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
Dissertation Planning: Topic, Question and Proposal
Dissertation planning means turning a curiosity into a researchable question, checking a real gap exists, agreeing a structure and building a timeline you can defend. Everything you decide here constrains every later chapter, so it is worth doing slowly.
Most dissertations that go wrong go wrong in the planning stage: the topic is too broad, the question cannot be answered with the data available, or the timeline never accounted for ethics approval.
These guides take you through the decisions in the order a supervisor would raise them.
Guides in dissertation planning
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
Research aims and objectives: what they are and how to write them
The difference between a research aim and research objectives, with a method for writing objectives that are specific, achievable and assessable.
8 min read
How to write a dissertation proposal
What a dissertation proposal must contain, how long each section should be, and how supervisors decide whether to approve it.
8 min read
Dissertation structure: chapter by chapter
The standard dissertation structure explained chapter by chapter, with indicative word counts, what each chapter must prove, and how the chapters connect.
9 min read
Dissertation word count: how to allocate it by chapter
Typical dissertation word count ranges by level and how to split your total limit across chapters so no section is starved of space.
8 min read
Building a realistic dissertation timeline
How to plan a dissertation timeline backwards from your deadline, with realistic time allocations for each stage and buffer for setbacks.
8 min read
Work through this with a supervisor
SuperDiss questions your thinking at every stage — it will not write your dissertation for you.
Start my dissertationRelated research: plan and question
Turn the topic into a defensible research question, aims, objectives and a proposal.
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.
Research aims and objectives: what they are and how to write them
The difference between a research aim and research objectives, with a method for writing objectives that are specific, achievable and assessable.
How to write a dissertation proposal
What a dissertation proposal must contain, how long each section should be, and how supervisors decide whether to approve it.
Building a realistic dissertation timeline
How to plan a dissertation timeline backwards from your deadline, with realistic time allocations for each stage and buffer for setbacks.
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