chapter 4 thesis

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 ...

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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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Chapter 3 Dissertation

How to Write Chapter 5 Dissertation?| A Beginner’s Guide

Writing a dissertation is a major undertaking. It requires countless hours of research, writing, and editing. One of the most important chapters in your dissertation is Chapter 4. This chapter should provide a detailed explanation of your methodology, results, and analysis.

Here, we'll provide an overview of the chapter 4 dissertation, how to structure it properly, and tips for writing it effectively. Read on to learn more!

Skimming through these dissertations, you can also check out how to craft Chapter 4 and what to discuss.

Example: 1   The Importance of Health and Safety in Construction Industry

Example:2   influence of different socio-physical attributes on individual’s weight.

Keep going through till the end to have a complete idea of how to compose a well-written and structured chapter 4 dissertation.

Very satisfied students

What is chapter 4.

In an academic dissertation, chapter 4 is the data analysis chapter—the heart of the research project. That is where you will present the results of your research and analyze them in light of existing literature. In other words, this is where you will explain why your findings are significant and what they mean for the field as a whole.

Structure of Chapter 4

The structure of your chapter 4 should depend on the type of data that you collected during your research process. However, several key elements should be included in chapter 4:

• An introduction that explains the aims and objectives of this chapter.
• A detailed description of the approaches utilized to collect and analyze data.
• Results from both qualitative and quantitative analyses.
• Discussion about the implications for future research; and
• Conclusions about your findings as well as potential limitations or challenges faced in completing this research project.

Keep in mind that these are just general guidelines—your specific dissertation may require additional sections based on its own individual requirements. It's always best to check with your professor before starting work on any section of your dissertation. 

Writing an Effective Chapter 4 Dissertation

i.  Outline Your Goals & Objectives

Before you begin writing this chapter, it's important to think about the goals and objectives you want to achieve with it.

• What are the main points you want to make?
• What do you expect your readers to understand after they've read this chapter?

Having clear goals and objectives before you start writing will help ensure that your chapter is focused and organized.

ii.  Explain Your Methodology

When it comes time to discuss your methodology in Chapter 4, include all relevant details about the methods you used during your research process.

It should include information about what kind of data or materials were collected, how they were analyzed, and why those particular methods were chosen for the study.

It's also important to explain any limitations or challenges encountered during data collection so that readers can fully understand the process.

iii.  Discuss Results & Analysis

In Chapter 4 dissertation, it's also essential to discuss the results of your research and any analysis conducted on those results.

It should include detailed descriptions of any patterns or trends in the data collected as well as a discussion on how those patterns or trends may relate to the existing literature in the field or could potentially lead to further research questions in the future.

Make sure that all data presented here is accurate and reliable; If any differences exist between what was anticipated and what was observed, note them here as well.

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Tips for writing your chapter 4.

Here are some suggestions to make the writing process simpler if you have a clear grasp of what should be in your chapter 4;

• Take notes throughout your entire research process so that it's easier for you to compile all relevant information into one cohesive document later on.
• Utilize headings to make it easier for readers to follow along with your arguments.
• Ensure all references are correctly cited using an accepted academic style such as APA, MLA or Harvard.
• Use diagrams or graphs when necessary to visually demonstrate key points or trends among variables.
• Always proofread and edit carefully before submitting each section, so the content is free from errors or inconsistencies.

Writing a dissertation can seem overwhelming at first glance, but with some guidance, knowledge, and practice, it can become much more manageable. This guide provides an overview of everything you need to know about chapter 4 to write an effective dissertation.

Be sure not to forget to discuss both the methodology used during research and any results or analysis obtained from research; these are both integral components of this section that must not be overlooked if an effective Chapter 4 is desired.

To gain more information and academic assistance, check out the following resources:

• How To Write a Report Introduction: A Step-By-Step Guide
• How To Write a Conclusion Good Paragraph: Examples and strategies for an effective conclusion
• Mastering the Art of Academic Writing: Tips and Tricks on How to Write Academically?

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Presenting your qualitative analysis findings: tables to include in chapter 4.

The earliest stages of developing a doctoral dissertation—most specifically the topic development  and literature review  stages—require that you immerse yourself in a ton of existing research related to your potential topic. If you have begun writing your dissertation proposal, you have undoubtedly reviewed countless results and findings sections of studies in order to help gain an understanding of what is currently known about your topic. 

In this process, we’re guessing that you observed a distinct pattern: Results sections are full of tables. Indeed, the results chapter for your own dissertation will need to be similarly packed with tables. So, if you’re preparing to write up the results of your statistical analysis or qualitative analysis, it will probably help to review your APA editing  manual to brush up on your table formatting skills. But, aside from formatting, how should you develop the tables in your results chapter?

In quantitative studies, tables are a handy way of presenting the variety of statistical analysis results in a form that readers can easily process. You’ve probably noticed that quantitative studies present descriptive results like mean, mode, range, standard deviation, etc., as well the inferential results that indicate whether significant relationships or differences were found through the statistical analysis . These are pretty standard tables that you probably learned about in your pre-dissertation statistics courses.

But, what if you are conducting qualitative analysis? What tables are appropriate for this type of study? This is a question we hear often from our dissertation assistance  clients, and with good reason. University guidelines for results chapters often contain vague instructions that guide you to include “appropriate tables” without specifying what exactly those are. To help clarify on this point, we asked our qualitative analysis experts to share their recommendations for tables to include in your Chapter 4.

Demographics Tables

As with studies using quantitative methods , presenting an overview of your sample demographics is useful in studies that use qualitative research methods. The standard demographics table in a quantitative study provides aggregate information for what are often large samples. In other words, such tables present totals and percentages for demographic categories within the sample that are relevant to the study (e.g., age, gender, job title). 

If conducting qualitative research  for your dissertation, however, you will use a smaller sample and obtain richer data from each participant than in quantitative studies. To enhance thick description—a dimension of trustworthiness—it will help to present sample demographics in a table that includes information on each participant. Remember that ethical standards of research require that all participant information be deidentified, so use participant identification numbers or pseudonyms for each participant, and do not present any personal information that would allow others to identify the participant (Blignault & Ritchie, 2009). Table 1 provides participant demographics for a hypothetical qualitative research study exploring the perspectives of persons who were formerly homeless regarding their experiences of transitioning into stable housing and obtaining employment.

Participant Demographics

Tables to Illustrate Initial Codes

Most of our dissertation consulting clients who are conducting qualitative research choose a form of thematic analysis . Qualitative analysis to identify themes in the data typically involves a progression from (a) identifying surface-level codes to (b) developing themes by combining codes based on shared similarities. As this process is inherently subjective, it is important that readers be able to evaluate the correspondence between the data and your findings (Anfara et al., 2002). This supports confirmability, another dimension of trustworthiness .

A great way to illustrate the trustworthiness of your qualitative analysis is to create a table that displays quotes from the data that exemplify each of your initial codes. Providing a sample quote for each of your codes can help the reader to assess whether your coding was faithful to the meanings in the data, and it can also help to create clarity about each code’s meaning and bring the voices of your participants into your work (Blignault & Ritchie, 2009).

Table 2 is an example of how you might present information regarding initial codes. Depending on your preference or your dissertation committee’s preference, you might also present percentages of the sample that expressed each code. Another common piece of information to include is which actual participants expressed each code. Note that if your qualitative analysis yields a high volume of codes, it may be appropriate to present the table as an appendix.

Initial Codes

Tables to Present the Groups of Codes That Form Each Theme

As noted previously, most of our dissertation assistance clients use a thematic analysis approach, which involves multiple phases of qualitative analysis  that eventually result in themes that answer the dissertation’s research questions. After initial coding is completed, the analysis process involves (a) examining what different codes have in common and then (b) grouping similar codes together in ways that are meaningful given your research questions. In other words, the common threads that you identify across multiple codes become the theme that holds them all together—and that theme answers one of your research questions.

As with initial coding, grouping codes together into themes involves your own subjective interpretations, even when aided by qualitative analysis software such as NVivo  or MAXQDA. In fact, our dissertation assistance clients are often surprised to learn that qualitative analysis software does not complete the analysis in the same ways that statistical analysis software such as SPSS does. While statistical analysis software completes the computations for you, qualitative analysis software does not have such analysis capabilities. Software such as NVivo provides a set of organizational tools that make the qualitative analysis far more convenient, but the analysis itself is still a very human process (Burnard et al., 2008).

Because of the subjective nature of qualitative analysis, it is important to show the underlying logic behind your thematic analysis in tables—such tables help readers to assess the trustworthiness of your analysis. Table 3 provides an example of how to present the codes that were grouped together to create themes, and you can modify the specifics of the table based on your preferences or your dissertation committee’s requirements. For example, this type of table might be presented to illustrate the codes associated with themes that answer each research question. 

Grouping of Initial Codes to Form Themes

Tables to Illustrate the Themes That Answer Each Research Question

Creating alignment throughout your dissertation is an important objective, and to maintain alignment in your results chapter, the themes you present must clearly answer your research questions. Conducting qualitative analysis is an in-depth process of immersion in the data, and many of our dissertation consulting  clients have shared that it’s easy to lose your direction during the process. So, it is important to stay focused on your research questions during the qualitative analysis and also to show the reader exactly which themes—and subthemes, as applicable—answered each of the research questions.

Below, Table 4 provides an example of how to display the thematic findings of your study in table form. Depending on your dissertation committee’s preference or your own, you might present all research questions and all themes and subthemes in a single table. Or, you might provide separate tables to introduce the themes for each research question as you progress through your presentation of the findings in the chapter.

Emergent Themes and Research Questions

Bonus Tip! Figures to Spice Up Your Results

Although dissertation committees most often wish to see tables such as the above in qualitative results chapters, some also like to see figures that illustrate the data. Qualitative software packages such as NVivo offer many options for visualizing your data, such as mind maps, concept maps, charts, and cluster diagrams. A common choice for this type of figure among our dissertation assistance clients is a tree diagram, which shows the connections between specified words and the words or phrases that participants shared most often in the same context. Another common choice of figure is the word cloud, as depicted in Figure 1. The word cloud simply reflects frequencies of words in the data, which may provide an indication of the importance of related concepts for the participants.

As you move forward with your qualitative analysis and development of your results chapter, we hope that this brief overview of useful tables and figures helps you to decide on an ideal presentation to showcase the trustworthiness your findings. Completing a rigorous qualitative analysis for your dissertation requires many hours of careful interpretation of your data, and your end product should be a rich and detailed results presentation that you can be proud of. Reach out if we can help  in any way, as our dissertation coaches would be thrilled to assist as you move through this exciting stage of your dissertation journey!

Anfara Jr., V. A., Brown, K. M., & Mangione, T. L. (2002). Qualitative analysis on stage: Making the research process more public.  Educational Researcher ,  31 (7), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X031007028

Blignault, I., & Ritchie, J. (2009). Revealing the wood and the trees: Reporting qualitative research.  Health Promotion Journal of Australia ,  20 (2), 140-145. https://doi.org/10.1071/HE09140

Burnard, P., Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Analysing and presenting qualitative data.  British Dental Journal ,  204 (8), 429-432. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.292

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Chapter 4 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

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Sherill A . Gilbas

This paper highlights the trust, respect, safety and security ratings of the community to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the Province of Albay. It presents the sectoral ratings to PNP programs. The survey utilized a structured interview with 200 sample respondents from Albay coming from different sectors. Male respondents outnumbered female respondents. The majority of the respondents are 41-50 years old, at least high school graduates and are married. The respondents gave the highest net rating on respect, followed by net rating on trust and the lowest net rating on safety and security on the performance of the PNP. Moreover, a high net rating on commitment of support to the identified programs of the PNP was also attained from the respondents. The highest net rating of support is given to the PNP’s anti-illegal drugs program, followed by anti-terrorism, anti-riding in tandem and anti-illegal gambling programs. The ratings of the PNP obtained from the different sectors of...

Charlie Rosales

IOER International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

IOER International Multidisciplinary Research Journal ( IIMRJ)

Police organizations have conducted operational activities to reduce the opportunity for would-be criminals to commit crimes. This operational activity includes patrol, traffic management, and investigation. In this study, the extent of police operational activities in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines, was evaluated to determine the extent of police operational activities and to test the association between the crime rate and the extent of police operation activities. This study utilized a quantitative descriptive research method. The respondents were 142 active police officers who were chosen purposively by employing total enumeration. The gathering of data was done using a self-made questionnaire, which underwent validation and reliability testing. The statistical tools used were frequency count, mean computation, percentage, and regression analysis. The results revealed that more respondents were 31-35 years old and above. Most of them were male, bachelor's degree holders, attended training and seminars for 50 hours, and served the police force for 15 years and below. Patrolling and investigation were found to be much observable while traffic management was observable. As for index crime, there were more crimes against the person committed than crimes against property. As for non-index crimes, there were more other non-index crimes compared to the violation of special laws. Patrolling has a positive influence on the commission and non-commission of both index and non-index crimes. This study also recommends intensive patrolling on hot-spot areas for criminal presence and activity, strengthening traffic management practices, procurement of traffic lights, improving traffic signs, and intensive implementation of traffic laws and regulations.

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research

Bro. Jose Arnold L . Alferez, OCDS

Effective law enforcement service demands that the law enforcement officers are diligent and effective in their duties and responsibilities. They should be punctual and alert while on their respective beats. They should respect the human rights of the people of the community they serve. They should even patrol their beats on foot so that their visibility would be more evident thus curtailing the criminal impulses of the criminally inclined, instead of whisking through the vicinity on the " flying visit" to their assigned places without even giving the people a glimpse of their presence. Transparency is the call of effective law enforcement service. However, effective law enforcement necessitates that the police command should be provided police equipment like two-way radios so that they could readily call for assistance whenever necessary, in order to improve the delivery of services and the maintenance of peace and order. Furthermore, a strong partnership between the police and the community will help ensure the success of the Philippine National Police in its drive against criminality. The findings of this study showed that the police force of the municipality of Pinamungajan, Cebu did their best under the circumstances they had to work in, but their efforts were not equally recognized by the people of the community. Hence, the need for support from the local officials and the people in the community are important factors that would facilitate the effectiveness of the law enforcement service.

Filius Populi

The Philippine National Police has implemented the new rank classification and abbreviation that shall be used in all manner of organization communications. Interview method was used to gather the information from the PNP RCADD respondents and selected community residents. Focus Group Discussion was conducted among the Barangay Officials to validate the data gathered. The findings of the study as follows: The respondents were not fully aware yet on the modified new rank classification applied in the PNP organization today; They shared diverse insights both positive and negative about the PNP modified new rank classification and it can offer a positive outcome in the long-run . Respondents were satisfied with the implementation of the PNP community relations program under the new rank classification. However, the modified new rank classification of the PNP would have the following positive implications: The new rank would mean higher people’s expectations; bring new image of the PNP;...

josefina B A L U C A N A G bitonio

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Title : THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN PROTECTION SERVICES OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE-CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Researcher : MELY RITA D. ANAMONG-DAVIS Institution : Lyceum-Northwestern University, Dagupan City Degree : DOCTOR IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Date : April 5, 2013 Abstract : This research sought to evaluate the provision of services provided by the members of the Women and Children Protection Desk of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Cordillera Administrative Region . The descriptive-evaluative research design was used in this study with the questionnaire, interviews as the data- gathering tool in the evaluation of the WCPD of the PNP services rendered to the victims-survivors of violence in the Cordillera Region. The types and statistics of cases investigated by the members of the WCPD of the PNP in the Cordillera were provided by the different offices of the WCPD of the PNP particularly the Regional and Provincial Offices. On the other hand, the acquired data from the respondents describes the capability of the WCPD office and personnel, relative to the organizational structure, financial resources, human resources, equipment and facilities; the extent of the mandated services provided for the victims-survivors of violence, level of satisfaction of the WCPD clientele and the problems encountered by the members of the WCPD of the PNP in providing the services to its clientele. Based on the findings, a proposal were formulated to enhance the quality or quantity of the services rendered to the victims of abuses and violence. Two hundred thirty (230) respondents were employed to answer the questionnaire to get the needed data, 160 from the police officers and 70 from the clientele of the WCPD. In the treatment of the data, SPSS version 20 was used in the analysis of data, Paired t-test for the determination of the significant difference in the perceptions of the two groups of respondents on the extent of provision of the mandated services by the WCPD of the PNP in the Cordillera and Spearman rank correlation for determining the level of satisfaction of the victims-survivors related to their perception on the extent of services provided by the Women and Children Protection Desk of the PNP. The findings of the study were the following: 1) Cases handled by the members of the WCPD of the PNP are physical injuries, violation of RA 9262, Rape and Acts of lasciviousness are the myriad cases committed against women; for crimes against children, rape, physical injuries, other forms of RA 7610 and acts of lasciviousness ; and for the crimes committed by the Children in Conflict with the law theft and robbery for intent to gain and material gain, physical injuries, rape and acts of lasciviousness are the majority they committed. The fact of this case is that 16 children were involved in the commission of rape where the youngest perpetrator is 7 years old. 2. On the capability of the members of the WCPD of the PNP, police officers believed that WCPD investigators are capable in providing the services to the victims of violence while the clientele respondents states otherwise that on some point along capability on human resources states that the number of police women assigned with the WCPD of the PNP is not sufficient to provide the services to its clientele. 3. On the extent of the mandated services provided to the victims-survivors of violence by the members of the WCPD of the PNP, perceptions of the police officers that to a great extent the members of the WCPD provide the services while the perceptions of the clientele is just on average extent on the services provided to them. 3.1. On the significant difference in the perceptions of the two groups of respondent on the extent of provision of the mandated services by the WCPD of the PNP in the Cordillera, there is a significant difference in the perception of the two groups of respondents on the extent of mandated services provided by the WCPD of the PNP in the Cordillera. The result indicates that the performance of the WCPD in rendering service is inadequate in the perception of its clients. 4) The satisfaction level of the clientele on the extent of services provided by the WCPD of the PNP is just moderate. This validates the result of the extent of the mandated services provided to the victims-survivors of violence by the WCPD investigators to be just on average. 5. On the level of satisfaction of the victims-survivors related to their perception on the extent of services provided by the Women and Children Protection Desk of the PNP revealed that WCPD clients is higher with greater extent of services being rendered by the WCPD. It indicates that the WCPD of the PNP in Cordillera should strive more to really fulfill the needed services to be provided with its clients. Likewise, on the level of satisfaction of the victims-survivors related to the capability of the WCPD of the PNP Cordillera in providing their mandated services disclosed that the more capable of the WCPD of the PNP in Cordillera will definitely provide an intense delivery of services to its clients. 7) Lastly, for the problems encountered by the WCPD of the PNP in providing services the following are considered a) no imagery tool kit purposely for the children’s victim to illicit information regarding the incident; b) the insufficient number of female police officers to investigate cases of women and children; c) lack of training of WCPD officers in handling VAWC cases and other gender-based crimes and d) service vehicle purposely for WCPD use only. Based on the findings and conclusion, the following recommendations are offered. 1. The propose strategies to enhance the services provided to the victims-survivors by the WCPD investigators must be intensely implemented: 1.a. There should be budgetary allocations for WCPD to enhance their capability to provide services and to fulfill the satisfaction of their clientele. 1.b. Increase the number of the female police officers assigned with the WCPD to sustain the 24/7 availability of investigators. 1.c. There should be a continuous conduct of specialized training on the Investigation of Crimes involving Women and children to all WCPD officers to include policemen for conclusive delivery of services for the victims of violence. 1.d. Purchase of the imagery tool kit purposely for the children’s victim of sexual abuse to illicit information regarding the incident.1.e. Issuance of service vehicle purposely for the Women and Children Protection Desk.1.f. Provide computer sets for WCPD.1.g. Provide communication equipment to be issued with the WCPD. 1.h. To improve the quality and consistency of WCPD services, a constant monitoring scheme and or clientele feedback should be implemented to understand the ways that service can be improved. 1.i. Develop and sustain the collaborative effort of the multidisciplinary team to meet the specific protocol designed to meet the needs of the victims of violence.1.j. To prevent new victims of violence, there should be a persistent campaign through advocacy and the education of the community in every barangay in coordination with the different member agencies. 2. A follow-up study should be conducted to cover other areas particularly target respondents on the level of satisfaction on the services provided for the victims of violence which is the main purpose of the establishment of the Women and Children Protection Desk.

Maita P Guadamor

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Dispute over transgender woman admitted to Wyoming sorority to be argued before appeal judges

A lawsuit filed by six members of a University of Wyoming sorority who are challenging the admission of a transgender woman into their local chapter will be argued in an appeals court Tuesday

DENVER -- A U.S. appeals court in Denver is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by six members of a University of Wyoming sorority who are challenging the admission of a transgender woman into their local chapter.

A judge in Wyoming threw out the lawsuit last year, ruling that he could not override how the private, voluntary organization defined a woman and order that she not belong.

The case at Wyoming’s only four-year public university has drawn widespread attention as transgender people fight for more acceptance in schools, athletics, workplaces and elsewhere, while others push back.

In their lawsuit, six members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter challenge Artemis Langford’s admission by casting doubt on whether sorority rules allowed a transgender woman.

The lawsuit and appeal describe in detail how Langford's presence made the women feel uncomfortable in the sorority house in Laramie, Wyoming, yet sorority leaders overrode their concerns after a vote by the local chapter members to admit Langford.

Last summer, Wyoming U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne sided with the sorority and Langford by ruling that sorority bylaws don’t define who’s a woman.

Filing in the three-judge U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, attorneys for the six sorority sisters continue to argue that sorority leaders have ignored sorority bylaws that they contend shouldn't allow transgender women to be members.

Johnson's ruling gave too much deference to sorority leaders in allowing them to define a woman under membership requirements, the sorority sisters argue on appeal.

Unlike in the original lawsuit, Langford is not included in the appeal. The national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and its president, Mary Pat Rooney, are the current defendants.

The appeal brings fresh attention to transgender college students as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters in the lawsuit, their attorney and others plan a “save sisterhood” rally at the courthouse before the hearing.

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