The trick is to stop seeing it as one enormous document and start seeing it as five or six connected pieces, each with its own job.
The chapters
- Introduction: the question, why it matters, and what each chapter does.
- Literature review: synthesise the field by theme and pinpoint the gap.
- Methodology: your approach, methods, sampling and ethics, justified against the question.
- Findings / Results: present data clearly with tables or figures; no interpretation yet.
- Discussion: interpret findings against the literature; this is where marks are won.
- Conclusion: answer the question, state contributions and limitations, suggest further work.
Planning rule of thumb
Allocate time roughly: 15% proposal & reading, 20% literature review, 15% methodology, 25% data & findings, 15% discussion, 10% editing & formatting. Then protect the editing slot.
🫏 Donkey tip:Keep findings (what you saw) separate from discussion (what it means). Blending them is the most common structural error markers flag.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Starting to write before the question is settled.
- A methodology chapter that lists methods without justifying them.
- A discussion that repeats results instead of interpreting them.
- Leaving referencing and formatting to the final night.
Frequently asked questions
How many chapters does a dissertation have?
Most have five or six: introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion and conclusion, though some combine findings and discussion.
What’s the hardest chapter?
Usually the discussion, because it requires interpreting your findings against existing research rather than just reporting them. And it carries a lot of the marks.