What is a Dissertation?

You may have asked this question to yourself: What is a dissertation? What does it mean? The word dissertation comes from the Latin word ‘dissertate which means ‘debate’. What does the word ‘debate’ imply? A discussion involving different points of view or sets of ideas. A dissertation will therefore not only examine a subject but will review different points of view about that subject.

Here’s another definition of a dissertation that underlines some of its more important characteristics: “a substantial paper that is typically based on original research and that gives evidence of the candidate’s mastery of both her subject and scholarly method.”

A dissertation will show that the writer knows her subject, the key facts, and different points of view in it – but it also advances a point of view resulting from original research. Remember that ‘original’ does not mean ‘something that’s never been done before but rather ‘something that you do for yourself.

Writing a dissertation is a multifaceted process that can be taxing on an individual. But with the right skill set, it can be done. Below we discuss the skills required to write a dissertation:

• The first essential skill happens to be planning and organization. Planning entails compiling loads of research, developing a timeline, and producing a highly detailed outline integrating everything you have researched. When you conduct research, target primary sources, more so than secondary sources. Choose topics that will validate your thesis. Furthermore, you must organize your work efforts, devising a timeline that maps out the entire course of your project. And of course, a detailed outline will knit together the fragmented pieces of information that you have retrieved during your research. This will facilitate the final writing process.
• Good writing skills are an absolute must. If you cannot express yourself succinctly and clearly, you will simply obscure any topic, claim, data, or conclusion presented in your document.
• No dissertation can be written without the aid of logical reasoning. This skill gives you the ability to conclude, based implicitly on the research you have conducted. This will assist you in mapping out the methodology behind your research, making logical assumptions, hypotheses, and educated conjectures, based on the research you have conducted.
• Creativity is key, and many people dismiss the importance of this essential skill. Creativity will enable you to find overarching connections among the data you have compiled. Furthermore, creativity will enable you to present your subject matter or theories in a fashion never initially conceived by others. It is the originality that will distinguish your dissertation from the rest.

Diligence and punctuality are obvious skills that you must adopt when embarking upon your dissertation. Most dissertations are due on a specific date. And failure to turn in the assignment on that date will drastically affect your grade. Diligence will propel you forward on your journey to completing your dissertation. It will enable you to overcome all of the obstacles associated with conducting research, plowing through sources, mending everything together into a single coherent paper, etc.

Even before you write your dissertation proposal, you’ll want to know where you can find literature that’s relevant to your topic. A literature review is an essential part of a dissertation, providing the necessary context for your unique study and how it informs/contradicts/expands the larger body of knowledge in your field.

In general, “literature” refers to scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, and academic texts. When looking for these texts, the following databases can help.

• Google Scholar: This allows you to search a wealth of scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals from all over the world.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT): This allows you to search over 2.3 million doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. PQDT is available at most libraries.
• Academic OneFile: This allows you to search for peer-reviewed articles from the world’s leading journals.
• CORE: This allows you to search open-access research content from journals around the world.
• WorldCat: allows you to search the card catalogs of libraries around the world.
• LexisNexis Academic: This allows you to search through a wide range of news, business, financial, legal, medical, biographical, government, and newspaper resources.

Your specific Ph.D. program can greatly influence your ability to complete your dissertation. That’s because different universities provide different levels of support for students. When choosing where to earn your doctoral degree, you should look for universities that offer the following resources:

• Library and Research Support: help guide you through the process of utilizing library databases and locating relevant materials.
• Personal Advisors: provides you with someone—or multiple people—to turn to for help with everything from academics to financial aid, so you can more easily avoid issues that might slow down the completion of your dissertation.
• Technical Support: helps ensure you don’t get bogged down in the computer-centric world of modern education.
• Fundamental Skills Support: helps you improve skills such as writing, so you can more easily complete your dissertation.

Completing a dissertation is often about having access to the right resources and choosing the right approach.