What is Doctoral Dissertation?

A doctoral dissertation is one of the longest pieces of writing, in which you are the author, and you need to provide a valid and authentic argument on the topic you have selected. You need to conduct research and fill the research gap that was left by previous studies on that topic. You are generally asked to write a doctoral dissertation when you are pursuing your PhD/doctorate. Here in this blog, we will learn everything about a doctoral thesis. Starting with what is a doctoral dissertation is, what is the purpose of a doctoral dissertation? For understanding everything in the right manner about a doctoral dissertation, you must need to understand its format, which you can find here. Many students get confused between a dissertation and a thesis, so a clear definition of that is also discussed here. 

What is a Doctoral Dissertation?

In case you are thinking of acquiring a doctoral degree, you must have come across a name referred to as dissertation, doctoral dissertation, or PhD dissertation. They are all synonymous and are a project in writing that takes a long form with the use of extensive research and critical thinking to demonstrate an idea or theory. Normal doctoral dissertation length is around 100 to 120 pages, which can even extend up to 300 pages, depending on your subject. 

A dissertation includes:

• Formulating your theory or hypothesis that you respond to or cover in general.

• Collecting research which involves not only locating the literature that already exists, but also conducting research yourself (surveys, experiments, and other empirical research)

• Producing a full publication that would be usable by future researchers.

• A dissertation is meant to demonstrate all that you have learned, all that you have imbibed during your doctoral studies, in an applied writing format.

Significance of Doctoral Dissertation

What are the advantages of having a doctoral degree? We shall presently inform you of them:

• Professional opportunities: the list of jobs you can apply to is much broader than in the case you have a doctoral degree. Your reputation will be valued, and you will be welcomed in most global companies.

• Critical partnerships: through acquiring a degree, you will attend numerous seminars and conferences, which will provide you with an opportunity to familiarise yourself with new people. You will get a real chance to cooperate with the brightest scientists who have global popularity.

• Practical skills: The research conducted implies the ability to put theoretical knowledge into practice. It is not just that your practical skills will be applied in one field of industry. Moreover, it will be possible to develop and enhance your success by modifying your practical skills and applying them in a different direction.

It can be worthwhile to pursue a doctoral degree, keeping in mind that there exist more advantages than the ones listed above. It will be difficult to confront the truth, particularly when it comes to defending your dissertation in front of the committee.

Structure of Doctoral Dissertation

A doctoral dissertation is systematically structured in such a way that it helps in presenting research in a clear and logical way. Each part has its specific purpose and elaborates on the final part.

• Title Page: This is the very first page of the dissertation. It will have the title of the research and the name of the researcher along with the level of degree being pursued, university, department and the year of submission.

• Statement of Declaration: The statement of originality/declaration establishes the fact that the study work has only been authored by the author. It also entails that the dissertation was not previously submitted for any other degree or qualification.

• Gratitude: The section on acknowledgements helps the researcher to thank those whose names he or she mentions concerning the contribution made to the research process, be it academic or personal.

• Abstract: The abstract gives a short description of the entire research. It describes the problem of the studies, objectives, methodology, results most valuable to the research and overall conclusions in a few words.

• Table of Contents: Dissertation Table of content is a list of all the chapters, sections, and sub-sections of the dissertation and the page numbers. It renders the document user-friendly to the reader.

• List of Figures: The list of figures will contain titles and page numbers of all the graphs, charts, and images to be applied in the dissertation. It enables one to have a quick reference to a visual material.

• List of Tables: The list of tables will include the names and the number of pages of all the tables which were utilised in the research. The individuals who wish to get summaries of data can use this part.

• List of abbreviations: The list of abbreviations talks about abbreviation of the technical terms that have been used in the dissertation. It is also simple and not perplexing to the readers who might not be familiar with the terminology.

• Introduction: Chapter one, introduction, provides the introduction of the research topic and background information. It states the research problem, states the aims and objectives, describes the research questions and demonstrates the significance of the research.

• Literature Review: Chapter two, which is the literature review, reviews the available literature as far as the topic is concerned. It is a critical review of the previous literature, provides relevant theories, and describes gaps that justify the study being done.

• Research methodology: Chapter three, research methodology, explains how the study was conducted. If you know how to write a dissertation methodology, you must know that you need to describe the research design, methods of data collection, sampling, methodology of data analysis and ethical issues.

• Findings: The results of the study are in chapter four, which is the results or data analysis chapter of the research. It puts information systematically either as a text, table or figure without excessive interpretation.

• Discussion: Chapter five is the dissertation discussion section, which provides further explanation of the results. It makes a comparison between it and the already existing literature, interprets the findings, and raises the theoretical and practical implications.

• Conclusion: Chapter six is the conclusion, which summarises the entire research. It revisits the purpose and objectives of the study, summarises the most critical findings, justifies the contribution to the knowledge and suggests future studies.

• Recommendation: The recommendations where they are applied suggest feasible actions or changes to the policy, based on the outcomes. It relates findings of research and practice.

• Reference/ bibliography: This is the section of references or bibliography where all the sources of the dissertation are listed. There is a specific style of referencing according to the university. If you are new to this, you must learn how to add references and how many references are in 10,000 word dissertation.

• Appendix: The appendices include supporting materials to the study, but they are too detailed to be incorporated into the text. These might be questionnaire types, interview schedules, consent forms or other data.

The Difference Between a Dissertation and a Thesis?

A dissertation should not be confused with a thesis, as some people might make them the same. Although these are similar in nature in the sense that they are both the culmination of an academic course, the largest distinction lies in where they are placed in the learning pathway as far as dissertations and theses are concerned. A doctoral student writing a dissertation and a thesis, a research paper by a master's level student or in a bachelor's degree program are as explained.

The differences are also other. One of them is the level of research involved. In many cases, a thesis relates to previous studies. It implies that an undergrad or graduate student will collect different research results in order to prove a theory or an idea in a thesis. A dissertation, on the other hand, enables the doctoral students to carry out their own research, present it and defend it.

The two documents are also different in length. A thesis can be significantly shorter in length (between 40 and 60 pages for an undergraduate thesis, between 60 and over 100 pages for a thesis of a higher degree). The length of a dissertation is 150300 pages or 80100 thousand words. Unless it is offered in front of a board of academics or faculty, as it is mentioned, this is also another major difference. A dissertation may always need this, though oral defence of a thesis can vary depending on the program or school.

Conclusion

A doctoral dissertation is a written assessment where you select a topic, and then find a research gap in the previous research related to that topic, and fill the research gap. You have to do research, find information, analyse the collected data and then discuss what you have seen. In case you are raising an argument, you need to perform all the activities of a doctoral dissertation to support that argument. Writing it all down is your Doctoral dissertation. As mentioned in this blog, a doctoral dissertation has importance in your career, as you can mention your dissertation in your CV as well. If you feel that completing a dissertation all on your own will be a tough job for you, you can simply seek help from professional dissertation writing services.