Dissertations: from design to deadline

Dissertations: from design to deadline

Writing a dissertation can be a daunting prospect. After-all, this is your project, your research and you are directing it. But it is also an exciting challenge. You have the opportunity to produce an original piece of independent scholarship that will contribute knowledge and may also be publishable. Completing a dissertation also brings about personal satisfaction, improves your planning/project management skills, enhances your employment prospects and also leads onto further study.  

The aim of this guide is to help you prepare for your dissertation or final year project. The materials and resources will help you identify the key aspects of planning your dissertation or project, while also providing practical hints and tips for successful completion.

Upcoming sessions:

There are no further dissertation workshops for this semester.  New workshops will be in place for the new 2025-26 academic year in due course. Please see the dissertation workshop slides. 

Previously recorded session:

To follow.

We are very interested to hear your views about the workshop you attended and would welcome your feedback. Please complete the form below:

What have you been asked to do?

Start by checking:

• Format, referencing style and word count – start with blank document, formatted with page and chapter numbers, appendix, contents etc...This will help you when you write as you can easily cut and paste text and write to different sections. 
• Supervision - prepare and get most out of meetings - plan ahead to discuss ideas you wat to research, questions and listen their feedback
• Primary research (qualitative  or quantitative) and literature review
• Ethics - if this is required, then you must have approval before you start and it can be lengthy process - factor this in
• Deadline date and interim deadlines for chapters and the process for submission.

Choose  your topic - explore ideas

This is your opportunity to research something that interests you. Take time to brainstorm and think about potential topics, but- 

• Don’t be too broad or ambitious, you have a limited word count and a deadline
• Make sure you have enough research material – balance!
• Stay focussed and realistic
• Consider your own personal ability
• Think of it as a question – what are you trying to prove and find out?

Literature Review

This is often your first chapter you write as it highlights key debates, gaps in knowledge and where your project 'sits'. When you conduct your literature review, use the Discovery search portal for good peer-reviewed articles and also our academic databases (e.g. CINAHL, Business Source Complete, Emerald, JSTOR, SCOPUS) for quality resources. See your subject guide for databases linked to your subject. It is important to plan your search carefully, as this saves times and avoids repeat working. Make sure that you organise your findings and start pulling together your ideas and links as early as possible. 

Planning

A dissertation is not just an academic assessment, it also tests your planning and project management skills. Therefore, at the outset of the project, ensure that you have a realistic plan of achievable dissertation targets of when you'd like to complete each section of the dissertation. Don't ignore 'life events' such as birthdays, work or Christmas, and also ensure that you factor in downtime away from academic study.

Research

Dissertation research involves collecting information and data. Research methods are the tools which are used to carry out, analyse and interpret this research. Research may include quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. You might also conduct primary or secondary research as part of your studies. Our Research Methods guide will help navigate through this process and understand the differences between the research areas. 

Remain critical - in both your thinking and writing

For all your reading and research, and when you begin to write, it's important that you remain critical.

• What is the main argument? 
• Is the main argument clear and logical?

Keep calm and carry on

Writing a dissertation can be difficult. If you feel that you are struggling, the best thing you can do is stay calm and realistic.

• Don’t overstretch yourself, know your limits
• Take stock of where you’re at and what you have achieved already.
• This will help you work out exactly what is still left to do and then map out exactly how you’re going to achieve it.
• Set manageable and achievable targets. You will be surprised how much better this can make you feel
• Never hesitate to contact your supervisor if you feel that you need help. Your Library team are also available for help and to provide support. 

Additional useful resources can be found on the reading list  - click on the image below.

You may also find it useful to attend other Succeed@Tees workshops for help with a wide variety of dissertation skills such as writing a literature review, searching health databases or structure and also if you are writing your dissertation as a journal article.

For help with all aspects of formatting Word and Excel, including adding/amending numbering systems and adding new sections such as appendices, refer to the Microsoft 365 Video Training help pages.

Help and advice for all forms of writing, including being critical, reflective and concise, as well as proof-reading tips, can also be found at our Learning Hub. 

If you need help with Referencing, refer to your Subject Guide and also our Referencing help pages. 

You may also find the following documents useful for dissertation planning and literature searching. 

• Dissertation Planner

  Template to help you identify key events and milestones.

• Doing a literature search for your dissertation or project

• Your search record

  Search record template: You can use this to keep track of your searches.

• How to include appendices

This work is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Deed.