Dissertation Outline Format | Chapter by Chapter Guide

The dissertation outline is your framework that will guide your writing process. Generally, the outline
would consist of four or five chapters. The third chapter outline would vary depending on the
methodology design. Usually, four-chapter dissertations would have the literature review already
incorporated in chapter one.

Chapters would have different variations as approved by the Dissertation Committee. However, a typical
five-chapter dissertation would follow this outline format:

Chapter 1: Introduction

The first chapter of your dissertation. The introduction should introduce the topic of your research and
state the problem. This is the overview of the research and is the starting point of your dissertation.

● Overview - State briefly the reason for the study and what questions your study is trying to
answer. There is no need to provide as much details as you will have them discussed in further
chapters.
● Statement of the problem - Discuss the problem your research will address. State the gaps that
your research will try to fill. Provide a brief discussion of the underlying causes or speculations
and the resulting consequences.
● Research Questions and Hypotheses - Define your research questions and hypotheses that will
guide the direction of the research. Your research questions should be clear, concise, and seek an
answer to the specific problem you previously mentioned.
Hypotheses uses a previous research as basis. You use hypotheses when there is already an
existing knowledge of the chosen topic. The prediction is either confirmed or disproved by the
data collected through the research.

● Importance of the Study - Discuss the significance of the study. How the research can potentially
benefit or add value to the intended audience or to the existing literature.
● The Scope of the Study - Define the things that your study will cover. You will narrow your scope
to a specific niche that your research will target.
● Limitations and Generalizability - Define the limitations and constraints of the methodology of the
study that is beyond the control of the researcher. These limitations will impact the interpretation
of the findings. Generalizability describes the applicability of the findings outside the scope of
research.
● Definition of Terms - Provide a definition of key terms relevant to the study.
Chapter 2: Review of the Literature

This chapter provides a review of the current literature related to the topic of the study. The intent is to
show the knowledge of the researcher in the area of study. The literature reviewed should support your
theoretical framework.

Present your topics, offer evidence, and draw your conclusions. You will also discuss the origin of the
theory and its relevance to the study. Finally, provide a summary of the main points discussed in this
chapter. This should set the stage for your third chapter.
 ● Introduction and Description - Presentation of the topic or issue. Discuss how and where your
research fit in the subject area. Discuss why you chose to review the literature and the rationale
for choosing.
● Evaluation - Provide an analysis of the issues, propositions, and conclusions found in the
literature. Synthesize, compare the issues, propositions, and results.
● Conclusion - Summarize and synthesize in the context of your topic. Provide suggestions for
further study. Identify the gaps in the literature which your research will aim to fill.
Chapter 3: Methodology

The purpose of the study is to educate the reader on how you will carry out the research. You have already
defined the problem and justified the reason why there is a need to conduct the study. You will now
introduce and discuss the methods of how you will collect the data to answer your research questions.

● Participants - Define the human subjects included in the study. Provide details about your subjects
and the methods, criteria, and the sample size.
● Measures - Measure or instrumentation section provides a description of research measurement
technique. Provide proper citations for published techniques. For unpublished measurement, add
them in your appendices.
● Research Design - Description of research design, terminologies, dependent and independent
variables.
● Procedures - Be as detailed as possible to ensure replicability of the study.
● Data Analysis - This should link back to the hypotheses and research questions. Provide a
description of the assumptions and rationale for choosing the statistical technique.
Chapter 4: Results

This chapter presents the results and findings of the study. They are presented in a specific order according
to research questions or hypotheses.

● Text -While you need to indicate all results of the study, much of the details should focus on the
most important findings.
● Statistics, Tables, Graphs, Charts - Limit the number of visuals. Focus on the data that are relevant
to the main points of the findings only.

Chapter 5: Discussion

● Summary - Provide a summary of the results and answer the research questions and hypotheses.
● Conclusion - Discuss the implications, refer to the literature review, the conceptual framework,
and the limitations of the study.
● Interpretation - Interpret statistically relevant results.
● Recommendation - Based on the results, provide suggestions or recommendations for future
studies.
REFERENCES

APPENDICES

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