Dissertation Structure
Title page Make it neat - first impressions are VERY important! Spelling Mistakes/Typographical errors in the Title are not a good sign!
Abstract 150-300 words telling the reader everything they can expect to find, in summary form. No references or quotes here, please.
Contents A list of headings and subheadings, neatly laid out, with page numbers
[Table of Figures] Optional
Introduction There are differences of opinion on this (like many things about dissertation marking!). I like about 150 words outlining The Big Issue - what you are going to write about. It could - for example, say exactly what the objectives are (then the person marking will be quite clear about them - see marking sheet, first paragraph! assessmentpg.htm)
Background Some people incorporate this into the Introduction. I like it kept separate. It is a large part of the number count. But I am not going to put numbers to any of these section headings for wordcount - it all depends on the topic, and who is writing it (you!). This section should be a sort of "New Readers start here". Assume the reader has little or no knowledge of the subject matter. You need to describe the state of the art, or what has happened so far. Look at an article in The Economist (which gets full marks for writing style, in my book). The first paragraph tells the reader something about the subject, so that they can know a little before they start the "interesting" bit.
Methodology What you are going to do, and how you are going to do it. Not a very big section, but an important one and one which will get marked!
Literature Review A review of relevant theory and current/recent published information about the subject. You should be particularly careful here to use the Harvard referencing system - see the link on my website. Some markers believe that a substantial part of the source material should be from Journals (Academic texts) but I believe it depends on the subject matter.
Evidence Two parts to this- what you have discovered and what you have concluded from it. In a dissertation, and particularly at Masters level, markers are looking for considered analysis, not a simple description. At the Masters level, I am looking further than analysis – to a detailed and visionary strategy for development, for example (depending on the dissertation subject area). After Unclear Objectives, poor analysis, tending towards the descriptive, is the most common fault resulting in a LOW MARK.
Conclusion/Recommendations I believe (not all agree with me) that a Conclusion should be short and concise - 1½ pages MAXIMUM - I am happy at half a page if it contains all that is needed but some second markers get picky. Recommendations are not always appropriate (depends on the title) - but you could include areas that may be worth researching further.
References Sorry - there’s confusion between markers here as well. "References" is a list of works, documents and sources from where you have quoted in the text of the dissertation. The list of references should be compiled exactly in accordance with the Harvard Referencing System. No footnote referencing, no endnotes.
Bibliography This is a list of books and other published work you have consulted. It can include the Reference material if you want, but I would save space. The Bibliography is not an essential item (unlike the References section).
Appendices Not necessary - and will not add to the mark -
the marker may not even read them. Certainly not numerous copies of magazine
articles or downloaded Internet pages. If you are doing Market Research for your
Primary Data collection, then the Appendix could include the responses
from the people you questioned, or copies of letters/emails from companies - the
market research conclusions, or the important points from the correspondence,
would be included in the main body of the dissertation.
Presentation/Spelling/Punctuation/Grammar/Layout/Structure. I
think I have said this before and on the website. These areas are very
important. For students where English is not their first language, it is easy to
make mistakes (for example - with prepositions - by, from, in, to, with, at).
Spellcheckers will not reveal all mistakes. Presentation - how it looks - is
also critical. As I mentioned before - first impressions count. Take that little
extra time to be sure everything is as neat as it can be - and there are no
silly mistakes (paragraphs included twice, pictures indistinct, graphs poorly
labelled, etc.).
Stephen Ginns jul02