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Dissertation Structure

Based on BS 4821: 1990 the recommended sequence is as follows. The items in italics may not be relevant for your project and the following sections will try to explain the items most likely to be needed in your dissertation.

Preliminary pages, consisting of:

Title page

Abstract or summary (one separate page)

Acknowledgement

Author’s declaration

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of accompanying material (e.g. software on a disc or CD)

Definitions

 

Body of the dissertation divided into chapters, sections, etc. There is no optimum number of chapters or a maximum or minimum requirement, but the dissertation will usually comprise:

The Introduction Chapter

Chapters Comprising a Review of Literature

A Justification of the Research Methods Used

The Results Chapter

The Analysis Chapter

The Discussion Chapter

The Conclusions Chapter

The Future Work Chapter 

References

Bibliography (if required)

Appendices (if required)

Glossary (if required)