what are the types of dissertations

The 7 Types of Dissertations Explained: Which One is Right for You?

Your dissertation is a pretty big deal and likely represents years of hard slog studying your subject of expertise.

But did you know there are 7 different types of dissertation ?

The purpose of this article is to demystify the various types of dissertations you might encounter or choose to undertake during your advanced studies. Armed with this knowledge, you can select the most appropriate methodology and framework for your research interests and academic requirements.

Each type of dissertation serves a different academic purpose and requires a unique approach and structure. In this article, we’ll take a look at these differences in detail, providing clear explanations and examples from a range of academic disciplines. By the end of this article, you should have a thorough understanding of the options available for your dissertation and be better prepared to select a path that aligns with your research goals and academic ambitions.

Remember, regardless of what type of dissertation you ultimately decide to pursue, best dissertation proofreading can make all the difference between a pass and a fail.

7 Types of Dissertation

Empirical Dissertations

So, let’s dive right in with empirical dissertations—arguably the most hands-on type of dissertation out there. If you’re studying a field like psychology, biology, or social sciences, you’re probably going to become very familiar with this approach.

What exactly is an empirical dissertation?

It’s all about gathering data. You’ll be conducting your own experiments, surveys, or observations, making this type extremely engaging (and a bit daunting). Essentially, you’re collecting new data from the world or from people, rather than relying on existing data from other studies.

The structure of an empirical dissertation is pretty straightforward but involves rigorous methodology. Typically, it will include an introduction to set up your SMART research question , a literature review to justify why this question needs answering, a methodology section that details how you’ve gone about your data collection, a results chapter presenting your findings, and a discussion that ties everything back to your research question and explores the implications.

This type of dissertation not only tests your ability to conduct research and analyze data but also challenges you to apply theoretical knowledge in practical scenarios. By the end of an empirical dissertation, you should not only have answers to your original questions but also a solid chunk of real-world experience under your belt.

Best suited to: Students who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.

Theoretical Dissertations

Now, shifting gears, let’s talk about theoretical dissertations. If the empirical dissertation is the hands-on, muddy boots kind of research, the theoretical dissertation is its more contemplative, indoor cousin. Perfect for those of you in fields like philosophy, literature, or certain branches of sociology and psychology, where concrete data might not be the main focus.

What’s the deal with theoretical dissertations? They revolve around developing, exploring, or expanding on existing theories. Instead of collecting new data, you invest your time and effort studying existing research and theoretical frameworks to build an argument or propose a new theory or perspective on an old one.

The structure of a theoretical dissertation generally includes a comprehensive introduction where you lay out your thesis or theory, followed by a detailed literature review that supports and provides the foundation for your thesis. After this, you’ll move into a discussion or analysis section, where you critically analyze your thesis in the light of existing theories and literature. The aim here is to offer a fresh or refined perspective that contributes to the existing body of knowledge.

This type of dissertation is a test of your analytical skills and your ability to synthesize complex ideas into a coherent argument. It’s less about creating new paths and more about mapping the ones already laid out in new ways.

Best suited to: Students who love theory and thrive on crafting arguments.

Case Study Dissertations

Next up, it’s case study dissertations. This type of dissertation is especially attractive if you’re someone who loves storytelling with a purpose or is drawn to in-depth analysis of specific events, individuals, or organizations. It’s a favorite in disciplines like business, education, psychology, and social sciences, where a single case can lead to the development of new theories and concepts.

A case study dissertation involves an intensive investigation of a particular individual, group, organization, or event. You’ll get to the nitty gritty of the specifics, examining various aspects of the case to understand its implications and applications. This method allows you to apply theoretical concepts in a real-world context, providing rich insights that aren’t always accessible through broader surveys or experiments.

The structure of a case study dissertation usually starts with an introduction to the chosen case, followed by a literature review that sets the theoretical framework. You then proceed to a detailed methodology section explaining how you collected and analyzed your data. The core of your dissertation will likely be the case analysis chapter, where you dissect the case in relation to your research question. Finally, you’ll conclude with a discussion of how the case impacts the wider field and what new understandings it brings to the fore.

Best suited to: Those who are meticulous and have a keen eye for detail, a case study dissertation allows you to explore the intricacies of a specific example while contributing to broader academic debates.

Comparative Dissertations

Next up is the comparative dissertation. This type is tailor-made for the analytically minded who love drawing connections and distinctions between different elements. It’s particularly prevalent in fields like law, education, political science, and international relations, where understanding differences and similarities across cases, laws, or educational methods can provide critical insights.

Essentially, a comparative dissertation involves systematically comparing and contrasting two or more entities. These could be policies, theories, populations, or even historical periods, depending on your study area. The goal is to identify patterns or discrepancies that reveal underlying principles or suggest new interpretations of data.

The structure of a dissertation of this nature typically includes a dissertation abstract followed by an introduction that defines the entities being compared and poses your research question. This is followed by a literature review that frames the theoretical bases for comparison. The methodology section should clearly outline the criteria and methods for comparison, ensuring transparency and replicability. The subsequent chapters will then detail the comparative analysis, discussing each entity individually before bringing them together for a comprehensive comparison. Finally, the conclusion synthesizes the findings, highlighting the significance of the differences and similarities discovered.

Best suited to: Those who can juggle multiple themes and variables without losing sight of the overarching question, a comparative dissertation challenges you to remain objective and balanced in your analysis.

Project-Based Dissertations

Project-based dissertations are more practical in nature. This type of dissertation is particularly appealing if you’re inclined towards applying your theoretical knowledge to create something tangible or solve a real-world problem. It’s a common choice in fields like engineering, computer science, and applied arts, where the end product can be a piece of software, an engineering prototype, or a design project.

What makes a project-based dissertation stand out? It centers around a project that you will plan, execute, and manage through the duration of your dissertation process. This could involve designing a new gadget, developing a software program, or creating a marketing plan for a startup. The focus is on applying the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired through your studies to produce a project that has practical and theoretical implications.

The structure of a project-based dissertation generally includes an introduction to the project, its objectives, and its relevance to your field. Following this, you’ll provide a literature review that supports the theories and methodologies you intend to use. The methodology section should detail your project plan, resources, and the processes you will follow. The main body of the dissertation will describe the project development and implementation phases in detail. Finally, the conclusion will evaluate the project’s success, its impact, and potential future developments or applications.

Best suited to: The innovative and the practical, a project-based dissertation allows you to showcase your ability to deliver a concrete outcome that demonstrates your professional capabilities.

Narrative Dissertations

If you’re drawn to writing and storytelling, a narrative dissertation might be right up your alley. This type is particularly popular in fields such as creative arts, literature, and education, where personal narratives or creative elements can be used to explore and communicate complex ideas.

What does a narrative dissertation involve? It’s about crafting a dissertation that primarily uses narrative techniques to convey research findings or explore scholarly questions. This could mean writing in a first-person perspective, incorporating fictional elements, or structuring the dissertation like a series of interconnected stories or essays.

The structure of a narrative dissertation often deviates from the traditional format. It begins with an introduction that sets the stage for the narrative journey. The literature review might be woven into the narrative itself, providing contextual background as the story unfolds. The methodology section explains how narrative methods will be used to explore the research question. The main body is where the narrative takes center stage, presenting research through personal reflections, storytelling, or hypothetical scenarios. The conclusion then ties all narrative threads together, reflecting on the insights gained and their broader implications.

Best suited to: those who think and express themselves best through stories, a narrative dissertation allows you to engage with your topic in a deeply personal and creative way.

Systematic Review Dissertations

Systematic review dissertations are perfect if you’re keen on synthesizing existing research to draw comprehensive conclusions about a specific topic. This type is particularly valuable in fields like healthcare, psychology, and social sciences, where summarizing and evaluating existing studies can provide powerful insights and inform practice and policy.

A systematic review dissertation involves a rigorous and structured approach to reviewing literature. You’ll gather all relevant data from previously published studies to answer a specific research question. The focus is on transparency and reproducibility, employing predefined methods to minimize bias and provide reliable results.

The structure of a systematic review dissertation typically begins with an introduction that outlines the research question and its significance. This is followed by a methodologically detailed section that explains the criteria for selecting studies, the search strategy used, and the methods for data extraction and synthesis. The results section then presents a detailed analysis of the studies included in the review, often using quantitative methods like meta-analysis. The discussion interprets these findings, considering their implications for the field and any limitations. The conclusion suggests areas for further research and summarizes the contributions made by the review.

Best suited to: Those with a keen eye for detail and a systematic approach to research, a systematic review dissertation can significantly impact by clarifying and summarizing existing knowledge.

Methodological Considerations

Choosing the right type of dissertation is an important decision in your academic journey, and several factors should guide your selection. This section aims to help you navigate these choices, ensuring that the methodology and framework you choose align perfectly with your research goals, available resources, and time constraints.

First, consider your discipline’s requirements and norms. Different fields favor different types of dissertations, so understanding what is expected and respected in your area of study is crucial. Next, think about your own strengths and interests. Choose a dissertation type that not only meets academic criteria but also excites you and plays to your strengths, whether they lie in empirical research, theoretical exploration, practical application, or creative expression.

Resource availability is another critical factor. Some types of dissertations, like empirical and project-based, may require access to specific equipment, software, or locations, which can be a deciding factor. Time constraints are also essential to consider; some dissertations, particularly those involving extensive data collection and analysis, may require more time than others.

Finally, discuss your ideas with your advisor or mentor. They can provide valuable insights and feedback that can help you refine your choice and ensure that you are prepared to tackle the challenges ahead. With the right preparation and understanding of what each type of dissertation entails, you can make an informed decision that sets the stage for a successful and rewarding research endeavor.

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The Top 3 Types of Dissertation Research Explained

Preparing for your doctoral dissertation takes serious perseverance. You’ve endured years of studies and professional development to get to this point. After sleepless nights and labor-intensive research, you’re ready to present the culmination of all of your hard work. Even with a strong base knowledge, it can be difficult — even daunting — to decide how you will begin writing.

By taking a wide-lens view of the dissertation research process , you can best assess the work you have ahead of you and any gaps in your current research strategy. Subsequently, you’ll begin to develop a timeline so you can work efficiently and cross that finish line with your degree in hand.

What Is a Dissertation?

A dissertation is a published piece of research on a novel topic in your chosen field. Students complete a dissertation as part of a doctoral or PhD program. For most students, a dissertation is the first substantive piece of academic research they will write. 

Because a dissertation becomes a published piece of academic literature that other academics may cite, students must defend it in front of a board of experts consisting of peers in their field, including professors, their advisor, and other industry experts. 

For many students, a dissertation is the first piece of research in a long career full of research. As such, it’s important to choose a topic that’s interesting and engaging.

Types of Dissertation Research

Dissertations can take on many forms, based on research and methods of presentation in front of a committee board of academics and experts in the field. Here, we’ll focus on the three main types of dissertation research to get you one step closer to earning your doctoral degree.

1. Qualitative

The first type of dissertation is known as a qualitative dissertation . A qualitative dissertation mirrors the qualitative research that a doctoral candidate would conduct throughout their studies. This type of research relies on non-numbers-based data collected through things like interviews, focus groups and participant observation. 

The decision to model your dissertation research according to the qualitative method will depend largely on the data itself that you are collecting. For example, dissertation research in the field of education or psychology may lend itself to a qualitative approach, depending on the essence of research. Within a qualitative dissertation research model, a candidate may pursue one or more of the following:

• Case study research
• Autoethnographies
• Narrative research 
• Grounded theory 

Although individual approaches may vary, qualitative dissertations usually include certain foundational characteristics. For example, the type of research conducted to develop a qualitative dissertation often follows an emergent design, meaning that the content and research strategy changes over time. Candidates also rely on research paradigms to further strategize how best to collect and relay their findings. These include critical theory, constructivism and interpretivism, to name a few. 

Because qualitative researchers integrate non-numerical data, their methods of collection often include unstructured interview, focus groups and participant observations. Of course, researchers still need rubrics from which to assess the quality of their findings, even though they won’t be numbers-based. To do so, they subject the data collected to the following criteria: dependability, transferability and validity. 

When it comes time to present their findings, doctoral candidates who produce qualitative dissertation research have several options. Some choose to include case studies, personal findings, narratives, observations and abstracts. Their presentation focuses on theoretical insights based on relevant data points. 

2. Quantitative

Quantitative dissertation research, on the other hand, focuses on the numbers. Candidates employ quantitative research methods to aggregate data that can be easily categorized and analyzed. In addition to traditional statistical analysis, quantitative research also hones specific research strategy based on the type of research questions. Quantitative candidates may also employ theory-driven research, replication-based studies and data-driven dissertations. 

When conducting research, some candidates who rely on quantitative measures focus their work on testing existing theories, while others create an original approach. To refine their approach, quantitative researchers focus on positivist or post-positivist research paradigms. Quantitative research designs focus on descriptive, experimental or relationship-based designs, to name a few. 

To collect the data itself, researchers focus on questionnaires and surveys, structured interviews and observations, data sets and laboratory-based methods. Then, once it’s time to assess the quality of the data, quantitative researchers measure their results against a set of criteria, including: reliability, internal/external validity and construct validity. Quantitative researchers have options when presenting their findings. Candidates convey their results using graphs, data, tables and analytical statements.

3. Mixed-Method

Many PhD candidates also use a hybrid model in which they employ both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. Mixed dissertation research models are fairly new and gaining traction. For a variety of reasons, a mixed-method approach offers candidates both versatility and credibility. It’s a more comprehensive strategy that allows for a wider capture of data with a wide range of presentation optimization. 

In the most common cases, candidates will first use quantitative methods to collect and categorize their data. Then, they’ll rely on qualitative methods to analyze that data and draw meaningful conclusions to relay to their committee panel. 

With a mixed-method approach, although you’re able to collect and analyze a more broad range of data, you run the risk of widening the scope of your dissertation research so much that you’re not able to reach succinct, sustainable conclusions. This is where it becomes critical to outline your research goals and strategy early on in the dissertation process so that the techniques you use to capture data have been thoroughly examined. 

How to Choose a Type of Dissertation Research That’s Right for You

After this overview of application and function, you may still be wondering how to go about choosing a dissertation type that’s right for you and your research proposition. In doing so, you’ll have a couple of things to consider: 

• What are your personal motivations? 
• What are your academic goals? 

It’s important to discern exactly what you hope to get out of your doctoral program . Of course, the presentation of your dissertation is, formally speaking, the pinnacle of your research. However, doctoral candidates must also consider:

• Which contributions they will make to the field
• Who they hope to collaborate with throughout their studies
• What they hope to take away from the experience personally, professionally and academically

Personal Considerations

To discern which type of dissertation research to choose, you have to take a closer look at your learning style, work ethic and even your personality. 

Quantitative research tends to be sequential and patterned-oriented. Steps move in a logical order, so it becomes clear what the next step should be at all times. For most candidates, this makes it easier to devise a timeline and stay on track. It also keeps you from getting overwhelmed by the magnitude of research involved. You’ll be able to assess your progress and make simple adjustments to stay on target. 

On the other hand, maybe you know that your research will involve many interviews and focus groups. You anticipate that you’ll have to coordinate participants’ schedules, and this will require some flexibility. Instead of creating a rigid schedule from the get-go, allowing your research to flow in a non-linear fashion may actually help you accomplish tasks more efficiently, albeit out of order. This also allows you the personal versatility of rerouting research strategy as you collect new data that leads you down other paths. 

After examining the research you need to conduct, consider more broadly: What type of student and researcher are you? In other words, What motivates you to do your best work? 

You’ll need to make sure that your methodology is conducive to the data you’re collecting, and you also need to make sure that it aligns with your work ethic so you set yourself up for success. If jumping from one task to another will cause you extra stress, but planning ahead puts you at ease, a quantitative research method may be best, assuming the type of research allows for this. 

Professional Considerations

The skills you master while working on your dissertation will serve you well beyond the day you earn your degree. Take into account the skills you’d like to develop for your academic and professional future. In addition to the hard skills you will develop in your area of expertise, you’ll also develop soft skills that are transferable to nearly any professional or academic setting. Perhaps you want to hone your ability to strategize a timeline, gather data efficiently or draw clear conclusions about the significance of your data collection. 

If you have considerable experience with quantitative analysis, but lack an extensive qualitative research portfolio, now may be your opportunity to explore — as long as you’re willing to put in the legwork to refine your skills or work closely with your mentor to develop a strategy together. 

Academic Considerations

For many doctoral candidates who hope to pursue a professional career in the world of academia, writing your dissertation is a practice in developing general research strategies that can be applied to any academic project. 

Candidates who are unsure which dissertation type best suits their research should consider whether they will take a philosophical or theoretical approach or come up with a thesis that addresses a specific problem or idea. Narrowing down this approach can sometimes happen even before the research begins. Other times, candidates begin to refine their methods once the data begins to tell a more concrete story.

Next Step: Structuring Your Dissertation Research Schedule

Once you’ve chosen which type of dissertation research you’ll pursue, you’ve already crossed the first hurdle. The next hurdle becomes when and where to fit dedicated research time and visits with your mentor into your schedule. The busyness of day-to-day life shouldn’t prevent you from making your academic dream a reality. In fact, search for programs that assist, not impede, your path to higher levels of academic success. 

Find out more about SNU’s online and on-campus education opportunities so that no matter where you are in life, you can choose the path that’s right for you.

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Home > Blog > Tips for Online Students > Tips for Students > Dissertation Explained: A Grad Student’s Guide

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Dissertation Explained: A Grad Student’s Guide

Updated: June 19, 2024

Published: March 10, 2020

Higher education is filled with milestones. When completing your PhD , you will be required to complete a dissertation. Even if you’ve heard this word thrown around before, you still may be questioning “What is a dissertation?” It’s a common question, especially for those considering to join or are already in a graduate program. As such, here’s everything you need to know about dissertations.

What is a Dissertation?

A dissertation is a written document that details research. A dissertation also signifies the completion of your PhD program. It is required to earn a PhD degree, which stands for Doctor of Philosophy.

A PhD is created from knowledge acquired from:

1. Coursework:

A PhD program consists of academic courses that are usually small in size and challenging in content. Most PhD courses consist of a high amount and level of reading and writing per week. These courses will help prepare you for your dissertation as they will teach research methodology.

2. Research:

For your dissertation, it is likely that you will have the choice between performing your own research on a subject , or expanding on existing research. Likely, you will complete a mixture of the two. For those in the hard sciences, you will perform research in a lab. For those in humanities and social sciences, research may mean gathering data from surveys or existing research.

3. Analysis:

Once you have collected the data you need to prove your point, you will have to analyze and interpret the information. PhD programs will prepare you for how to conduct analysis, as well as for how to position your research into the existing body of work on the subject matter.

4. Support:

The process of writing and completing a dissertation is bigger than the work itself. It can lead to research positions within the university or outside companies. It may mean that you will teach and share your findings with current undergraduates, or even be published in academic journals. How far you plan to take your dissertation is your choice to make and will require the relevant effort to accomplish your goals.

Moving from Student to Scholar

In essence, a dissertation is what moves a doctoral student into becoming a scholar. Their research may be published, shared, and used as educational material moving forwards.

Thesis vs. Dissertation

Basic differences.

Grad students may conflate the differences between a thesis and a dissertation.

Simply put, a thesis is what you write to complete a master’s degree. It summarizes existing research and signifies that you understand the subject matter deeply.

On the other hand, a dissertation is the culmination of a doctoral program. It will likely require your own research and it can contribute an entirely new idea into your field.

Structural Differences

When it comes to the structure, a thesis and dissertation are also different. A thesis is like the research papers you complete during undergraduate studies. A thesis displays your ability to think critically and analyze information. It’s less based on research that you’ve completed yourself and more about interpreting and analyzing existing material. They are generally around 100 pages in length.

A dissertation is generally two to three times longer compared to a thesis. This is because the bulk of the information is garnered from research you’ve performed yourself. Also, if you are providing something new in your field, it means that existing information is lacking. That’s why you’ll have to provide a lot of data and research to back up your claims.

Your Guide: Structuring a Dissertation

Dissertation length.

The length of a dissertation varies between study level and country. At an undergraduate level, this is more likely referred to as a research paper, which is 10,000 to 12,000 words on average. At a master’s level, the word count may be 15,000 to 25,000, and it will likely be in the form of a thesis. For those completing their PhD, then the dissertation could be 50,000 words or more.

Photo by  Louis Reed  on  Unsplash

Format of the dissertation.

Here are the items you must include in a dissertation. While the format may slightly vary, here’s a look at one way to format your dissertation:

1. Title page:

This is the first page which includes: title, your name, department, degree program, institution, and submission date. Your program may specify exactly how and what they want you to include on the title page.

2. Acknowledgements:

This is optional, but it is where you can express your gratitude to those who have helped you complete your dissertation (professors, research partners, etc.).

3. Abstract:

The abstract is about 150-300 words and summarizes what your research is about. You state the main topic, the methods used, the main results, and your conclusion.

4. Table of Contents

Here, you list the chapter titles and pages to serve as a wayfinding tool for your readers.

5. List of Figures and Tables:

This is like the table of contents, but for graphs and figures.

6. List of Abbreviations:

If you’ve constantly abbreviated words in your content, define them in a list at the beginning.

7. Glossary:

In highly specialized work, it’s likely that you’ve used words that most people may not understand, so a glossary is where you define these terms.

8. Introduction:

Your introduction sets up the topic, purpose, and relevance. It’s where readers will understand what they expect to gain from your dissertation.

9. Literature Review / Theoretical Framework:

Based on the research you performed to create your own dissertation, you’ll want to summarize and address the gaps in what you researched.

10. Methodology

This is where you define how you conducted your research. It offers credibility for you as a source of information. You should give all the details as to how you’ve conducted your research, including: where and when research took place, how it was conducted, any obstacles you faced, and how you justified your findings.

11. Results:

This is where you share the results that have helped contribute to your findings.

12. Discussion:

In the discussion section, you explain what these findings mean to your research question. Were they in line with your expectations or did something jump out as surprising? You may also want to recommend ways to move forward in researching and addressing the subject matter.

13. Conclusion:

A conclusion ties it all together and summarizes the answer to the research question and leaves your reader clearly understanding your main argument.

14. Reference List:

This is the equivalent to a works cited or bibliography page, which documents all the sources you used to create your dissertation.

15. Appendices:

If you have any information that was ancillary to creating the dissertation, but doesn’t directly fit into its chapters, then you can add it in the appendix.

Drafting and Rewriting

As with any paper, especially one of this size and importance, the writing requires a process. It may begin with outlines and drafts, and even a few rewrites. It’s important to proofread your dissertation for both grammatical mistakes, but also to ensure it can be clearly understood.

It’s always useful to read your writing out loud to catch mistakes. Also, if you have people who you trust to read it over — like a peer, family member, mentor, or professor — it’s very helpful to get a second eye on your work.

How is it Different from an Essay?

There are a few main differences between a dissertation and an essay. For starters, an essay is relatively short in comparison to a dissertation, which includes your own body of research and work. Not only is an essay shorter, but you are also likely given the topic matter of an essay. When it comes to a dissertation, you have the freedom to construct your own argument, conduct your own research, and then prove your findings.

Types of Dissertations

You can choose what type of dissertation you complete. Often, this depends on the subject and doctoral degree, but the two main types are:

This relies on conducting your own research.

Non-empirical:

This relies on studying existing research to support your argument.

Photo by  freddie marriage  on  Unsplash

More things you should know.

A dissertation is certainly no easy feat. Here’s a few more things to remember before you get started writing your own:

1. Independent by Nature:

The process of completing a dissertation is self-directed, and therefore can feel overwhelming. However, if you approach it like the new experience that it is with an open-mind and willingness to learn, you will make it through!

2. Seek Support:

There are countless people around to offer support. From professors to peers, you can always ask for help throughout the process.

3. Writing Skills:

The process of writing a dissertation will further hone your writing skills which will follow you throughout your life. These skills are highly transferable on the job, from having the ability to communicate to also developing analytical and critical thinking skills.

4. Time Management:

You can work backwards from the culmination of your program to break down this gargantuan task into smaller pieces. That way, you can manage your time to chip away at the task throughout the length of the program.

5. Topic Flexibility:

It’s okay to change subject matters and rethink the point of your dissertation. Just try as much as possible to do this early in the process so you don’t waste too much time and energy.

The Wrap Up

A dissertation marks the completion of your doctoral program and moves you from being a student to being a scholar. While the process is long and requires a lot of effort and energy, you have the power to lend an entirely new research and findings into your field of expertise.

As always, when in the thick of things, remember why you started. Completing both your dissertation and PhD is a commendable accomplishment.

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Dissertations are a part of many degree programmes, completed in the final year of undergraduate studies or the final months of a taught masters-level degree. 

Introduction to dissertations

What is a dissertation.

A dissertation is usually a long-term project to produce a long-form piece of writing; think of it a little like an extended, structured assignment. In some subjects (typically the sciences), it might be called a project instead.

Work on an undergraduate dissertation is often spread out over the final year. For a masters dissertation, you'll start thinking about it early in your course and work on it throughout the year.

You might carry out your own original research, or base your dissertation on existing research literature or data sources - there are many possibilities.

What's different about a dissertation?

The main thing that sets a dissertation apart from your previous work is that it's an almost entirely independent project. You'll have some support from a supervisor, but you will spend a lot more time working on your own.

You'll also be working on your own topic that's different to your coursemate; you'll all produce a dissertation, but on different topics and, potentially, in very different ways.

Dissertations are also longer than a regular assignment, both in word count and the time that they take to complete. You'll usually have  most of an academic year to work on one, and be required to produce thousands of words; that might seem like a lot, but both time and word count will disappear very quickly once you get started! 

Find out more:

Key dissertation tools

Digital tools.

There are lots of tools, software and apps that can help you get through the dissertation process. Before you start, make sure you collect the key tools ready to:

• use your time efficiently
• organise yourself and your materials
• manage your writing
• be less stressed

Here's an overview of some useful tools:

Digital tools for your dissertation [Google Slides]

Setting up your document

Formatting and how you set up your document is also very important for a long piece of work like a dissertation, research project or thesis. Find tips and advice on our text processing guide:

University of York past Undergraduate and Masters dissertations

If you are a University of York student, you can access a selection of digitised undergraduate dissertations for certain subjects:

• History  
• History of Art  
• Social Policy and Social Work  

The Library also has digitised Masters dissertations for the following subjects:

• Archaeology
• Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies  
• Centre for Medieval Studies  
• Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies  
• Centre for Women's Studies  
• English and Related Literature
• Health Sciences
• History of Art
• Hull York Medical School
• Language and Linguistic Science
• School for Business and Society
• School of Social and Political Sciences ​​​​​​​

Dissertation top tips

Many dissertations are structured into four key sections:

• introduction & literature review

There are many different types of dissertation, which don't all use this structure, so make sure you check your dissertation guidance. However, elements of these sections are common in all dissertation types.

Dissertations that are an extended literature review do not involve data collection, thus do not have a methods or result section. Instead they have chapters that explore concepts/theories and result in a conclusion section. Check your dissertation module handbook and all information given to see what your dissertation involves. 

Introduction & literature review

The Introduction and Literature Review give the context for your dissertation:

• What topic did you investigate?
• What do we already know about this topic?
• What are your research questions and hypotheses?

Sometimes these are two separate sections, and sometimes the Literature Review is integrated into the Introduction. Check your guidelines to find out what you need to do.

Literature Review Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Literature Review Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

The Method section tells the reader what you did  and why.

• Include enough detail so that someone else could replicate your study.
• Visual elements can help present your method clearly. For example, summarise participant demographic data in a table or visualise the procedure in a diagram. 
• Show critical analysis by justifying your choices. For example, why is your test/questionnaire/equipment appropriate for this study?
• If your study requires ethical approval, include these details in this section.

Methodology Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Methodology Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

More resources to help you plan and write the methodology:

The Results tells us what you found out . 

It's an objective presentation of your research findings. Don’t explain the results in detail here - you’ll do that in the discussion section.

Results Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Results Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

The Discussion is where you explain and interpret your results - what do your findings mean?

This section involves a lot of critical analysis. You're not just presenting your findings, but putting them together with findings from other research to build your argument about what the findings mean.

Discussion Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Discussion Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

Conclusions are a part of many dissertations and/or research projects. Check your module information to see if you are required to write one. Some dissertations/projects have concluding remarks in their discussion section. See the slides below for more information on writing conclusions in dissertations.

Conclusions in dissertations [Google Slides]

The abstract is a short summary of the whole dissertation that goes at the start of the document. It gives an overview of your research and helps readers decide if it’s relevant to their needs.

Even though it appears at the start of the document, write the abstract last. It summarises the whole dissertation, so you need to finish the main body before you can summarise it in the abstract.

Usually the abstract follows a very similar structure to the dissertation, with one or two sentences each to show the aims, methods, key results and conclusions drawn. Some subjects use headings within the abstract. Even if you don’t use these in your final abstract, headings can help you to plan a clear structure.

Abstract Top Tips [YouTube]  |  Abstract Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]

Watch all of our Dissertation Top Tips videos in one handy playlist:

Research reports, that are often found in science subjects, follow the same structure, so the tips in this tutorial also apply to dissertations:

Other support for dissertation writing

Online resources.

The general writing pages of this site offer guidance that can be applied to all types of writing, including dissertations. Also check your department guidance and VLE sites for tailored resources.

Other useful resources for dissertation writing:

Appointments and workshops 

There is a lot of support available in departments for dissertation production, which includes your dissertation supervisor, academic supervisor and, when appropriate, staff teaching in the research methods modules.

You can also access central writing and skills support:

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Key Types Of Dissertation Research

• Posted on February 7, 2023
• / Under General

Are you preparing for your doctoral dissertation? Then you’ll agree that it requires serious perseverance. You spent many years on the journey of your professional development and studies. From the sleepless nights to the labor-intensive research and all of the hard work. Everything can be super difficult and daunting. Even with the most outstanding base knowledge, starting a dissertation can be really daunting.

One of the first things that you should understand is that there are different types of dissertations, and this article will focus on three of the main types of dissertations that you should know, especially for a doctoral degree.

Qualitative Dissertation

This is the first type that you should know, and it basically mirrors qualitative research that a student will help people throughout their academic journey. The research utilizes non-number-based data collection that is done through focus groups, participant observations, and interviews. Also, the data you collect is the main factor that determines whether you model your dissertation according to the qualitative method.

Another key thing to note is that there are different aspects of the qualitative dissertation, and this includes the following:

• Grounded theory
• Narrative research
• Autoethnographic
• Case study research

As mentioned earlier, a qualitative dissertation does not involve numerical data, so the method of collecting data is usually based on participant observation, focus groups, and unstructured interviews. However, the researcher will also need rubrics to help them assess the quality of their findings.

Quantitative Dissertation

This type of dissertation focuses on numbers, and it uses quantitative research methods to aggregate data so that they can be analyzed and categorized. Apart from the conventional statistical analysis, it’s important to note that quantitative research also uses key strategies that depend on the type of questions asked. This type of dissertation can also employ the use of replication-based studies, data-driven dissertations, and theory-driven research.

When performing this type of research, candidates can utilize quantitative measures that allow them to test different theories, even as they try to make their approach original. Another thing worth noting is that quantitative dissertations focus on post-positivist and positivist research paradigms. The focus is also on experimental, relationship-based, or descriptive designs.

Surveys, data sets, structured interviews and observations, questionnaire, and lab-based testing methods do data collection. In addition, qualitative researchers also measure results based on criteria like construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability.

Mixed-Method Dissertation

The hybrid method is also a strategy that is commonly used by most researchers. This is a mix of both the qualitative and quantitative dissertation methods mentioned above. However, this is a relatively new option, and it’s still gaining popularity. The main benefit of this approach is that it offers more credibility and versatility. Also, it’s a more comprehensive approach that makes it possible for researchers to obtain a wider array of information and a larger range of optimization.

Most candidates prefer to collect data first with quantitative methods and categorize the data. After that, they proceed to collect data using qualitative methods and analyze the collected data. With that, they can start drawing meaningful conclusions about the collected data.

The mixed-method approach allows candidates to collect and analyze more data. With this, they can easily increase the scope of their dissertation and reach a more sustainable and succinct conclusion. If you’re using this form of dissertation, one of the most important things you’ll need to do is to make an outline of your research goals and strategy, and this should be as early as possible, especially at the beginning of the dissertation process. With that, you can easily capture only the data that you need.

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What is a thesis?

What is a dissertation, getting started, staying on track.

A thesis is a long-term project that you work on over the course of a semester or a year. Theses have a very wide variety of styles and content, so we encourage you to look at prior examples and work closely with faculty to develop yours. 

Before you begin, make sure that you are familiar with the dissertation genre—what it is for and what it looks like.

Generally speaking, a dissertation’s purpose is to prove that you have the expertise necessary to fulfill your doctoral-degree requirements by showing depth of knowledge and independent thinking.

The form of a dissertation may vary by discipline. Be sure to follow the specific guidelines of your department.

• PhD This site directs candidates to the GSAS website about dissertations , with links to checklists,  planning, formatting, acknowledgments, submission, and publishing options. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus . Consult with your committee chair about specific requirements and standards for your dissertation.
• DDES This document covers planning, patent filing, submission guidelines, publishing options, formatting guidelines, sample pages, citation guidelines, and a list of common errors to avoid. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus .
• Scholarly Pursuits (GSAS) This searchable booklet from Harvard GSAS is a comprehensive guide to writing dissertations, dissertation-fellowship applications, academic journal articles, and academic job documents.

Finding an original topic can be a daunting and overwhelming task. These key concepts can help you focus and save time.

Finding a topic for your thesis or dissertation should start with a research question that excites or at least interests you. A rigorous, engaging, and original project will require continuous curiosity about your topic, about your own thoughts on the topic, and about what other scholars have said on your topic. Avoid getting boxed in by thinking you know what you want to say from the beginning; let your research and your writing evolve as you explore and fine-tune your focus through constant questioning and exploration.

Get a sense of the broader picture before you narrow your focus and attempt to frame an argument. Read, skim, and otherwise familiarize yourself with what other scholars have done in areas related to your proposed topic. Briefly explore topics tangentially related to yours to broaden your perspective and increase your chance of finding a unique angle to pursue.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the opposite of passive reading. Instead of merely reading for information to absorb, critical reading also involves careful, sustained thinking about what you are reading. This process may include analyzing the author’s motives and assumptions, asking what might be left out of the discussion, considering what you agree with or disagree with in the author’s statements and why you agree or disagree, and exploring connections or contradictions between scholarly arguments. Here is a resource to help hone your critical-reading skills:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/criticalread.pdf

Conversation

Your thesis or dissertation will incorporate some ideas from other scholars whose work you researched. By reading critically and following your curiosity, you will develop your own ideas and claims, and these contributions are the core of your project. You will also acknowledge the work of scholars who came before you, and you must accurately and fairly attribute this work and define your place within the larger discussion. Make sure that you know how to quote, summarize, paraphrase ,  integrate , and cite secondary sources to avoid plagiarism and to show the depth and breadth of your knowledge.

A thesis is a long-term, large project that involves both research and writing; it is easy to lose focus, motivation, and momentum. Here are suggestions for achieving the result you want in the time you have.

The dissertation is probably the largest project you have undertaken, and a lot of the work is self-directed. The project can feel daunting or even overwhelming unless you break it down into manageable pieces and create a timeline for completing each smaller task. Be realistic but also challenge yourself, and be forgiving of yourself if you miss a self-imposed deadline here and there.

Your program will also have specific deadlines for different requirements, including establishing a committee, submitting a prospectus, completing the dissertation, defending the dissertation, and submitting your work. Consult your department’s website for these dates and incorporate them into the timeline for your work.

Accountability

Sometimes self-imposed deadlines do not feel urgent unless there is accountability to someone beyond yourself. To increase your motivation to complete tasks on schedule, set dates with your committee chair to submit pre-determined pieces of a chapter. You can also arrange with a fellow doctoral student to check on each other’s progress. Research and writing can be lonely, so it is also nice to share that journey with someone and support each other through the process.

Common Pitfalls

The most common challenges for students writing a dissertation are writer’s block, information-overload, and the compulsion to keep researching forever.

There are many strategies for avoiding writer’s block, such as freewriting, outlining, taking a walk, starting in the middle, and creating an ideal work environment for your particular learning style. Pay attention to what helps you and try different things until you find what works.

Efficient researching techniques are essential to avoiding information-overload. Here are a couple of resources about strategies for finding sources and quickly obtaining essential information from them.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_in_literature_detailed_discussion/reading_criticism.html

https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/learning-strategies/reading-techniques

Finally, remember that there is always more to learn and your dissertation cannot incorporate everything. Follow your curiosity but also set limits on the scope of your work. It helps to create a folder entitled “future projects” for topics and sources that interest you but that do not fit neatly into the dissertation. Also remember that future scholars will build off of your work, so leave something for them to do.

Browsing through theses and dissertations of the past can help to get a sense of your options and gain inspiration but be careful to use current guidelines and refer to your committee instead of relying on these examples for form or formatting.

DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.

HOLLIS Harvard Library’s catalog provides access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global .

MIT Architecture has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Rhode Island School of Design has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

University of South Florida has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Harvard GSD has a list of projects, including theses and professors’ research.

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How to Write a Dissertation | A Guide to Structure & Content

A dissertation or thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on original research, submitted as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter).

The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes:

• An introduction to your topic
• A literature review that surveys relevant sources
• An explanation of your methodology
• An overview of the results of your research
• A discussion of the results and their implications
• A conclusion that shows what your research has contributed

Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an argument by analysing primary and secondary sources . Instead of the standard structure outlined here, you might organise your chapters around different themes or case studies.

Other important elements of the dissertation include the title page , abstract , and reference list . If in doubt about how your dissertation should be structured, always check your department’s guidelines and consult with your supervisor.

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review / theoretical framework, methodology, reference list.

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation’s title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo. Many programs have strict requirements for formatting the dissertation title page .

The title page is often used as cover when printing and binding your dissertation .

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The acknowledgements section is usually optional, and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you.

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150-300 words long. You should write it at the very end, when you’ve completed the rest of the dissertation. In the abstract, make sure to:

• State the main topic and aims of your research
• Describe the methods you used
• Summarise the main results
• State your conclusions

Although the abstract is very short, it’s the first part (and sometimes the only part) of your dissertation that people will read, so it’s important that you get it right. If you’re struggling to write a strong abstract, read our guide on how to write an abstract .

In the table of contents, list all of your chapters and subheadings and their page numbers. The dissertation contents page gives the reader an overview of your structure and helps easily navigate the document.

All parts of your dissertation should be included in the table of contents, including the appendices. You can generate a table of contents automatically in Word.

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If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemise them in a numbered list . You can automatically generate this list using the Insert Caption feature in Word.

If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

If you have used a lot of highly specialised terms that will not be familiar to your reader, it might be a good idea to include a glossary . List the terms alphabetically and explain each term with a brief description or definition.

In the introduction, you set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance, and tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving necessary background information to contextualise your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of the research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your objectives and research questions , and indicate how you will answer them
• Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant to your research. By the end, the reader should understand the what , why and how of your research. Not sure how? Read our guide on how to write a dissertation introduction .

Before you start on your research, you should have conducted a literature review to gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. This means:

• Collecting sources (e.g. books and journal articles) and selecting the most relevant ones
• Critically evaluating and analysing each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g. themes, patterns, conflicts, gaps) to make an overall point

In the dissertation literature review chapter or section, you shouldn’t just summarise existing studies, but develop a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your own research. For example, it might aim to show how your research:

• Addresses a gap in the literature
• Takes a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
• Proposes a solution to an unresolved problem
• Advances a theoretical debate
• Builds on and strengthens existing knowledge with new data

The literature review often becomes the basis for a theoretical framework , in which you define and analyse the key theories, concepts and models that frame your research. In this section you can answer descriptive research questions about the relationship between concepts or variables.

The methodology chapter or section describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to assess its validity. You should generally include:

• The overall approach and type of research (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, experimental, ethnographic)
• Your methods of collecting data (e.g. interviews, surveys, archives)
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Your methods of analysing data (e.g. statistical analysis, discourse analysis)
• Tools and materials you used (e.g. computer programs, lab equipment)
• A discussion of any obstacles you faced in conducting the research and how you overcame them
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Your aim in the methodology is to accurately report what you did, as well as convincing the reader that this was the best approach to answering your research questions or objectives.

Next, you report the results of your research . You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or topics. Only report results that are relevant to your objectives and research questions. In some disciplines, the results section is strictly separated from the discussion, while in others the two are combined.

For example, for qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, the presentation of the data will often be woven together with discussion and analysis, while in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning. If you’re unsure, consult with your supervisor and look at sample dissertations to find out the best structure for your research.

In the results section it can often be helpful to include tables, graphs and charts. Think carefully about how best to present your data, and don’t include tables or figures that just repeat what you have written  –  they should provide extra information or usefully visualise the results in a way that adds value to your text.

Full versions of your data (such as interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix .

The discussion  is where you explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research questions. Here you should interpret the results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data and discuss any limitations that might have influenced the results.

The discussion should reference other scholarly work to show how your results fit with existing knowledge. You can also make recommendations for future research or practical action.

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument. Wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you did and how you did it. The conclusion often also includes recommendations for research or practice.

In this section, it’s important to show how your findings contribute to knowledge in the field and why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known?

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called a works cited list or bibliography). It’s important to follow a consistent reference style . Each style has strict and specific requirements for how to format your sources in the reference list.

The most common styles used in UK universities are Harvard referencing and Vancouver referencing . Your department will often specify which referencing style you should use – for example, psychology students tend to use APA style , humanities students often use MHRA , and law students always use OSCOLA . M ake sure to check the requirements, and ask your supervisor if you’re unsure.

To save time creating the reference list and make sure your citations are correctly and consistently formatted, you can use our free APA Citation Generator .

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices .

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What is a Dissertation? [2024 Guide]

It’s common for people who are considering a graduate degree to ask, “What is a dissertation?” This term comes up often in discussions of doctoral requirements, but it may not be immediately obvious what’s involved.

Getting the facts about dissertations can help you decide whether this is a project to which you’re ready to commit.

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Since a doctoral dissertation can be an integral component of a PhD program, you may want to learn all about it before applying to schools.

What Is a Dissertation?

A dissertation is a major project completed by PhD candidates. Through it, you will establish yourself as an expert with the knowledge, critical thinking, and research skills to move your field of study forward.

The dissertation process usually gets into full swing after you complete your doctoral coursework. Before that, though, you may take several classes that will help you get started and teach you what steps to take.

The process of dissertation writing involves several phases. You’ll select a topic, do research, and type up a book-length paper about your findings and conclusions. Afterward, you will present a dissertation defense to a committee of experts who will evaluate your methodology and analyses.

As you work on your doctoral dissertation, you’ll receive the guidance of a faculty advisor. Additional support people may help you refine your strategies and ideas as well. This academic writing project can take many years, but a PhD will be the reward.

Types of Dissertations

It’s common to think of a dissertation as an original research project, but that’s not the only form that this major paper can take.

• Empirical Dissertation . This type of dissertation involves performing original research. You would design a research study, carry it out, and collect data. Perhaps you would conduct lab studies or speak to test subjects in focus groups. You’d then analyze the data and draw conclusions, which you’d write about in your dissertation.
• Non-Empirical Dissertation . With this approach to doing a dissertation, you study and analyze others’ research. The goal isn’t to rehash what others in your field have already said but to think critically about it. Your objective might be to identify areas where research is lacking or to suggest new ways to apply current theories.

Before you commit to one path or the other, it’s beneficial to weigh the options carefully with your faculty supervisor. Some universities now offer online doctorate programs without dissertation but have a capstone project for completion. Common programs include on campus DBA degrees or online doctoral programs in education with no dissertation requirement .

How to Write a Dissertation (From Choosing a Topic to Defending It )

Writing a dissertation is a massive undertaking, so it can help to break the process down into steps.

• Figure out your topic . The topic you choose should address a current hole in the field, captivate your interest, and provide enough material for a robust project. You should be able to distill your topic down into a single sentence, whether a statement or a question.
• Do background work . It’s necessary to familiarize yourself with the subject and how people in your field currently understand it. This may include running some preliminary tests or reading published studies.
• Craft your research proposal . Before going any further, it’s necessary to inform your faculty advisor about your plans. You’ll write a multi-page paper that outlines your topic and how you plan to address it. Your supervisor may then accept, adjust, or reject your proposal.
• Undertake the research . Once you have a plan in place, it will be time to dig into the research portion of your project. What this looks like varies from one person’s dissertation to the next and can depend largely on the field of study. You may need to do lab work, collect data from study participants, review primary source material, or gather secondary commentary on relevant studies.
• Prepare for the writing process . You may want to read through other people’s dissertations or craft an outline to help guide your process.
• Draft the body . Once you’re ready to begin, you’ll type up the first draft of your dissertation’s chapters.
• Get feedback . Throughout the process, it’s helpful to stay in touch with your advisor as well as outside support people. You can ask for their feedback and incorporate it into your work.
• Prepare the final copy . You’ll edit and proofread your work as well as add an introduction, a conclusion, the appendices, and any additional elements.
• Finish with the defense . Once you’ve completed each of the above steps, your advisor will determine whether you’re ready to defend your dissertation. You’ll present your research to a panel of experts and field their questions.

If the panel approves of your work, you’ll have successfully completed your dissertation!

Typical Chapters in a Dissertation

Writing a dissertation is different than pulling together a short research paper. Most dissertations are quite long and are broken up into chapters. The format can vary, but the following list provides an overview of common chapter breakdowns:

• Introduction . Your paper’s first main chapter will introduce the topic.
• Review of current studies . Known as a literature review, this next chapter or part gives an overview of others’ research related to this topic. It shows where there are gaps in current knowledge and demonstrates the theoretical underpinnings of your project.
• Research methodology . You will present your approach to collecting data for your research project, and you’ll also discuss your analysis methods.
• Report of results . You’ll tell readers the things you learned during your study. This is where you’ll present your data, and you may use charts or graphs to visualize your findings.
• Discussion of results . Your project is about more than simply gathering data. It’s essential to analyze the data as well. In this section, you’ll present your analysis of your findings to help readers learn what the figures mean. You can also share how these findings could advance your field.
• Conclusion . Finally, you’ll conclude by restating the purpose of your project and summarizing how you have met that objective.

Many dissertations contain other parts as well. Examples include title pages, dedication pages, glossaries, and appendices.

How Long Is a Dissertation for PhD?

Dissertations can vary in length, but they are usually at least 100 pages. Some are 300 pages or longer. Papers between 100 and 200 pages are the most common.

The standard length of a dissertation changes from one field to another. For example, history students often write dissertations that are several hundred pages. Mathematics PhD candidates may have dissertations that are fewer than 100 pages. The school where you earn your doctoral degree may set guidelines for the length of your PhD.

How Many Pages Is a Dissertation?

Many dissertations are a few hundred pages long. You’ll divide those pages up among the different sections of your paper.

The introduction may be 10 or 15 pages long. Your literature review will likely be longer—perhaps around 20 pages. Students may need up to 15 pages to explain your methodology, but the results section should be under 10 pages. Finally, students can use 15 pages or more to share their conclusions.

Dissertation lengths vary among academic disciplines. Your academic supervisor can provide specific guidance for your situation.

What’s a Dissertation Defense?

A dissertation defense is an opportunity to speak with experts from your field about your work. This step comes after you have finished the dissertation research and writing.

The committee will determine whether you have sufficiently answered your original question and contributed valuable research to your field. But you won’t present your defense until your advisor deems you ready, so the experience might not be as nerve-wracking as it sounds.

During the defense, you may give a presentation to the committee. In addition, they can ask you questions, talk to you about your work, and discuss your work among themselves.

What’s the Difference Between a Dissertation vs. Thesis?

In grad school, you’ll hear about dissertations and theses. Both are major projects, but they play different roles.

The above distinctions between a thesis vs. dissertation apply to US schools only. Other countries use different naming conventions.

Writing Your Dissertation

Choosing to enroll in a PhD program and write a dissertation is a big decision. With careful planning and steadfast dedication, you can get this job done.

In the process, you can contribute research and insights to your field and help answer important questions. Plus, you can earn a PhD, a prestigious degree that can take you far in life. PhD programs with dissertations are available from both on-campus and online graduate schools. You can select the format that best suits your schedule and preferences.

If you’re ready to get started, then now is the time to explore accredited universities.

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Different Types of Dissertation

Writing a dissertation for dummies.

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In writing your dissertation, you’re likely to be taking a practical or a theoretical approach, even though both practical and theoretical considerations are of the utmost importance in social science research. For an undergraduate dissertation, your examiner is going to expect you to choose a largely theoretical or a mainly practical look at your chosen subject.

Any useful practical research you carry out requires a sound theoretical basis, and any theoretical study you do needs to link to what’s happening in the world around you. A theoretical study can be mainly abstract with an emphasis on the philosophical, ethical and cultural considerations of the subject, or your subject can be an applied theoretical study with an emphasis on political, social or economic issues, for example.

More practical research studies in social science are usually about exploring issues through surveys, action research, observations, case-studies or a review of existing studies.

The type of dissertation you end up writing depends on the topic you’re researching. The following table gives a few examples of different ways of approaching a topic just to get you thinking:

Empirical dissertations

An empirical dissertation involves collecting data. For example, to gather the views of patients at a GP’s surgery, volunteers in a police service, children in a play centre or translators in a refugee centre, you have to find ways of asking the individuals involved what they think or review what they’re doing. You can collect your data in many ways: from questionnaires and observations to interviews and focus groups.

Or, you may prefer to collect your data by taking another approach such as looking at and analysing existing data from new angles, making useful comparisons or drawing interesting parallels.

Even if the focus of your dissertation is on using data, don’t forget that you’re still going to need a sound theoretical basis for your work.

Non-empirical dissertations

Making the choice to do a non-empirical dissertation shouldn’t be taken lightly. Sustaining an argument over the length of your whole dissertation is a distinct challenge. If you enjoy spending time in the library, reading, thinking and discussing theory, this is likely to be the right choice for you.

If you know that making the university library your home for weeks on end is going to be difficult, you may be better off choosing a more empirical research question to explore.

Key theories in your discipline such as feminism or pragmatism can be the basis of an abstract discussion in your dissertation. Subjects such as sociology have this type of theory at their centre and so it’s perfectly valid, for example, to discuss aspects of the theory of pragmatism as your dissertation topic.

A dissertation that draws upon major theories, such as in education more often takes an applied route, but can also be exclusively theoretical, for example, some work in the philosophy of education.

Narrative dissertations

You’re more than likely to choose doing an empirical or a non-empirical dissertation. However, in other disciplines you may come across different methods of producing a dissertation.

Dissertations in many science subjects include or even focus around a laboratory report describing all the aspects of setting up, carrying out and analysing a complex experiment. In physical geography, time is spent somewhere wild and windswept collecting data needed for analysis. Laboratory work and field trips are a key part of the student experience of writing a dissertation. It’s possible you may even use a passage from the classics or biography as an illustration or example in your dissertation.

About This Article

This article is from the book:.

• Writing a Dissertation For Dummies ,

About the book author:

Dr Carrie Winstanley is a Principal Lecturer in Education at Roehampton University, London, where she works with both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Carrie was recently named one of the Top 50 university teachers in the UK by the Higher Education Academy, for which she was awarded a national teaching fellowship.

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• Introduction
• FUNDAMENTALS

Choosing between types

There are a number of reasons why you may choose one type of dissertation over another. Some are more academic in nature, whilst others tend to be more personal or practical . Academic justifications are important because the person marking your dissertation will expect to see such academic justifications in your final product. Personal and practical justifications are similarly important, not because these are something that a marker is looking for, but because the dissertation process can be tough. As a result, many of the decisions you make throughout the dissertation process (e.g., the choice of sampling strategy or data analysis techniques) will be influenced by factors such as cost, ease, convenience, and what skills you have or can learn in time. We briefly discuss these considerations below, and explain how they may influence the particular choice of dissertation type; after all, the academic, personal and practical justifications for a quantitative dissertation are different for qualitative or mixed methods dissertations.

Academic justifications

You'll almost always been able to find an academic justification for your choice of dissertation, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. These academic justifications include factors that are generally philosophical or theoretical , or which refer to a particular research problem or idea .

The reasons that act as a justification for your dissertation will often become clear when you decide on the route you will follow within one of these three types of dissertation (i.e., a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods dissertation). We have chosen not to go into any more detail about such academic justifications now because they are so specific to the route that you choose. However, you'll learn about these justifications in detail in the Quantitative Dissertations part of Lærd Dissertation, where you can choose between one of three routes (i.e., Route #1: Replication-based dissertations , Route #2: Data-driven dissertations , and Route #3: Theory-driven dissertations ).

Personal or practical justifications

One of the major challenges of doing a dissertation, especially if you are an undergraduate, is uncertainty : Can I plan out the dissertation process from the start? Will I be able to finish on time? Can I get my head around the research paradigms and research designs that guide my choice of dissertation (i.e., qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods)? Do I have the right skills to analyse qualitative or quantitative data? What software packages will I have to learn to do this, if any?

Dissertations are often worth a good proportion of your final year mark, if not the grade of your entire degree, so how tolerant you are to uncertainty matters. On this basis, think about the following:

Am I a bit of a planning freak?

If you are, you may prefer to take on a quantitative dissertation rather than qualitative dissertation . One of the broad advantages of quantitative dissertations is that they tend to be more sequential in nature, such that you can often set out, right from the start of the dissertation process, the various stages you will need to go through in order to answer your research questions or hypotheses. This is because in quantitative dissertations, it is far less common to change major components of the research process (e.g., your research questions or hypotheses, or research design), after you've decided what these are going to be, which you typically do at the very start of the dissertation process. Not only does this make it possible to plan what you will be doing from month-to-month, but it also reduces the uncertainty through the dissertation process. You'll see in the Quantitative Dissertations section how we have been able to provide comprehensive, step-by-step guides to walk you through the dissertation process, as well as chapter-by-chapter guides to show you how to write up.

By contrast, qualitative dissertations are not sequential, but reflexive and emergent in nature, which means that what you planned to do at the start of the dissertation process is more likely to have to be modified. Such modification takes place because one of the tenets of qualitative research is flexibility to allow for things that are learnt during the research process to be integrated (e.g., initial interviews may suggest that you need to add or omit a particular research question). Whilst such changes may only happen a few times, and may be minor in many cases, they do add an element of uncertainty. At a basic level, imagine the difference between knowing how many participants you need to have to fill in your questionnaire, and therefore, roughly how long this will take (i.e., a quantitative dissertation ), as opposed to being quite uncertain how many interviews you need to arrange to collect sufficient data to answer your research questions (i.e., a qualitative dissertation ). Whilst these might sound like small points, it can mean having to put aside another month to collect sufficient interview data in a qualitative dissertation compared with a quantitative one.

What are my strong points?

Whilst qualitative and quantitative dissertations are more than just the use of qualitative or qualitative research methods and data, there is no escaping the fact that qualitative dissertations use qualitative research methods and collect qualitative data (i.e., from unstructured interviews, focus groups, participant observation, etc.), and quantitative dissertations use quantitative research methods, collecting quantitative data (i.e., from data sets, surveys, structured interviews, structured observation, etc.). If you've spent your degree working with quantitative research designs (e.g., randomized control trials, pre- and post-test designs, relationship-based designs, etc.), as well as quantitative research methods and data, the logical choice might be to take on a quantitative dissertation . The same can be said for qualitative dissertations , since in both cases, the learning curve will be a lot higher if you're completely unaccustomed to the components that make up these different types of dissertation.

What am I interested in?

At the end of the day, the dissertation process is a long one, lasting around 6 months (in most cases). If you're not interested in experimental research, you prefer working with more unstructured research methods (e.g., depth interviews, unstructured observation, etc.), or you hate quantitative data analysis (i.e., any form of statistics), taking on a quantitative dissertation may not be a good idea. The same can be said for qualitative dissertations , which require a lot of perseverance and dedication, especially during the data collection process, which can be time consuming and requires a lot of toeing-and-froing. Choose a type of dissertation that is going to keep you interested, and which you will not find boring or demoralizing.

If you're taking on a qualitative dissertation , we wish you good luck (although you will still be able to learn a little about appropriate research methods and sampling techniques in the Fundamentals section of Lærd Dissertation). However, if you're taking on a quantitative dissertation (or a mixed methods dissertation that is mainly quantitative in its focus), go to the Quantitative Dissertations part of Lærd Dissertation now. We have extensive guides to help you through the process.

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Dissertation Methodology – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

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Dissertation Methodology

In any research, the methodology chapter is one of the key components of your dissertation. It provides a detailed description of the methods you used to conduct your research and helps readers understand how you obtained your data and how you plan to analyze it. This section is crucial for replicating the study and validating its results.

Here are the basic elements that are typically included in a dissertation methodology:

• Introduction : This section should explain the importance and goals of your research .
• Research Design : Outline your research approach and why it’s appropriate for your study. You might be conducting an experimental research, a qualitative research, a quantitative research, or a mixed-methods research.
• Data Collection : This section should detail the methods you used to collect your data. Did you use surveys, interviews, observations, etc.? Why did you choose these methods? You should also include who your participants were, how you recruited them, and any ethical considerations.
• Data Analysis : Explain how you intend to analyze the data you collected. This could include statistical analysis, thematic analysis, content analysis, etc., depending on the nature of your study.
• Reliability and Validity : Discuss how you’ve ensured the reliability and validity of your study. For instance, you could discuss measures taken to reduce bias, how you ensured that your measures accurately capture what they were intended to, or how you will handle any limitations in your study.
• Ethical Considerations : This is where you state how you have considered ethical issues related to your research, how you have protected the participants’ rights, and how you have complied with the relevant ethical guidelines.
• Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations of your methodology, including any biases and constraints that might have affected your study.
• Summary : Recap the key points of your methodology chapter, highlighting the overall approach and rationalization of your research.

Types of Dissertation Methodology

The type of methodology you choose for your dissertation will depend on the nature of your research question and the field you’re working in. Here are some of the most common types of methodologies used in dissertations:

Experimental Research

This involves creating an experiment that will test your hypothesis. You’ll need to design an experiment, manipulate variables, collect data, and analyze that data to draw conclusions. This is commonly used in fields like psychology, biology, and physics.

Survey Research

This type of research involves gathering data from a large number of participants using tools like questionnaires or surveys. It can be used to collect a large amount of data and is often used in fields like sociology, marketing, and public health.

Qualitative Research

This type of research is used to explore complex phenomena that can’t be easily quantified. Methods include interviews, focus groups, and observations. This methodology is common in fields like anthropology, sociology, and education.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research uses numerical data to answer research questions. This can include statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques. It’s common in fields like economics, psychology, and health sciences.

Case Study Research

This type of research involves in-depth investigation of a particular case, such as an individual, group, or event. This methodology is often used in psychology, social sciences, and business.

Mixed Methods Research

This combines qualitative and quantitative research methods in a single study. It’s used to answer more complex research questions and is becoming more popular in fields like social sciences, health sciences, and education.

Action Research

This type of research involves taking action and then reflecting upon the results. This cycle of action-reflection-action continues throughout the study. It’s often used in fields like education and organizational development.

Longitudinal Research

This type of research involves studying the same group of individuals over an extended period of time. This could involve surveys, observations, or experiments. It’s common in fields like psychology, sociology, and medicine.

Ethnographic Research

This type of research involves the in-depth study of people and cultures. Researchers immerse themselves in the culture they’re studying to collect data. This is often used in fields like anthropology and social sciences.

Structure of Dissertation Methodology

The structure of a dissertation methodology can vary depending on your field of study, the nature of your research, and the guidelines of your institution. However, a standard structure typically includes the following elements:

• Introduction : Briefly introduce your overall approach to the research. Explain what you plan to explore and why it’s important.
• Research Design/Approach : Describe your overall research design. This can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Explain the rationale behind your chosen design and why it is suitable for your research questions or hypotheses.
• Data Collection Methods : Detail the methods you used to collect your data. You should include what type of data you collected, how you collected it, and why you chose this method. If relevant, you can also include information about your sample population, such as how many people participated, how they were chosen, and any relevant demographic information.
• Data Analysis Methods : Explain how you plan to analyze your collected data. This will depend on the nature of your data. For example, if you collected quantitative data, you might discuss statistical analysis techniques. If you collected qualitative data, you might discuss coding strategies, thematic analysis, or narrative analysis.
• Reliability and Validity : Discuss how you’ve ensured the reliability and validity of your research. This might include steps you took to reduce bias or increase the accuracy of your measurements.
• Ethical Considerations : If relevant, discuss any ethical issues associated with your research. This might include how you obtained informed consent from participants, how you ensured participants’ privacy and confidentiality, or any potential conflicts of interest.
• Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations in your research methodology. This could include potential sources of bias, difficulties with data collection, or limitations in your analysis methods.
• Summary/Conclusion : Briefly summarize the key points of your methodology, emphasizing how it helps answer your research questions or hypotheses.

How to Write Dissertation Methodology

Writing a dissertation methodology requires you to be clear and precise about the way you’ve carried out your research. It’s an opportunity to convince your readers of the appropriateness and reliability of your approach to your research question. Here is a basic guideline on how to write your methodology section:

1. Introduction

Start your methodology section by restating your research question(s) or objective(s). This ensures your methodology directly ties into the aim of your research.

2. Approach

Identify your overall approach: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Explain why you have chosen this approach.

• Qualitative methods are typically used for exploratory research and involve collecting non-numerical data. This might involve interviews, observations, or analysis of texts.
• Quantitative methods are used for research that relies on numerical data. This might involve surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis.
• Mixed methods use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

3. Research Design

Describe the overall design of your research. This could involve explaining the type of study (e.g., case study, ethnography, experimental research, etc.), how you’ve defined and measured your variables, and any control measures you’ve implemented.

4. Data Collection

Explain in detail how you collected your data.

• If you’ve used qualitative methods, you might detail how you selected participants for interviews or focus groups, how you conducted observations, or how you analyzed existing texts.
• If you’ve used quantitative methods, you might detail how you designed your survey or experiment, how you collected responses, and how you ensured your data is reliable and valid.

5. Data Analysis

Describe how you analyzed your data.

• If you’re doing qualitative research, this might involve thematic analysis, discourse analysis, or grounded theory.
• If you’re doing quantitative research, you might be conducting statistical tests, regression analysis, or factor analysis.

Discuss any ethical issues related to your research. This might involve explaining how you obtained informed consent, how you’re protecting participants’ privacy, or how you’re managing any potential harms to participants.

7. Reliability and Validity

Discuss the steps you’ve taken to ensure the reliability and validity of your data.

• Reliability refers to the consistency of your measurements, and you might discuss how you’ve piloted your instruments or used standardized measures.
• Validity refers to the accuracy of your measurements, and you might discuss how you’ve ensured your measures reflect the concepts they’re supposed to measure.

8. Limitations

Every study has its limitations. Discuss the potential weaknesses of your chosen methods and explain any obstacles you faced in your research.

9. Conclusion

Summarize the key points of your methodology, emphasizing how it helps to address your research question or objective.

Example of Dissertation Methodology

An Example of Dissertation Methodology is as follows:

Chapter 3: Methodology

• Introduction

This chapter details the methodology adopted in this research. The study aimed to explore the relationship between stress and productivity in the workplace. A mixed-methods research design was used to collect and analyze data.

Research Design

This study adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews to provide a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The rationale for this approach is that while quantitative data can provide a broad overview of the relationships between variables, qualitative data can provide deeper insights into the nuances of these relationships.

Data Collection Methods

Quantitative Data Collection : An online self-report questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The questionnaire consisted of two standardized scales: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure stress levels and the Individual Work Productivity Questionnaire (IWPQ) to measure productivity. The sample consisted of 200 office workers randomly selected from various companies in the city.

Qualitative Data Collection : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants chosen from the initial sample. The interview guide included questions about participants’ experiences with stress and how they perceived its impact on their productivity.

Data Analysis Methods

Quantitative Data Analysis : Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the survey data. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine the relationship between stress and productivity.

Qualitative Data Analysis : Interviews were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo software. This process allowed for identifying and analyzing patterns and themes regarding the impact of stress on productivity.

Reliability and Validity

To ensure reliability and validity, standardized measures with good psychometric properties were used. In qualitative data analysis, triangulation was employed by having two researchers independently analyze the data and then compare findings.

Ethical Considerations

All participants provided informed consent prior to their involvement in the study. They were informed about the purpose of the study, their rights as participants, and the confidentiality of their responses.

Limitations

The main limitation of this study is its reliance on self-report measures, which can be subject to biases such as social desirability bias. Moreover, the sample was drawn from a single city, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

Where to Write Dissertation Methodology

In a dissertation or thesis, the Methodology section usually follows the Literature Review. This placement allows the Methodology to build upon the theoretical framework and existing research outlined in the Literature Review, and precedes the Results or Findings section. Here’s a basic outline of how most dissertations are structured:

• Acknowledgements
• Literature Review (or it may be interspersed throughout the dissertation)
• Methodology
• Results/Findings
• References/Bibliography

In the Methodology chapter, you will discuss the research design, data collection methods, data analysis methods, and any ethical considerations pertaining to your study. This allows your readers to understand how your research was conducted and how you arrived at your results.

Advantages of Dissertation Methodology

The dissertation methodology section plays an important role in a dissertation for several reasons. Here are some of the advantages of having a well-crafted methodology section in your dissertation:

• Clarifies Your Research Approach : The methodology section explains how you plan to tackle your research question, providing a clear plan for data collection and analysis.
• Enables Replication : A detailed methodology allows other researchers to replicate your study. Replication is an important aspect of scientific research because it provides validation of the study’s results.
• Demonstrates Rigor : A well-written methodology shows that you’ve thought critically about your research methods and have chosen the most appropriate ones for your research question. This adds credibility to your study.
• Enhances Transparency : Detailing your methods allows readers to understand the steps you took in your research. This increases the transparency of your study and allows readers to evaluate potential biases or limitations.
• Helps in Addressing Research Limitations : In your methodology section, you can acknowledge and explain the limitations of your research. This is important as it shows you understand that no research method is perfect and there are always potential weaknesses.
• Facilitates Peer Review : A detailed methodology helps peer reviewers assess the soundness of your research design. This is an important part of the publication process if you aim to publish your dissertation in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Establishes the Validity and Reliability : Your methodology section should also include a discussion of the steps you took to ensure the validity and reliability of your measurements, which is crucial for establishing the overall quality of your research.

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• Starting the research process

How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on November 11, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Choosing your dissertation topic is the first step in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible. When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider:

• Your institution and department’s requirements
• Your areas of knowledge and interest
• The scientific, social, or practical relevance
• The availability of data and resources
• The timeframe of your dissertation
• The relevance of your topic

You can follow these steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.

Table of contents

Step 1: check the requirements, step 2: choose a broad field of research, step 3: look for books and articles, step 4: find a niche, step 5: consider the type of research, step 6: determine the relevance, step 7: make sure it’s plausible, step 8: get your topic approved, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about dissertation topics.

The very first step is to check your program’s requirements. This determines the scope of what it is possible for you to research.

• Is there a minimum and maximum word count?
• When is the deadline?
• Should the research have an academic or a professional orientation?
• Are there any methodological conditions? Do you have to conduct fieldwork, or use specific types of sources?

Some programs have stricter requirements than others. You might be given nothing more than a word count and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of topics and approaches to choose from. If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask your supervisor or department coordinator.

Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:

• Twentieth-century literature
• Economic history
• Health policy

To get a more specific sense of the current state of research on your potential topic, skim through a few recent issues of the top journals in your field. Be sure to check out their most-cited articles in particular. For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar , subject-specific databases , and your university library’s resources.

As you read, note down any specific ideas that interest you and make a shortlist of possible topics. If you’ve written other papers, such as a 3rd-year paper or a conference paper, consider how those topics can be broadened into a dissertation.

After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down options for your potential topic. This can be a gradual process, and should get more and more specific as you go. For example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:

• Twentieth-century literature   Twentieth-century Irish literature   Post-war Irish poetry
• Economic history   European economic history   German labor union history
• Health policy   Reproductive health policy   Reproductive rights in South America

All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and articles about them. Try to find a specific niche where you can make your mark, such as: something not many people have researched yet, a question that’s still being debated, or a very current practical issue.

At this stage, make sure you have a few backup ideas — there’s still time to change your focus. If your topic doesn’t make it through the next few steps, you can try a different one. Later, you will narrow your focus down even more in your problem statement and research questions .

There are many different types of research , so at this stage, it’s a good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:

• Collecting original data (e.g., experimental or field research)?
• Analyzing existing data (e.g., national statistics, public records, or archives)?
• Interpreting cultural objects (e.g., novels, films, or paintings)?
• Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g., theories, methods, or interpretations)?

Many dissertations will combine more than one of these. Sometimes the type of research is obvious: if your topic is post-war Irish poetry, you will probably mainly be interpreting poems. But in other cases, there are several possible approaches. If your topic is reproductive rights in South America, you could analyze public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this as you narrow down your ideas.

It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant to your field.

• Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
• Social relevance means that the research can advance our understanding of society and inform social change.
• Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve concrete problems or improve real-life processes.

The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in society at large or in your academic discipline. The relevance must be clearly stated when you define your research problem .

Before you make a final decision on your topic, consider again the length of your dissertation, the timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the practicalities of conducting the research.

Will you have enough time to read all the most important academic literature on this topic? If there’s too much information to tackle, consider narrowing your focus even more.

Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you think you might struggle to find information, consider broadening or shifting your focus.

Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical access.

Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!

Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of your topic, called a research prospectus or proposal .

Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch focus early in the dissertation process. Just make sure you have enough time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or department.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

All research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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Study skills - dissertations.

• Doing your Dissertation- Getting Started
• Doing your Dissertation - Preliminary Reading
• Doing your Dissertation - Dissertation Proposal
• Doing your Dissertation - Scheduling
• Writing Your Dissertation - The Document
• Writing Your Dissertation - Introduction and Conclusion
• Writing Your Dissertation - Literature Review
• Writing Your Dissertation - Methods/Methodology
• Writing Your Dissertation - Results/Discussion
• Writing Your Dissertation - Professional Presentation
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• Writing Your Dissertation - Additional Pages

What is a Dissertation

A dissertation is a large project that takes place towards the end of most university courses. It is usually research based however you may be asked to complete a project which is more common in your industry, for example a business plan.

For this guide we will be referring to a dissertation primarily as a research project however most of the advice and information will be relevant to all projects.

The guide will be be separated into two sections: the first will look at the process of completing a dissertation, while the second will look at the end product .

Why Complete a Dissertation?

Your dissertation is designed to allow you to demonstrate the knowledge of your subject that you have gained throughout your course as well as that you can apply sector/subject specific conventions to your own work. In undertaking a dissertation you are also demonstrating key employability skills such as the ability to work independently, develop a working relationship with your supervisor, as well as make practical decisions and set your own deadlines (Williams, 2018).

The table below shows the abilities you will be able to demonstrate when completing a dissertation (Greetham, 2019, p.7). 

References :

Greetham, B. (2019) How to Write your Undergraduate Dissertation . 3rd Edition. London: Red Globe Press.

Williams, K. (2018) Planning Your Dissertation . 2nd Edition. London: Red Globe Press.

• Last Updated: Sep 5, 2024 4:13 PM
• URL: https://libraryguides.sunderland.ac.uk/Dissertations

• How it works

Research Methods for Dissertation – Types with Comparison

Published by Carmen Troy at August 13th, 2021 , Revised On June 14, 2023

Introduction

“Research methods for a dissertation refer to the specific approaches, procedures, and techniques employed by researchers to investigate and gather data for their dissertation projects.”

These methods provide a systematic and structured framework for conducting research, ensuring the reliability, validity, and rigour of the study.

What are the different research methods for the dissertation, and which one should I use?

Choosing the right research method for a dissertation is a grinding and perplexing aspect of the dissertation research process. A well-defined  research methodology  helps you conduct your research in the right direction, validates the  results  of your research, and makes sure that the study you’re conducting answers the set  research questions .

The research  title,  research questions,  hypothesis , objectives, and study area generally determine the best research method in the dissertation.

This post’s primary purpose is to highlight what these different  types of research  methods involve and how you should decide which type of research fits the bill. As you read through this article, think about which one of these research methods will be the most appropriate for your research.

The practical, personal, and academic reasons for choosing any particular method of research are also analysed. You will find our explanation of experimental , descriptive , historical , quantitative , qualitative , and mixed research methods useful regardless of your field of study.

While choosing the right method of research for your own research, you need to:

• Understand the difference between research methods and  methodology .
• Think about your research topic, research questions, and research objectives to make an intelligent decision.
• Know about various types of research methods so that you can choose the most suitable and convenient method as per your research requirements.

Research Methodology Vs. Research Methods

A well-defined  research methodology  helps you conduct your research in the right direction, validates the  results  of your research, and makes sure that the study you are conducting answers the set  research questions .

Research methods are the techniques and procedures used for conducting research. Choosing the right research method for your writing is an important aspect of the  research process .

You need to either collect data or talk to the people while conducting any research. The research methods can be classified based on this distinction.

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Types of Research Methods

Research methods are broadly divided into six main categories.

Experimental Research Methods

Descriptive research methods, historical research methods, quantitative research methods, qualitative research methods, mixed methods of research.

Experimental research  includes the experiments conducted in the laboratory or observation under controlled conditions. Researchers try to study human behavior by performing various experiments. Experiments can vary from personal and informal natural comparisons. It includes three  types of variables;

• Independent variable
• Dependent variable
• Controlled variable

Types of Experimental Methods

Laboratory experiments

The experiments were conducted in the laboratory. Researchers have control over the variables of the experiment.

Field experiment

The experiments were conducted in the open field and environment of the participants by incorporating a few artificial changes. Researchers do not have control over variables under measurement. Participants know that they are taking part in the experiment.

Natural experiments

The experiment is conducted in the natural environment of the participants. The participants are generally not informed about the experiment being conducted on them.

Example : Estimating the health condition of the population.

Quasi-experiments

A quasi-experiment is an experiment that takes advantage of natural occurrences. Researchers cannot assign random participants to groups.

Example: Comparing the academic performance of the two schools.

What data collection best suits your research?

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• Despite how challenging the subject may be, we are here to help you.

Descriptive research aims at collecting the information to answer the current affairs. It follows the Ex post facto research, which predicts the possible reasons behind the situation that has already occurred. It aims to answer questions like how, what, when, where, and what rather than ‘why.’

In  historical research , an investigator collects, analyses the information to understand, describe, and explain the events that occurred in the past. Researchers try to find out what happened exactly during a certain period of time as accurately and as closely as possible. It does not allow any manipulation or control of variables.

Quantitative research  is associated with numerical data or data that can be measured. It is used to study a large group of population. The information is gathered by performing statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques.

Quantitative research isn’t simply based on  statistical analysis or quantitative techniques but rather uses a certain approach to theory to address research hypotheses or research questions, establish an appropriate research methodology, and draw findings &  conclusions .

Some most commonly employed quantitative research strategies include data-driven dissertations, theory-driven studies, and reflection-driven research. Regardless of the chosen approach, there are some common quantitative research features as listed below.

• Quantitative research is based on testing or building on existing theories proposed by other researchers whilst taking a reflective or extensive route.
• Quantitative research aims to test the research hypothesis or answer established research questions.
• It is primarily justified by positivist or post-positivist research paradigms.
• The  research design can be relationship-based, quasi-experimental, experimental, or descriptive.
• It draws on a small sample to make generalisations to a wider population using probability sampling techniques.
• Quantitative data is gathered according to the established research questions and using research vehicles such as structured observation, structured interviews, surveys, questionnaires, and laboratory results.
• The researcher uses  statistical analysis  tools and techniques to measure variables and gather inferential or descriptive data. In some cases, your tutor or members of the dissertation committee might find it easier to verify your study results with numbers and statistical analysis.
• The accuracy of the study results is based on external and internal validity and the authenticity of the data used.
• Quantitative research answers research questions or tests the hypothesis using charts, graphs, tables, data, and statements.
• It underpins  research questions  or hypotheses and findings to make conclusions.
• The researcher can provide recommendations for future research and expand or test existing theories.

Confused between qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis? No idea what discourse and content analysis are?

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 At ResearchProspect, our expert  writers can help you with your quantitative dissertation whether you are a sports science student, medical or biological science, education or business, psychology, social sciences, engineering, project management, or any other science-based degree. We guarantee 100% commitment, 100% Plagiarism-free work, 100% Confidentiality and 100% Satisfaction

It is a type of scientific research where a researcher collects evidence to seek answers to a  question . It is associated with studying human behaviour from an informative perspective. It aims at obtaining in-depth details of the problem.

As the term suggests,  qualitative research  is based on qualitative research methods, including participants’ observations, focus groups, and unstructured interviews.

Qualitative research is very different in nature when compared to quantitative research. It takes an established path towards the  research process , how  research questions  are set up, how existing theories are built upon, what research methods are employed, and how the  findings  are unveiled to the readers.

You may adopt conventional methods, including phenomenological research, narrative-based research, grounded theory research,  ethnographies ,  case studies , and auto-ethnographies.

Again, regardless of the chosen approach to qualitative research, your dissertation will have unique key features as listed below.

• The research questions that you aim to answer will expand or even change as the  dissertation writing process continues. This aspect of the research is typically known as an emergent design where the research objectives evolve with time.
• Qualitative research may use existing theories to cultivate new theoretical understandings or fall back on existing theories to support the research process. However, the original goal of testing a certain theoretical understanding remains the same.
• It can be based on various research models, such as critical theory, constructivism, and interpretivism.
• The chosen research design largely influences the analysis and discussion of results and the choices you make. Research design depends on the adopted research path: phenomenological research, narrative-based research, grounded theory-based research, ethnography, case study-based research, or auto-ethnography.
• Qualitative research answers research questions with theoretical sampling, where data gathered from an organisation or people are studied.
• It involves various research methods to gather qualitative data from participants belonging to the field of study. As indicated previously, some of the most notable qualitative research methods include participant observation, focus groups, and unstructured  interviews .
• It incorporates an  inductive process where the researcher analyses and understands the data through his own eyes and judgments to identify concepts and themes that comprehensively depict the researched material.
• The key quality characteristics of qualitative research are transferability, conformity, confirmability, and reliability.
• Results and discussions are largely based on narratives, case study and personal experiences, which help detect inconsistencies, observations, processes, and ideas.s
• Qualitative research discusses theoretical concepts obtained from the results whilst taking research questions and/or hypotheses  to draw general  conclusions .

Now that you know the unique differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods, you may want to learn a bit about primary and secondary research methods.

Here is an article that will help you  distinguish between primary and secondary research and decide whether you need to use quantitative and/or qualitative primary research methods in your dissertation.

Alternatively, you can base your dissertation on secondary research, which is descriptive and explanatory in essence.

Types of Qualitative Research Methods

Action research

Action research  aims at finding an immediate solution to a problem. The researchers can also act as the participants of the research. It is used in the educational field.

A  case study  includes data collection from multiple sources over time. It is widely used in social sciences to study the underlying information, organisation, community, or event. It does not provide any solution to the problem. Researchers cannot act as the participants of the research.

Ethnography

In  this type of research, the researcher examines the people in their natural environment. Ethnographers spend time with people to study people and their culture closely. They can consult the literature before conducting the study.

When you combine quantitative and qualitative methods of research, the resulting approach becomes mixed methods of research.

Over the last few decades, much of the research in academia has been conducted using mixed methods because of the greater legitimacy this particular technique has gained for several reasons including the feeling that combining the two types of research can provide holistic and more dependable results.

Here is what mixed methods of research involve:

• Interpreting and investigating the information gathered through quantitative and qualitative techniques.
• There could be more than one stage of research. Depending on the research topic, occasionally it would be more appropriate to perform qualitative research in the first stage to figure out and investigate a problem to unveil key themes; and conduct quantitative research in stage two of the process for measuring relationships between the themes.

Note: However, this method has one prominent limitation, which is, as previously mentioned, combining qualitative and quantitative research can be difficult because they both are different in terms of design and approach. In many ways, they are contrasting styles of research, and so care must be exercised when basing your dissertation on mixed methods of research.

When choosing a research method for your own dissertation, it would make sense to carefully think about your  research topic ,  research questions , and research objectives to make an intelligent decision in terms of the philosophy of  research design .

Dissertations based on mixed methods of research can be the hardest to tackle even for PhD students.

Our writers have years of experience in writing flawless and to the point mixed methods-based dissertations to be confident that the dissertation they write for you will be according to the technical requirements and the formatting guidelines.

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Please Find Below an Example of Research Methods Section in a Dissertation or Thesis.

Background and Problem

Diversity management became prominent in the late twentieth century, with foundations in America. Historically homogeneous or nondiverse nations, such as Finland, have not yet experienced the issues associated with rising cultural and ethnic diversity in the workforce. Regardless of the environment, workforce diversity garners greater attention and is characterised by its expanding relevance due to globalised and international companies, global and national worker mobility, demographic shifts, or enhancing productivity.

As a result, challenges of diversity management have been handled through legal, financial, and moral pressures (Hayes et al., 2020). The evolving structure of the working population in terms of language, ethnic background, maturity level, faith, or ethnocultural history is said to pose a challenge to human resource management (HRM) in utilising diversity: the understanding, abilities, and expertise prospects of the entire workforce to deal with possible developments.

The European approach to diversity management is regarded as growing. However, it is found to emphasise the relationship to business and lack competence in diversity management problems. Mass immigration concentrates variety, sometimes treated as cultural minority issues, implying the normalisation of anti-discrimination actions (Yadav and Lenka, 2020).

These causes, in turn, have provided the basis of comprehensive diversity research, which has generated different theories, frameworks, concepts, and guidelines from interdisciplinary viewpoints, such as industrial and organisational psychology and behaviour (OB), cultural studies, anthropology, migration, economics, postcolonialism, and so on. And in the form of international, social and cultural, organisational, group, and individual scale diversity analysis. This dissertation focuses on diversity concerns from impression management, specifically from HRM as an executive-level phenomenon (Seliverstova, 2021).

As conceptual frameworks, organisational structures concentrating on the production of diversity and social psychology, notably social identity theory with diverse ‘identities’ of persons or intergroup connections, are primarily employed. The study’s primary goal in the workplace is to discover inequities or examine the effects of diversity on workplace outcomes.

Individual study interests include behaviours, emotions, intelligence, intercultural skills or competencies, while group research interests include group dynamics, intergroup interactions, effectiveness, and cooperation or collaboration. Organisational studies address themes such as workforce composition, workplace equality, and diversity challenges and how they may be managed accordingly. Domestic diversity, omitting national distinctions, or global diversity, about diverse country cultures, might be studied further (AYDIN and ÖZEREN, 2018).

Diversity is a context-dependent, particular, comparative, complicated, plural phrase or idea with varying interpretations in different organisations and cultures and no unified definition. As a result, in addition to many internal and external elements, diversity may be managed, individuals taught, and organisations have grown in various ways. This dissertation considers diversity in an organisational environment as a construct of ‘differences’ to be handled (Cummings, 2018).

Various management systems have grown in stages, bringing diverse diversity management concepts. Equality/equal opportunities (EO) legislation and diversity management are the two conventional approaches and primary streams with differing theoretical foundations for managing and dealing with workforce diversity challenges (DM).

These approaches relate to whether diversity is handled by increasing sameness by legal pressures or by voluntarily respecting people’s differences, which shows an organisation’s responsiveness and proactivity toward managing diversity. But most of the literature in this area has avoided the impression management theories (Coad and Guenther, 2014). Therefore, this study will add a new dimension in this area by introducing impression management analysis.

Research Aim and Objectives

This research aims to analyse the impact of organisational structure on human resources diversification from the viewpoint of impression managerial theory. It has the following objectives:

• It will examine the existing impression management literature to draw insights into the relationship under consideration.
• It will identify various factors such as competency, social inclusion, etc., affecting the management’s decision to recruit diverse human resources.
• It will recommend appropriate organisational structures and HR policies to improve diversification of HR by reviewing impression management theories.

Research Questions

This research will answer the following questions:

• How does organisational structure affect human resources diversification from the viewpoint of impression managerial theory?
• What factors such as competency, social inclusion, etc., affect the management decision to recruit diverse human resources?
• What are appropriate organisational structures and HR policies to improve diversification of HR by reviewing impression management theories?

Research Hypothesis

The organisational structure significantly impacts the recruitment of diverse human resources.

Literature Review

According to Staniec and Zakrzewska-Bielawska (2010), considering strategy-oriented activities and organisational components are the critical foundation in the organisational structure required to align structure strategy. Each company’s internal organisation is somewhat distinctive, resulting from various corporate initiatives and historical conditions.

Furthermore, each design is based on essential success elements and vital tasks inherent in the firm plan. This article offers empirical research on unique organisational structure elements in Polish firms in the context of concentration and diversification tactics. And companies that adopted concentration techniques mainly used functional organisational structures.

Tasks were primarily classified and categorised based on functions and phases of the technical process, with coordination based on hierarchy. Jobs were also highly centralised and formalised. Organisational structures of an active type were also prevalent in many firms. Only a handful of the evaluated organisations possessed flexible contemporary divisional or matrix structures appropriate to differentiation. However, it appears that even such organisations should adjust their organisational solutions to perform successfully in an immensely complex and chaotic environment.

Similarly, according to Yang and Konrad (2011), diversity management techniques are the institutionalised methods created and applied by organisations to manage diversity among all organisational shareholders. They examined the existing research on the causes and significance of diversity management approaches.

They construct a research model indicating many potential routes for future study using institutional and resource-based theories. They also offer prospective avenues for study on diversity management techniques to further the two theoretical viewpoints. The findings indicate that research on diverse management practises might provide perceptions into the two ideologies. Diversity management provides a method for reconciling the agency vs structure issue for institutional concept.

Furthermore, diversity management is a suitable framework for studying how institutional pressures are translated into organisational action and the relationship between complying with institutional mandates and attaining high performance. Research on diversity management raises the importance of environmental normative elements in resource-based reasoning.

It allows for exploring essential resource sources and the co-evolution of diversity resources and management capacities, potentially developing dynamic resource-based theory. Furthermore, a review of the existing research on diversity management practices reveals that research in this field has nearly entirely concentrated on employee-related activities.

However, in establishing the idea of diversity management practises, we included the practises that companies put in place to manage diversity across all stakeholder groups on purpose. Management techniques for engaging with consumers, dealers, supervisors, board directors, and community members are critical for meeting institutional theory’s social and normative commitments.

Moreover, according to Sippola (2014), this research looks at diversity management from the standpoint of HRM. The study aims to discover the effects of expanding workforce diversity on HRM inside firms. This goal will be accomplished through four papers examining diversity management’s impacts on HRM from various viewpoints and mostly in longitudinal contexts.

The purpose of the first article, as a pilot survey, is to determine the reasons, advantages, and problems of rising cultural diversity and the consequences for HRM to get a preliminary grasp of the issue in the specific setting. According to the report, diversity is vital for productivity but is not often emphasised in HRM strategy.

The key areas that were changed were acquisition, development, and growth. The second article examines how different diversity management paradigms recognised in businesses affect HRM. It offers an experimentally verified typology that explains reactive or proactive strategic and operational level HRM activities in light of four alternative diversity management perspectives.

The third essay will examine how a ‘working culture bridge group’ strategy fosters and enhances workplace diversity. The research looks into how development goals are defined, what training and development techniques are used, and the consequences and causal factors when an analysis measures the training and development approach.

The primary goal of article four is to establish which components of diversity management design are globally integrated into multinational corporations (MNCs) and which integrating (delivery) methods are employed to facilitate it. Another goal is to identify the institutional problems faced by the Finnish national diversity setting during the integration process.

The findings show that the example organisation achieved more excellent global uniformity at the level of diversification concept through effective use of multiple frameworks but was forced to rely on a more multinational approach to implementing diversification policies and procedures. The difficulties faced emphasised the distinctiveness of Finland’s cognitive and normative institutional setting for diversity.

Furthermore, according to Guillaume et al. (2017), to compensate for the dual-edged character of demographic workplace diversity impacts on social inclusion, competence, and well-being-related factors, research has shifted away from straightforward main effect methods and begun to investigate factors that moderate these effects.

While there is no shortage of primary research on the circumstances that lead to favourable or poor results, it is unknown which contextual elements make it work. Using the Classification framework as a theoretical lens, they examine variables that moderate the impacts of workplace diversity on social integration, performance, and well-being outcomes, emphasising characteristics that organisations and managers can influence.

They suggest future study directions and end with practical applications. They concluded that faultlines, cross-categorisation, and status variations across demographic groupings highlight variety. Cross-categorisation has been proven to reduce intergroup prejudice while promoting social inclusion, competence, and well-being. Whether faultlines and subgroup status inequalities promote negative or good intergroup interactions and hinder social integration, performance, and well-being depends on whether situational factors encourage negative or positive intergroup connections. The impacts were not mitigated by team size or diversity type.

Furthermore, our data demonstrate that task characteristics are essential for workgroup diversity. Any demographic diversity in workgroups can promote creativity, but only when combined with task-relevant expertise improves the performance of teams undertaking complicated tasks. The type of team and the industrial context do not appear to play an effect. It is unclear if these findings apply to relational demography and organisational diversity impacts. There is some evidence that, under some settings, relational demography may increase creativity, and, as previously said, demographic variety may help firms function in growth-oriented strategy contexts.

Likewise, according to Ali, Tawfeq, and Dler (2020), diversity management refers to organisational strategies that strive to increase the integration of people from diverse backgrounds into the framework of corporate goals. Organisations should develop productive ways to implement diversity management (DM) policies to establish a creative enterprise that can enhance their operations, goods, and services.

Furthermore, human resource management HRM is a clever tool for any firm to manage resources within the company. As a result, this article explores the link between DM, HR policies, and workers’ creative work-related behaviours in firms in Kurdistan’s Fayoum city. According to the questionnaire, two hypotheses were tested: the influence of HRM on diversity management, HRM on innovation, and the impact of diversity management on innovation.

The first premise is that workplace diversity changes the nature of working relationships, how supervisors and managers connect, and how workers respond to one another. It also addresses human resource functions such as record-keeping, training, recruiting, and employee competence needs. The last premise on the influence of diversity management on innovation is that workplace diversity assists a business in hiring a diverse range of personnel.

In other words, a vibrant population need individuals of varied personalities. Workplace diversity refers to a company’s workforce consisting of employees of various genders, ages, faiths, races, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, religions, dialects, training, capabilities, etc. According to the study’s findings, human resource management strategies have a substantial influence on diversity management.

Second, diversity management was found to have a considerable impact on creativity. Finally, human resource management techniques influenced innovation significantly. Based on the findings, it was discovered that diversity management had a more significant influence on creation than human resource management.

Lastly, according to Li et al. (2021), the universal trend of rising workplace age diversity has increased the study focus on the organisational effects of age-diverse workforces. Prior research has mainly concentrated on the statistical association between age diversity and organisational success rather than experimentally examining the probable processes behind this relationship.

They argue that age diversity influences organisational performance through human and social capital using an intellectual capital paradigm. Moreover, they investigate workplace functional diversity and age-inclusive management as two confounding factors affecting the benefits of age diversity on physical and human capital.

Their hypotheses were evaluated using data from the Association for Human Resource Management’s major manager-reported workplace survey. Age diversity was favourably linked with organisational performance via the mediation of higher human and social capital. Furthermore, functional diversity and age-inclusive management exacerbated the favourable benefits of age variety on human and social capital. Their study gives insight into how age-diverse workforces might generate value by nurturing knowledge-based organisational resources.

Research Gap/ Contribution

Although there is a vast body of research in diversity in the human resource management area, many researchers explored various dimensions. But no study explicitly discovers the impact of organisational culture on human resource diversification. Moreover, no researchers examined the scope of impression management in this context.

Therefore, this research will fill this considerable literature gap by finding the direct impact of organisational structure on human resource diversification. Secondly, by introducing a new dimension of impression management theory. It will open new avenues for research in this area, and it will help HR managers to formulate better policies for a more inclusive organisational structure.

Research Methodology

It will be mixed quantitative and qualitative research based on the secondary data collected through different research journals and case studies of various companies. Firstly, the quantitative analysis will be conducted through a regression analysis to show the organisational structure’s impact on human resource diversification.

The dummy variable will be used to show organisational structure, and diversification will be captured through the ethnic backgrounds of the employees. Moreover, different variables will be added to the model, such as competency, social inclusion, etc. It will fulfil the objective of identifying various factors which affect the management decision to recruit diverse human resources. Secondly, a systematic review of the literature will be conducted for qualitative analysis to add the impression management dimension to the research. Google Scholar, JSTOR, Scopus, etc., will be used to search keywords such as human resource diversity, impression management, and organisation structure.

Research Limitation

Although research offers a comprehensive empirical analysis on the relationship under consideration due to lack of resources, the study is limited to secondary data. It would be better if the research would’ve been conducted on the primary data collected through the organisations. That would’ve captured the actual views of the working professionals. It would’ve increased the validity of the research.

Ali, M., Tawfeq, A., & Dler, S. (2020). Relationship between Diversity Management and Human Resource Management: Their Effects on Employee Innovation in the Organizations. Black Sea Journal of Management and Marketing, 1 (2), 36-44.

AYDIN, E., & ÖZEREN, E. (2018). Rethinking workforce diversity research through critical perspectives: emerging patterns and research agenda. Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 6 (3), 650-670.

Coad, A., & Guenther, C. (2014). Processes of firm growth and diversification: theory and evidence. Small Business Economics, 43 (4), 857-871.

Cummings, V. (2018). Economic Diversification and Empowerment of Local Human Resources: Could Singapore Be a Model for the GCC Countries?. In. Economic Diversification in the Gulf Region, II , 241-260.

Guillaume, Y., Dawson, J., Otaye‐Ebede, L., Woods, S., & West, M. (2017). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38 (2), 276-303.

Hayes, T., Oltman, K., Kaylor, L., & Belgudri, A. (2020). How leaders can become more committed to diversity management. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 72 (4), 247.

Li, Y., Gong, Y., Burmeister, A., Wang, M., Alterman, V., Alonso, A., & Robinson, S. (2021). Leveraging age diversity for organizational performance: An intellectual capital perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106 (1), 71.

Seliverstova, Y. (2021). Workforce diversity management: a systematic literature review. Strategic Management, 26 (2), 3-11.

Sippola, A. (2014). Essays on human resource management perspectives on diversity management. Vaasan yliopisto.

Staniec, I., & Zakrzewska-Bielawska, A. (2010). Organizational structure in the view of single business concentration and diversification strategies—empirical study results. Recent advances in management, marketing, finances. WSEAS Press, Penang, Malaysia .

Yadav, S., & Lenka, U. (2020). Diversity management: a systematic review. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal .

Yang, Y., & Konrad, A. (2011). Understanding diversity management practices: Implications of institutional theory and resource-based theory. Group & Organization Management, 36 (1), 6-38.

FAQs About Research Methods for Dissertations

What is the difference between research methodology and research methods.

Research methodology helps you conduct your research in the right direction, validates the results of your research and makes sure that the study you are conducting answers the set research questions.

Research methods are the techniques and procedures used for conducting research. Choosing the right research method for your writing is an important aspect of the research process.

What are the types of research methods?

The types of research methods include:

•     Experimental research methods.
•     Descriptive research methods
•     Historical Research methods

What is a quantitative research method?

Quantitative research is associated with numerical data or data that can be measured. It is used to study a large group of population. The information is gathered by performing statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques.

What is a qualitative research method?

It is a type of scientific research where a researcher collects evidence to seek answers to a question . It is associated with studying human behavior from an informative perspective. It aims at obtaining in-depth details of the problem.

What is meant by mixed methods research?

Mixed methods of research involve:

• There could be more than one stage of research. Depending on the research topic, occasionally, it would be more appropriate to perform qualitative research in the first stage to figure out and investigate a problem to unveil key themes; and conduct quantitative research in stage two of the process for measuring relationships between the themes.

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3 Main Types of Dissertations: Differences and Similarities

We may have qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in dissertations. This blog will elaborate on quantitative dissertations, qualitative dissertations, and mixed methods dissertations by addressing their similarities and differences.

Dissertation types

We may have qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in dissertations. Therefore, this blog will elaborate on quantitative dissertations, qualitative dissertations, and mixed methods dissertations by addressing their similarities and differences. 

Quantitative dissertations

Using the word quantitative does not mean that the dissertation must have quantitative research methods or statistical analysis techniques. Quantitative research deals with addressing research questions, hypotheses, or both. This research type relates to establishing a research strategy, concluding results, and making inferences. Classic investigations involve replication-based studies, theory-driven research, and data-driven dissertations. Nonetheless, many core characteristics pertain to quantitative dissertations regardless of the particular route you adopt on a quantitative dissertation.

They build on or test theories. These may include adopting an original or comprehensive approach with replication or modification.

They address quantitative research questions and test research hypotheses by rejecting or failure to reject the null hypothesis.

Positivist or post-positivist research paradigms affect them heavily.

They can have descriptive, experimental, quasi-experimental, or relationship-based research designs.

They resort to utilizing probability sampling techniques, generalizing from the sample to a broader population. In contrast, they may have to apply non-probability sampling techniques.

Research methods produce quantitative data (e.g., data sets, laboratory-based methods, questionnaires/surveys, structured interviews, and structured observation).

They depend on statistical analysis techniques while examining the data collected, irrespective of their descriptive or inferential structure.

They check the findings’ reliability and internal and external validity and may provide confidence intervals for the population parameters.

Statements, data, tables, and graphs are used to report their findings addressing each research question, hypothesis, or both.

Conclusions align with the findings, research questions, hypotheses, or both, and theories test or expand on extant ideas or provide insight for future approaches.

Qualitative dissertations

Qualitative dissertations involve qualitative research methods such as unstructured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. As they use research methods not employed in quantitative dissertations, qualitative research is beyond a choice between research methods. Qualitative research regards the research process differently by establishing research questions, developing and utilizing theory, choosing a research strategy, and presenting and discussing research findings in a substantially unique way. Thus, qualitative dissertations will have a distinct approach, relying on the specific route you adopt (for example, case study research compared to ethnographies). The traditional ways are autoethnography, case study, ethnographies, grounded theory, narrative, and phenomenological research . Nonetheless, whatever path you pursue, many broad characteristics relate to qualitative dissertations:

They are considered emergent designs, implying that the research process, and sometimes even the qualitative research questions you handle, often develop during the dissertation process.

They employ many ways to tackle the theory - sometimes capitalizing on theory to assist the research process; in other times, utilizing it to develop new theoretical insights. They sometimes use both techniques. However, the goal is seldom to test a particular theory from the outset.

Many research paradigms support them, including interpretivism, constructivism, and critical theory.

 They pursue research designs that radically affect your choices during the research process and the analysis and discussion of findings. Such research designs substantially vary based on the approach taken, whether autoethnography, case study research, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative research, and phenomenological research.

They employ theoretical sampling - non-probability sampling techniques – to explore cases most fit to address their research questions.

They study people in their natural settings by using multiple research methods. This process generates qualitative data involving unstructured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation.

They interpret the qualitative data from the researcher’s perspective and employ an inductive method to specific themes or abstractions, establishing a holistic/gestalt picture of the study.

They assess their findings’ quality concerning their dependability, confirmability, conformability, and transferability.

They elaborate on their findings primarily using personal accounts, case studies, and narratives. Moreover, they employ other means of describing themes or abstracts, processes, observations, and contradictions to address research questions.

They deliberate the theoretical mainly from the findings via the research questions and deduce tentative conclusions.

Mixed methods dissertations

Many reasons exist to include mixed methods in thesis and dissertations . Mixed methods dissertations use both qualitative and quantitative approaches in research. Although they are increasingly used with a more profound legitimacy, their components have not been adequately addressed. One can better tackle a research question by gathering qualitative and quantitative data, analyzing or interpreting them individually or in combination, and conducting multiple research phases. Thus, it is critical to perform qualitative research to investigate an issue and unearth primary themes before employing quantitative analysis to assess the relationships between them.

Mixed methods often confront challenges because qualitative and quantitative research substantially vary structure-wise. They may even be said to oppose. Hence, when having a mixed methods dissertation, you should be careful about the goals of your research and must decide whether the qualitative or quantitative components are more crucial in philosophical, theoretical, and practical terms and whether they can be combined or kept separate.

Why is editing and proofreading your dissertation or thesis critical?

Editing and proofreading your  dissertation is exceedingly crucial . A  professional editing and proofreading service  has trained, experienced experts with PhD in their fields and will edit your  work  without prejudice. Their suggestions will make the dissertation or thesis more legible and practical. Another set of eyes can check your dissertation much better than you as they can readily find mistakes or areas that need fine-tuning. In academic writing, editing and proofreading ensure the credibility of the content. Many mistakes concerning grammar, punctuation, syntax, sentence construction and other minor errors are amended. An expert who will amend such mistakes will save time and ensure consistency and error-free writing for your thesis or dissertation. 

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This brief guide elaborates on quantitative dissertations, qualitative dissertations, and mixed methods dissertations by addressing their similarities and differences.  To give you an opportunity to practice proofreading, we have left a few spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors in the text. See if you can spot them! If you spot the errors correctly, you will be entitled to a 10% discount.

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Types Of Thesis Statements

Different Types of Thesis Statements Explained with Examples

Published on: Sep 3, 2024

Last updated on: Sep 3, 2024

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If you’ve come to this, You might be asking yourself, "How many types of thesis statements are there?"

Well, there are different types of thesis statements, each designed for a specific kind of essay. If you’re looking to inform, persuade, or analyze, picking the right type of thesis statement is key.

We’ll explore the main types and even some you might not be familiar with, giving you clear examples to guide you along the way.

By the end of this blog, you'll know all about the different types of thesis statements in essays and how to use them in your writing.

Let's get started and make your essays more structured and impactful!

The 3 Major Types of Thesis Statements

A thesis statement is a single sentence that tells the main idea or point of your essay. A good thesis statement clearly explains what your essay is about and what you’re trying to show or argue.

Depending on the nature and the type of paper you’re writing, thesis statements can be divided into three primary types. 

Expository/Explanatory Thesis Statement

An explanatory or expository thesis statement is all about giving information and explaining something. When you use this type, you’re setting up your essay to provide details, describe a process, or clarify a concept. Your goal is to inform the reader rather than to argue or analyze.

Example: “The process of photosynthesis involves the conversion of sunlight into energy, which plants use to grow and produce oxygen.”

In this example, the thesis statement clearly indicates that the essay will explain how photosynthesis works. It doesn’t try to persuade the reader or analyze different aspects; it simply provides information on a topic.

Argumentative Thesis Statement

In this example, the thesis statement clearly indicates that the argumentative essay will explain how photosynthesis works. It doesn’t try to persuade the reader or analyze different aspects; it simply provides information on a topic.

Example: “Implementing a four-day workweek would increase productivity and improve employee well-being, making it a beneficial change for modern businesses.”

Here, the thesis statement makes a clear argument that the four-day workweek is a positive change. The essay will then focus on providing evidence and reasons to support this point of view, as well as addressing any opposing views.

Analytical Thesis Statement

An analytical thesis statement breaks down a topic into its components and examines them. It’s used when you want to analyze how something works or evaluate different parts of a subject. This type of thesis statement is great for essays that involve analyzing literature, processes, or events.

Example: “In Shakespeare’s Hamlet , the use of soliloquies reveals the internal conflicts of the characters, illustrating their struggles with morality and action.”

This thesis statement sets up an essay that will analyze how soliloquies in Hamlet reflect the characters’ inner conflicts. It shows that the essay will dissect the use of these soliloquies and explain their significance.

Other Commonly Used Types

Besides the major types of thesis statements, there are several others that you might come across. Each type serves a different purpose and helps shape your essay in specific ways. Here’s a quick look at some commonly used kinds of thesis statements:

Persuasive Thesis Statement

• When your goal is to convince your reader of your viewpoint, a persuasive thesis statement comes into play. This type clearly presents the argument you'll support with evidence throughout your essay.

Narrative Thesis Statement

• A narrative thesis statement introduces the story or personal experience you'll describe in your essay. It sets the stage for the main event or plot of your narrative.

Descriptive Thesis Statement

• If your essay focuses on painting a vivid picture of a person, place, object, or event, you’ll use a descriptive thesis statement. This type emphasizes detailed and sensory-rich descriptions to help readers visualize the subject.

Comparative Thesis Statement

• To analyze and contrast different subjects, a comparative thesis statement is what you need. It compares two or more things, highlighting their similarities and differences.

Cause and Effect Thesis Statement

• Exploring how one event leads to another calls for a cause and effect thesis statement. This type examines the relationship between causes and their outcomes.

Evaluative Thesis Statement

• When making a judgment about the value or significance of something, an evaluative thesis statement is used. It involves assessing and critiquing the subject based on specific criteria.

Open Thesis Statement:

• An open thesis statement is broad and allows for exploring various aspects of a topic. It’s flexible and doesn’t limit the scope of the essay too much.

Closed Thesis Statement:

• A closed thesis statement is more specific and outlines the exact points or arguments that will be addressed in the essay. It gives a clear direction and indicates the structure of the argument or analysis.

How to Choose the Right Type of Thesis Statement 

Choosing the right thesis statement is essential for guiding your essay in the right direction. To find the best fit, consider the following steps:

• Know Your Goal: Decide if you’re trying to inform, argue, analyze, or compare.
• Match the Format: Choose a thesis that fits the style of your essay, like narrative, descriptive, or cause and effect.
• Align with Your Points: Make sure your thesis reflects what you’ll be discussing or comparing.
• Be Clear: Your thesis should clearly show the direction of your essay.
• Be Flexible: Adjust your thesis if your focus changes during writing.

In Summary, 

So, what’s the takeaway from all these different types of thesis statements? Understanding and choosing the right one can make a huge difference in how you communicate your ideas. Each type has its own role in shaping your essay.

If you need a helping hand with writing thesis statements, don’t worry—there’s help available. Try using the thesis statement generator from MyEssayWriter.ai . It’s a powerful tool that can guide you in creating a strong, clear thesis statement tailored to your essay’s needs. 

Give our essay writer a try and take the guesswork out of your writing process!

Commonly Asked Questions

What is the 3 parts of a thesis statement.

• Topic: This tells the reader what the essay is about. It’s the subject you’ll be discussing.
• Claim: This is your main point or argument about the topic. It’s what you want to prove or explain.
• Reasons: These are the main reasons or points that support your claim. They outline how you’ll back up your argument in the essay.

What are the different types of thesis claims?

• Fact Claim: Asserts that something is true or false. It’s based on verifiable evidence.
• Value Claim: Argues whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. It’s based on personal or cultural values.
• Policy Claim: Suggests a course of action or change. It proposes what should be done or how things should be done differently.
• Definition Claim: Defines a term or concept in a specific way. It clarifies what something means or how it should be understood.

What is a theme statement and what are its types?

A theme statement is a sentence that shows the main message or big idea of a story. Instead of just summarizing what happens, it explains what the author wants to say about life, society, or people through the story. 

Its types are:

• Universal theme statement
• Specific theme statement
• Complex theme statement
• Implicit theme statement
• Explicit theme statement

Caleb S. (Mass Literature and Linguistics, Masters)

Caleb S. is an accomplished author with over five years of experience and a Master's degree from Oxford University. He excels in various writing forms, including articles, press releases, blog posts, and whitepapers. As a valued author at MyEssayWriter.ai, Caleb assists students and professionals by providing practical tips on research, citation, sentence structure, and style enhancement.

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Dissertation and Thesis

Thesis & dissertation formatting process.

To complete your format check submission, you must complete every registration step and fully submit your thesis or dissertation to the website listed below.

Dissertations and theses turned in as a part of the graduation requirements at Loyola University Chicago must be formatted according to the rules laid out in the Format Manual for Theses and Dissertations created by the Graduate School.

Format Check Submission

To ensure that theses/dissertations are formatted correctly, each thesis/dissertation must undergo a format check by the staff of the Graduate School prior to the submission of final copies. You must  electronically  submit your manuscript for a format check to the Graduate School's  ProQuest ETD Administrator  website ON OR BEFORE the published format check deadline for the term in which you expect to receive your degree.

• May degree conferral format check deadline:  March 1st
• August degree conferral format check deadline:  June 1st
• December degree conferral format check deadline:  October 1st

On or before the format check deadline, please also submit the following items as supplemental pdf files to  ProQuest ETD Administrator  (do not submit them by email):

• One electronic copy of your completed, formatted manuscript
• Formatted approval sheet, with your director's name and space for their signature. You will ultimately replace this file with a scanned copy that's been signed by the director after the defense and after all final edits have been made. This form acts as confirmation that your director has read and approved the final copy.
• Extra title page, formatted as described in the Manual
• One extra abstract, formatted as described in the Manual

Final Copy Submission

Once your dissertation has been defended, formatted correctly, and approved by your committee, you will need to electronically submit your final copy to the Graduate School for approval. You will also need to replace the Approval Sheet with a scanned copy that has been signed by your director.

Your final electronic submission must be uploaded ON OR BEFORE the published final electronic copy deadline for the term in which you expect to receive your degree. The final electronic copy deadlines are as follows:

• May degree conferral final electronic copy deadline:  April 1st
• August degree conferral final electronic copy deadline:  July 1st
• December degree conferral final electronic copy deadline:  November 1st

If your materials are complete or inaccurate, the Graduate School will contact you with a list of required corrections. If required corrections are too extensive or take too long to complete, you may not graduate and the Graduate School will not confer your degree. For this reason, please make every effort to format your manuscript correctly, include all of the materials listed above, and to meet the published deadlines. Also, please keep in mind that a dissertation or thesis is only one of your degree requirements, and that the Graduate School will not confer your degree unless you meet all of these requirements.

Students must submit final copies with approved revisions within one semester of a successful defense (e.g., if a student’s defense falls within a Fall semester, their final copies must meet the Spring semester submission deadlines). After one full semester a student may be discontinued and be required to apply for reinstatement (Approved 4 May 2021)

Visit the  for answers to new questions about the electronic submission process.

• Format Manual for Theses and Dissertations -  Note: The Formatting Manual was updated in September 2022. If you have any questions about the formatting guidelines, or if you need a copy of the former manual, please  email the formatting assistant , Danielle Richards.
• Format Checklist Copy (Clean)
• Formatting Examples

Questions regarding the format check and the final copy submission process should be directed  here .

Information Sessions

The Graduate School hosts two info-sessions each semester about the thesis and dissertation formatting process. Make sure to follow weekly Graduate School Announcements emails for more information.

Publishing Your Work: Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Workshop (Recorded January 14, 2021)

• Instructions for Thesis and Dissertation
• Approval Ballot for Text and Oral Defense

The Thesis/Dissertation Committee Form, Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Ballot, and the Request for Change in Degree-Seeking Status are located in the Graduate Student Progress System at  GSPS . Please log in to submit these forms. Medical Center Biomedical Science Students MUST Use LUHS Forms.

Publication

Before publication:.

LUC's University Libraries:  If relevant articles, book chapters, and books are not accessible through the library's online catalogue, they can be requested through InterLibrary Loan.

Zotero:  No matter what citation format you use, this free citation software can help save and format citations for use in your article.

Scimago Journal & Country Rank:  To find out the ranking of peer-reviewed journals in your particular discipline before you submit, go to this website.

LUC's Writing Center : Make an appointment with a graduate tutor to have your work reviewed at any stage of the writing or revision process. Often an article will be accepted for publication but an editor requires various corrections. An extra pair of eyes can be useful.

After publication:

GSPS:  Make sure to update publications through this LUC site; submitted entries will be reviewed, approved, and recorded by your GPD.

Google Scholar:  Various peer-reviewed articles and publications found on the internet will be linked to the student's account, which can be created by going to this site and clicking on "My Profile."

ORCiD:  Creating a free ORCiD ID will allow peer-reviewed publications to be linked across digital platforms with this persistent signifier.

Publishing conventions vary widely across disciplines; some graduate students may publish as single authors while others, particularly in the sciences, may be one of several authors collaborating on a project and its resulting published study. When seeking peer-reviewed publication opportunities, one of the best methods is to consult with professors in your department about how to publish and locate journals reputable in your field of study.

Besides helping you avoid scams and predatory publishing through their advice, faculty can also provide you with useful information about the publishing process and direct you to discipline-specific online listservs hosting frequent Calls for Papers.

The following list details other publication resources for graduate students:

Tesla: The Most Important Elements Of The Thesis

• Tesla, Inc.'s business is currently in the midst of a paradigm shift.
• To put it concisely, Tesla started as an EV company, but it is now becoming an AI and Energy company. This is its paradigm shift, so to speak.
• Today, I will walk us through the concept of “Paradigm Shifts,” which will act as the foundation for assessing the paradigm shift Tesla is experiencing.
• Irrespective of how you personally feel about Tesla, as was the case for my recent Affirm exploration, I believe these thoughts would be worth your while as a general framework.
• Looking for more investing ideas like this one? Get them exclusively at Beating the Market. Learn More »

Paradigm Shifts

Like humans, businesses experience a lifecycle in which they find themselves in infantile, juvenile, adult, and elderly stages.

When a business is recently born, or launched, it requires an inordinate amount of time and attention to nurture it. Then, finally, it can stand on its own two feet, as is the case for human beings when they are born.

Over time, businesses evolve and mature, through which the perception of those businesses shifts, as is also the case for humans, in that the world's perception of us as children shifts as we age and enter adulthood.

With every business you own, there have been notable “paradigm shifts” that have followed approximately the same course I described above:

The business started out infantile and precarious, during which time much attention and care needed to be paid to it; then, it matured and developed a relative sturdiness to it, though perhaps it experienced growing pains or an ugly duckling phase; then, it reached peak productivity years, contributing to society and its shareholders at maximum levels.

And, in the same way your businesses experienced this lifecycle, we ourselves have experienced it throughout our lives.

Let's consider a couple of examples to further bring this concept to life; then, we will apply it to Tesla, Inc. ( NASDAQ: TSLA ) with a few pieces of very notable data that, I believe, will shift your Tesla paradigm, i.e., your perception of Tesla.

In 2007, Apple ( AAPL ) offered a series of hardware products and scantly much else. To this end, it was often considered a business that lacked a moat, as building a replica of the iPhone or MacBook seemed to be rather easy.

What the market missed was that the software in the iPhone would create profound moats for the business over time.

The iPhone's transition from a hardware product to a software platform was its “Paradigm Shift,” and an appreciation of this shift would have given investors greater confidence in the company's prospects.

The developer-operating system-consumer network effects for Apple's App Marketplace has served to create a virtuous cycle that gravitationally pulls the world into the Apple ecosystem. Apple's iCloud storage acts as memory augmentation for humans and creates a formidable embedding moat. Apple's blue text boxes status signal and create network effects.

In short, the paradigm shift for Apple over the last decade has been our collective perception shifting from seeing Apple as a hardware producer to seeing Apple as a hardware ecosystem. Atop of this ecosystem and within which it has embedded software products that are highly valuable.

This is just one example of a paradigm shift.

I could share with you an endless list of companies who have experienced paradigm shifts. Many of them you can read about via my profile and past ideas. I would invite you to think about the businesses you own through this lens, as well as your life and the lives of your children or spouse.

For the sake of brevity, let's now transition this discussion to a focus on Tesla's paradigm shift.

Tesla's Paradigm Shift

The argument could be made that Tesla has undergone one or two major paradigm shifts already; however, I believe it's currently in the midst of its most significant shift in the company's history, which will poise it to generate exceptional shareholder returns in the decades ahead.

I would characterize the business as roughly being a teenager or early 20s adult, and, as Blink 182's wisdom reminds us, “ nobody likes you when you're 23. ”

The Market Has Not Liked Tesla For Almost Four Years Now

It's currently transitioning from the way its high school and college classmates saw it to the way the world will see it as a peak productivity adult, so the analogy goes.

To put this into more concrete terms, Tesla is transitioning from a hardware electric vehicle producer, prone to commoditization over time, to an EV plus AI and Energy business.

To provide concrete data illustrating this evolution, let's start with Tesla's Energy business, without which Tesla's sales would have declined in Q2 '24, instead of eking out a meager 2.3% gain year over year.

Tesla Energy Now Contributes Very Meaningfully To Tesla's Overall Sales ($3B Out Of ~$25B In Q2 '24, Up From $1.5B Out Of ~$25B In Q2 '23)

Yahoo Finance

Irrespective of how you feel about my thoughts today, you cannot deny the indisputable and concrete data presented above, in which we can see that Tesla's Energy business now operates at $12B in annualized sales scale, while growing at ~100%.

This is the reality, and it represents the business evolving from an EV pure play to an EV business that now offers genuine energy infrastructure globally as well, and materially benefits from that offering in a way investors should acknowledge.

Tesla's Energy business growth has been driven by the growth of Tesla Megapack deployments specifically, the growth of which is measured in GWh, and this can be seen below.

Tesla's Energy Business Growth Through The Lens Of GWh Deployments

Tesla Q2'24 Earnings Presentation

In 2023, I shared a series of notes with you illustrating that this line of business was, in some sense (don't take it so literally), Tesla's “AWS.”

I did so in this article .

To a large degree, my writing to you today is just an update to that article, though with a little twist that we've already covered.

As we can see via the concrete data above, Tesla must now be considered both an EV business and a rapidly growing Energy business.

To further quantify this Energy business before we transition to Tesla's AI work and concluding thoughts, Tesla has set a goal to achieve 1,500 GWh of storage deployment by 2030. While I think this may be too ambitious, the goal seems more attainable in light of the data presented above. As shown, Tesla grew GWh deployments at 100%+ year over year and now deploys nearly 40 GWh on an annualized basis, up from just 10-15 a year or two ago.

Should it maintain this growth, then 1.5K GWh of annual deployments maybe attainable, if still very, very ambitious.

At 1.5K GWh of annual storage deployment, using the current ratio of 9 GWh/$3B in quarterly revenue, on which Tesla generates ~25% gross margins, Tesla would generate ~$500B in energy sales.

At $500B in energy sales, with ~25% gross margins, which is where Tesla's Energy margins stood in Q2 '24, I believe the company could generate between $50B and $75B in free cash flow, i.e., 10-15% free cash flow margins.

Considering the transition to an alternative energy and electric vehicle future is still in its very, very early innings, I believe that not only is this achievable, but also there will be further runway for growth after achieving it.

EV Adoption Is Still In Its Early Innings

Our World In Data

But It Has Been Growing Rapidly

This is the first paradigm shift that is purely a matter of data. Don't shoot the messenger. Note that I use this language because I've gotten push back on highlighting Tesla's evolution, though I do not know how someone could invest in growth stocks without leveraging some forecasting of the evolution of a company's business model. There would be no sense in even commenting on Tesla today without acknowledging the possible paradigm shift underway for the business, and the same could be said for every great investment of the last 100 years:

• Apple from a computer company to an iPhone and software company.
• Amazon from a books company to a cloud computing giant
• Axon from a Taser company to a global security and software vendor
• Palantir from a government software vendor to a commercial software vendor
• Meta from Facebook company to a diversified social media conglomerate (which is now becoming a compelling AI company).

There are many, many examples of “paradigm shifts,” and they are always underway in the market. It is the process of “being” and “becoming,” and it's worth considering businesses through this lens, even if we don't get them right all the time.

Let's now turn to a consideration of Tesla “becoming” an AI company, then we will wrap up this review.

Tesla Is Becoming An AI Company

Full self-driving, or FSD, should be understood as the creation of an AI that is as smart as its biological AIs who operate vehicles on the road currently.

Tesla's FSD represents building a genuine intelligence that can reason, infer, and predict just as a human would, and, for those that use the software, and I am one of those people, you will very deeply understand this: The software interprets the movements of pedestrians, the actions of other cars, and road signs, by which it ultimately makes decisions about its maneuvers and speed.

It seems like magic, but it's actually a hardcore AI problem, which involves building genuine intelligence that is just like the biological intelligences currently on the road (over time, it will likely be better because it will not be prone to distraction or malfunction such as drunk driving).

With these ideas in mind, Tesla's FSD AI must ingest massive quantities of data, and Tesla must feed that data into giant AI compute clusters, and this Tesla has been doing.

This is similar to a child ingesting data in its early years, and developing a framework for interaction with the world over time, which allows it to survive and thrive.

Tesla FSD Miles Driven Continues To Reach New Heights

Tesla's AI Compute Capacity Continues To Aggressively Build

While Tesla's revenue generation from this business is objectively more nebulous than the concrete data we have on its Energy business, the training data above illustrates that there is progress being made.

Tesla's Robotaxi event will be one worth paying attention to for investors and prospective investors alike.

The concept of “Paradigm Shifts” is also synonymous with the ongoing process that we all experience of “being” and “becoming.”

At any given time, we're constantly torn between these two spectrum ends, which is a paradox of life. We're simultaneously in a state of being and becoming.

And there's risk associated with this process.

There was risk associated with Apple being a hardware produce and becoming a software producer.

There was risk associated with Amazon being a books retailer on the internet and becoming one of the most important cloud computing businesses on earth.

And, there was risk associated with Axon Enterprise ( AXON ) being a body cam and Taser vendor and becoming a global security and software vendor.

Risk lies in competition, execution, and an almost infinite series of other variables, and this could unequivocally be said for Tesla as well.

Concluding Thoughts

Whatever your perspective is on Tesla, I believe these ideas are worth pondering.

In a similar vein to my most recent Affirm article, even if you don't agree, it's worth taking time to assess these possible paradigm shifts. Consider the process of being and becoming for your own companies and for your own life.

Thank you for reading, and remember to follow for more insights such as these.

Get started with us today!

This article was written by

Louis Stevens offers a proprietary approach to equity (stock) investing.

Employing his Four Foundational Investment Frameworks, Louis purchases industry-leading businesses that possess mountainous cash hoards, robust free cash flow generation, long runways for growth, and quality company cultures.

Here is a snapshot of the performance of the companies selected using these frameworks: https://www.tipranks.com/experts/bloggers/louis-stevens

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of TSLA either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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• Open access
• Published: 01 September 2024

Downstream impacts of dam breach using HEC-RAS: a case of Budhigandaki concrete arch dam in central Nepal

• Anu Awal 1 ,
• Utsav Bhattarai 2 ,
• Vishnu Prasad Pandey 3 &
• Pawan Kumar Bhattarai 4  

Environmental Systems Research volume  13 , Article number:  37 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

Studies on concrete dam breach are limited compared to earthen and other types of dams. With an increase in the construction of concrete dams, particularly in the developing world, it is imperative to have a better understanding of the dam breach phenomena and the identification of the most influential breach parameters. This study aims to contribute to this gap by taking the case of the concrete arch dam proposed for the 1200 MW Budhigandaki Hydropower Project located in central Nepal. This study carries special significance for Nepal, primarily because of the increasing number of under construction and proposed large dams for water resources development in the country. We carry out dam breach analysis of the Budhigandaki dam using HEC-RAS 2D model to calculate the flood discharge peaks, time to peak, water surface elevation and the extent of inundation for two scenarios (with and without probable maximum flood) to estimate the damage on four downstream settlements. We carry out sensitivity analysis of the breach parameters on the flood magnitudes and severity. Results show that all the study locations lie in the high flood hazard zone. Flood peaks can reach as high as 286,000 m 3 s − 1 to 511,000 m 3 s − 1 in the considered settlements. The time to peak ranges from 11.3 to 17 h after the breach at these locations. We estimate that if a breach should happen, it would most likely inundate around 150,000 buildings, impact nearly 672,000 lives and flood 3,500 km of road downstream. Furthermore, dam breach elevation is found to be the most sensitive parameter to downstream floods. Hence, rather than structural measures, it is recommended that non-structural measures are implemented for minimizing the impacts of flood disasters at the study locations. The findings could be a useful reference for future dam projects in Nepal and other areas with similar hydrological and topographical conditions.

Introduction

Dams are storage structures providing beneficial functions such as flood control and water supply for different types of users (for example, domestic water supply, hydropower, irrigation, recreation and water transport). The construction of large dams along with generation of electricity started during the industrial revolution in Europe and America. The early 1900s ushered in an era of “big dam” building in America mostly for hydropower generation as demands for electricity increased, the Hoover Dam being regarded as an engineering marvel. The Asian region includes some of the largest dams in the world today such as Tarbela Dam and Mangla Dam in Pakistan, Nurek Dam in Tajikistan, San Rogue Dam in Phillipines and Three Gorges Dam in China, mostly for hydropower generation.

Despite the benefits, failure of dams can cause tremendous losses by generation of unforeseen flood magnitudes in downstream areas. Unfortunately, the history of dams has been studded with disasters of various types, sometimes of great magnitude, with loss of human lives and destruction of property and infrastructure (Aureli et al. 2021 ). USACE ( 2018 ) lists causes of dam breach as earthquakes, landslides, extreme storms, piping, equipment malfunction, structural damage, foundation failure, and sabotage. Regardless of the reason, almost all failures begin with a breach formation.

Basically, breach is defined as the opening formed in the dam body that leads the dam to fail and this phenomenon causes the stored water behind the dam to propagate rapidly downstream (Dincergok 2007 ). Despite piping or overtopping being the main modes of dam failure, the actual mechanics are still not completely understood for either earthen or concrete dams (USACE 2018 ). Past dam-failure disasters have shown that the majority of dams that have failed are earthen (74 dam breaks out of 7812 earthen dams) and the highest percentage of failure of rockfill dams (17 dam breaks out of 200 rockfill dams) (Fang et al. 2017 ). The world’s worst dam disaster happened in China in 1975 when the Banqiao and Shimantan dams failed killing about 171,000 people while 11 million lost their homes (Vincent et al. 2020 ). In 1979, the 25 m high Machu Dam in India, which stored 100 million m 3 , failed after several hours of over-topping causing about 10,000 deaths, 150,000 people were displaced, and 10,000 habitations were destroyed (Lempérière 2017 ). A recent case of the failure of the Rishiganga dam in Uttarakhand (India) in 2021 due to glacier avalanche caused more than 200 deaths and severely damaged infrastructure (Shugar et al. 2021 ). Similarly, failure of the Edenville dam followed by the Sanford dam downstream on the same day in 2020 due to heavy rain in Michigan USA ( Independent Forensic Team 2022 ), and failure of the Spencer Dam in Nebraska USA in 2019 due to ice run (Ettema et al. 2021 ), demonstrate the devastation that dam breaches can lead to. Thus, identification of the vulnerable areas and being aware of the likely damages are key for minimization of the adverse impacts of dam breach.

Dam breach analysis involves three key sequential steps: predicting the reservoir outflow hydrograph, determining dam breach parameters, and routing the hydrograph downstream. Essentially, the breach flood hydrograph depends on the prediction of breach geometry and breach formation time (Basheer et al. 2017 ). There have been many studies on dam breach analysis around the world from the 1980’s (Leng et al. 2023 ; Singh and Snorrason 1984 ; USACE 2024 ). Dam breach analysis is generally carried out by either numerical/computer models or scaled-down physical models. The United States Department of Interior ( 1988 ), recommends estimating a reasonable maximum breach discharge using four principal methods:

Physically Based Methods: Using erosion models based on principles of hydraulics, sediment transport and soil mechanics, development of breach and resulting breach outflow are estimated;

Parametric Models: Time to failure and ultimate breach geometry are assessed utilizing case studies; breach growth is simulated as a time-dependent linear process and breach outflows are computed using principles of hydraulics;

Predictor Equations: Using data of case studies, peak discharge is estimated from empirical equations and a reasonable shape of outflow hydrograph is assumed; and.

Comparative Analysis: Breach parameters are determined by comparison of dam under consideration and a dam that failed.

There are far fewer studies on the failures of concrete dams compared to earthen dams, especially due to breaches which leads to difficulty in determining the concrete dam breach parameters (Fang et al. 2017 ). Moreover, a study of well documented dam-failure cases showed that empirical formulas provide results closer to reality (Fang et al. 2017 ). For instance, Froehlich( 1995 ) developed a prediction equation for the average breach width based on 63 cases of embankment-dam failures and an equation for the breach-formation time based on 21 cases. Focusing on earthen dams has been driven by their historical prevalence, cost-effectiveness, and adaptability. However, studying concrete arch dams is crucial for advancing engineering practices, improving safety and efficiency in dam construction, supporting hydroelectric power generation, addressing environmental impacts, and preserving significant cultural landmarks. Many federal agencies such as FERC ( 1993 ),Office of the State Engineer( 2020 ) and USACE ( 2014 ) have published guidelines recommending possible ranges of values for breach width, side slopes, and development time for different types of dams. This study aims to investigate the breach characteristics of concrete arch dams, an area with limited existing literature. Several dam breach analysis studies have been carried out in Nepal such as in Kulekhani dam using HEC-RAS (Pandey et al. 2023 ), Kaligandaki landslide dam using BREACH (Bricker et al. 2017 ), Koshi high dam using HEC-RAS (Gyawali, D.R. and Devkota, 2015 ), among others. However, no sensitivity analysis of dam breach parameters has been carried out for the afore-mentioned studies.

The proposed Budhigandaki dam located in the transboundary Budhigandaki Basin, spread over southern China and central Nepal, is taken as a case. The Government of Nepal (GoN) has prioritized hydropower generation as the backbone of economic development to attain the goals to raise the country’s status to middle income country level by 2030 (Government of Nepal 2020 ). As a result, there are currently more than 9 planned and proposed large hydropower dam projects by the state (Nepal Electricity Authority 2022 ). The Budhigandaki Hydropower Project (BGHPP) could be the largest storage project of Nepal, if constructed, which could lead to catastrophic damages downstream in the event of a breach.

Hence, the overarching objective of this study is to assess the flood impacts of the Budhigandaki Dam on the downstream settlements due to possible dam breach scenarios. Specifically, this study intends to quantify the peak discharge, time to peak, and the water surface elevation at the downstream locations due to a dam-breach flood. Further, sensitivity analysis of five different dam breach parameters is conducted to acquire information about extent of influence of each parameter on the dam breach. The analysis is carried out in the widely-used hydraulic model Hydrologic Engineering Center’s - River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Furthermore, zoning of the downstream settlement areas in Geographic Information System (GIS) based on flood severity provides meaningful information to the project developers as well as planners in the impacted areas.

Materials and methods

The Budhigandaki Hydropower Project (BGHPP) is a 1200 MW storage type proposed project of Nepal located approximately 2 km upstream of the confluence of Budhigandaki River with Trishuli River as shown in Fig.  1 . The Budhigandaki Dam is a 263 m high double curvature concrete arch dam with a reservoir volume of 4.5 billion cubic meters (BCM), out of which the active storage is 2.2 BCM. The dam crest length is 737.4 m and the reservoir Full Supply Level (FSL) is at 540 m above sea level (masl) (Budhigandaki Development Committee, 14a). There are some major settlement areas nearly 110 km downstream which are susceptible to danger in case of dam breach. For this study, four major towns namely, Narayangarh, Baraghare, Divyanagar and Meghauli, have been assessed. Moreover, future risk of impact from the dam failure can be expected to increase as increased in population growth due to improved job opportunities and other economic activities in the area because of the construction of the dam. Therefore, the Budhigandaki Dam has been taken as a case in this study to assess the flooding impacts of the dam on the downstream areas through simulation of a hypothetical dam failure.

Location of Budhigandaki dam and downstream settlement areas

Methodology

Dam breach analysis of the Budhigandaki dam has been carried out in HEC-RAS using unsteady flow simulation with terrain and land cover as the geometric input data. The upstream boundary condition is the probable maximum flood (PMF) hydrograph which has been generated using an empirical method while the downstream boundary condition is normal depth. Two dam failure scenarios, namely, dam breach at reservoir full condition with PMF (Scenario I: base case) and dam breach at reservoir full condition without PMF (Scenario II), have been modelled in the study. Outputs of the simulation are used for creating flood inundation maps, flood hazard vulnerability maps and flood arrival time maps corresponding to the different scenarios. Sensitivity analysis of the dam breach parameters is also carried out to assess their impacts on the flood conditions downstream of the dam. Figure  2 summarizes the overall research methodology.

Overall research methodology of this study. DEM: Digital Elevation Model, PMP: Probable Maximum Precipitation, PMF: Probable Maximum Flood, SA: Storage Area, 2D: Two Dimensional, FSL: Full Supply Level

The spatial inputs required to model the dam breach are digital elevation model (DEM), land cover and Manning’s roughness coefficient. Rainfall and discharge are needed for generation of inflow hydrograph as upstream boundary condition to the model. In addition, infrastructure data of the downstream area is required for estimating the impacts of floods. Details of the required data and their sources are presented in Table  1 .

PMP and PMF

The probable maximum precipitation (PMP) is the theoretical maximum precipitation for a given duration under current meteorological conditions (World Meteorological Organization 2009 ). Daily maximum rainfall data of 13 surrounding stations from 1972 to 2014 has been used for the calculation of PMP. The 1-day PMP for all the stations was calculated using Hershfield formula (Hershfield 1965 ) given in Eq. ( 1 ) :

Where, PMP  = Probable maximum precipitation.

M  = mean of maximum daily rainfall sample S  = Standard deviation.

K  = Frequency factor = 15 (Hershfield 1965 ).

The calculated 1-day PMP of the point stations was further interpolated using Thiessen Polygon, Kriging, Spline and Inverse Distance Weighing (IDW) methods in GIS to compute the 1-day PMP for the Budhigandaki Basin. In order to model a worst-case scenario, the maximum value of the PMP among these methods was chosen for generating the PMF hydrograph.

Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) is theoretically the flood resulting from a combination of the most severe meteorological and hydrologic conditions that could conceivably occur in a given area (FERC 2001 ). HEC-RAS requires a flood hydrograph to be provided as input for the unsteady flow analysis in the dam breach model. Therefore, a synthetic unit hydrograph was developed using Snyder’s Method (American Geophysical Union 1938 ) using the following equations (Eq. ( 2 ) to Eq. ( 7 ) which was then transposed to generate a direct runoff hydrograph of PMF.

Mathematically,

Dam breach analysis

Dam breach analysis of the Budhigandaki dam has been carried out in HEC-RAS model under two-dimensional dynamic (unsteady-flow) mode. Hypothetical breach of the dam and its propagation downstream has been modelled using 2D Diffusion wave equations (Eq. ( 8 ) to Eq. ( 10 )).

Where, h is the water depth (m), p and q are the specific flow in the x and y directions (m 2 s − 1 ), ζ is the surface elevation (m), g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m s − 2 ), n is the Manning’s coefficient, ρ is the water density (1000 kg m − 3 ), τ xx , τ yy , and τ xy are the components of the effective shear stress along x and y directions (N m − 2 ), and f is the Coriolis (s − 1 ).

Two-dimensional (2D) mesh of size 100 m x 100 m was chosen to represent the downstream land. Comparison of different mesh sizes (100 m and 200 m) indicated no significant difference in model performance. The storage areas and downstream areas are connected using an inline structure (Budhigandaki dam) as shown in Fig.  3 . “Storage Area” refers to upstream reservoir of the dam axis while “Downstream Study Area” represents the four towns (Narayangarh, Baraghare, Divyanagar, and Meghauli) located downstream which are likely to be inundated in case of dam breach (BGHP, 2015). Boundary conditions are required at the upstream and downstream ends of the model for flood routing. The upstream boundary was fixed at the reservoir extent (storage area) and the boundary condition was provided in the form of flood hydrograph generated from PMF. Outlet is the downstream boundary past the settlement areas as shown in Fig.  3 while the boundary condition of normal depth is maintained by providing the river bed-slope obtained from the DEM.

HEC-RAS 2D flow area and model schematic for the flood simulation of Budhigandaki dam breach

Scenarios and sensitivity analysis

In order to quantify the downstream effects of the Budhigandaki dam breach, the following two scenarios have been simulated:

Scenario 1: Dam breach when reservoir is at FSL with PMF. Scenario 2: Dam breach when reservoir is at FSL.

Only overtopping breach mode was analyzed as the dam is made up of concrete and there are less chances of other failure modes (Zhang et al. 2016 ). Moreover, for better understanding the Budhigandaki dam breach mechanism and impacts, sensitivity analysis of the following five important breach parameters as breach bottom elevation, breach bottom width, breach weir coefficient, breach formation time and breach side slope was carried out by varying their values over a reasonable range obtained from literature.

Scenario I have been considered as the base case. Sensitivity of the above-mentioned breach parameters on flood peak discharge, water surface elevation and flood arrival time at the four downstream locations along with inundation area are analyzed considering the base case.

The inputs for the dam break analysis adopted for the base case i.e., Scenario I is listed in the Table  2 . The values of breach parameters have been derived from FERC ( 1993 ), Office of the State Engineer ( 2020 ) and USACE ( 2014 ) specific for concrete dams.

Flood characteristics from 2D simulations

Using RAS Mapper, a series of flood maps were generated based on the outputs of the 2D simulation of the Scenario I dam breach. These maps were helpful in identifying the potentially risky and safe areas. The outputs of the HEC-RAS model were exported to GIS for further analysis and mapping.

Maximum Flood depth map

Using the simulation results, flood inundation maps were prepared illustrating the maximum flood depths across the study area for the different scenarios.

Flood Hazard Vulnerability Map : A flood hazard vulnerability map based on the product of depth and velocity was prepared using the Australian Rainfall-Runoff Guidelines (Australian Rainfall and Runoff 2019 ) which categorize the flood in six zones as: H1 ( D*V ≤  0.3, D max = 0.3 m, V max = 2.0 m/s, safe for people, vehicles and buildings); H2 ( D*V ≤  0.6, D max = 0.5 m, V max = 2.0 m/s, unsafe for small vehicles); H3 ( D*V  ≤ 0.6, D max = 1.2 m, V max = 2.0 m/s, unsafe for vehicles, children and elderly); H4 ( D*V  ≤ 1.0, D max = 2.0 m, V max = 2.0 m/s, unsafe for people and vehicles); H5 ( D*V  ≤ 4.0, D max = 4.0 m, V max = 4.0 m/s, unsafe for people and vehicles, buildings vulnerable to structural damage) ; H6 ( D*V >  4.0, unsafe for people and vehicles, all buildings vulnerable to failure) where D and V refer to the flood depth and velocity, respectively while D max and V max refers to the maximum depth and maximum velocity, respectively.

Flood arrival Time Map

Flood arrival time maps represent the computed time (in hours or days) from a specified time in the simulation when the water depth reaches a specified inundation depth. For the case of Budhigandaki dam breach, flood arrival times at the four settlement areas were calculated and mapped.

Estimated values of PMP and PMF

The 1-day PMP value using the 13 precipitation stations was calculated to be 518 mm, 530 mm, 556 mm and 485 mm using Thiessen polygon, Kriging, inverse distance weighted (IDW), and Spline interpolation methods, respectively. As a worst-case scenario, we chose the IDW method, which gave the maximum value of PMP among the four methods, for generating the PMF hydrograph. Using the input data listed in the Appendix 1, ordinates of the synthetic unit hydrograph was computed using Snyder’s method as shown in Fig.  4 .

Synthetic Unit Hydrograph and Probable Maximum Flood Hydrograph for the Budhigandaki dam

From the synthetic unit hydrograph and rainfall intensity duration curve, Direct Runoff Hydrograph was generated. The flood values are generated for a 60-minute interval by linear interpolation between the ordinates of the unit hydrograph. August is the month with the highest flows at the Budhigandaki dam site. Therefore, base flow of 441 m 3 s − 1 which is the mean August flow (during 1964–2012) was added to obtain the final hydrographs (BGHPP Development Committee 2014b ). The final results are plotted in Fig.  4 . I t can be seen that the peak discharge of 11,669 m 3 s − 1 occurs at 33.9 h after the start of rainfall for PMF + base flow.

Flood depth and flood hazard vulnerability

The river valley of 110 km length from Budhigandaki dam to Meghauli was considered for the analysis. The maximum flood depth Fig.  5 shows that the flood depth is as high as 212 m in the upstream area as the river channel is narrow whereas the depth becomes lesser in the downstream river sections where the area is relatively wide and plain. The maximum water depths at Narayangarh is estimated to be 90 m followed by 50.3 m at Baraghare.

Flood Inundation Map Based on Maximum Depths

Similarly, Flood Hazard Vulnerability Map based on the depth and velocity was prepared as shown in Fig.  6 . It can be identified from the map that all the downstream area lies in H6 zone i.e., unsafe for people and vehicles and all buildings are vulnerable to failure.

Flood Hazard Vulnerability Mapping Based on Depth and Velocity

Flood arrival time

Simulated flood peak arrival times calculated at the four downstream settlement areas are shown in Fig.  7 . It is useful in designing of early warning systems at these locations. It can be seen that the travel times range from 11.3 h (Narayangarh) to 17 h (Meghauli) immediately after the dam breach depending on the proximity from the dam.

Flood arrival time for the major downstream settlement locations; D/S is downstream

Flood inundation across different land covers

As an impact of dam breach on land cover, it is seen that the inundated type to be most likely inundated is agricultural area (538 km 2 ). Similarly, 239 km 2 of forest is likely to be inundated second in rank. Grassland, water body, barren area, built-up area and shrub land are expected to be inundated with areas of 43 km 2 , 38 km 2 , 25 km 2 , 22 km 2 and 1.5 km 2 respectively as shown in Fig.  8 .

Inundation extent due to dam breach by land cover

Flood Impact on Water Surface Elevation (WSE) and peak discharge

Water surface elevations along the modelled river reach corresponding to the two scenarios are shown in Fig.  9 . It is seen that the water surface is nearly 110 m above the bed level at immediate downstream of the dam site while it is as low as 30 m in the downstream study areas. There is an enormous volume of water flowing down in a very short time because of the breach resulting in such high values of water depths along the river reach. There is very less change in the water surface elevation between Scenario-1 and 2. Also, at the settlement areas, the flow width is large i.e., flat plain area and hence lesser change is seen on the water surface elevation at downstream areas.

Profile of water surface elevation and river bed for Scenario I and Scenario II. Scenario I: Dam Breach at FSL with PMF and Scenario II: Dam Breach at FSL without PMF

For the two scenarios (Scenario-1 and Scenario-2), the flow hydrographs have been compared at immediate downstream of the dam and at the four major settlement locations as shown in Fig.  10 . It is to be noted that the peak discharge occurs nearly at the same time for both scenarios at all locations. At Narayangarh, peak discharges for Scenarios-1 and 2 are 511,587 m 3 s − 1 and 501,479 m 3 s − 1 respectively i.e., around 2% of difference in the value. Similarly, at Baraghare, the peak discharge for Scenario-1 is 454,267 m 3 s − 1 whereas 441,862 m 3 s − 1 for Scenario-2 and for Divyanagar, the peak discharge for Scenario-1 is 364,697 m 3 s − 1 whereas 357,294 m 3 s − 1 for Scenario II respectively. Lastly for Meghauli, the peak discharge for Scenario-1 is 294,928 m 3 s − 1 whereas 286,813 m 3 s − 1 for Scenario-2. It is obvious that the peak discharge for Scenario-1 is greater than that of Scenario-2, however, the differences in the peak values between the two scenarios are quite small (in the range of 2–3%). This implies that the storage volume of the dam is the major contributor to the flood discharge rather than the PMF.

Comparison of flood hydrographs at major study locations for Scenario I and Scenario II. Scenario I: Dam Breach at FSL with PMF and Scenario II: Dam Breach at FSL without PMF

Flood impact on infrastructure

The possible impact of inundation due to dam breach on buildings and roads was assessed. The total road length includes several types of roads such as highways, feeder roads, district roads and local roads. The inundated highway road length has been computed separately and all other types of roads has been kept as other roads (Table  3 ). It can be seen that Chitwan is the most impacted district with 58.5% of buildings and 2,541 km of road likely to be inundated. Meanwhile, Gorkha is expected to be the least affected district with 2.6% buildings and 132.4 km road inundated. Also, 149,311 numbers of buildings are inundated in total. If the total number of persons on average per household is taken as 4.5 (Cental Bureau of Statisitics 2016 ), a total of about 0.7 million people are likely to be affected by inundation in the case of dam breach. This is about 2.3% of the total population of Nepal.

• Sensitivity analysis

Sensitivity analysis was performed in order to estimate the impact of the breach parameters on the simulated floods in the downstream impacted areas. The values of the input breach parameters were changed within a reasonable range, one at a time, in the dam breach model and the corresponding values of the peak discharge, water surface elevation, flood arrival time and land inundation area were recorded. Breach bottom elevation was varied from 450 masl to 525 masl. Similarly, breach width was varied from 55 m to 150 m and breach weir coefficient was varied from 0.9 to 1.7. Also, breach formation time was varied from 0.05 h to 0.3 h and breach side slope was varied from 0.7:1 to 2.5:1 ( H : V ). Results of the sensitivity analysis have been presented in Table  4 .

Breach bottom elevation

It is seen from Table  4 that as the breach bottom elevation is increased from 450 masl to 525 masl, the value of peak discharge and WSE are significantly decreased at the different downstream locations. It is observed that a 30% increase in breach bottom elevation (450 masl to 475 masl) led to 20–35% decrease in peak discharge, 20–25% decrease in WSE at different downstream locations and nearly 30% decrease in inundation area (893 km 2 to 735 km 2 ). However, the flood peak arrival time is not much altered due to change in breach bottom elevation.

Breach bottom Width

It is seen from Table  4 that an increase in breach width from 55 m to 150 m corresponds to an increase in discharge, WSE and inundation area but the change is not as significant as compared to that of change in breach bottom elevation. A 30% increase in breach width (80 m to 105 m) led to nearly 3% increase in peak discharge at all downstream locations. However, not much change is seen on the WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area due to change in breach bottom width.

Breach weir coefficient

An increase in the breach weir coefficient from 0.9 to 1.7 led to increase in discharge, WSE and inundation area but with a smaller magnitude compared to that of change in breach bottom elevation (Table  4 ). A 20% increase in breach weir coefficient (1.44 to 1.7) led to nearly 3% increase in peak discharge at all downstream locations. Also, no significant change is seen on the WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area due to change in breach weir coefficient.

Breach formation time

Interestingly, there is very insignificant change in peak discharge, WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area due to varying breach formation time (Table  4 ). The values of peak discharge, WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area remain almost unchanged despite the breach formation time is increased up to 200% (0.1 h to 0.3 h).

Breach side slope

A 50% increase in the side slope (1.3:1 to 2:1) led to nearly 2–3% increase in peak discharge as shown in Table  4 . Also, no significant change is seen on the WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area due to change in breach side slope.

Thus, results of the sensitivity analysis varying the values of the breach parameters, namely, dam breach bottom elevation, breach bottom width, breach weir coefficient, breach formation time and breach side slope on the peak discharge, WSE, flood arrival time and downstream inundation area has been summarized in Table  5 . It can be seen that dam breach bottom elevation is the most sensitive parameter with respect to output values such as peak discharge, WSE and downstream inundation area while breach formation time is the least sensitive parameter with respect to all the output parameters.

We have estimated the PMP followed by PMF which is the upstream boundary condition required for the dam breach model in HEC-RAS. The PMP value was chosen as 556 mm from the IDW method. Also, the PMP value as per the detail design report (BGHPP Development Committee 2014b ) is 594 mm. Both the values of PMP are generated using Hershfield formula. However, this slight variation in the PMP values is due to the difference in the values of frequency factor. The value of frequency factor in this study is taken as 15 (Hershfield 1965 ). Subsequently, the PMF value for this study is generated using Snyder’s Unit Hydrograph Method with peak discharge as 11,669 m 3 s − 1 . Besides, by using regional method the PMF was calculated to be 11,479 m 3 s − 1 and regional regression flood analysis method 11,957 m 3 s − 1 (Department of Electricity Development 2006 ). Hence, the PMF values considered in this study are assumed to be reliable.

Impacts of dam breach and sensitivity analysis of dam breach parameters

Simulation results of Scenario I and Scenario II showed that there is a huge peak discharge immediately downstream of the dam breach (Fig.  10 and the difference in discharge values for both scenarios is low. The reason for this is due to the large storage volume of the dam leading to minimum effect of PMF being observed. Also, the downstream tributaries are much smaller compared to the Budhigandaki mainstream river. Hence, their additional impacts on the dam breach flood magnitudes can be considered to be marginal. Additionally, the outputs such as peak discharge, WSE, flood arrival time and inundation area from the dam breach has been estimated as a standalone event. The impact of addition of inflows from the other tributaries (for example, due to localized cloudburst events) to the mainstream river in the downstream settlement area could be areas of further study.

Previous dam breach analysis on Budhigandaki dam has been carried out by Tractebel and jade consult as JV using TELEMAC software (BGHPP Development Committee 2014a ). The output results of the previous study appeared to be quite different from the study carried out using HEC-RAS. There could be various reasons for such discrepancies. The TELEMAC model has considered full dam breach whereas our study does not consider full dam breach. Also, the earlier model has considered high accuracy resolution LiDAR data and other input data (mesh size 30 m*50 m) whereas our study considers 30 m*30 m DEM data and 100 m*100 m mesh size due to model stability issues. However, the pattern of change in peak discharge and WSE at the different study locations are quite similar for both models.

Dam breach analysis has been carried out in different parts of the world using HEC-RAS adopting a methodology similar to ours. For example, simulations of the breach of Batutegi earthen Dam, Indonesia (Wahyudi 2004 ), Mosul earthen Dam, Iraq (Basheer et al. 2017 ) and the results of sensitivity analysis are found out to be quite similar to this study. All these studies showed that dam breach bottom elevation is the most sensitive parameter. Further, the trends in WSE and peak discharge with time and distance from the dam obtained in these studies are also comparable to those of our study. The WSE and peak discharge increased with the increase in the breach parameters as breach bottom elevation, breach bottom width, breach weir coefficient and breach side slope. The peak discharge decreased with increase in breach formation time and negligible change was seen on WSE. Hence, through sensitivity analysis, it is seen that dam breach bottom elevation is the most sensitive parameter while breach formation time is the least sensitive parameter with regards to the floods.

Challenges to flood management

This analysis of a hypothetical dam breach provides insight to the level of possible damage should such a breach occur. Also, it can be deduced from this study that construction of embankments along the river is not a practical mitigation measure because of the extremely high-water depths (nearly 90 m) that these structures need to retain within them. Hence, other non-structural preventive measures such as creating awareness regarding flood risks, community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS), training and deployment of efficient disaster response teams, zoning of high-risk areas, avoiding construction/settlements in such areas, identification of evacuation centers etc. are recommended. The Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action (World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction 1994 ), Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015 (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 2005 ), and the current Sendai Framework for Action 2015–2030 (United Nations 2015 ) highlight the importance of early warning in reducing disaster risk and enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities. CBFEWS generates and disseminates meaningful and timely flood warnings to vulnerable communities threatened by flood, so they can prepare and act correctly in sufficient time to minimize the possibility of harm. Owing to non-structural measures, the response and adaptation to floods of the vulnerable communities vary widely and are impacted upon by various factors, such as community resilience and susceptibility to flood. Also, the effectiveness of the non-structural measures appears sensitive to the socio-economic changes and governance arrangements (Dawson et al. 2011 ). Nonetheless, non-structural measures provide flexible flood management options for adapting to the ever-changing river basins, socio-economic and climate scenarios, and are in line with the spirit of environment friendly and sustainable development (Shah et al. 2018 ). Also, research on identification of shelter areas and evacuation plan can be an extension of this study using network analysis, buffers and proximity analysis in GIS. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis depicts the most sensitive breach parameters which need to be considered with extreme importance during planning, design, construction and operation of the dam.

Conclusions

This paper simulated the dam breach scenarios of the proposed Budhigandaki dam in central Nepal using HEC-RAS and assessed the impacts on the downstream settlements. Flood peaks, water surface elevations and flood arrival times were calculated for the two scenarios with and without PMF. In addition, sensitivity analysis was carried out to examine the influence of the breach parameters on the flood characteristics.

Results show that the entire downstream area lies in high hazard zone with flood arrival times at Narayangarh, Baraghare, Divyanagar and Meghauli ranges from 11.3 h to 17 h. Moreover, a total of 1,49,311 number of buildings are prone to inundation in the case of dam breach along with 671,900 lives at risk and around 3,500 km stretch of road most likely to be severely damaged. The dam-break flood peak exceeds 650,000 m 3 s − 1 in the immediate downstream of the dam while it attenuates to 511,000 and 286,000 m 3 s − 1 at Narayangarh and Meghauli, respectively. The maximum depth of water ranges from 30 m (in the downstream flat areas) to 212 m (in the upstream steep gorges) clearly discarding the physical and economic feasibility of structural measures for flood management in this case. In addition, 538 km 2 of agricultural land and 25 km 2 of built-up land is at risk of flood inundation. Therefore, it is imperative to implement preventive and non-structural measures such as creating awareness regarding flood risks, developing community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS), training and deployment of efficient disaster response teams, zoning of high-risk areas, avoiding construction/settlements in such areas, identification of evacuation centers, monitoring and constant auscultation of the structure and developing robust and efficient emergency and alert plans.

Furthermore, the differences in the peak discharges and water surface elevations between the two scenarios are very less at the study locations. This implies that the impact of the huge storage volume of the reservoir on the breach flood characteristics is considerably larger in comparison to the PMF. In addition, change in dam breach bottom elevation was found to be the most sensitive to floods compared to other dam breach parameters.

Additionally, the methodology applied in this study is conveniently replicable of other dams, large or small. However, the simulation run-times may vary depending upon the size of the dam, mesh size, simulation time step and other model complexities. It is to be noted that the case may change for snow fed rivers and glacier lakes. Also, while applying this method to other projects, one should always be careful about the boundary conditions and the initial values of dam breach parameters as they vary depending upon the dam under consideration.

Nepal has currently only one storage dam hydropower project (Kulekhani) in operation. With a greater number of storage projects being planned and under construction, this study could be a useful reference for such future projects. Moreover, this study provides interesting results particularly related to the sensitivity of the breach parameters of concrete arch dams, which could be applicable in study of similar dams in other regions of the world.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

Catchment Area (km2)

Peak flow coefficient (-)

Lag Coefficient (-)

Coriolis (s − 1 )

acceleration due to gravity (m s − 2 )

water depth (m)

Frequency Factor (-)

main channel length from basin outlet to upstream watershed boundary (km)

main channel length from outlet to a point nearest to centroid of watershed (km)

Mean of Maximum daily rainfall (mm)

Manning’s Coefficient (-)

Specific flow in x-direction (m 2 s − 1 )

Probable maximum precipitation (mm)

Discharge (m 3 s − 1 )

Specific flow in y-direction (m 2 s − 1 )

Unit peak discharge (m 3 s − 1 )

Standard Deviation (mm)

Base time (hours)

Rainfall excess duration time (hours)

Basin Lag time (hours)

Width of unit hydrograph at discharge value exceeded 50% of the peak discharge (hours)

Width of unit hydrograph at discharge value exceeded 75% of the peak discharge (hours)

Surface Elevation (m)

Water Density (kg m − 3 )

Effective Shear Stress (N m − 2 )

Effective Shear Stress along x direction (N m − 2 )

Effective Shear Stress along x and y direction (N m − 2 )

Effective Shear Stress along y direction (N m − 2 )

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Acknowledgements

We wish to express my very deepest thanks and gratitude to Mr. Shreeram Shrestha, Civil Engineer, Chilime Hydropower Company Limited, Nepal for his continuous guidance, inspiration and encouragement during the initial preparation of building HEC-RAS model to result interpretation and completion of this study.

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Vishnu Prasad Pandey

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Contributions

A.A. and P.K.B. devised the project, the main conceptual ideas, and the proof outline. A.A. worked out almost all of the technical details, prepared figures, and performed the model analysis for the suggested topics. A.A., P.K.B, and U.B. verified the numerical results. A.A. and V.P.P. interpreted the Results. A.A. with the help of U.B., P.K.B., and V.P.P. wrote the manuscript. U.B., P.K.B., and V.P.P. worked on the discussion of results and commented on the manuscript. A.A. finalizes the manuscript after all the edits.

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Correspondence to Pawan Kumar Bhattarai .

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Awal, A., Bhattarai, U., Pandey, V.P. et al. Downstream impacts of dam breach using HEC-RAS: a case of Budhigandaki concrete arch dam in central Nepal. Environ Syst Res 13 , 37 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-024-00358-3

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Received : 31 March 2024

Accepted : 16 July 2024

Published : 01 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-024-00358-3

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The University of Chicago The Law School

Innovation clinic—significant achievements for 2023-24.

The Innovation Clinic continued its track record of success during the 2023-2024 school year, facing unprecedented demand for our pro bono services as our reputation for providing high caliber transactional and regulatory representation spread. The overwhelming number of assistance requests we received from the University of Chicago, City of Chicago, and even national startup and venture capital communities enabled our students to cherry-pick the most interesting, pedagogically valuable assignments offered to them. Our focus on serving startups, rather than all small- to medium-sized businesses, and our specialization in the needs and considerations that these companies have, which differ substantially from the needs of more traditional small businesses, has proven to be a strong differentiator for the program both in terms of business development and prospective and current student interest, as has our further focus on tackling idiosyncratic, complex regulatory challenges for first-of-their kind startups. We are also beginning to enjoy more long-term relationships with clients who repeatedly engage us for multiple projects over the course of a year or more as their legal needs develop.

This year’s twelve students completed over twenty projects and represented clients in a very broad range of industries: mental health and wellbeing, content creation, medical education, biotech and drug discovery, chemistry, food and beverage, art, personal finance, renewable energy, fintech, consumer products and services, artificial intelligence (“AI”), and others. The matters that the students handled gave them an unparalleled view into the emerging companies and venture capital space, at a level of complexity and agency that most junior lawyers will not experience until several years into their careers.

Representative Engagements

While the Innovation Clinic’s engagements are highly confidential and cannot be described in detail, a high-level description of a representative sample of projects undertaken by the Innovation Clinic this year includes:

Transactional/Commercial Work

• A previous client developing a symptom-tracking wellness app for chronic disease sufferers engaged the Innovation Clinic again, this time to restructure its cap table by moving one founder’s interest in the company to a foreign holding company and subjecting the holding company to appropriate protections in favor of the startup.
• Another client with whom the Innovation Clinic had already worked several times engaged us for several new projects, including (1) restructuring their cap table and issuing equity to an additional, new founder, (2) drafting several different forms of license agreements that the company could use when generating content for the platform, covering situations in which the company would license existing content from other providers, jointly develop new content together with contractors or specialists that would then be jointly owned by all creators, or commission contractors to make content solely owned by the company, (3) drafting simple agreements for future equity (“Safes”) for the company to use in its seed stage fundraising round, and (4) drafting terms of service and a privacy policy for the platform.
• Yet another repeat client, an internet platform that supports independent artists by creating short films featuring the artists to promote their work and facilitates sales of the artists’ art through its platform, retained us this year to draft a form of independent contractor agreement that could be used when the company hires artists to be featured in content that the company’s Fortune 500 brand partners commission from the company, and to create capsule art collections that could be sold by these Fortune 500 brand partners in conjunction with the content promotion.
• We worked with a platform using AI to accelerate the Investigational New Drug (IND) approval and application process to draft a form of license agreement for use with its customers and an NDA for prospective investors.
• A novel personal finance platform for young, high-earning individuals engaged the Innovation Clinic to form an entity for the platform, including helping the founders to negotiate a deal among them with respect to roles and equity, terms that the equity would be subject to, and other post-incorporation matters, as well as to draft terms of service and a privacy policy for the platform.
• Students also formed an entity for a biotech therapeutics company founded by University of Chicago faculty members and an AI-powered legal billing management platform founded by University of Chicago students.
• A founder the Innovation Clinic had represented in connection with one venture engaged us on behalf of his other venture team to draft an equity incentive plan for the company as well as other required implementing documentation. His venture with which we previously worked also engaged us this year to draft Safes to be used with over twenty investors in a seed financing round.

More information regarding other types of transactional projects that we typically take on can be found here .

Regulatory Research and Advice

• A team of Innovation Clinic students invested a substantial portion of our regulatory time this year performing highly detailed and complicated research into public utilities laws of several states to advise a groundbreaking renewable energy technology company as to how its product might be regulated in these states and its clearest path to market. This project involved a review of not only the relevant state statutes but also an analysis of the interplay between state and federal statutes as it relates to public utilities law, the administrative codes of the relevant state executive branch agencies, and binding and non-binding administrative orders, decisions and guidance from such agencies in other contexts that could shed light on how such states would regulate this never-before-seen product that their laws clearly never contemplated could exist. The highly varied approach to utilities regulation in all states examined led to a nuanced set of analysis and recommendations for the client.
• In another significant research project, a separate team of Innovation Clinic students undertook a comprehensive review of all settlement orders and court decisions related to actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for violations of the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, as well as selected relevant settlement orders, court decisions, and other formal and informal guidance documents related to actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission for violations of the prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, to assemble a playbook for a fintech company regarding compliance. This playbook, which distilled very complicated, voluminous legal decisions and concepts into a series of bullet points with clear, easy-to-follow rules and best practices, designed to be distributed to non-lawyers in many different facets of this business, covered all aspects of operations that could subject a company like this one to liability under the laws examined, including with respect to asset purchase transactions, marketing and consumer onboarding, usage of certain terms of art in advertising, disclosure requirements, fee structures, communications with customers, legal documentation requirements, customer service and support, debt collection practices, arrangements with third parties who act on the company’s behalf, and more.

Miscellaneous

• Last year’s students built upon the Innovation Clinic’s progress in shaping the rules promulgated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act to create a client alert summarizing the final rule, its impact on startups, and what startups need to know in order to comply. When FinCEN issued additional guidance with respect to that final rule and changed portions of the final rule including timelines for compliance, this year’s students updated the alert, then distributed it to current and former clients to notify them of the need to comply. The final bulletin is available here .
• In furtherance of that work, additional Innovation Clinic students this year analyzed the impact of the final rule not just on the Innovation Clinic’s clients but also its impact on the Innovation Clinic, and how the Innovation Clinic should change its practices to ensure compliance and minimize risk to the Innovation Clinic. This also involved putting together a comprehensive filing guide for companies that are ready to file their certificates of incorporation to show them procedurally how to do so and explain the choices they must make during the filing process, so that the Innovation Clinic would not be involved in directing or controlling the filings and thus would not be considered a “company applicant” on any client’s Corporate Transparency Act filings with FinCEN.
• The Innovation Clinic also began producing thought leadership pieces regarding AI, leveraging our distinct and uniquely University of Chicago expertise in structuring early-stage companies and analyzing complex regulatory issues with a law and economics lens to add our voice to those speaking on this important topic. One student wrote about whether non-profits are really the most desirable form of entity for mitigating risks associated with AI development, and another team of students prepared an analysis of the EU’s AI Act, comparing it to the Executive Order on AI from President Biden, and recommended a path forward for an AI regulatory environment in the United States. Both pieces can be found here , with more to come!

Innovation Trek

Thanks to another generous gift from Douglas Clark, ’89, and managing partner of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, we were able to operationalize the second Innovation Trek over Spring Break 2024. The Innovation Trek provides University of Chicago Law School students with a rare opportunity to explore the innovation and venture capital ecosystem in its epicenter, Silicon Valley. The program enables participating students to learn from business and legal experts in a variety of different industries and roles within the ecosystem to see how the law and economics principles that students learn about in the classroom play out in the real world, and facilitates meaningful connections between alumni, students, and other speakers who are leaders in their fields. This year, we took twenty-three students (as opposed to twelve during the first Trek) and expanded the offering to include not just Innovation Clinic students but also interested students from our JD/MBA Program and Doctoroff Business Leadership Program. We also enjoyed four jam-packed days in Silicon Valley, expanding the trip from the two and a half days that we spent in the Bay Area during our 2022 Trek.

The substantive sessions of the Trek were varied and impactful, and enabled in no small part thanks to substantial contributions from numerous alumni of the Law School. Students were fortunate to visit Coinbase’s Mountain View headquarters to learn from legal leaders at the company on all things Coinbase, crypto, and in-house, Plug & Play Tech Center’s Sunnyvale location to learn more about its investment thesis and accelerator programming, and Google’s Moonshot Factory, X, where we heard from lawyers at a number of different Alphabet companies about their lives as in-house counsel and the varied roles that in-house lawyers can have. We were also hosted by Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and Fenwick & West LLP where we held sessions featuring lawyers from those firms, alumni from within and outside of those firms, and non-lawyer industry experts on topics such as artificial intelligence, climate tech and renewables, intellectual property, biotech, investing in Silicon Valley, and growth stage companies, and general advice on career trajectories and strategies. We further held a young alumni roundtable, where our students got to speak with alumni who graduated in the past five years for intimate, candid discussions about life as junior associates. In total, our students heard from more than forty speakers, including over twenty University of Chicago alumni from various divisions.

The Trek didn’t stop with education, though. Throughout the week students also had the opportunity to network with speakers to learn more from them outside the confines of panel presentations and to grow their networks. We had a networking dinner with Kirkland & Ellis, a closing dinner with all Trek participants, and for the first time hosted an event for admitted students, Trek participants, and alumni to come together to share experiences and recruit the next generation of Law School students. Several speakers and students stayed in touch following the Trek, and this resulted not just in meaningful relationships but also in employment for some students who attended.

More information on the purposes of the Trek is available here , the full itinerary is available here , and one student participant’s story describing her reflections on and descriptions of her experience on the Trek is available here .

The Innovation Clinic is grateful to all of its clients for continuing to provide its students with challenging, high-quality legal work, and to the many alumni who engage with us for providing an irreplaceable client pipeline and for sharing their time and energy with our students. Our clients are breaking the mold and bringing innovations to market that will improve the lives of people around the world in numerous ways. We are glad to aid in their success in any way that we can. We look forward to another productive year in 2024-2025!