How to choose a dissertation topic
A practical method for choosing a dissertation topic you can actually research: start from curiosity, test feasibility, and narrow until the topic is doable.
8 min read
Learning centre
Everything you need to understand your dissertation
Free guides written the way a good supervisor would explain it — no jargon for its own sake, no invented references, and nothing that writes your dissertation for you.
Getting started
How to write a research question
What separates a strong dissertation research question from a weak one, with tests you can run on your own question before you commit to it.
9 min read
What is a research gap?
Research gaps explained in plain English: the main types of gap, how to find one in your reading, and how to write a gap statement you can defend.
8 min read
Using AI ethically in your dissertation
Where AI helps your learning, where it crosses into academic misconduct, and how to keep your dissertation genuinely yours.
8 min read
Literature
How to write a literature review
How to move from a list of summaries to a synthesised, argued literature review that sets up your research question.
10 min read
How to build a literature matrix
A literature matrix turns scattered reading into a synthesis engine. Here is what to put in each column and how to read patterns out of it.
7 min read
Methodology
Qualitative vs quantitative research
The real difference between qualitative and quantitative dissertation research, and how to choose based on your question rather than your comfort zone.
8 min read
How to choose a methodology
A decision path from research question to methodology, plus how to write the justification examiners are looking for.
9 min read
The research onion explained
The research onion as a decision-making tool rather than a diagram to copy: what each layer asks and how the layers constrain each other.
8 min read
Sampling explained
Probability and non-probability sampling explained simply, with guidance on sample size and how to justify your choice.
7 min read
How to get ethical approval
What ethics committees actually look for, the documents you need, and the mistakes that cause applications to be returned.
8 min read
Analysis & writing
Thematic analysis, step by step
How to move from transcripts to codes to defensible themes, and how to tell a real theme from a topic summary.
10 min read
How to write a discussion chapter
The difference between results and discussion, a reliable structure, and how to make claims your data can support.
9 min read
Academic writing in the third person
How to write in an academic register without sounding robotic, when first person is acceptable, and how to convert your own sentences.
7 min read
Finishing
How to write an abstract
A six-move formula for a dissertation abstract, with word budgets and the mistakes that make abstracts unusable.
6 min read
How to prepare for your viva
What examiners are testing in a viva, the questions that come up almost every time, and how to rehearse without memorising a script.
9 min read