What is a dissertation?

By Abhinash Jena on March 6, 2012

A dissertation is considered to be an intensive judge of the knowledge of the students wherein they have to give a comprehensive piece of work in writing based on extensive study, independent research and reading for Masters Degree or Doctoral study.

A dissertation is the last and final obstacle undertaken by a student after the completion of his extensive examination to obtain his degree. The dissertation formulates to be filled with the ideas, thoughts and ideology of the writer which depicts not only his skills and knowledge but also his talent in completion of the same successfully. A dissertation is not a matter of talk at the span of his academics, while a student is judged by the employer in the future based on his dissertation work. Therefore it requires extra attention and cautiousness.

The dissertation is the single and long assignment given to the student by the University and it turns out to be a key meter of the original capacity of a student. A dissertation needs to follow few basic rules when it is done for academic purpose. The rules are:

  1. Dissertation should give a clear thought in response to the main question proposed
  2. The dissertation topic and the sourcing is to be done by the writer in a sincere and straightforward manner as this is to judge the writers personality
  3. The methodology one is to implement in the writing of the dissertation is to be chosen and be clear about the collection of sources and evidences.
  4. The analysis should prove to be of ultimate satisfaction for the University and to the writer so the source and the methodology to be decided in advance.

Every dissertation has a basic structure or design wherein few changes may occur due to choice of subject and University grants. Title page, Declaration signed, Abstract, Acknowledgement, Contents, Introduction, and literature review, Arguments, Conclusion, References, Appendices and Bibliography.