Academically reviewed by Andy Riggle, AVP, Office of Graduate Studies
The years of blood, sweat, and tears you’ve poured into your doctoral program are coming to a close as you move on to the capstone requirement, your dissertation. Creating rigorous original research while contributing new knowledge to your field comprises the essential outcome of your dissertation. It is also your chance to make your mark in an area you’ve been passionate about.
If you are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of starting your dissertation, don’t worry; it’s a normal reaction. We’ll walk you through the process, help you organize your thoughts and ideas, and help prepare you to accomplish this monumental task. By the end of this article, you’ll better understand exactly what is a dissertation, the structure, purpose, and steps involved in completing one.
Table of Contents
- What is a Dissertation?
- The Structure of a Dissertation
- Key Steps in the Dissertation Process
- Skills Gained Through Completing a Dissertation
- Completing a Dissertation
What is a Dissertation?
Based in the scientific method of inquiry, a dissertation is an independent research project required in a doctoral program. Students explore a specific research question within their field of study to produce a comprehensive written document based on their findings. Students select a dissertation topic of interest aligned with the requirements set by each school, department, and program.
The purpose of a dissertation is basically two-fold. First, it demonstrates a student’s research expertise within their chosen topic area of interest. Second, it allows the doctoral candidate to potentially improve the human condition as a result of their dissertation research. Certainly a “win-win” for both the student as well as for all of humanity. A dissertation is generally more comprehensive and much longer than a master’s thesis.
Depending on the field of study, doctoral research can range from 150 to over 300 pages. Using a standard academic format, the general word count for a dissertation can range between 40,000 and 90,00+ words. Again, not to worry, read on for a step-by-step guide to assist you with planning, organizing, and writing your dissertation.
The Structure of a Dissertation
An NU dissertation has five basic components: an introduction, a literature review, a methodology, results, and conclusions. Each part serves a specific purpose when organizing and conducting your dissertation research.
Introduction
The introduction presents the foundational components of your dissertation, including the background of your topic, problem and purpose statements, research question(s), applicable hypotheses, and the significance of the study. It sets the direction and overall tone for your dissertation by establishing the general context for the research, providing key details, and outlining the structure with potential assumptions and limitations. These components work together to also give the reader a clear roadmap of what to expect beyond the introduction.
Students are encouraged to explore potential topics for their dissertation research prior to doctoral candidacy, particularly within their specialization and research block of courses. Collecting related research articles as well as identifying seminal researchers within your field and specific topic area will also provide you with needed preparation to successfully develop your introduction.
Literature Review
The literature review will likely be the most challenging and time-consuming part of your dissertation. This is where you will roll-up your sleeves to conduct a deep dive into researching the existing work on your topic. You will review relevant research, critically analyzing and evaluating sources, including academic journals, books, and other relevant materials.
Through this analysis, you will identify specific themes, trends, and patterns as well as conflicting findings, while noting gaps in the literature indicating where more related research needs to be done. This process will help you to clearly identify your research focus and how you will structure your literature review. It also lays the foundation for establishing your theoretical framework, supporting the direction of your study while helping to keep it focused and doable.
The literature review is not a simple report-out of previous research findings by each identified author, rather it is a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of content related to your dissertation topic. It will demonstrate your command of the related research knowledge base while supporting the need for your dissertation research.
Methodology
The research methodology section serves as the recipe for how you will collect your dissertation research. Here, you’ll discuss your specific research methodology and corresponding design, involving data collection and analysis procedures, as well as describing your research population and related sample participants.
Of particular importance, you will need to detail how you will ensure the anonymity and ethical treatment of your study’s sample participants, as well as how confidentiality of the research site will be maintained. Throughout your entire dissertation, but particularly within your research methodology section, you will also be expected to clearly explain how you will prevent your potential biases from influencing the results.
Other individuals reading your research methodology should clearly understand how your study was conducted and how the results were analyzed. The trick here is to ensure your research methodology is feasible, or it can be successfully completed within the time constraints and structure of the doctoral sequence of courses.
Results
The results section is where you will clearly and concisely present the findings of your research. Keep your focus solely on the results aligned with each research question, while maintaining objectivity without any interpretation. You’ll have the opportunity to explore the meaning of your results and corresponding implications in greater detail within your conclusions.
You’ll be expected to also include any relevant data presentation aids, such as tables and figures to support your readers’ understanding of the results.
Conclusions
Conclusions should: (1) summarize the major findings of your research, (2) indicate how they potentially corroborated and/or conflicted with the themes identified in your literature review, (3) be utilized to provide broader implications relative to your study’s larger population, and (4) end with potential recommendations for further research. Objectivity is again the lens used to ensure all results and conclusions are accurate. As a scientific researcher, you will be trained to avoid subjectivity and activism within your dissertation research, only following where the data lead.
By the end of this section, readers should have a clear understanding of your results and conclusions relative to your research question(s), as well as why your research was important to your field of study.
Key Steps in the Dissertation Process
We’ve now covered the basic structure of the dissertation. Let’s further explore practical advice, actionable tips, and effective strategies for selecting a dissertation topic, building a strong dissertation proposal, and conducting your actual research.
Choosing a Research Topic
When considering dissertation topics, think about your interest level, how passionate you are about learning more, is it needed and feasible to conduct, and how you might bring about positive change with your results. Collaborate with your instructors in your specialization and research block courses as well as initially with your dissertation chair to consider and identify a highly meaningful topic that aligns with your interests and doctoral program.
Proposal Development
Proposal development marks an important planning stage of the dissertation process. You will develop your proposal in collaboration with your Dissertation Chair as well as with your other committee members, who will provide you with personalized support to guide you to approval. Think of your proposal as the blueprint guiding your dissertation completion journey.
The dissertation proposal is essentially comprised of your introduction, problem and purpose statements, research question(s), applicable hypotheses, literature review, methodology, and significance of the study. It must be approved by your dissertation committee before seeking Internal Review Board (IRB) approval to conduct your study.
Conducting Research
Your Dissertation Chair will closely assist you with obtaining Internal Review Board (IRB) approval, and once your application has been approved, you can conduct your research. Conducting research involves hands-on data collection to address your research question(s) in accordance with the method presented in your proposal, potentially involving surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and experiments.
Ensuring your study is efficiently conducted with accuracy while adhering to the ethical treatment of participants in research makes for a successfully completed study. Any lapses in data collection should be avoided, as these can undermine the credibility of your research, often delaying or even jeopardizing the completion of your dissertation.
Writing and Revising
Proper academic writing in APA format is expected throughout your dissertation. Academic writing is clear, concise, and objective, follows proper grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, and maintains an organized flow. It is not creative storytelling!
When it’s time to write, using a strategic approach can make this process more manageable and successful.
Consider the following tips:
- Use outlines before you begin writing
- Write freely without worrying about perfection, and revise later
- Break larger sections into smaller, more manageable writing tasks
- Write, read, rewrite, repeat
- Set a realistic writing schedule with mini-deadlines
- Find the time and place where you have the most mental energy to concentrate and write
- Ensure you consult the latest version of the APA manual
- Follow all of your committee’s feedback
- Utilize NU writing coaches
Dissertation Defense
Once your dissertation manuscript has been approved, the final step to completing your doctoral journey involves successfully conducting your dissertation defense. You will be required to present the major components of your completed dissertation via Zoom. Your Dissertation Chair will work closely to prepare you for your dissertation defense, including the pre-approval of your presentation slides.
Members of your dissertation committee will attend, as will other faculty, students, family members, friends, and even co-workers. After your presentation, your committee members will ask you various questions about your methodology, results, and final conclusions to allow you to demonstrate your mastery of the research process. Following the Q&A session, your committee members will then determine if your dissertation is:
- Approved with no changes
- Approved with changes
- Requires another defense (a rare outcome)
Any required changes will need to be made before your final dissertation course is completed.
Skills Gained Through Completing a Dissertation
The skills you learn from completing your dissertation research will be valuable both professionally and personally. Some of the top transferable skills include:
- Research and Analytical Skills: Advanced ability to design, conduct, and analyze research
- Critical Thinking: Enhanced capacity to evaluate existing literature, identify research gaps, and develop original insights into needed additional research
- Academic Writing: Expertise in presenting complex ideas clearly, concisely, accurately, and objectively with defendable evidence
- Time Management and Persistence: Ability to manage a lengthy project over an extended period of time, demonstrating dedication and resilience
- Adaptability: Ability to adjust to change, overcome unexpected challenges and obstacles, and think with an open mindset.
Completing a Dissertation
Completing a dissertation may seem to be a daunting task, with no potential end in sight. However, you are not alone at NU, with dedicated experienced doctoral faculty to assist you every step of the way, combined with other extensive strategic supports and resources designed to meet your individual learning needs, you can do this! The best way to be successful is to remain focused and organized, while managing your time and not being afraid to seek assistance. Remember, the best dissertation is a done dissertation!
This content has been reviewed and approved by the National University Editorial Advisory Board. Learn more about our editorial process.