Beginning Your PhD Dissertation:
The first stage of your PhD thesis will usually be the literature review which you will do after hiring PhD dissertation writing services. We’ve already written a detailed guide to what the PhD literature review involves, but here’s what you need to know about this stage of your PhD:
- The literature review is a chance for you to display your knowledge and understanding of what’s already been written about your research area – this could consist of papers, articles, books, data and more
- Rather than merely summarizing what other scholars have said about your subject, you should aim to assess and analyze their arguments
- The literature review is usually the first task of your PhD – and typically forms the first half or chapter of your dissertation After finishing your literature review, you’ll move onto the bulk of your PhD dissertation. Of course, you’ll eventually return to the lit review to make sure it’s up-to-date and contains any additional material you may have come across during the course of your research.
PhD Dissertation Structure:
Having completed your initial literature review and conducted your original research, you’ll move onto the next phase of your doctoral dissertation, beginning to sketch out an idea that your thesis can follow. The exact structure and make-up of your thesis can vary between fields, but this is the final template that many dissertations follow:
- Introduction – This sets out the key objectives of your project, why the work is significant and what its original contribution to knowledge is. At this point you may also summaries the remaining chapters, offering an abstract of the argument you'll go on to develop.
- Literature Review – The introduction can generally lead into a write-up of your literature review. Here you’ll outline the scholarly context for your project. You’ll acknowledge wherever existing research has shaped your PhD, but emphasize the unique nature of your work.
- Chapters – After you’ve finished introducing your research, you’ll begin the bulk of the dissertation. This will summarize your results and begin explaining the argument you have based on them. Some phds also will include specific chapters on methodology and/or a recreation of the data you have developed. Others can develop your argument over a series of stages, drawing on sources and results as relevant.
- Conclusion – The dissertation can end with a final chapter that pulls along the different elements of your argument and the evidence you have provided for it. You’ll restate the significance of your project (and its all-important original contribution to knowledge). You will also take the opportunity to acknowledge the potential for further work or opportunities to apply your findings outside academia.
- Bibliography and Appendices – At the end of your thesis, you’ll need to include a full list of the books, articles and data you’ve referenced in a very bibliography. you will also need to provide additional information in the form of an appendix.
PhD Dissertation Research:
What sets your PhD dissertation apart from previous university work you’ve done is the fact that it should represent an inventive contribution to academic knowledge. The form that this original contribution takes can largely depend on your discipline.
- Arts and humanities dissertations usually involve investigating different texts, sources and theoretical frameworks
- Social sciences are more likely to specialize in qualitative or quantitative surveys and case studies
- STEM subjects involve designing, recording and analyzing experiments, using their information to prove or disprove a set theory
- Depending on the nature of your research, you may ‘write up’ your findings as you go, or leave it till the dedicated ‘writing-up’ period, usually in the third year of your PhD. Whatever your approach, it’s vital very important detailed notes of your sources and methods – it’ll make your life a lot easier once it comes to victimization references in your dissertation any down the line.
Keep in mind that you, the PhD candidate, are expected to become the world's foremost expert on your topic area. That topic area should not be unduly broad but must be big enough to be meaningful. Your adviser and committee members are not supposed to know more about the topic than you do, not individually, at least. Your dissertation is supposed to explain your findings and, along with the defense, demonstrate your mastery of the area in which you are now the leading expert. That does not mean writing everything you know -- it means writing enough about the most important points that others can agree with your conclusions.
