Creating an Undergraduate Dissertation: Practical Guidelines 

Writing a dissertation is a serious challenge for an undergraduate student. You are supposed to research and write for a long period of time, and it may be problematic to organize the process effectively. By the time you start writing your first draft, materials are supposed to be gathered, research conducted, and your thesis statement built. The following practical guidelines will help you distribute relevant information among the dissertation sections and not miss any important points.

• Create a workable title.

The title of your undergraduate dissertation should be concise and specific. It should contain the key words from your future paper. Look through several good title examples to know what it should look like.

• Follow your advisor’s recommendations.

Your advisor will prompt you on where to start. Usually, students are required to write either an abstract or proposal at the very beginning. In both cases, you will have to articulate your purposes and the scope of your research. You will also see if there are any gaps in your understanding of the issue. Discuss your proposal with the advisor.

• Create an outline.

All undergraduate dissertations have similar structural parts, namely: introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, evaluation, discussion, and conclusions. Specify what information should be mentioned in each section in particular.

• Start writing drafts of your dissertation chapters in any order you like.

For example, write your literature review chapter first (especially if you have looked through theoretic materials on the issue recently) and submit it to your advisor for revision. The introduction is often written the last.

• Make corrections immediately after receiving your supervisor’s comments.

If the advisor’s comments are fresh in your mind, it will be easier to consider all requirements. Don’t take criticism personally. As soon as you complete and revise one chapter, follow with another one.

• Manage your time wisely.

Set the time limits for composing each of the chapters. Keep to this schedule. Try to write the first drafts of your dissertation in the shorter time spans. Leave enough time to revise a final complete draft of your undergraduate thesis.

• Edit the final draft of your paper.

Check if your arguments are clearly developing throughout the text. Look for spelling or grammar mistakes. Avoid using overly complex sentence constructions. Eliminate any contradictions or repetitions. Finally, check if the title corresponds to the final version of your paper. Consider improving it if there are some incongruities. Format your undergraduate thesis according to the standards and requirements of your institution.