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Structuring your thesis

• Literature reviews
• Writing up results
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The structure of your thesis will depend on the kind of thesis you are writing.

In some cases, there are conventional structures that are expected in the discipline. For example, theses that are empirical, experimental, and/or quantitative in nature generally follow the structure: introduction including aims, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion.

In other theses that are not quantitative in nature (typically those dealing with ideas, concepts, theories and arguments), the structure will arise from the nature of the subject matter and your treatment of it. In these theses, the structure varies greatly. It may be based on considerations such as your research design or methodology, or your individual stance on the topic.

For example, if you’re a researcher in the humanities, you have to make many decisions about the scope and focus of your thesis topic, and how best to present these to your reader. You need to pay special attention to communicating the structure so that your readers feel comfortable. They should always know which direction you’re going in and why.

Since your thesis needs to show your own analysis of the literature and other evidence/data you might be using, you need to have a clear analytical framework (or set of analytical frameworks) to make this analysis clear to the reader. You may need to experiment with this framework, in outline form, several times before committing yourself to writing.

This material was developed by the Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning), which offers workshops, face-to-face consultations and resources to support your learning. Find out more about how they can help you develop your communication, research and study skills .

See our handout on Writing a thesis proposal (pdf, 341KB) .

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Sydney Digital Theses (University of Sydney Access only)

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This collection of theses is only available to the staff and students of the University of Sydney. The author has requested this level of access.

If you would like to access a thesis in this collection and you aren't a University of Sydney staff or student, please see Purchasing a University of Sydney thesis on the Finding Theses page

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Postgraduate Theses in the School of Mathematics and Statistics

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Finding UNSW theses

UNSW PhD or Masters by Research theses can be located via  UNSWorks . For honours theses, contact the UNSW faculty, school or the author directly.

For more information on rights of use and removing material in UNSWorks see  Copyright - UNSWorks .

Finding Australian and international theses

Australian theses.

To find Australian theses, search via:

Library collection To find UNSW Library’s collection of Australian and international theses in print, search  Library collection  for a title or keywords. Refine your results by selecting  Refine my results > Resource types > Dissertations  in the column on the left.

Trove - Australian print and digital theses Trove includes theses at all levels, including PhD, masters and honours. To limit your search to Australian theses only, use  Trove - Research & Reports  search. Tick the  Australian content  box. Next to  Format - select  Thesis  from the drop-down list.

International theses

To find international theses, search via:

BASE BASE academic search engine provides access to the repositories of 8,000 institutions. 60% of the full-text documents are open access.

CORE CORE aggregates open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide.

DART-Europe e-theses portal DART-Europe is a partnership of research libraries and library consortia working to improve global access to European research theses.

EBSCO open dissertations Includes the content from American Doctoral Dissertations in addition to theses and dissertations from around the world. Coverage from 1955.

Open access theses and dissertations OATD provides access to open access graduate theses from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions.

Theses Canada Theses and dissertations in the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collection.

Web of Science The Web of Science ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index provides the citation information of theses from around the world. To search for thesis citations, change the search from Web of Science Core Collection to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index .

Non-UNSW theses

To obtain a thesis that is not available via the resources listed above, contact the library of the holding/publishing institution directly. Conditions of access to a thesis are determined by the author and holding library, and is outside the control of UNSW Library.

Depositing your thesis

How to  deposit  your UNSW thesis.

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Thesis Structure

This page outlines the stages of an honours thesis and provides links to other pages that will give you more information and some examples from past theses.

Stages of a thesis (in order)

Write this last. It is an overview of your whole thesis, and is between 200-300 words.

See writing abstracts for honours theses for what to include in your abstract or see some example abstracts .

Introduction

Usually longer than an abstract, and provides the following:

• background to the topic;
• brief review of current knowledge (Can include literature review in some schools);
• indicates gap in knowledge, states aim of your research and how it fits into the gap;
• can include hypotheses; can include an outline of the following chapters.

See thesis introductions exercises for more information.

• Literature review

Often part of the Introduction, but can be a separate section. It is an evaluation of previous research on your topic, where you show that there is a gap in the knowledge that your research will attempt to fill. The key word here is evaluation.

See literature reviews for more information and examples to get you started on your literature review.

Often the easiest part of the thesis to write. Outlines which method you chose and why (your methodology); what, when, where, how and why you did what you did to get your results.

Here are some sample methods .

Outlines what you found out in relation to your research questions or hypotheses, presented in figures and in written text.

Results contain the facts of your research. Often you will include a brief comment on the significance of key results, with the expectation that more generalised comments about results will be made in the Discussion section. Sometimes Results and Discussion are combined: check with your supervisor and with highly rated past theses in your School.

Here are some suggestions for writing up results .

The Discussion section:

• comments on your results;
• explains what your results mean;
• interprets your results in a wider context; indicates which results were expected or unexpected;
• provides explanations for unexpected results.

The Discussion should also relate your specific results to previous research or theory. You should point out what the limitations were of your study, and note any questions that remain unanswered. The Discussion CAN also include Conclusions/Future Research. Check with your supervisor.

See our theses in discussion page for more information or try these exercises .

• Conclusions

Very important! This is where you emphasise that your research aims/objectives have been achieved.

You also emphasise the most significant results, note the limitations and make suggestions for further research.

Conclusions can include Future Directions. Check with your supervisor.

For more information see conclusions in honours theses or sample conclusions .

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There are a range of important forms, policies and guidelines applicable to higher degree research candidates and it is your responsibility to ensure that you understand your requirements and rights as a student at Western Sydney University.

Visit HDR Policies for a complete list of higher degree research policies.

Browse the forms and guidelines catalogue below, or refine your search by selecting from the drop-down menu.

Select: All - Admissions - Candidature Support Funds - Candidature Variations - Compliance - Confirmation of Candidature - Dual Awards - Candidature Plan - Examinations - Extensions - Intellectual Property - Master of Research - Offshore Arrangements - Program Transfers - Research Continuity Plan - Research Progress Report - Scholarships - Supervision - Training and Support - Supervisor and HDR Candidate Compact - Research end-user engagement

• Admission Acceptance for International Student (Request for eCoE) (Redirect Page ) (opens in a new window)
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Candidature Plan

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Candidature Support Funds

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• Process to establish Dual Award Partnership MoU (MS Word Document 39.3 KB) (opens in a new window)

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• Application for Early Submission of Thesis (PDF File 95.2 KB) (opens in a new window)
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• COVID-19 Impact Statement for HDR Examinations Guidelines (PDF File 343.9 KB) (opens in a new window)
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• Guide to Checking your Thesis with Turnitin (PDF File 149.6 KB) (opens in a new window)
• HDR Examination Handbook (PDF File 606.5 KB) (opens in a new window)

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Answered By: The Library Last Updated: Aug 14, 2024     Views: 767

You can find helpful information on how to locate theses by visiting the Locating Theses page.

Details of research theses produced by students at Western Sydney University are available via  ResearchDirect (Masters by Research or above).

Online access to the full text is provided where permission to publish has been granted by the author.

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