How To Create An Outline For A Dissertation?

Writing a simple essay or even a research paper is not that difficult compared to working on such a serious project as a Master thesis or a PhD dissertation. These are the tasks of the highest importance. Your future mainly depends on how well you handle it! Due to these reasons, we bet, that your main goal is to create a top-notch dissertation that would make you a successful specialist in your field with a Doctoral degree. How can you do it? You will be surprised, but the key to success is a dissertation outline!

Students often overlook the necessity to prepare a detailed outline for a dissertation (unless their professor had asked them to do this) but you can’t imagine how helpful it can be for you! In fact, you should not neglect the importance of it because writing a step-by-step plan will help you create your dissertation chapters faster and easier, follow a clear structure, not forget to write down some important details, etc. An outline can be helpful in many ways! It saves you lots of time, making the writing process simpler.

Such guides can be used to craft every single chapter of the work easier without losing the main idea of the text and follow a proper logical sequence. Thus, once you have a step-by-step dissertation proposal outline, your final task will only require you to connect all the pieces of a puzzle together, expanding, and developing every point of your plan, And that is it! The main purpose of the outline is to rid you of any possible issues with the organization of your paper and supporting arguments, which is why it is so important and helpful for you!

To Do List For A Dissertation Outline

Making a to-do list is not difficult as it is a simple list of tasks that have to be completed in order to perform the dissertation in the best possible way. However, although it is easy it does not mean that you do not need it! In fact, a well-arranged and planned list will also help you simplify the whole process if you put all of the tasks in the correct order. Why do you need it? Having such list in front of your eyes gives you the following benefits:

1. You always have a general overview of your project and know what needs to be done;
2. You can easily record what you have already done and observe the progress;
3. You will not miss out something important like a submission date, etc.

How to make a good to-do list? There is no specific scheme for it, but including the following elements is a good idea:

• Find a good topic (look here for dissertation topics in education) and start your investigation;
• Read a few papers written by other people;
• Formulate the main idea and questions to prepare a proposal;
• Get an approval of your topic and proposal from the supervisor;
• Think of your research methodology;
• Gather the necessary information and make notes of everything you find important;
• Make a plan of your paper’s structure and outline every chapter;
• Make a short list of all your ideas along with the arguments supporting them to see how you should organize them on a paper;
• Make a draft of your intro;
• Work on your chapters following the outline you have created;
• Make a draft of your conclusion;
• Ask the supervisor to take look at what you have so far and give you some advice;
• Make any necessary adjustments, fill in the gaps, and make sure that you did  not leave anything out;
• Polish your draft until it looks good to you;
• Ask someone else to proofread your work (if you can’t ask a friend, find a company that provides dissertation writing services to request proofreading or editing services there);
• Check your text for compliance with your supervisor’s requirements and conduct a plagiarism check;

Example Of A Dissertation Outline

Why do you need to look for dissertation outline examples? Although making a plan is not that difficult, having a good dissertation outline example in front of your eyes is a good thing as it will make everything easier and give you a clear understanding of what you need to do. Below is an example that you can follow.

1. Front Part

   1. Title Page;
   2. Signature Page;
   3. Abstract;
   4. Table of contents;
   5. Optional or upon the scientific supervisor’s request: Dedication, Acknowledgement, Copyright Notifications, List of figures, and list of tables;

2. Intro

   1. Basic explanation of the topic and the main problem;
   2. Statement of the research questions;
   3. The goal and significance of the investigation;
   4. Definitions of the terms (if needed);
   5. Organization of the research;

3. Literature Review

   1. Intro;
   2. Theoretical background;
   3. Review of the used sources;
   4. Critical assessment of the literature;

4. Research Methodology

   1. Main questions and design;
   2. Statement of the chosen research method;
   3. Explanation of the methodology value;
   4. Specification of procedures applied in the course of collecting and analyzing the data;
   5. Limitations;
   6. Ethical considerations;

5. Results of the Study

   1. Statement of the received results and their analysis;
   2. Comparison of the obtained results and initial goals/questions;

6. Summary

   1. Discussion of the research results;
   2. Comparison of the obtained results with the findings of prior researchers;
   3. Suggestions regarding the use of the obtained findings for the further development of the topic and future investigation;

7. The List Of References

8. Appendices

   1. Statement of the IRB forms (for example, the forms of the informed consent);
   2. Information regarding the instrumentation;