A dissertation is a major academic writing task that every student will face in their lives. It has the capacity to define how much knowledge you have acquired from studying a subject. So, it has to be well-researched, in-depth and original. Certainly, it warrants a meticulous approach. This blog takes you through some of the major dissertation writing challenges as well as proven dissertation research tips.
Why Do Students Find Dissertation Writing Difficult?
Having associated with hundreds of students over the years and providing them personalised dissertation writing services, we have identified the following dissertation writing challenges making the task difficult for the students.
Knowing the Exact Dissertation Requirements
You can’t write a dissertation in a free form. It has to align with the exact standards and requirements that your academic department or professor wants you to. On top of that, there are domain-specific criteria and formatting styles to go with. For instance, literature dissertations can’t be in the same way as science dissertations.
Choosing a Relevant and Interesting Topic
If you choose a topic that is not closely linked to your subject or can’t contribute to your learning outcome, the efforts you put behind the dissertation writing can go in vain. Most of the time students fail to choose the right topic because they haven’t understood the subject. Other reasons include lack of interest and confusion due to multiple suggestions from peers and professors.
The best way to overcome this challenge is to focus on your interests rather than external pressure. If that doesn’t help, seek guidance from your professor or any reliable dissertation writing services.
Conducting In-Depth Topic Research
For a highly serious academic task like a dissertation, you need a more serious research approach and the sources used for it need to be authentic. Lack of access to credible reference materials can reduce the options for conducting in-depth research and thereby the chances to collect useful data for your dissertation content.
Allocating Time for Dissertation Writing
More than 70% of the students we talked to said time management was one of the biggest dissertation writing challenges they faced. A dissertation can’t be written overnight. For a first-timer, it can take anywhere between a couple of weeks and a month. Having to deal with personal responsibilities alongside dissertation writing might be easy for everyone.
Lack of Clarity for Structuring and Writing
A dissertation has multiple sections. Introduction, literature review, research methodology, analysis, discussion, conclusion and bibliography. To make the content appealing and clear, it has to be divided and brought under different chapters and subsections. If you are not sure how to do it, you will likely spend more time than needed behind it wondering where to put what.
Writer’s Block and Lack of Motivation
Writing is something that demands coordination of both body and mind. Physical fatigue and lack of focus and motivation can affect the pace of your writing. If you are too worried about the fast-approaching deadline to complete and submit your dissertation, it can further increase your anxiety and make you feel stuck.
Doing Revisions and Incorporating Feedback
Revision and feedback incorporation are the two crucial stages in dissertation writing. But most students don’t know on what basis the revisions need to be done, who to approach for feedback and so on. As a result, it limits their ability to produce a winning dissertation for submission.
How to Overcome Dissertation Writing Challenges?
Here are some proven tips to help you overcome the aforementioned dissertation writing challenges.
Divide the Dissertation into Manageable Chunks
Dissertation is a huge task. Unless you are a super expert, attempting to complete it in a single go can seem unachievable. So, what you can do otherwise? Divide the entire project into small manageable chunks and try to complete one part at a time so that gradually you can complete the entire work.
Follow Proven Dissertation Research Tips and Strategies
Follow proven methods, tips and strategies for your topic research and writing. For instance, interviews, surveys, observations, experiments etc. The choice must be made after evaluating the appropriateness of a certain method or strategy in the specific context. As for the writing, start with preparing the dissertation outline first and then choose to work on the easiest section.
Use Your Time Wisely
Having sufficient time to research and write your dissertation is essential. If you tend to hurry, you are going to miss out on many important points and risk the quality of your work. The best approach is to dedicate a certain amount of time every day to your project. Choose a time that works best for you, when you are less fatigued and distracted.
Don’t Hesitate to Avail Support
If you find yourself stuck in your dissertation writing, don’t hesitate to seek support from your peers or supervisor. Their timely interventions can help address the block you are facing. Professional dissertation writing services are also effective support systems that many students resort to these days to overcome challenges.
Be Ready to Revise If It Needs Improvements
Even if you are well-versed in the topic, have a good command of language and impressive writing skills, your dissertation can still suffer from drawbacks. Do a few rounds of proofreading and correct the mistakes yourself. After that, get someone on board to review it, get their feedback and adjust your work. This iterative process can immensely improve the quality of your dissertation.
Dissertation writing is not easy. Agreed. But you can make it interesting and fruitful to your academic journey by understanding the common dissertation writing challenges and taking the right steps and strategies discussed in this blog. A well-researched, flawless and properly formatted dissertation can help you get an A+ which not only can boost your confidence but also enhance your career prospects.
