Dissertation Results Section

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What is the Dissertation Results Section?

Following on from the Dissertation Methodology Section, the results section is a crucial part of a dissertation that presents the findings of the research. This section should provide a clear and concise overview of the data and any statistical analysis that was conducted, in order to answer the research question(s) or hypothesis(es) that were posed at the beginning of the study.

How to Write a Dissertation Results Section

When writing a dissertation results section, it is important to include the following:

  • A brief statement summarizing the research question(s) or hypothesis(es)
  • A clear and comprehensive presentation of the data collected
  • A detailed description of the statistical analysis conducted, if applicable
  • Clear and well-labelled tables, figures, and graphs that support the data presented
  • A discussion of the findings and their implications for the research question(s) or hypothesis(es)

Tips for writing a strong results section for your dissertation

  • Be clear and concise
  • Use a consistent and logical structure
  • Use tables, figures, and graphs to effectively present the data
  • Use language appropriate to the level of statistical analysis conducted
  • Avoid over-interpreting the data

In addition to the above tips, it is important to ensure that the results section is consistent with the research questions or hypotheses, and to avoid making generalizations that are not supported by the data. It may also be helpful to seek feedback from peers or an advisor in order to ensure that the results section is well-written and effectively communicates the findings of the research.

In conclusion, the results section of a dissertation is a crucial component of the research process, as it presents the data and analysis that support the research question(s) or hypothesis(es). By following the tips and guidelines outlined above, you can write a strong and effective results section that accurately communicates the findings of your research.

What next?

In the next article we will be discussing the conclusion of your dissertation.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

Dissertation Methodology Section

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What is a methodology?

Following after the literature review, the dissertation methodology section is a crucial part of a dissertation that describes the methods and approaches used to conduct the research. This section helps to establish the credibility and validity of the research by providing a clear and transparent account of the research process.

How to write a dissertation methodology section

When writing a dissertation methodology section, it is important to include the following:

  • A clear description of the research question or problem
  • A brief overview of the relevant literature on the topic
  • A description of the research design and methods used, including any sampling techniques and data collection methods
  • An explanation of how the data was analyzed and interpreted

Tips for writing a strong dissertation methodology section

  • Be clear and concise
  • Use a consistent and logical structure
  • Use appropriate research methods for the topic and research question
  • Describe any potential limitations and weaknesses of the research
  • Avoid making assumptions or overgeneralizations

Further reading

What next?

In the next article we will be discussing the results section of your dissertation.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

How to Conduct a Literature Review

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What is a Literature Review?

This article follows on from our article answering the question “What is a literature review?“

A literature review is a critical evaluation of existing literature on a particular topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify gaps and inconsistencies in the existing research. Conducting a thorough literature review is an essential step in the research process and can help to ensure that your own research is original and adds to the existing body of knowledge on a topic.

How do I Conduct a Literature Review?

To conduct a literature review, start by defining your research question and identifying key terms and concepts related to your topic. This will help you to focus your search for literature and ensure that you are only considering relevant sources. Next, use a variety of databases and search engines to find sources that address your research question. Be sure to use advanced search techniques to narrow your results and only include sources that are relevant and of high quality.

Once you have a list of potential sources, read through them carefully and take detailed notes. As you read, look for common themes and ideas, as well as any gaps or inconsistencies in the existing research. Use this information to create an outline for your literature review, organizing your sources and ideas into logical sections.

Tips

Some tips for conducting a successful literature review include:

  • Start early: Conducting a thorough literature review can take time, so be sure to start the process as early as possible.
  • Be organized: Keep track of your sources and notes using a system that works for you, such as a spreadsheet or a bibliography management tool.
  • Be critical: Don’t just summarize the existing research – instead, evaluate it critically and look for gaps and inconsistencies.
  • Be concise: A literature review should be concise and to the point, so be sure to only include the most relevant and important information.

Further reading

What next?

In the next post we will look at the Dissertation Methodology section.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

Literature Review

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What is a literature review?

The literature review is a review of the previous literature on your study topic. It looks only at secondary sources, so it should never be used for presenting your own results – that will come later in your own results section.

Why is the literature review important?

The literature review shows where your research sits within the context of your field of study. It demonstrates the previous research done in your area and allows you to identify or demonstrate gaps in the research that your study aims to fulfil. Finally, the literature review also provides information that you will use to build your own argument. You will  refer back to your literature review regularly throughout your dissertation.

You may also review literature on things not directly related to your topic, such as research methodologies.

Tips

You should try and get a good coverage of the previous studies in your area. It is important not to focus only on studies that appear to agree with your own hypotheses, but to include papers that might contain results that are not easily explainable with your hypothesis or that appear to contradict the consensus of opinion. Without testing your own results against the findings of such papers, the reliability of your work could be in doubt.

As the literature review is a major part of the paper, we will have a few posts on this issue, looking at where to find papers for a literature review, the various types of literature review and the differences between a literature review and an annotated bibliography.

Further reading

What next?

In the next post we will look at how to conduct a literature review, such as where to find papers and how to choose which papers to use.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

Dissertation Introduction

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What is a dissertation introduction?

The dissertation introduction is the first proper part of your dissertation. First it sets out what the reader should expect from your research. Then it explains why you are conducting the research. It also gives an overview of the issue you are examining. Finally, it describes how you have structured your work.

The dissertation introduction usually contains the following sections:

  • Statement of the problem your study will address
  • A brief overview of how the study will be conducted
  • Why this study needs to be conducted and what knowledge it will contribute to the area
  • Constraints and limitations of the study
  • The structure of the dissertation, usually set out as an overview of what each of the chapters will contain

Why is the dissertation introduction important?

The introduction to a dissertation is important as it allows readers immediately to orient themselves. They will be given a clear overview of WHY the dissertation is being written,  and HOW it will be presented. The dissertation introduction therefore gives the reader a descriptive overview of the whole study.

Tips

When writing your dissertation introduction you should not go into too much detail. The aim is to present the information, not to go into a lot of depth explaining it. For example, if you are using a case study for your dissertation, you can simply write “This study will examine the problem using the case study approach”. You will go into a lot more detail about anything you say here later in the dissertation. Using the same example, the case study approach will usually be referred to in the literature review alongside a number of other approaches along with the reasons you chose that approach over the other possibilities.

Dissertation introductions are often written in the future tense, such as  “This dissertation will examine…”. This is because your dissertation introduction is talking about what the rest of the dissertation will hold. The assumption is that the introduction is coming “before” the study, even if it is being written after most of the work has been done.

Further reading

What next?

The next section we will be looking at in this series of posts on dissertation structure will be the literature review.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

Abstract

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What is an abstract?

The abstract is the first thing that anyone reading your dissertation will see. Although the abstract appears at the start of your work, it should usually be the last thing you write.

The abstract contains the overview of your complete document, including the following:

  • Motivations for conducting the study
  • The aims and goals of the dissertation
  • The methods used
  • An overview of the results
  • The conclusions of the dissertation

Why is the abstract important?

As mentioned above, the abstract is the first thing anyone reading your dissertation will see. It will give them a brief summary of everything you have done in your study. If you think back to when you conducted your literature review, you will remember that the process is usually as follows: conduct a wide search of the literature using related keywords; read the abstracts of the studies you find to determine which are relevant and discard those that are not; read the selected papers in more detail. The pivotal point in this is reading the abstracts – it is based on this that you decide whether a paper is suitable for inclusion in your review. You therefore need to make sure that you put sufficient information into the abstract to allow someone conducting a similar search to make an informed decision on whether to include your paper in their analysis.

Tips

The most common mistake people make when writing an abstract is to not include the results and/or conclusions. Not including these in the abstract means that no-one reading your abstract will be able to tell whether or not it is relevant to their own work. Remember, you are not writing a thriller and so you do not need to keep your readers in suspense. Thinking back to when you were conducting your literature review, if an article’s abstract did not give an overview of the results, you would most likely have overlooked it, as you did not have time to read through 20,000 words to determine if it was suitable. You can prevent this for your own work by ensuring the abstract contains all this information.

Writing your abstract should be the very last thing you do. Often you can then copy and paste relevant portions of the text you have already written to create it.

Further reading

What next?

The next section we will be looking at in this series of posts on dissertation structure will be the introduction.

This post is part of a series of posts about each of the sections of a dissertation. Get access to them all from here: https://studentproofreading.co.uk/blog/dissertation-structure/

Dissertation structure

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We will start our overview of dissertation writing with a look at the dissertation structure.

What is dissertation structure?

The dissertation structure is common to most dissertation, with a number of defined sections that must nearly always appear. The sections are as follows:

At the end of your dissertation you will have your references and any appendices.

This dissertation structure is common to nearly all subjects. Whether you are writing a scientific dissertation or a humanities dissertation the sections will still be the same, although the content will obviously be very different.

Why is dissertation structure important?

Having a good dissertation structure is the first step in the process of writing a good dissertation. Developing the dissertation structure should be the first thing you do when you start planning your dissertation, and you should follow the dissertation structure you have developed throughout the time you are writing your dissertation.

The idea of a dissertation structure is to help you lead your reader through your research in the easiest and clearest way possible. You take them from the ideas behind the research, through research that has previously been conducted, and then onto your own research and its findings. Without a good dissertation structure, no matter how well researched your dissertation is, your readers will have difficult following the arguments you present.

Tips

A good tip is to set up your document with the dissertation structure already written in as titles. As we go through each of the sections in more detail, you can add in more titles to these sections as appropriate. Only once you have the dissertation structure in place as titles in the document should you start adding the content.

Further reading

What next?

Over the next few posts, this blog will examine each of these sections in detail in order to help you build the best possible dissertation structure.

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Welcome

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Welcome to the StudentProofreading.co.uk blog.

We regularly get asked for advice on writing essays, dissertations and theses beyond what we offer through our proofreading service. Through this blog we aim to give tips and advice on every aspect of academic writing. We are going to start with a series of posts on writing a dissertation, as we know that many of our visitors are in the process of doing that at the moment. Although this is aimed at dissertations, the advice we offer will be applicable to any form of academic writing, from the shortest essay to your PhD thesis.

Please feel free to contact us through the comments if there are any questions you would like to ask, and please don’t hesitate to suggest topics you would like us to cover as we would like to make this blog as useful as possible to all students.