Learn to plan and submit dissertation

To aid students to get the best results, DTNext spoke to an expert in the field to shed light on the best possible ways of writing a dissertaion.

According to Prof Prakash Sai, Head, Department of Management Studies, IIT-Madras, “The minimum requirement for any dissertation will be to include five chapters. Students can always include additional chapters depending on the scope of the methodology.” 

Most dissertation formats will begin with the content page. It is the task of the students to include the abstracts, executive summary and overview of the research that is covered in the dissertation. 

The first chapter in any dissertation will invariably be the ‘introduction’. The chapter must provide a brief overview of the research that is to be covered in the dissertation. 

The second chapter will cover the ‘literature summary’. In the second chapter, students must explain in detail the thesis overview, research models that were used and the frame work. The literature summary must delve into the research gap that the students encountered, research motivation and the research objectives. Students must also break down the new research models that were employed. They must also state the various data that was used in the dissertation. There are two types of data—primary data and secondary data. The primary data comprises of information compiled by the students themselves, while the secondary data consists of information that was compiled by external sources such as government data and industry data. 

The third chapter will cover the ‘research methodology’. Students must include a summary on the primary data that they have collected. This chapter must also touch upon the field work and experiments that were done specifically for the dissertation.

The fourth chapter will comprise of ‘analysis and findings’. In this chapter, students will have to expand on the surveys that were used. They will have to explain how the data is presented and analysed. They will also need to link the key findings with the research objectives that were presented in the second chapter.

The final chapter will have to be the ‘conclusion’. Students will have to present an integrated perspective on their findings. They will have to link the findings with the content that is provided in chapters two, three and four. They will also have to explain the overall contribution their dissertation adds to the current body of knowledge. They will also need to detail the limitations of the study with regard to sample, primary data, budget and the timeframe. They can also include the future scope for research and inputs on the different approaches that future researchers can take to further the field of study.

After the last chapter, students must include the ‘reference’ to reveal the source of secondary data. They must include the last name of the author, title of the research paper, date and the volume number. 

“For secondary data, students can opt for published sources where they will have to pay a fee to access the data or can choose from open sources, where the data is absolutely free,” says Prof Prakash.

There are a slew of publishers who compile and publish data such as Thompson and Reuters, EBSCO, F-scope, Taylor and Francis and Nasscom etc. Apart from these, students can also tap into the research that is released by databases including the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, CRISIL Report, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance etc. Students who lack the funding to access these paid services can always fall back on Google Scholar, which is an open source software that is designed to aid students.

Prakash says students must also ensure that their dissertation is not bogged down by plagiarism. 

“Some of the common forms of plagiarism that we encounter includes cut and paste work, recycling words and copying without quoting the source. All of this is not acceptable while doing a dissertation,” explains Prof Prakash.

Universities and institutes also engage the use of software to weed out dissertations that are riddled with plagiarism. ‘Turnitin.com’ is an internet-based service which checks documents for original content that is used by most institutes to keep a check on plagiarism.