social science dissertation outline

General Resources Journal Articles Proposals Dissertations and Theses Empirical Research on Social Science Writing General Resources Professional Writing in Political Science: A Highly Opinionated Essay—Written by James Stimson of UNC, this is a very useful discussion of “how not to have your work rejected because it is dragged down by the quality of your writing.”  Especially useful for course papers and article submissions. Writing a Research Paper for a Graduate Seminar in Political Science—A solid discussion of various aspects of research papers, specifically course papers. Preparing a Conference Paper: PowerPoint Presentations in the Social Sciences—This workshop presents techniques for developing an effective 10-20 minute oral/video (e.g., PowerPoint) presentation as typically presented in the social sciences. A Guide to Writing in Economics—Originally written for undergraduates, but provides a fairly in-depth discussion of the conventions surrounding writing in Economics. Graduate School from Start to Finish—Compiled by the American Historical Association, this is an extensive list of links to various resources on topics such as funding, researching, and writing. Blanpain, Kristin. Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Resource for Researchers. This workbook offers explanations, examples, and exercises designed to help scholars improve the grammar and flow of their writing. It includes discussions of academic style and academic genres (literature reviews, abstracts, research articles, etc.). Swales, John, and Christine Feak. English in Today’s Research World. 2000. This textbook-workbook-self-study guide is marketed to all graduate students, though it’s really designed for those who speak English as an additional language. It covers abstracts, dissertation-writing, academic communications, literature reviews, and more. Journal Articles.
This heading is my own portmanteau term—you will not find it anywhere in an actual dissertation.) Regulations may specify what is to appear in the header and footer of each page, and other details of layout. Pagination, for example, may need to be in a standard form; roman numerals up to (and sometimes including) the Introduction, and standard (arabic) thereafter; or standard and continuous throughout. This is the part of the dissertation which is probably most precisely prescribed by the university, which may, for example, have a set layout for the title page. There are several short components to these preliminaries, probably including; The Abstract is a very short summary or digest of an article or dissertation whose basic task is to tell a potential reader, searching for scholarly or research-based material by topic or title, whether or not this is what she is looking for. Writing a good one is quite a craft and there is no substitute for reading lots of abstracts to develop the knack of summarising and selecting the key points. Indeed, drafting and re-drafting the abstract is a very useful exercise for an author, as one has to be rigorous about priorities when there may be a word-limit as short as 200 words. Do check the regulations; some universities which specify a word-limit for the abstract may refuse to accept the dissertation if the abstract is one word over. It makes sense to give a word count at the end of the abstract. Check too just where it needs to be located. Conventions adopted; “Because of the nature of the action-research process, the convention of the author referring to herself in the third person makes for convoluted expression and hard reading. After consultation, I have decided to adopt a first-person narrative voice.” (“After consultation” is important—you are less likely to get hammered if your supervisor agreed to it.) “For simplicity, and.
Most universities offer comprehensive guidelines in their dissertation manuals about how to set up and organize the dissertation and the proposal. In the Social Sciences, most dissertations are organized into four or five chapters. However, there are many variations on the nature of these chapters, and the details are left up to the discretion of the Dissertation Committee. In the Social Sciences, the dissertation proposal generally consists of the first three chapters (in a five-chapter format) or the first two chapters (in a four-chapter format). Dissertation Outline Here is a generic outline for a five-chapter dissertation. The third chapter on methodology varies for a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method design. A  four-chapter dissertation incorporates the literature review into the first chapter. Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction Background of the Problem Statement of the Problem Purpose of the Study Research Questions Significance of the Study Definition of Terms Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations Conclusion Chapter 2: Review of the Literature Introduction Search Description Conceptual or Theoretical Framework Review of Research (organized by variable or themes) Chapter 3: Methodology (Quantitative) Introduction Research Design Research Questions and Hypotheses Population and Sample Instrumentation Data Collection Data Analysis Conclusion Chapter 3: Methodology (Qualitative) Introduction Research Design Research Questions Setting Participants Data Collection Data Analysis Conclusion Chapter 3: Methodology (Mixed) Introduction Research Design Research Questions and Hypotheses Setting and Sample Data Collection Data Analysis Conclusion Chapter 4: Research Findings Introduction Findings (organized by Research Questions or Hypotheses) Conclusion Chapter 5: Conclusions, Discussion, and Suggestions for Future Research Introduction Summary of.