Skip to main content

10 Tips for Writing a Dissertation

Writing a dissertation is a requirement in most Masters degree’s in addition to course work in order to get a qualification. A number of students find it difficult to complete their qualifications because of having to write a dissertation. However, that should not be the case. Any student that has passed his coursework can and should be able to write a passing dissertation. What are the tips to writing a good dissertation?

1. Ensure you submit your research or dissertation proposal on time. Give the proposal adequate attention and follow the Universities guidelines.

2. Choose a topic where you have adequate knowledge and ready access to information. Choosing a complicated topic to impress others will just make it almost impossible for you to complete your dissertation on time.

3. Read the Universities Dissertation Guidelines before and after writing each chapter.





4. Allocate adequate time to the dissertation. Make a time plan using a Gantt- Chart and stick it at a visible place in your home or office.


5. Improve your skills in literature search from libraries and the Internet.





6. Form some groups with classmates. This helps you have support and encouragement from fellow students.

7. Maintain regular contact with your supervisor. Don’t make your supervisor start to think you have shifted to Mars by your silence!

8. Buy and read good books on dissertation or thesis writing.

9. Find some experienced people to edit your dissertation drafts.

10. Ensure good time management! You need to do away with legitimate pleasures for a time in order to complete your dissertation on time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Joyous Celebration

One of the "to do things" I have always wanted to do since I started going to South Africa in 2004 was to watch Joyous Celebration perform live. Who is Joyous Celebration? Joyous Celebration is a gospel music outfit of local South African and international artists that have produced gospel CDs and DVDs since 1994. Joyous Celebration is a dream that was born when Jabu Hlongwane, Lindelani Mkhize and Mthunzi Namba who had met in concerts and conventions in and around Durban toyed around the idea of collaborating. In 1994 a show dubbed Joyous Celebration was held to  celebrate the peaceful transition of South Africa when it became independent.  Each year since 1994 Joyous Celebration has been releasing an album as a CD and DVD around March/April. The release is followed by tours in various South African cities. Since 2004 I have made sure I have collected all the CDs that have been released to-date, the last being Joyous 17 (a triple CD offering) and double DVD offering. T...

Book Review: Letter to my Children

Letter to my Children Kenneth Kaunda Veritas Trust 1977 139 pages One of the things that I and my fellow boarders at Kafue Secondary School looked forward to during our meals in the dining hall was receiving letters especially those from our parents and guardians. These letters were important in maintaining connection with our families as we got news of what was happening in our families as well as get advice on how to conduct ourselves at school.  The book 'Letter to my children' by Kenneth Kaunda, the first Republican President of Zambia was written to his children as a kind of public apology for neglecting his children so badly by putting his political career before his family. This book is dedicated to his children and the youth of Zambia. Some key highlights of this book are: Faith and values. Here Dr. Kaunda discusses issues of power. He states that the earliest form of power that he encountered and had a lasting effect on him was the power of the gospel. He further says...

Micahel Eaton: Biographical Sketch

Michael Eaton was the fourth pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1976 to 1977. He was a good expository preacher/teacher and prolific writer of many Christian books including commentaries on a number of books of the Bible. Michael Eaton was born in 1941. He came from a very ordinary family in London. He became a Christian (late 1950s) when he was a teenager through a youth group in an Evangelical Anglican Church. The Billy Graham campaigns in London may also have played some part in his salvation. He did his Bachelor of Divinity at Tyndale House Cambridge. He then entered the ministry as a curate (assistant minister) at an Anglican church in Surrey, England. In 1967, he resigned from the Anglican ministry on theological grounds and joined an Evangelical Free Church in south-west London. In March 1969 he moved to Zambia where he and his wife Jenny joined Lusaka Baptist Church and later became a deacon and an elder. From early days in the church he taught an adu...