - motivation and significance - must be intrinsically linked; that is, you cannot have one without the other. The key point is that you must be able to explain the relationship between the motivation driving your dissertation and one (or more) of the types of significance highlighted in the bullets above.

The motivation and significance components of your Introduction chapter should signal to the reader the general intent of your dissertation. However, the research questions that you set out indicate the specific intent of your dissertation. In other words, your research questions tell the reader exactly what you intend to try and address (or answer) throughout the dissertation process.

In addition, since there are different types of research question (i.e., quantitative , qualitative and mixed methods research questions), it should be obvious from the significance component of your purpose statement which of these types of research question you intend to tackle [see the section, Research Questions , to learn more].

Having established the research questions you are going to address, this completes the purpose statement. At this point, the reader should be clear about the overall intent of your dissertation. If you are in the process of writing up your dissertation, we would recommend including a Chapter Summaries section after the Research Questions section of your Introduction chapter. This helps to let the reader know what to expect next from your dissertation.

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How to write a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

Unsure how to start your research proposal as part of your dissertation read below our top tips from banking and finance student, nelly, on how to structure your proposal and make sure it's a strong, formative foundation to build your dissertation..

It's understandable if the proposal part of your dissertation feels like a waste of time. Why not just get started on the dissertation itself? Isn't 'proposal' a just fancy word for a plan?

It's important to see your Master's research proposal not only as a requirement but as a way of formalising your ideas and mapping out the direction and purpose of your dissertation. A strong, carefully prepared proposal is instrumental in writing a good dissertation.

How to structure a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

First things first: what do you need to include in a research proposal? The recommended structure of your proposal is:

• Motivation: introduce your research question and give an overview of the topic, explain the importance of your research
• Theory:  draw on existing pieces of research that are relevant to your topic of choice, leading up to your question and identifying how your dissertation will explore new territory
• Data and methodology: how do you plan to answer the research question? Explain your data sources and methodology
• Expected results: finally, what will the outcome be? What do you think your data and methodology will find?

Top Tips for Writing a Dissertation Research Proposal

Choose a dissertation topic well in advance of starting to write it

Allow existing research to guide you

Make your research questions as specific as possible

When you choose a topic, it will naturally be very broad and general. For example, Market Efficiency . Under this umbrella term, there are so many questions you could explore and challenge. But, it's so important that you hone in on one very specific question, such as ' How do presidential elections affect market efficiency?'  When it comes to your Master's, the more specific and clear-cut the better.

Collate your bibliography as you go

Everyone knows it's best practice to update your bibliography as you go, but that doesn't just apply to the main bibliography document you submit with your dissertation. Get in the habit of writing down the title, author and date of the relevant article next to every note you make - you'll be grateful you did it later down the line!

Colour code your notes based on which part of the proposal they apply to

Use highlighters and sticky notes to keep track of why you thought a certain research piece was useful, and what you intended to use it for. For example, if you've underlined lots of sections of a research article when it comes to pulling your research proposal together it will take you longer to remember what piece of research applies to where.

Instead, you may want to highlight anything that could inform your methodology in blue, any quotations that will form your theory in yellow etc. This will save you time and stress later down the line.

Write your Motivation after your Theory

Your Motivation section will be that much more coherent and specific if you write it after you've done all your research. All the reading you have done for your Theory will better cement the importance of your research, as well as provide plenty of context for you to write in detail your motivation. Think about the difference between ' I'm doing this because I'm interested in it ' vs. ' I'm doing this because I'm passionate, and I've noticed a clear gap in this area of study which is detailed below in example A, B and C .'

Make sure your Data and Methodology section is to the point and succinct

Link your Expectations to existing research

Your expectations should be based on research and data, not conjecture and assumptions. It doesn't matter if the end results match up to what you expected, as long as both of these sections are informed by research and data. 

Published By Nelly on 01/09/2020 | Last Updated 23/01/2024

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Setting Goals & Staying Motivated 

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This vidcast talks about how to set goals and how to maintain motivation for long writing tasks. When setting goals for a writing project, it is important to think about goals for the entire project and also goals for specific writing times. These latter goals should be specific, measurable, and manageable within the time allotted for writing. The section on motivation shares ideas for boosting motivation over the course of a long writing project. The handouts on goal-setting and staying productive, as well as the scholarly writing inventory, complement the material in this vidcast and should be used in conjunction with it. 

Note: Closed-captioning and a full  transcript  are available for this vidcast. 

Handouts 

Goal-Setting for your Personal Intensive Writing Experience (IWE) | [PDF]

This handout guides writers through the important process of goal-setting for the personal Intensive Writing Experience. Specifically, it talks about how to (1) formulate specific, measurable, and reasonable writing goals, (2) set an overall IWE goal, (3) break up the overall goal into smaller, daily goals, and (4) break up daily goals into smaller goals for individual writing sessions. Writers are prompted to clear their head of distracting thoughts before each writing session and, after each session, to debrief on their progress and recalibrate goals as needed. 

Scholarly Writing Inventory (PDF) 

This questionnaire helps writers identify and inventory their personal strengths and weaknesses as scholarly writers. Specifically, writers are prompted to answer questions pertaining to (1) the emotional/psychological aspects of writing, (2) writing routines, (3) research, (4) organization, (5) citation, (6) mechanics, (7) social support, and (8) access to help. By completing this questionnaire, scholarly writers will find themselves in a better position to build upon their strengths and address their weaknesses. 

Stay ing Productive for Long Writing Tasks (PDF)

This resource offers some practical tips and tools to assist writers in staying productive for extended periods of time in the face of common challenges like procrastination. It discusses how the process of writing is more than putting words on a page and offers suggestions for addressing negative emotions towards writing, such as anxiety. The handout also lays out helpful methods for staying productive for long writing tasks: (1) time-based methods, (2) social-based methods, (3) output-based methods, (4) reward-based methods, and (5) mixed methods. 

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How to Write a Dissertation | A Guide to Structure & Content

A dissertation or thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on original research, submitted as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter).

The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes:

• An introduction to your topic
• A literature review that surveys relevant sources
• An explanation of your methodology
• An overview of the results of your research
• A discussion of the results and their implications
• A conclusion that shows what your research has contributed

Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an argument by analysing primary and secondary sources . Instead of the standard structure outlined here, you might organise your chapters around different themes or case studies.

Other important elements of the dissertation include the title page , abstract , and reference list . If in doubt about how your dissertation should be structured, always check your department’s guidelines and consult with your supervisor.

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review / theoretical framework, methodology, reference list.

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation’s title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo. Many programs have strict requirements for formatting the dissertation title page .

The title page is often used as cover when printing and binding your dissertation .

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The acknowledgements section is usually optional, and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you.

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150-300 words long. You should write it at the very end, when you’ve completed the rest of the dissertation. In the abstract, make sure to:

• State the main topic and aims of your research
• Describe the methods you used
• Summarise the main results
• State your conclusions

Although the abstract is very short, it’s the first part (and sometimes the only part) of your dissertation that people will read, so it’s important that you get it right. If you’re struggling to write a strong abstract, read our guide on how to write an abstract .

In the table of contents, list all of your chapters and subheadings and their page numbers. The dissertation contents page gives the reader an overview of your structure and helps easily navigate the document.

All parts of your dissertation should be included in the table of contents, including the appendices. You can generate a table of contents automatically in Word.

If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemise them in a numbered list . You can automatically generate this list using the Insert Caption feature in Word.

If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

If you have used a lot of highly specialised terms that will not be familiar to your reader, it might be a good idea to include a glossary . List the terms alphabetically and explain each term with a brief description or definition.

In the introduction, you set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance, and tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving necessary background information to contextualise your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of the research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your objectives and research questions , and indicate how you will answer them
• Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant to your research. By the end, the reader should understand the what , why and how of your research. Not sure how? Read our guide on how to write a dissertation introduction .

Before you start on your research, you should have conducted a literature review to gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. This means:

• Collecting sources (e.g. books and journal articles) and selecting the most relevant ones
• Critically evaluating and analysing each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g. themes, patterns, conflicts, gaps) to make an overall point

In the dissertation literature review chapter or section, you shouldn’t just summarise existing studies, but develop a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your own research. For example, it might aim to show how your research:

• Addresses a gap in the literature
• Takes a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
• Proposes a solution to an unresolved problem
• Advances a theoretical debate
• Builds on and strengthens existing knowledge with new data

The literature review often becomes the basis for a theoretical framework , in which you define and analyse the key theories, concepts and models that frame your research. In this section you can answer descriptive research questions about the relationship between concepts or variables.

The methodology chapter or section describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to assess its validity. You should generally include:

• The overall approach and type of research (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, experimental, ethnographic)
• Your methods of collecting data (e.g. interviews, surveys, archives)
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Your methods of analysing data (e.g. statistical analysis, discourse analysis)
• Tools and materials you used (e.g. computer programs, lab equipment)
• A discussion of any obstacles you faced in conducting the research and how you overcame them
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Your aim in the methodology is to accurately report what you did, as well as convincing the reader that this was the best approach to answering your research questions or objectives.

Next, you report the results of your research . You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or topics. Only report results that are relevant to your objectives and research questions. In some disciplines, the results section is strictly separated from the discussion, while in others the two are combined.

For example, for qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, the presentation of the data will often be woven together with discussion and analysis, while in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning. If you’re unsure, consult with your supervisor and look at sample dissertations to find out the best structure for your research.

In the results section it can often be helpful to include tables, graphs and charts. Think carefully about how best to present your data, and don’t include tables or figures that just repeat what you have written  –  they should provide extra information or usefully visualise the results in a way that adds value to your text.

Full versions of your data (such as interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix .

The discussion  is where you explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research questions. Here you should interpret the results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data and discuss any limitations that might have influenced the results.

The discussion should reference other scholarly work to show how your results fit with existing knowledge. You can also make recommendations for future research or practical action.

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument. Wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you did and how you did it. The conclusion often also includes recommendations for research or practice.

In this section, it’s important to show how your findings contribute to knowledge in the field and why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known?

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called a works cited list or bibliography). It’s important to follow a consistent reference style . Each style has strict and specific requirements for how to format your sources in the reference list.

The most common styles used in UK universities are Harvard referencing and Vancouver referencing . Your department will often specify which referencing style you should use – for example, psychology students tend to use APA style , humanities students often use MHRA , and law students always use OSCOLA . M ake sure to check the requirements, and ask your supervisor if you’re unsure.

To save time creating the reference list and make sure your citations are correctly and consistently formatted, you can use our free APA Citation Generator .

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices .

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• How it works

How to Structure a Dissertation – A Step by Step Guide

Published by Owen Ingram at August 11th, 2021 , Revised On September 20, 2023

A dissertation – sometimes called a thesis –  is a long piece of information backed up by extensive research. This one, huge piece of research is what matters the most when students – undergraduates and postgraduates – are in their final year of study.

On the other hand, some institutions, especially in the case of undergraduate students, may or may not require students to write a dissertation. Courses are offered instead. This generally depends on the requirements of that particular institution.

If you are unsure about how to structure your dissertation or thesis, this article will offer you some guidelines to work out what the most important segments of a dissertation paper are and how you should organise them. Why is structure so important in research, anyway?

One way to answer that, as Abbie Hoffman aptly put it, is because: “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information.”

Also Read:   How to write a dissertation – step by step guide .

How to Structure a Dissertation or Thesis

It should be noted that the exact structure of your dissertation will depend on several factors, such as:

• Your research approach (qualitative/quantitative)
• The nature of your research design (exploratory/descriptive etc.)
• The requirements set for forth by your academic institution.
• The discipline or field your study belongs to. For instance, if you are a humanities student, you will need to develop your dissertation on the same pattern as any long essay .

This will include developing an overall argument to support the thesis statement and organizing chapters around theories or questions. The dissertation will be structured such that it starts with an introduction , develops on the main idea in its main body paragraphs and is then summarised in conclusion .

However, if you are basing your dissertation on primary or empirical research, you will be required to include each of the below components. In most cases of dissertation writing, each of these elements will have to be written as a separate chapter.

But depending on the word count you are provided with and academic subject, you may choose to combine some of these elements.

For example, sciences and engineering students often present results and discussions together in one chapter rather than two different chapters.

If you have any doubts about structuring your dissertation or thesis, it would be a good idea to consult with your academic supervisor and check your department’s requirements.

Parts of  a Dissertation or Thesis

Your dissertation will  start with a t itle page that will contain details of the author/researcher, research topic, degree program (the paper is to be submitted for), and research supervisor. In other words, a title page is the opening page containing all the names and title related to your research.

The name of your university, logo, student ID and submission date can also be presented on the title page. Many academic programs have stringent rules for formatting the dissertation title page.

Acknowledgements

The acknowledgments section allows you to thank those who helped you with your dissertation project. You might want to mention the names of your academic supervisor, family members, friends, God, and participants of your study whose contribution and support enabled you to complete your work.

However, the acknowledgments section is usually optional.

Tip: Many students wrongly assume that they need to thank everyone…even those who had little to no contributions towards the dissertation. This is not the case. You only need to thank those who were directly involved in the research process, such as your participants/volunteers, supervisor(s) etc.

Perhaps the smallest yet important part of a thesis, an abstract contains 5 parts:

• A brief introduction of your research topic.
• The significance of your research.
•  A line or two about the methodology that was used.
• The results and what they mean (briefly); their interpretation(s).
• And lastly, a conclusive comment regarding the results’ interpretation(s) as conclusion .

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Tip: Make sure to highlight key points to help readers figure out the scope and findings of your research study without having to read the entire dissertation. The abstract is your first chance to impress your readers. So, make sure to get it right. Here are detailed guidelines on how to write abstract for dissertation .

Table of Contents

Table of contents is the section of a dissertation that guides each section of the dissertation paper’s contents. Depending on the level of detail in a table of contents, the most useful headings are listed to provide the reader the page number on which said information may be found at.

Table of contents can be inserted automatically as well as manually using the Microsoft Word Table of Contents feature.

List of Figures and Tables

If your dissertation paper uses several illustrations, tables and figures, you might want to present them in a numbered list in a separate section . Again, this list of tables and figures can be auto-created and auto inserted using the Microsoft Word built-in feature.

List of Abbreviations

Dissertations that include several abbreviations can also have an independent and separate alphabetised  list of abbreviations so readers can easily figure out their meanings.

If you think you have used terms and phrases in your dissertation that readers might not be familiar with, you can create a  glossary  that lists important phrases and terms with their meanings explained.

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Introduction

Introduction chapter  briefly introduces the purpose and relevance of your research topic.

Here, you will be expected to list the aim and key objectives of your research so your readers can easily understand what the following chapters of the dissertation will cover. A good dissertation introduction section incorporates the following information:

• It provides background information to give context to your research.
• It clearly specifies the research problem you wish to address with your research. When creating research questions , it is important to make sure your research’s focus and scope are neither too broad nor too narrow.
• it demonstrates how your research is relevant and how it would contribute to the existing knowledge.
• It provides an overview of the structure of your dissertation. The last section of an introduction contains an outline of the following chapters. It could start off with something like: “In the following chapter, past literature has been reviewed and critiqued. The proceeding section lays down major research findings…”
• Theoretical framework – under a separate sub-heading – is also provided within the introductory chapter. Theoretical framework deals with the basic, underlying theory or theories that the research revolves around.

All the information presented under this section should be relevant, clear, and engaging. The readers should be able to figure out the what, why, when, and how of your study once they have read the introduction. Here are comprehensive guidelines on how to structure the introduction to the dissertation .

“Overwhelmed by tight deadlines and tons of assignments to write? There is no need to panic! Our expert academics can help you with every aspect of your dissertation – from topic creation and research problem identification to choosing the methodological approach and data analysis.”

Literature Review 

The  literature review chapter  presents previous research performed on the topic and improves your understanding of the existing literature on your chosen topic. This is usually organised to complement your  primary research  work completed at a later stage.

Make sure that your chosen academic sources are authentic and up-to-date. The literature review chapter must be comprehensive and address the aims and objectives as defined in the introduction chapter. Here is what your literature research chapter should aim to achieve:

• Data collection from authentic and relevant academic sources such as books, journal articles and research papers.
• Analytical assessment of the information collected from those sources; this would involve a critiquing the reviewed researches that is, what their strengths/weaknesses are, why the research method they employed is better than others, importance of their findings, etc.
• Identifying key research gaps, conflicts, patterns, and theories to get your point across to the reader effectively.

While your literature review should summarise previous literature, it is equally important to make sure that you develop a comprehensible argument or structure to justify your research topic. It would help if you considered keeping the following questions in mind when writing the literature review:

• How does your research work fill a certain gap in exiting literature?
• Did you adopt/adapt a new research approach to investigate the topic?
• Does your research solve an unresolved problem?
• Is your research dealing with some groundbreaking topic or theory that others might have overlooked?
• Is your research taking forward an existing theoretical discussion?
• Does your research strengthen and build on current knowledge within your area of study? This is otherwise known as ‘adding to the existing body of knowledge’ in academic circles.

Tip: You might want to establish relationships between variables/concepts to provide descriptive answers to some or all of your research questions. For instance, in case of quantitative research, you might hypothesise that variable A is positively co-related to variable B that is, one increases and so does the other one.

Research Methodology

The methods and techniques ( secondary and/or primar y) employed to collect research data are discussed in detail in the  Methodology chapter. The most commonly used primary data collection methods are:

• questionnaires
• focus groups
• observations

Essentially, the methodology chapter allows the researcher to explain how he/she achieved the findings, why they are reliable and how they helped him/her test the research hypotheses or address the research problem.

You might want to consider the following when writing methodology for the dissertation:

• Type of research and approach your work is based on. Some of the most widely used types of research include experimental, quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
• Data collection techniques that were employed such as questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, observations etc.
• Details of how, when, where, and what of the research that was conducted.
• Data analysis strategies employed (for instance, regression analysis).
• Software and tools used for data analysis (Excel, STATA, SPSS, lab equipment, etc.).
• Research limitations to highlight any hurdles you had to overcome when carrying our research. Limitations might or might not be mentioned within research methodology. Some institutions’ guidelines dictate they be mentioned under a separate section alongside recommendations.
• Justification of your selection of research approach and research methodology.

Here is a comprehensive article on  how to structure a dissertation methodology .

Research Findings

In this section, you present your research findings. The dissertation findings chapter  is built around the research questions, as outlined in the introduction chapter. Report findings that are directly relevant to your research questions.

Any information that is not directly relevant to research questions or hypotheses but could be useful for the readers can be placed under the  Appendices .

As indicated above, you can either develop a  standalone chapter  to present your findings or combine them with the discussion chapter. This choice depends on  the type of research involved and the academic subject, as well as what your institution’s academic guidelines dictate.

For example, it is common to have both findings and discussion grouped under the same section, particularly if the dissertation is based on qualitative research data.

On the other hand, dissertations that use quantitative or experimental data should present findings and analysis/discussion in two separate chapters. Here are some sample dissertations to help you figure out the best structure for your own project.

Sample Dissertation

Tip: Try to present as many charts, graphs, illustrations and tables in the findings chapter to improve your data presentation. Provide their qualitative interpretations alongside, too. Refrain from explaining the information that is already evident from figures and tables.

The findings are followed by the  Discussion chapter , which is considered the heart of any dissertation paper. The discussion section is an opportunity for you to tie the knots together to address the research questions and present arguments, models and key themes.

This chapter can make or break your research.

The discussion chapter does not require any new data or information because it is more about the interpretation(s) of the data you have already collected and presented. Here are some questions for you to think over when writing the discussion chapter:

• Did your work answer all the research questions or tested the hypothesis?
• Did you come up with some unexpected results for which you have to provide an additional explanation or justification?
• Are there any limitations that could have influenced your research findings?

Here is an article on how to  structure a dissertation discussion .

Conclusions corresponding to each research objective are provided in the  Conclusion section . This is usually done by revisiting the research questions to finally close the dissertation. Some institutions may specifically ask for recommendations to evaluate your critical thinking.

By the end, the readers should have a clear apprehension of your fundamental case with a focus on  what methods of research were employed  and what you achieved from this research.

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A literature review on motivation

• Theoretical articles
• Published: 14 November 2013
• Volume 1 , pages 471–487, ( 2013 )

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• Chandra Sekhar 1 ,
• Manoj Patwardhan 2 &
• Rohit Kr. Singh 3  

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Research on motivation has attracted academic and corporate entities over the last two decades. In the present study, authors have reviewed the intense literature to extract all possible dimensions of motivation, having direct and indirect impact on motivation techniques. This has examined the multidimensionality of motivation from the existing literature and present a conceptual framework based on it, and it is experienced that various motivation techniques (discussed in this study) are having a positive impact on both employee satisfaction and the quality of performance in the organization; however, the model needs to be validated using quantitative measures. In order to study the various issues highlighted in this paper related to employee motivation, a large body of literature mainly from different journals have been incorporated. To make the study more current only those studies were included which were published in the last two decades. In past research papers few dimensions of motivation were used to explain the different models motivation theory which has direct influence on employee motivation. The novelty of this study lies in its theoretical framework where authors have made an attempt to come up with a construct having dimensions that directly or indirectly influences employee motivation.

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Introduction

The ingredients of motivation lie within all and the internalized drive toward the dominant thought of the moment (Rabby 2001 ). Motivation directly links to individual performance that gain to organization performance and as a catalyzer for all individual employees working for an organization to enhance their working performance or to complete task in much better way than they usually do. Organization runs because of people working for it, and each person contributes toward achieving the ultimate goal of an organization. Panagiotakopoulos ( 2013 ) concluded that factors affecting staff motivation at a period where the financial rewards are kept to the least leads to stimulate employee performance. So, management personnel’s responsibility to motivate their employees to work as per the expectation to enhance the organization’s performance. Similarly Dysvik and Kuvaas ( 2010 ) concluded that intrinsic motivation was the strongest predictor of turnover intention and relationship between mastery-approach goals and turnover intention was only positive for employees, low in intrinsic motivation. The only thing organization needs to do is to give employees with ample resources and platform to do. As per Kuo ( 2013 ) a successful organization must combine the strengths and motivations of internal employees and respond to external changes and demands promptly to show the organization’s value. In this paper, we have taken various techniques of motivation from existing literature, and managed to make flow of motivation from young-age employees to old-age employees. From organization perspective managers need to understand the flow of motivation, it helps them to create a culture where employees always get motivated to do better. Barney and Steven Elias ( 2010 ) found that with extrinsic motivation there exist a significant interaction between job stress, flex time, and country of residence. Leaders know that at the heart of every productive and successful business lies a thriving organizational culture and hardworking people collaborate passionately to produce great results (Gignac and Palmer 2011 ). In the body of literature, various frameworks are used by the researchers based on theory of motivation, with only few dimensions of motivation.

Literature review

In a complex and dynamic environment, leader of the organization used to create the environment in which employee feel trusted and are empowered to take decisions in the organization which leads to enhance motivation level of employee and ultimately organizational performance are enhanced. Smith and Rupp ( 2003 ) stated that performance is a role of individual motivation; organizational strategy, and structure and resistance to change, is an empirical role relating motivation in the organization. Likewise, Luthans and Stajkovic ( 1999 ) concluded that advancement of human resources through rewards, monetary incentives, and organizational behavior modification has generated a large volume of debate in the human resource and sales performance field. According to Orpen ( 1997 ) better the relationship between mentors and mentees in the formal mentoring program, the more mentees are motivated to work hard and committed to their organization. Likewise, Malina and Selto ( 2001 ) conducted a case study in one corporate setting by using balance score card (BSC) method and found out that organizational outcomes would be greater if employees are provided with positive motivation. The establishment of operations-based targets will help the provision of strategic feedback by allowing the evaluation of actual performance against the operations-based targets. Goal-directed behavior and strategic feedback are expected to enhance organizational performance (Chenhall 2005 ). Kunz and Pfaff ( 2002 ) stated no substantive reason to fear an undermining effect of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Decoene and Bruggeman ( 2006 ) in their study developed and illustrated a model of the relationship between strategic alignment, motivation and organizational performance in a BSC context and find that effective strategic alignment empowers and motivates working executives. Leaders motivate people to follow a participative design of work in which they are responsible and get it together, which make them responsible for their performance. Aguinis et al. ( 2013 ) stated that monetary rewards can be a very powerful determinant of employee motivation and achievement which, in turn, can advance to important returns in terms of firm-level performance. Garg and Rastogi ( 2006 ) identified the key issues of job design research and practice to motivate employees’ performance and concluded that a dynamic managerial learning framework is required to enhance employees’ performance to meet global challenges. Vuori and Okkonen ( 2012 ) stated that motivation helps to share knowledge through an intra-organizational social media platform which can help the organization to reach its goals and objectives. Den and Verburg ( 2004 ) found the impact of high performing work systems, also called human resource practices, on perceptual measures of firm performance. Ashmos and Duchon ( 2000 ) recognizes that employees have both a mind and a spirit and seek to find meaning and purpose in their work, and an aspiration to be part of a community, hence making their jobs worthwhile and motivating them to do at a high level with a view to personal and social development.

Methodology

The primary objective to write this review is to highlight the flow of motivation and reveals what motivation technique works more efficiently in different stages of life. This study provides useful managerial implication for employee motivation in an organization. The dimensions are made fit into a model that can benefit organization to enhance their performance; however, the model needs to validate through case study or quantitative study. To study the various issues highlighted in this study related to employee motivation, this study reviews a large body of literature mainly in different journals. Once all the issues have been identified, each issue is used as a keyword to search the relevant literature. To make the study more current only those studies are included which are published in the last two decades, while priority is given to studies which are published in the last decade. Table  1 shows that the number of articles or reviews published on motivation in the last two decades (Table  2 ).

Dimensions of motivation

Training refers to ‘‘the systematic accretion of skills, command, concepts or mindset leads to improve performance’’ (Lazazzara and Bombelli 2011 ). Baldwin et al. ( 1991 ) indicates that individuals with higher pre-training motivation on the basis of their willingness to attend training have greater learning outcomes as compared to individuals heaving lower pre-training motivation. Commeiras et al. ( 2013 ) point out that traineeship is continuing to grow. In business, context training basically refers to action of teaching employees and providing proper knowledge and skills to make themselves job fit as well as organization fit. Training teaches employees how to work and enhance their skills, hence motivate them to achieve the common goal of organization as well as of employee. In the today’s competitive world, every organization wants to achieve competitive edge over their competitors and be impossible to achieve without employee involvement, which forces management to motivate their employees by different means.

Monetary incentives

As summarized by Park ( 2010 ), monetary incentive acts as a stimulus for greater action and inculcates zeal and enthusiasm toward work, it helps an employee in recognition of achievement. Likewise, Beretti et al. ( 2013 ) discussed that monetary incentives used to build a positive environment and maintain a job interest, which is consistent among the employee and offer a spur or zeal in the employees for better performance. For reason, monetary incentive motivate employees and enhance commitment in work performance, and psychologically satisfy a person and leads to job satisfaction, and shape the behavior or outlook of subordinate toward work in the organization.

Job transfer

The work of Azizi and Liang ( 2013 ) indicated that workforce flexibility can be achieved by cross-training and improved via job rotation. In the same way, Eguchi ( 2004 ) concluded that job transfer plays a significant role in preventing workers from performing influence activities for private help. As summarized by Asensio-Cuesta et al. ( 2012 ) job rotation provides benefits to both workers and management in an organization and prevents musculoskeletal disorders, cast out fatigue and increases job satisfaction and morale. As a result, job transfer gives the opportunity to learn multiple skills and outlooks to the workers. It avoids the dullness caused by monotonous jobs and simultaneously brings smoothness in technological job with the help of handling different circumstances at different levels and it leads to effective learning of many aspects in the organization.

Job satisfaction

In ( 2011 ), Parvin and Kabir studied the tested factors affecting job satisfaction for pharmaceutical companies and described job satisfaction as how content an individual is with his or her job, and viewed job satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although clearly linked. Similarly, Pantouvakis and Bouranta ( 201 3) indicated job satisfaction as a consequence of physical features and as an antecedent of interactive features. Wickramasinghe ( 2009 ) investigated that gender and tenure are significant in job satisfaction measurement. So here it can be said that job satisfaction is often determined by how well outcome meet or exceed expectations. For example, a good work environment and good work conditions can increase employee job satisfaction and the employees will try to give their best which can increase the employee work performance.

A study by García et al. ( 2012 ) identified that perceptions of promotion systems affect organizational justice and job satisfaction. Likewise, Koch and Nafziger ( 2012 ) specified that promotions are desirable for most employees, only because they work harder to compensate for their “incompetence.” As a result, promotion at regular interval of time has an optimistic approach behind and they are generally given to satisfy the psychological requirements of employees in the organization.

Achievement

The work of Hunter et al. ( 2012 ) defines that achievement is a unique and specialized form of organizational performance. As per Satyawadi and Ghosh ( 2012 ), employees are motivated to a greater extent by achievement and self-control. Now this can be understood: an employee who is achievement motivated seeks achievement, bringing realistic but challenging goals, and betterment in the job. There is a strong need for feedback from the higher officials in the organization as to achievement and progress, and a need for a sense of attainment.

Working conditions

In ( 2012 ), Jung and Kim stated that good work environment and good work conditions can increase employee job satisfaction and an employee organizational commitment. So the employees will try to give their best which can increase the employee work performance. Similarly, Cheng et al. ( 2013 ) concluded that there were evidences of moderating effects of age on the associations between psychosocial work conditions and health. Now the importance and the need of working condition is so describing or defining the physical environment by identifying those elements or dimensions of the physical environment. Employees having poor working conditions will only provoke negative performance, since their jobs are mentally and physically demanding, they need good working conditions.

Appreciation

A study by Mahazril et al. ( 2012 ) organizations had the duty to appreciate the employee from time to time and offer other form of benefits such as payment, which will help in employee motivation. Likewise, Kingira and Mescib ( 2010 ) define appreciation as the abstract of immaterial incentives; “employees giving immaterial incentives (appreciation, respect etc.) as much as materiel incentives with working department” shows employees do not agree with this behavioral statement. With this result, it can be stated that employees being employed in different parts can take their different opinions at different levels. Among the variable of responsibility and being appreciated, it is understood that “success of employers always be appreciated with education.” The more effective quality and practicality of education employees had, the more contribution they will have to businesses.

Job security

As per Yamamoto ( 2013 ) if an employee perceives they will be getting rewards for good work and their job is a secured one, the performance will automatically be better. Similarly, Zhang and Wu ( 2004 ) indicated that with Job security, an employee gets confident with the future career and they put their most efforts to achieve the objectives of the organization. So we can say job satisfaction is the most influential tool of motivation and put the employee very far off from mental tension and he gives his best to the organization, ultimately it leads to profit maximization.

Recognition

According to Candi et al. ( 2013 ), a growing recognition of the opportunities of innovation is through experience staging. Mahazril et al. ( 2012 ) concluded that rewards and recognition and communication may motivate them to work. Recognition enhances the level of productivity and performance at job whether it is a first time performance or a repeated action at the job in a progressive way and ultimately reinforces the behavior of employee.

Social opportunities

In ( 2013 ), Harvey indicated that an employee is accepted as part of the social group or team. Most staff has an acute need that their contribution is worthwhile, appreciated, and acknowledged. Organizations need to look beyond the traditional economic incentives of career opportunities and salaries to other social and lifestyle factors outside the workplace. Similarly, Kingira and Mescib ( 2010 ) concluded that, different opinions between the employees in terms of behavioral statements which can be “Social opportunities providing at the highest level with working period leads the employee to achieve their goals of the organization.” Therefore, a social opportunity for the employee is used to boost their motivation level and ultimately helps in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.

Figure  1 explains how motivation works in different stages of life, and motivation dimension plays a vital role in enhancing individual performance in different stages of life of human being. In the developed and developing nations around the world people experiencing the phenomenon of population aging i.e., participation of worker in their late career stage is low in the labor market. Levinson’s ( 1986 ) life stage model pointed out that adult life is characterized by a consecution of stages, such as early, middle, and late career stage, divided into various sub-stages and concerned with career development (comparable to the career stage model of Super (1984)). Here we have considered early career stage between 20 and 40; middle career stages between 40 and 54, and late career stage 55 and above. In an effort to set a threshold to define the older worker category, as anyone over age 55 (Finkelstein et al. 1995 ; Koc-Menard 2009 ).

Flow of motivation

In the early and middle stage of life, money is important to goal setting because offering such incentives bring person being more willing to expand effort to meet a given goal level than not offering the incentives. Given the willingness to expand effort, a goal tells the individual during different career stages where to expand effort, how much effort to exert, and how long to exert the effort. For example, younger employees early in their careers may have a propensity for higher immediate compensation and benefits, such as fully paid family medical plans or maternity/paternity leaves; because employees in later career stages might prefer stock options or most company contributions to their retirement plans. Wiley ( 1997 ) concluded that good pay is an important motivator regardless of age.

Figure  2 explains how motivation dimensions influence individual and organization performance. In this competitive environment, organizations works harder to integrate its workforce and to keep the coordination among employees to enhance the working as well as employee productivity. The positive impact of motivation works toward enhancing individual responsiveness toward work. Individual enhanced responsiveness help organization working that directly links toward increase in profit and increase in organization responsiveness. Customer will be more satisfied if organization shows fast response toward his/her queries and if organization takes responsibility to fulfill his demand.

Theoretical construct of research dimensions

If we talk the motivation dimension that enhances organization performance, training used to enhance the skills, efficiency, and knowledge of employees for doing a particular job during their earlier career stage because it familiarizes them with the organizations goals, rules, and regulations and the working conditions in one hand since updates and amendments take place in technology, purchasing a new equipment, changes in technique of production, and computer impartment. The employees are trained for use of new equipments and work methods. Training molds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. Supervisors believe that older workers are less motivated to learn, less flexible, and do not want to take part in training programs. So, companies do not invest in training or development opportunities for older people. In turn, older workers become less self-confident due to the lack of support in terms of training and their skills rapidly become outdated (Maurer 2001 ; Van Vianen et al. 2011 ).

Giving a job security to an employee makes him more responsible toward job. Job security can be explained as, affirmation that an employee has for the continuity of gainful employment for his or her job. It is more essential for younger employee during different career stages of life (job) because it arises from the terms of contract of employment, labor legislation that results in prevention of arbitrary termination, layoffs, and lockout. Likewise, Pravin and Kabir ( 2011 ) indicated that with job security in pharmaceutical companies employee is “neither happy nor unhappy” and hence influence job satisfaction in pharmaceutical companies. Job security has been considered from several theoretical perspectives, including as a motivational precursor to job performance.

Employee recognition is used to fulfill the inherent need to appreciate as well as work to be validated by the employee contribution. During the early and later stage of life of the employee, the most important tool to motivate the employee by recognizing positive behavior from employees means that those desired behaviors that drive business success will be reciprocated. Recognition is essential to an outstanding workplace because people want to be respected and valued for their contribution. Recognizing employee for their good work sends an extremely powerful message to the recipient, their work team, and other employees through formal and informal communication channels. Employee recognition is a dynamic communication technique to improve employee performance which leads to enhance organizational performance.

In an organization, it is important to make the employees valued and appreciated, because of which they get motivated and they work harder and be more loyal toward the organization. During the early and middle career stage of the job employee want more appreciation from his next boss in the organization. Many ways of appreciating employee are news for companies looking for inexpensive ways to show appreciation to employees who made an appreciative effort, to thank employees several times a week, often through notes mailed to their homes and admits an employee-of-the-month program, the least time-consuming way to make sure his staff continued to appreciate.

In an organization employees have the opportunity to transfer to another job if they are moving or have the want to switch occupations. It brings positive energy among the early career stage employee to work in a new environment, which gives workers the opportunity to learn multiple skills and outlooks. When employees continue working at the same tasks for an extended time, they are likely to build tight relationships with particular individuals and companies, which can yield help to the employees, and to the organization.

In the early stage of the employee, they used to seek the working environment and aspects of an employee’s terms and conditions of employment. This includes the employee payment, organization of work, and work activities; training, skills, and employability; amenities, physical environment, health, safety, and well-being; and working time and work–life balance. These used to motivate the employee to do better and achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Changes in working conditions and other aspects of the employment relationship can generate serious industrial relations problems.

Williams et al. ( 2003 ) argues that the job satisfaction works toward making good relationships with staff and colleagues, control of time off, enough resources, and bring autonomy for employee in the organization. It is essential in the stages of employment i.e., early, middle, and late career stage of life because it brings any combination of physiological, psychological, satisfaction that invokes a person truthfully to say I am satisfied with my current job and it leads to employee motivation to achieve goals of the organization. Job satisfaction refers doing a job one enjoys, and being rewarded for one’s accomplishment. It is the key ingredient that leads to recognition, income, promotion, and the achievement of other goals that lead to a feeling of fulfillment of the desired goals and objectives (Kaliski 2007 ).

In the middle and late career stages of their employment, employees have an opportunity to showcase their achievements with pride. Employees work in organizations not just to make a living, but to make a life. It encourages heightened ownership at work. Tangible benefits (salary) and intangible benefits (achievements of the knowledge) and other perks are necessary to engage employees, and motivate them to do their personal best. Mehta et al. ( 2000 ) pointed out that four most highly ranked rewards for sales managers in the late career stage have mean values that exceed 6.0, which includes achievement of market goals, retaining respect of salespeople, opportunities for promotion, and bonus.

A motivated and dedicated employee in the middle career stage of their job in the organization is an asset for any organization and proves instrumental in building a high-performance culture that drives organizational advancement. Promotion is always employee’s ultimate wish for the service rendered by him in the organization and this is the only way for an employee career development. Promotion is the ultimate motivating for any employee because it moves employee forward in hierarchy of concern organization added with other responsibility, higher respect, honors, with increase in grade pay and allowances. It stimulates self-development and creates interest in the job in one hand and minimizes discontent and unrest.

In the late career stage of their employment social opportunities for employees to get involved in leveraging the core competencies of the organization to create business value and positive social change can increase employee motivation and job satisfaction and help workers to more effectively manage job stress. This can lead to positive gains for the organization by enhancing organizational effectiveness and improving work quality, as well as by helping the organization attract and keep top-quality employees, which can bring growth and development to the organizations and can improve the quality of their employees’ work experience and realize the benefits of developing workers to their full potential.

Concluding remarks

Motivation works as a catalyzer for individual employees working for an organization to enhance their working performance or to complete task in much better way than they usually do. In this paper, authors identified the key motivation techniques from existing literature and linked it through organization performance. These motivation techniques has long been acknowledged as an important personnel work with the potential to improve employee motivation and hence performance, and to deliver management with the control needed to achieve organizational objectives. Authors made flow of motivation from early career motivation techniques to late career motivation techniques and reached on a conclusion: if employees are provided with right motivation technique at right time, their morale and confidence goes up and had a direct positive impact in individual performance and organizational performance. It is indicative of the above discussion, most of the motivation dimensions viz. training, monetary incentives, promotion, and working conditions has been met and for reason the efforts made to motivate are bound to succeed. This conclusion is built on the emphasis made by earlier researchers to motivate people, organizations need to first have the baseline in place; in the absence of the baseline, motivation is not possible to achieve. The study has shown success in intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators to improve performance in the organization.

The major limitation of this study is that the proposed framework is designed on basis of extensive literature review and so needs to be confirmed using quantitative measures. This framework is not been implemented in specific industry, due to its generality in nature. Although extensive research is reviewed and every possible dimensions of motivation are studied, it cannot be stated explicitly that these dimensions will be able to create the baseline which will motivate the employees through the motivators. Thus, they create a dilemma as to whether these motivation dimensions are enough to create a solid baseline which has an impact on the motivators.

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Sekhar, C., Patwardhan, M. & Singh, R.K. A literature review on motivation. Glob Bus Perspect 1 , 471–487 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40196-013-0028-1

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Managing Research Projects

• Staying Organized

Practical checklist of ideas to keep you motivated

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Goal Setting & Staying Motivated

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When Motivation Wanes

Listen to a PhD student talk about struggling with motivation and how to keep going

Keeping motivated when doing a dissertation or thesis

A professor and counselor from the Dublin Institute of Technology have a conversation about how to stay motivated when undertaking a dissertation or thesis.

Motivation is a key factor to success in completing your research project. Here's some advice on how to plan your schedule and stay motivated.

Make sure you stay grounded in your decision to embark on such a huge task.  Is it a requirement for your degree? Then, what does a college degree mean to you and to your family? Think about how you’ll use this degree in your future career and how incredibly proud you’ll feel for accomplishing this goal! And, of course, think about your support system, family, and friends who believe in your college journey.

Now that you’ve identified why you are doing this project,  it’s important to find people to help you keep your eye on the prize.  Mentors can be teachers, spiritual leaders, or family friends who can give you guidance and help you stay on track.

To secure a support system:

• Identify one or more friends, family members, or mentors who can be your support
• Share your goals with them and ask them to help you keep these in mind when things get tough. 
• Reach out to friends and peers who can motivate you by listening and sharing ideas.

When working on your research project, it will be critical to establish routines and schedules to keep yourself motivated and focused. Be sure to set interim achievable goals as well as long-term larger goals.  Break down searching, reading, and writing work into manageable chunks and stick to a daily and weekly schedule.

You Can Handle Any Project in Small Chunks.  

Use a calendar or to-do list to check off daily and weekly tasks that you accomplish

Keep a list of your long-term goals handy too (including career goals), so you can refer to them when you want to remind yourself of your ultimate goal: graduation!

Although your classmates are working on topics different from yours, find ways to connect about the challenges of long-term research and writing projects.

• Use email and video conferencing to stay connected if you cannot meet in person.
• Find out if your classmates are using group texts, Instagram, Twitter, etc. as another means to connect. 
• Try setting up an online accountability group using a group text chat or Zoom to stay connected.

Staying positive and having a growth mindset is important to maintain motivation. 

• If you are finding it difficult to stay positive about your project, talk to your instructor.
• You may also want to talk with other students to help you through challenging times.
• Remember to take the time to encourage others through chat, email, and social media.
• Reach out to your support system - mentors, teachers, family, friends, fellow classmates. 

With all the hard work that you are doing, you need to take some time out to reward yourself.  When you accomplish a goal, no matter how small, be sure to reward yourself with something that will make you happy!  Whether it's a walk in your neighborhood, a FaceTime with family or friends, or watching your favorite Netflix series (try not to binge!), these rewards can help you stay motivated and on task.

Make a list of small rewards you can give yourself as you achieve your daily tasks. Make a list of bigger rewards you can give yourself as you finish bigger goals.

The information on this page is adapted from the Learning Online 101 Canvas module created by California State University, Channel Islands.

• Better yet, schedule it with a friend also working on a big project. You don't even need to talk!
• Schedule a library study room (or plan for another location) for this time. Knowing you have a room reserved and/or being in a different location might be the motivation you need.
• Work on tasks in 20 minute chunks to get you started.
• Convert some of the reading you need to do to audio , so you can keep making progress even if you can't sit down to read at the moment.

• Go back to the Planning Calculators and review what to do and when. But don't get overwhelmed! Put key dates on your calendar, and then make a list of only what you need to accomplish this week .
• Stay organized using a planner, such as this MS Excel Weekly Schedule Planner template .

• Use your commuting, walking, or cleaning time to listen to your course texts!
• Listen while you visually read along with a text to try to increase comprehension and memory.
• Use as a writing strategy: listen to your own writing as a way to notice areas to improve.
• Use a a motivation strategy; if you don't feel motivated to do anything, at least listening to readings will allow you to make some progress and may re-engage you in your work.

SPU has a tool called SensusAccess, which can convert text-based files to audio (plus other ways to change file types).

• Start at SPU’s SensusAccess Conversion Tool .
• (Step 1 of process) Upload a PDF document (or text or URL) you’d like converted to a streaming audio file. (If you have a print book, scan to PDF the section you need. If you are starting with a text file in another format, go straight to Step 6.)
• (Step 2) Select Accessibility conversion . This will send you a Word document, which will put header and footer info into correct places (it won't read you all those headers and footers) and which you can then edit otherwise as needed (don't need to listen to the 25 references at the end of the chapter? Delete them!).
• (Step 4) Email the file to yourself at your SPU email address, which takes only a few minutes to process.
• Re-start at SensusAccess Conversion Tool, and (Step 1) upload the Word document you’d been emailed. 
• (Step 2) Select MP3 audio as the target format.
• (Step 3) Select language of document and audio speed (choose default to start, then consider another speed later if necessary).
• (Step 4) Email the streaming file to yourself. It may take longer to process, depending on the length of audio, but is usually ready with 5 min - 1 hour.

The streaming audio file will be a link in the email and is available for one week. If you need it longer, re-convert the Word file to mp3.

Happy listening!

audiobook by Clea Doltz is licensed CC BY 3.0 .

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8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing 

Writing a master’s or doctoral thesis is a tough job, and many students struggle with writer’s block and putting off work. The journey requires not just skill and knowledge but a sustained motivation for thesis writing. Here are eight essential strategies to help you find and maintain your motivation to write your thesis throughout the thesis writing process.

Know why you lack motivation

It’s important to understand whether you’re just avoiding writing (procrastination) or if you genuinely don’t feel interested in it (lack of motivation). Procrastination is when you delay writing even though you want to finish it, while a lack of motivation for thesis writing is when you have no interest in writing at all. Knowing the difference helps you find the right solution. Remember, not feeling motivated doesn’t mean you can’t write; it just might be less enjoyable.

Recognize external vs. internal motivation

In the early stages of your academic journey, things like job prospects or recognition may motivate you to write your thesis. These are external motivators. Over time, they might become less effective. That’s why it’s important to develop internal motivators, like a real passion for your topic, curiosity, or wanting to make a difference in your field. Shifting to these internal motivators can keep you energized about your thesis writing for a longer period.

Develop a writing plan

As you regularly spend time on your thesis, you’ll start to overcome any initial resistance. Planning and thinking about your work will make the next steps easier. You might find yourself working more than 20 minutes some days. As you progress, plan for longer thesis writing periods and set goals for completing each chapter.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

Getting stuck is normal in thesis or dissertation writing. Don’t view these challenges as impossible obstacles. If you’re frustrated or unsure, take a break for a few days. Then, consult your advisor or a mentor to discuss your challenges and find ways to move forward effectively.

Work on your thesis daily

Try to spend 15-20 minutes daily on tasks related to your thesis or dissertation. This includes reading, researching, outlining, and other preparatory activities. You can fit these tasks into short breaks throughout your day, like waiting for appointments, during commutes, or even while cooking.

Understand that thesis writing motivation changes

Realize that thesis writing motivation isn’t always the same; it changes over time. Your drive to write will vary with different stages of your research and life changes. Knowing that motivation can go up and down helps you adapt. When you feel less motivated, focus on small, doable parts of your work instead of big, intimidating goals.

Recharge your motivation regularly

Just like you need to rest and eat well to keep your body energized, your motivation for thesis writing needs to be refreshed too. Do things that boost your mental and creative energy. This could be talking with colleagues, attending workshops, or engaging in hobbies that relax you. Stay aware of your motivation levels and take action to rejuvenate them. This way, you can avoid burnout and keep a consistent pace in your thesis work.

Keep encouraging yourself

Repeating encouraging phrases like “I will finish my thesis by year’s end” or “I’ll complete a lot of work this week” can really help. Saying these affirmations regularly can focus your energy and keep you on track with your thesis writing motivation .

Remember, the amount you write can vary each day. Some days you might write a lot, and other days less. The key is to keep writing, even if it’s just rough ideas or jumbled thoughts. Don’t let the need for perfection stop you. Listening to podcasts where researchers talk about their writing experiences can also be inspiring and motivate you in your writing journey.

Paperpal is an AI writing assistant that help academics write better, faster with real-time suggestions for in-depth language and grammar correction. Trained on millions of research manuscripts enhanced by professional academic editors, Paperpal delivers human precision at machine speed.

Try it for free or upgrade to  Paperpal Prime , which unlocks unlimited access to premium features like academic translation, paraphrasing, contextual synonyms, consistency checks and more. It’s like always having a professional academic editor by your side! Go beyond limitations and experience the future of academic writing.  Get Paperpal Prime now at just US$19 a month!

Related Reads:

How to make your thesis supervision work for you.

• 6 Tips for Post-Doc Researchers to Take Their Career to the Next Level
• How to Write a Conclusion for Research Papers (with Examples)
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How to keep motivated when working on your dissertation or final project

Is your summer filled with research and writing rather than relaxing? Motivation for a long-term project can be challenging to maintain, especially when it feels like everyone else in on a break. So we’ve put together our top tips on keeping motivated when writing your dissertation.

Write something every (work)day

On the days when you plan to work, aim to write a set number of words a day without fail. Giving yourself this target will do wonders to keep yourself motivated, slowly seeing yourself finishing up section after section while nearing the word count will give you an immense sense of progress. You can always go back and edit, but getting the words down is often the hardest part.

Plan your working hours throughout the day

Doing a 10 hour shift without any objective may seem like a productive session because of all the hours you’ve done but in reality it isn’t. Instead, work out what you want to achieve each day and break your day down into sessions. Give yourself a time in which you’ll get a certain task done. Depending what you want to achieve that day you might have one session, or you might have three if you’re really busy.

Forcing yourself to work in designated time slots with specific aims will help you be more productive (and give you time to do other things too).

Take a proper break/ do other things

Taking a break could be the best thing to get your motivation back. Try taking a walk outside if the weather is nice,meet your friends in the park, or switch off and enjoy some well-deserved Netflix – you won’t regret it and you’ll feel even more recharged for your next bit of work.

Find study partners

In many cases, having a study partner(s) will keep you motivated and accountable to each other to keep going. Additionally, having someone else read your work could help identify any mistakes you missed.

Partnering up with someone who is committed as you will also make your study sessions go faster.

Create a progress chart

One of the most demotivating things is the feeling of putting the hard work in without seeing any return.

By tracking your efforts, the progress chart will remind you of where you are doing well and where you need to focus more. It could be a visual reminder that you are moving in the right direction. Do this however suits you – tick off a to do list, something bright and colourful – whatever will make you feel that sense of achievement as you progress.

Take a look at MLE courses on over summer and our pieces on  writing productively,   and  proofreading  for more advice. 

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