Thesis Structure

Dr Mostafa Naser
 1. Introduction
• Writing a thesis means fashioning a coherent set
of ideas into an argument.

• The ideas need to be presented in the order that

makes most sense to a reader.

• The structure dictates the information readers

need to know and the order in which they need
to receive it.
 2. How is a Thesis Organised
• You need to structure your thesis in such a way
that you take the reader from the aim to the
conclusion, via the evidence and arguments, in
the clearest possible way (Evans et al, 14)

• Techniques of organisation have no intrinsic

value; they operate only to facilitate
communication – to help you achieve your goal of
informing the reader. (Glatthorn, 123).
 2. How is a Thesis Organised
• What is the problem that I study:
– This typically is the concern of the first chapter.
• How does my study relate to previous work?
– This is the review of the literature, usually Chapter
2.
• What methods did I use to study the problem?
– Chapter 3 typically is an explication of the
methodology
 2. How is a Thesis Organised
• What results did I obtain?
– The reporting of the results might require more
than one chapter

• What does it all mean?

– The dissertation ends with a summary and
discussion of the results.
3. Thesis Structure
3. Thesis Structure
 3. How to Structure a Thesis?

Body of the
• Background
• Scope
Thesis • Summary
• Recommendation
• Literature review • Hypothesis • Future Research
• Methods • Evidence • Contribution
• Significance • Analysis
• Limitation • Discussion
• Outline • Synthesis

Conclusion
Introduction
part
 3.1. Introduction
• 1. The research problem/Problem statement
• tell the reader the problem you are tackling in this project

• 2. General background of the study/ the

theoretical context of the study

• 3. The literature review

• brief review of current knowledge, and indicates gap in
knowledge, states aim of your research and how it fits into
the gap
 3.1. Introduction
• 4. The hypotheses/ research question

• 5. A statement of the significance of the study

• 6. Overview of the methodology

• state clearly how you aim to deal with this problem
 3.1. Introduction
• 7. Delimitation of the study
• limit the scope of your study

• 8. Organization of the thesis

• sketch out how the thesis is structured to achieve your
aim /can include an outline of the following chapters
 3.2. Body of the Thesis
• Hypothesis

• Research methods

• Evidence

• Analysis

• Discussion/Interpretation

• Synthesis
 3.3. Conclusion
• You should draw your conclusion solely from the discussion chapter

• There should be little further discussion in the conclusions chapter

• The conclusions should respond to the aim stated in the first

chapter

• Summaries are not conclusions

• Conclusions should be crisp and concise

• The conclusions can be used to briefly explore the implications of

your findings
 3.3. Conclusion
• Summary of findings

• Recommendations

• Future Research

• Contribution of your research

4. How is the Thesis Finally Packaged?

1. Title Page
2. Abstract
3. Acknowledgment page
4. Table of contents
5. List of Tables and Figures
6. The Chapters
7. Bibliography
8. Appendices