Dissertation Templates

As noted in Chapter 3 of the book, the structure of your dissertation will be dependent upon your specific institution, which will likely have its own particular requirements. However, as the book suggests, it is common for the dissertation to include a number of common sections that are explored in more detail in this resource. These might be named differently within your own institution or discipline, however, they will be a good place to start your planning.

It is also important to remember that the structure of the dissertation might vary according to the methodological approach, for example, whether it is qualitative or quantitative. Variations of these will be outlined in the templates provided.

Think of the dissertation template as the skeleton of your dissertation. Once you have all these parts in place, you can begin to fill it up.

In this set of resources, you will find three templates for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method dissertations. In each case, an example is provided to build understanding. These examples include some thoughts and plans on what should be included, however as we suggest in the book, decisions about size of your sections and your exact content should be discussed with your supervisor in the planning stage of the chapter.

Dissertation Template 1: Qualitative research project
Dissertation Template 2: Quantitative research project
Dissertation Template 3: Mixed methods research project