Writing a Dissertation - The Structure

Writing a Dissertation - The StructureWriting a dissertation is the toughest part of a PhD. It's even tougher to write a dissertation than it is to write a thesis. And even more difficult to write one that stands up to the rigors of peer review. Yet the writer and the graduate student alike can benefit greatly from having some general tips and tricks in writing a dissertation that would be more of a guideline for how to do it well rather than being a definitive book on the topic.I have said this before, but I'll say it again: I believe that your dissertation structure should be written by you, not by a committee. Not only should you be the one who created it, but you should be the one responsible for tweaking it as necessary to suit your individual needs and those of your committee. Sometimes it's okay to consult with them, but usually there are plenty of things they will be better able to handle. If your committee feels like you're dictating every tiny aspect of the dissertation, yo u've crossed a line, and your dissertation might never see the light of day.So what is a great dissertation structure? Let's look at the structure of a standard APA dissertation. For ease of reading I will talk about only a few of the most common structures you will likely encounter when writing your own dissertation. There are many others to choose from. Just remember to keep it simple.First, you will need to use a chapter heading. The first section of the chapter, The Background, is going to have just a title. The next section, Characteristics, will have one or two paragraphs of information that pertains to the characteristics of the person. Here you should introduce yourself, your research, your goals, and so on.The main body of the chapter will then have your main points. In fact, if you are using text files instead of PDF, you may use actual documents to make your points stand out. Your thesis statement will be in this body. In this body you will also describe how your sources are used and who they were used by.When writing your main body, think of what you want to get across. You don't have to convince a committee of a point. But you do want to convince yourself. Because the dissertation committee isn't going to agree with you all of the time, and they certainly won't be in agreement with you one hundred percent of the time.Now, what you will be doing is bringing the background and character and the goal and the supporting data into your thesis. You'll now turn the goal into a goal statement. You'll start the goal statement with some specific information about your goals. So now you're not just writing a thesis; you're writing a goal statement. And that's the same as writing a thesis.So you see, there is a dissertation structure that is written by the student and that is put together by the committee. The student is writing it, the committee is writing it, and so is the editor. Make sure that you follow the structure and the learning process, and you wil l be glad you did.