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What is a Theoretical Framework? | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 10 October 2022.

A theoretical framework is a foundational review of existing theories that serves as a roadmap for developing the arguments you will use in your own work.

Theories are developed by researchers to explain phenomena, draw connections, and make predictions. In a theoretical framework, you explain the existing theories that support your research, showing that your work is grounded in established ideas.

In other words, your theoretical framework justifies and contextualises your later research, and it’s a crucial first step for your research paper , thesis, or dissertation . A well-rounded theoretical framework sets you up for success later on in your research and writing process.

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Table of contents

Why do you need a theoretical framework, how to write a theoretical framework, structuring your theoretical framework, example of a theoretical framework, frequently asked questions about theoretical frameworks.

Before you start your own research, it’s crucial to familiarise yourself with the theories and models that other researchers have already developed. Your theoretical framework is your opportunity to present and explain what you’ve learned, situated within your future research topic.

There’s a good chance that many different theories about your topic already exist, especially if the topic is broad. In your theoretical framework, you will evaluate, compare, and select the most relevant ones.

By “framing” your research within a clearly defined field, you make the reader aware of the assumptions that inform your approach, showing the rationale behind your choices for later sections, like methodology and discussion . This part of your dissertation lays the foundations that will support your analysis, helping you interpret your results and make broader generalisations .

• In literature , a scholar using postmodernist literary theory would analyse The Great Gatsby differently than a scholar using Marxist literary theory.
• In psychology , a behaviourist approach to depression would involve different research methods and assumptions than a psychoanalytic approach.
• In economics , wealth inequality would be explained and interpreted differently based on a classical economics approach than based on a Keynesian economics one.

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To create your own theoretical framework, you can follow these three steps:

• Identifying your key concepts
• Evaluating and explaining relevant theories
• Showing how your research fits into existing research

1. Identify your key concepts

The first step is to pick out the key terms from your problem statement and research questions . Concepts often have multiple definitions, so your theoretical framework should also clearly define what you mean by each term.

To investigate this problem, you have identified and plan to focus on the following problem statement, objective, and research questions:

Problem : Many online customers do not return to make subsequent purchases.

Objective : To increase the quantity of return customers.

Research question : How can the satisfaction of company X’s online customers be improved in order to increase the quantity of return customers?

2. Evaluate and explain relevant theories

By conducting a thorough literature review , you can determine how other researchers have defined these key concepts and drawn connections between them. As you write your theoretical framework, your aim is to compare and critically evaluate the approaches that different authors have taken.

After discussing different models and theories, you can establish the definitions that best fit your research and justify why. You can even combine theories from different fields to build your own unique framework if this better suits your topic.

Make sure to at least briefly mention each of the most important theories related to your key concepts. If there is a well-established theory that you don’t want to apply to your own research, explain why it isn’t suitable for your purposes.

3. Show how your research fits into existing research

Apart from summarising and discussing existing theories, your theoretical framework should show how your project will make use of these ideas and take them a step further.

You might aim to do one or more of the following:

• Test whether a theory holds in a specific, previously unexamined context
• Use an existing theory as a basis for interpreting your results
• Critique or challenge a theory
• Combine different theories in a new or unique way

A theoretical framework can sometimes be integrated into a literature review chapter , but it can also be included as its own chapter or section in your dissertation. As a rule of thumb, if your research involves dealing with a lot of complex theories, it’s a good idea to include a separate theoretical framework chapter.

There are no fixed rules for structuring your theoretical framework, but it’s best to double-check with your department or institution to make sure they don’t have any formatting guidelines. The most important thing is to create a clear, logical structure. There are a few ways to do this:

• Draw on your research questions, structuring each section around a question or key concept
• Organise by theory cluster
• Organise by date

As in all other parts of your research paper , thesis, or dissertation , make sure to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism .

To get a sense of what this part of your thesis or dissertation might look like, take a look at our full example .

While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work based on existing research, a conceptual framework allows you to draw your own conclusions, mapping out the variables you may use in your study and the interplay between them.

A literature review and a theoretical framework are not the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work, a literature review critically evaluates existing research relating to your topic. You’ll likely need both in your dissertation .

A theoretical framework can sometimes be integrated into a  literature review chapter , but it can also be included as its own chapter or section in your dissertation . As a rule of thumb, if your research involves dealing with a lot of complex theories, it’s a good idea to include a separate theoretical framework chapter.

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a dissertation , thesis, research paper , or proposal .

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Writing a Postgraduate or Doctoral Thesis: A Step-by-Step Approach

• Usha Y. Nayak 4 ,
• Praveen Hoogar 5 ,
• Srinivas Mutalik 4 &
• N. Udupa 6  
• First Online: 01 October 2023

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A key characteristic looked after by postgraduate or doctoral students is how they communicate and defend their knowledge. Many candidates believe that there is insufficient instruction on constructing strong arguments. The thesis writing procedure must be meticulously followed to achieve outstanding results. It should be well organized, simple to read, and provide detailed explanations of the core research concepts. Each section in a thesis should be carefully written to make sure that it transitions logically from one to the next in a smooth way and is free of any unclear, cluttered, or redundant elements that make it difficult for the reader to understand what is being tried to convey. In this regard, students must acquire the information and skills to successfully create a strong and effective thesis. A step-by-step description of the thesis/dissertation writing process is provided in this chapter.

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Nayak, U.Y., Hoogar, P., Mutalik, S., Udupa, N. (2023). Writing a Postgraduate or Doctoral Thesis: A Step-by-Step Approach. In: Jagadeesh, G., Balakumar, P., Senatore, F. (eds) The Quintessence of Basic and Clinical Research and Scientific Publishing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1284-1_48

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DETAILS OF CHAPTERS AND THEIR SECTIONS

1 introduction, 1.1 background to the research, figure 2 the triangle of section 1.1 of chapter 1, 1.2 research problem and hypotheses/research questions.

• How do New South Wales and Queensland private sector managers successfully implement telemarketing into their organisations?
• How do Australian manufacturers select distribution channels for their exports to Japan?
• How culturally appropriate is TQM for `reconceptualising' African management?
• How effective for strategic marketing in the Australian finance industry are Porter's models of competition and European models of networks?
• one broad area of interest, for example, `telecommunications marketing', (candidates might consider ensuring that this area of interest has its own academic discipline from which several examiners could be selected - a two-discipline thesis may produce conflicts among examiners from different disciplines),
• level of decision making, for example, directors, MDs, senior managers, customers, or public policy analysts,
• private or public sector organisation,
• industry, for example, transport industry,
• geographic limits, for example, Queensland or Australia, and
• time or business cycle limits, for example, in the late 1980s before the Australian economy entered a recession.
• How can relationships involved in interorganisational governance in marketing channels be managed?
• Essentially I argue that interorganisational governance is a heterogeneous phenomenon and that different relationship management strategies are appropriate under different conditions.
• The problem addressed in this research is:

1.3 Justification for the research

• importance of small business and/or the importance of the specific area of the small business discipline being investigated (this justification is usually accompanied by a mass of statistical data showing how huge the area of the research problem is in terms of constructs such as revenue, employment and assets, and often by authoritative discussions and quotations from government publications about committees of inquiry),
• relative neglect of the specific research problem by previous researchers (some of this justification would refer to chapter 2, for there is no need to repeat parts of chapter 2 here; however, chapter 2 deals with the nitty gritty of individual research questions while this section should emphasise the whole research problem and possibly conclude with some appropriate quotes from authorities about the research problem),
• relative neglect of the research's methodologies by previous researchers (with references to chapter 3 being required, with an acknowledgment that the methodology is justified there and is not simply used for the sake of novelty), and
• usefulness of potential applications of the research's findings (this justification is based on the researcher's initial assumptions, in contrast, section 5.4 is a statement of the completed research's usefulness).

1.4 Methodology

1.5 outline of this report, 1.6 definitions, 1.7 delimitations of scope and key assumptions, 1.8 conclusion.

• This chapter laid the foundations for the report. It introduced the research problem and research questions and hypotheses. Then the research was justified, definitions were presented, the methodology was briefly described and justified, the report was outlined, and the limitations were given. On these foundations, the report can proceed with a detailed description of the research.

2 Literature review

Figure 3 relationship between the research problem and research questions or hypotheses.

• topics covered, including the year, the industry, the country and/or region, and the subjects in the research (for example, MDs or middle managers),
• survey and statistical methodologies used,
• limitations and problems of the research, for example, was the data collection or its analysis appropriate? and
• contribution to the body of knowledge, that is, how it compares and contrast with the positions developed by other researchers.
• How are conflicts between owners and managers which are resolved in the board of directors of a big business, resolved in a small professional practice without a board of directors?
• Does the number of successful telemarketing calls correlate with the level of specialisation of telemarketing representatives?

3 Methodology

• justification for the methodology in terms of the research problem and the literature review, for example, a qualitative methodology requires a research problem involving people's constructions of meanings which have not previously been explored (Hassard 1990) - Yin (1989, p. 17) has a table which might help in writing about this; incidentally, recent theses are showing an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the positivist and phenomological paradigms as a basis for discussing choice of methodology (Phillips & Pugh 1987, p. 55; Orlikowski & Baroudi 1991; Easterby-Smith et al. 1991, pp. 22-32; Patton 1992, pp. 1-63; Newman 1994, chapter 4; Perry & Coote 1994; Guba & Lincoln 1994); table 2 summarises these considerations;
• the unit of analysis and subjects or sources of data, for example, explicit reference to steps such as deciding the population, the sampling frame and the sample, and the sample size; for case study research, these are discussed in Perry & Coote (1994);
• instruments or procedures used to collect data, including how the dependent variable was measured, details of pilot studies and explicit concern about specific procedures used to handle internal and external validity (as in Yin 1989, p. 41; Parkhe 1993, p. 260-261 and - for qualitative research - Lincoln & Guba 1985, pp. 290-294); note that the boundaries of external validity were implicitly addressed in sections 1.2, 1.6 and 1.7;
• administration of instruments or procedures (for example, when, where and who, non-response bias (which is a very important issue and is discussed in Armstrong & Overton (1977)), response rates, dates and protocols of interviews (Yin 1989)), so that the research is reliable, that is, it could be repeated;
• limitations of the methodology if they were not explicitly discussed in section 1.7, for example, practical limitations on the sampling frame or size of questionnaire in survey research might be clarified and justified (for example, some types of respondents might have been missed because of their religious beliefs), and Parkhe (1993, p. 255) discusses some possible limitations of the case study methodology which should have been addressed in a thesis;
• any special or unusual treatments of data before it was analysed (for example, special scoring of answers to a survey question);
• computer programs used to analyse the data, with justifications for their use (for example, why chisquare was used instead of a Wilcoxon test) - this may require a brief description of the type of data and some appropriate references where similar procedures had been used in similar circumstances; and
• ethical issues.

Table 2 Aspects of a unified thesis

• The level of specialisation of telemarketing representatives will not increase the probability of successful telemarketing.
• The level of specialisation of telemarketing representatives will not influence the success of marketing.

4 Analysis of data

• Significance of test results is reported in the three ways suggested by Coolican (1990, p. 174), based on p the probability level:
• `significant': 0.05 > p < 0.01;
• `highly significant': 0.01 > p < 0.001; and
• `very highly significant': 0.001 > p.
• Question 9 explored attitudes to product quality and respondent's answers are summarised in table 4.6. Most respondents (59.2 percent) agreed that the product quality was important, but a sizeable minority (27.8 percent) had no view about product quality - a somewhat surprising finding which will also be discussed within the context of the literature in section 5.4.3... A t-test was used to discern the relationship between attitudes to product quality and price (section 4.9), because both were measured with an interval scale. No significant difference between the means of attitudes to the two variables was found (t = 1.56, dof = 23, 25; p = 0.35). A practical implication of this finding is that the shoppers considered product quality and price separately.

5 Conclusions and implications

5.1 introduction, 5.2 conclusions about research questions or hypotheses.

• The final set of factors in the initial conceptual framework of this research illustrated in figure 2.10 was the strategic objectives of the firm. The interaction between entry mode choice and strategic objectives has attracted considerable attention in the literature (Jones 1991; Anderson & Gatignon 1986; Hwang 1988; Hill et al, 1990). For example, Minor, Wu and Choi (1991) argue that entry mode choice is based on strategic objectives when considered in tandem with ...

5.3 Conclusions about the research problem

5.4 implications for theory, 5.5 implications for policy and practice, 5.6 limitations, 5.7 implications for further research.

• What Is a PhD Thesis?
• Doing a PhD

This page will explain what a PhD thesis is and offer advice on how to write a good thesis, from outlining the typical structure to guiding you through the referencing. A summary of this page is as follows:

• A PhD thesis is a concentrated piece of original research which must be carried out by all PhD students in order to successfully earn their doctoral degree.
• The fundamental purpose of a thesis is to explain the conclusion that has been reached as a result of undertaking the research project.
• The typical PhD thesis structure will contain four chapters of original work sandwiched between a literature review chapter and a concluding chapter.
• There is no universal rule for the length of a thesis, but general guidelines set the word count between 70,000 to 100,000 words .

What Is a Thesis?

A thesis is the main output of a PhD as it explains your workflow in reaching the conclusions you have come to in undertaking the research project. As a result, much of the content of your thesis will be based around your chapters of original work.

For your thesis to be successful, it needs to adequately defend your argument and provide a unique or increased insight into your field that was not previously available. As such, you can’t rely on other ideas or results to produce your thesis; it needs to be an original piece of text that belongs to you and you alone.

What Should a Thesis Include?

Although each thesis will be unique, they will all follow the same general format. To demonstrate this, we’ve put together an example structure of a PhD thesis and explained what you should include in each section below.

Acknowledgements

This is a personal section which you may or may not choose to include. The vast majority of students include it, giving both gratitude and recognition to their supervisor, university, sponsor/funder and anyone else who has supported them along the way.

1. Introduction

Provide a brief overview of your reason for carrying out your research project and what you hope to achieve by undertaking it. Following this, explain the structure of your thesis to give the reader context for what he or she is about to read.

2. Literature Review

Set the context of your research by explaining the foundation of what is currently known within your field of research, what recent developments have occurred, and where the gaps in knowledge are. You should conclude the literature review by outlining the overarching aims and objectives of the research project.

3. Main Body

This section focuses on explaining all aspects of your original research and so will form the bulk of your thesis. Typically, this section will contain four chapters covering the below:

• your research/data collection methodologies,
• your results,
• a comprehensive analysis of your results,
• a detailed discussion of your findings.

Depending on your project, each of your chapters may independently contain the structure listed above or in some projects, each chapter could be focussed entirely on one aspect (e.g. a standalone results chapter). Ideally, each of these chapters should be formatted such that they could be translated into papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Therefore, following your PhD, you should be able to submit papers for peer-review by reusing content you have already produced.

4. Conclusion

The conclusion will be a summary of your key findings with emphasis placed on the new contributions you have made to your field.

When producing your conclusion, it’s imperative that you relate it back to your original research aims, objectives and hypotheses. Make sure you have answered your original question.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

How Many Words Is a PhD Thesis?

A common question we receive from students is – “how long should my thesis be?“.

Every university has different guidelines on this matter, therefore, consult with your university to get an understanding of their full requirements. Generally speaking, most supervisors will suggest somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 words . This usually corresponds to somewhere between 250 – 350 pages .

We must stress that this is flexible, and it is important not to focus solely on the length of your thesis, but rather the quality.

How Do I Format My Thesis?

Although the exact formatting requirements will vary depending on the university, the typical formatting policies adopted by most universities are:

What Happens When I Finish My Thesis?

After you have submitted your thesis, you will attend a viva . A viva is an interview-style examination during which you are required to defend your thesis and answer questions on it. The aim of the viva is to convince your examiners that your work is of the level required for a doctoral degree. It is one of the last steps in the PhD process and arguably one of the most daunting!

For more information on the viva process and for tips on how to confidently pass it, please refer to our in-depth PhD Viva Guide .

How Do I Publish My Thesis?

Unfortunately, you can’t publish your thesis in its entirety in a journal. However, universities can make it available for others to read through their library system.

If you want to submit your work in a journal, you will need to develop it into one or more peer-reviewed papers. This will largely involve reformatting, condensing and tailoring it to meet the standards of the journal you are targeting.

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• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

Table of contents

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

• Working Title
• “Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
• Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
• Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
• Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
• Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
• Answer the research question in a concise way.
• Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

 Download Word template    Download Google Docs template

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

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• Structuring your thesis
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• How to write a thesis

The best structure for your HDR thesis will depend on your discipline and the research you aim to communicate.

Before you begin writing your thesis, make sure you've read our advice on thesis preparation for information on the requirements you'll need to meet.

Once you've done this, you can begin to think about how to structure your thesis. To help you get started, we've outlined a basic structure below, but the requirements for your discipline may be different .

If you need help determining a suitable structure:

• read other theses in your discipline – you can search for UQ theses on the Library website. For prime examples, search for theses that received commendations from their examiners
• check with your advisor.

A basic thesis structure includes the following sections:

Introduction and literature review

Results or findings.

An abstract is a summary of your entire thesis and should provide a complete overview of the thesis, including your key results and findings.

An abstract is different to your introduction, and shouldn't be used to advertise your thesis — it should provide enough information to allow readers to understand what they'll learn by reading the thesis.

Your abstract should answer the following questions:

• What did you do?
• How did you do it?
• Why was it worth doing?
• What were the key results?
• What are the implications or significance of the results?

As your abstract will have a word limit, you may be unable to answer every question in detail. If you find yourself running out of words, make sure you include your key findings before other information.

All theses require introductions and literature reviews, but the structure and location of these can vary.

In some cases, your literature review will be incorporated into the introduction. You may also review literature in other parts of your thesis, such as in the methods section.

Other options for structuring an introduction and literature review include:

• a brief introductory chapter with a longer, separate literature review chapter
• a long introductory chapter with a brief introductory section followed by literature review sections
• a brief introductory chapter with detailed literature reviews relevant to the topic of each chapter provided separately in each chapter — this is common in a thesis comprised of publications.

If you have a separate introduction and literature review, they should complement, not repeat, each other.

The introduction should outline the background and significance of the broad area of study, as well as your:

• general aims – what you intend to contribute to the understanding of a topic
• specific objectives – which particular aspects of that topic you'll be investigating
• the rationale for proceeding in the way that you did
• your motivation or the justification for your research – the level of detail can vary depending on how much detail you will be including in a literature review.

The literature review should provide a more detailed analysis of research in the field, and present more specific aims or hypotheses for your research. What's expected for a literature review varies depending on your:

• program – a PhD thesis requires a more extensive literature review than an MPhil thesis
• discipline – analyse well-written examples from your discipline to learn the conventions for content and structure.

To get some ideas about how to structure and integrate your literature review, look at how to write a literature review and an example analysis of a literature review , or talk to your advisor.

A possible structure for your methods section is to include an introduction that provides a justification and explanation of the methodological approach you chose, followed by relevant sub-sections. Some standard sub-sections of a methods chapter include:

• Participants
• Procedures.

How the methods section is structured can depend on your discipline, so review other theses from your discipline for ideas for structure.

Regardless of structure, the methods section should explain:

• how you collected and analysed your data – you only need to include enough detail that another expert in the field could repeat what you've done (you don't have to detail field standard techniques or tests)
• why you chose to collect specific data
• how this data will help you to answer your research questions
• why you chose the approach you went with.

You may want to present your results separately to your discussion. If so, use the results section to:

• specify the data you collected and how it was were prepared for analysis
• describe the data analysis (e.g. define the type of statistical test that was applied to the data)
• describe the outcome of the analysis
• present a summary and descriptive statistics in a table or graph.

Use tables and figures effectively

Reports usually include tables, graphs and other graphics to present data and supplement the text. To learn how to design and use these elements effectively, see our guides to:

• incorporating tables, figures, statistics and equations (PDF, 1.2MB)
• graphic presentation (PDF, 2.9MB) .

Use the discussion section to:

• comment on your results and explain what they mean
• compare, contrast and relate your results back to theory or the findings of other studies
• identify and explain any unexpected results
• identify any limitations to your research and any questions that your research was unable to answer
• discuss the significance or implications of your results.

If you find that your research ends up in a different direction to what you intended, it can help to explicitly acknowledge this and explain why in this section.

Use the conclusion section to:

• emphasise that you've met your research aims
• summarise the main findings of your research
• restate the limitations of your research and make suggestions for further research.

In some cases, the discussion and conclusion sections can be combined. Check with your advisor if you want to combine these sections.

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Know How to Structure Your PhD Thesis

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Table of Contents

In your academic career, few projects are more important than your PhD thesis. Unfortunately, many university professors and advisors assume that their students know how to structure a PhD. Books have literally been written on the subject, but there’s no need to read a book in order to know about PhD thesis paper format and structure. With that said, however, it’s important to understand that your PhD thesis format requirement may not be the same as another student’s. The bottom line is that how to structure a PhD thesis often depends on your university and department guidelines.

But, let’s take a look at a general PhD thesis format. We’ll look at the main sections, and how to connect them to each other. We’ll also examine different hints and tips for each of the sections. As you read through this toolkit, compare it to published PhD theses in your area of study to see how a real-life example looks.

Main Sections of a PhD Thesis

In almost every PhD thesis or dissertation, there are standard sections. Of course, some of these may differ, depending on your university or department requirements, as well as your topic of study, but this will give you a good idea of the basic components of a PhD thesis format.

• Abstract : The abstract is a brief summary that quickly outlines your research, touches on each of the main sections of your thesis, and clearly outlines your contribution to the field by way of your PhD thesis. Even though the abstract is very short, similar to what you’ve seen in published research articles, its impact shouldn’t be underestimated. The abstract is there to answer the most important question to the reviewer. “Why is this important?”
• Introduction : In this section, you help the reviewer understand your entire dissertation, including what your paper is about, why it’s important to the field, a brief description of your methodology, and how your research and the thesis are laid out. Think of your introduction as an expansion of your abstract.
• Literature Review : Within the literature review, you are making a case for your new research by telling the story of the work that’s already been done. You’ll cover a bit about the history of the topic at hand, and how your study fits into the present and future.
• Theory Framework : Here, you explain assumptions related to your study. Here you’re explaining to the review what theoretical concepts you might have used in your research, how it relates to existing knowledge and ideas.
• Methods : This section of a PhD thesis is typically the most detailed and descriptive, depending of course on your research design. Here you’ll discuss the specific techniques you used to get the information you were looking for, in addition to how those methods are relevant and appropriate, as well as how you specifically used each method described.
• Results : Here you present your empirical findings. This section is sometimes also called the “empiracles” chapter. This section is usually pretty straightforward and technical, and full of details. Don’t shortcut this chapter.
• Discussion : This can be a tricky chapter, because it’s where you want to show the reviewer that you know what you’re talking about. You need to speak as a PhD versus a student. The discussion chapter is similar to the empirical/results chapter, but you’re building on those results to push the new information that you learned, prior to making your conclusion.
• Conclusion : Here, you take a step back and reflect on what your original goals and intentions for the research were. You’ll outline them in context of your new findings and expertise.

Tips for your PhD Thesis Format

As you put together your PhD thesis, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. Here are some tips that might keep you on track.

• Don’t try to write your PhD as a first-draft. Every great masterwork has typically been edited, and edited, and…edited.
• Work with your thesis supervisor to plan the structure and format of your PhD thesis. Be prepared to rewrite each section, as you work out rough drafts. Don’t get discouraged by this process. It’s typical.
• Make your writing interesting. Academic writing has a reputation of being very dry.
• You don’t have to necessarily work on the chapters and sections outlined above in chronological order. Work on each section as things come up, and while your work on that section is relevant to what you’re doing.
• Don’t rush things. Write a first draft, and leave it for a few days, so you can come back to it with a more critical take. Look at it objectively and carefully grammatical errors, clarity, logic and flow.
• Know what style your references need to be in, and utilize tools out there to organize them in the required format.
• It’s easier to accidentally plagiarize than you think. Make sure you’re referencing appropriately, and check your document for inadvertent plagiarism throughout your writing process.

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The difference between empirical and discussion chapters (and how to write them)

Jun 7, 2019

It is a common misconception that the empirical chapters are the place for your analysis. Often this confuses the reader. In fact, you need to split the empirical facts and discussion of those facts into two distinct sections. 

In this post I want to explain why, more often that not, you need have  separate  empirical and discussion chapters and why you shouldn’t combine them. Then, I’ll talk you through practical steps to employ when you’re writing each up. 

What is the difference between an empirical and discussion chapter?

Whilst they are closely related, they occupy two very different spaces within a PhD thesis.

We can understand a PhD as having   four distinct sections :

1. Introduction – this is where you introduce and outline the entire study.

2. Background – this where you lay the groundwork for your thesis (in your literature review, theory framework and methods).

3. Core – this is where you present your findings.

4. Synthesis  – this is where you relate the core to the background.

The empirical chapter(s) is/are where you present the facts of your study. They occupy the core of the thesis. 

The discussion chapter though is where you interpret and discuss your findings in relation to the thesis and wider discipline. That is why is occupies the synthesis stage of the research.

Your job when writing your discussion then is to interrogate and critically engage with the findings and relate them to the research aims, objectives, research questions and gap. Most of your cutting-edge analysis and engagement with your findings will take place here.

The job of a discussion chapter is therefore to critically examine your findings with reference to the discussion in the background chapters of the thesis (introduction, literature review, theoretical framework and methods) and to make judgments as to what has been learnt in your work. In essence, the job of a discussion chapter is to tell the readers what your findings (may) mean.

The reason for this distinction between empirics and discussion is to make life easier for your examiner. They are looking at whether you are capable of both presenting observations in line with your methodology, and interpreting their significance in the context of the thesis as a whole.

However, as with everything in the PhD, there will be exceptions to this. Some theses, particularly those from within the liberal arts and social sciences, may not need a separate discussion section because the nature of their study may mean that empirics and discussion are intertwined.  It is also worth pointing out that although not every thesis will have a discussion chapter, all theses will contain discussions of some sort, however short.

How do I write an empirical chapter?

It’s important to note that the form your empirical chapter will take – or indeed if you have one at all – will depend heavily on the nature of your thesis and the discipline in which you’re working. Someone working in a more theoretical space – for example, philosophers or the theoretical mathematicians – might rely less on first-hand empirical data and more on proofs. Those working on quantitative studies will have more data-driven, empiric-heavy empirical chapters.

Broadly speaking then, the emphasis in the empirical section or chapter is on factual recount and summary. You’ll be categorising your findings into particular themes and using a variety of visual elements (tables, figures, charts, and so on) to present your results. You need to show the reader what your data ‘looks like’.

You need to do it well, too. If you present data in a messy way, your examiner might think that your thinking is messy.

By the time you have finished your empirical chapter, your reader should be able to answer six questions:

1. What are the results of your investigations?

2. How do the findings relate to previous studies?

3. Was there anything surprising or that didn’t work out as planned?

4. Are there any themes or categories that emerge from the data?

5. Have you explained to the reader why you have reached particular conclusions?

6. Have you explained the results?

You are providing sufficient detail that others can draw their own inferences and construct their own explanations. Think of it as presenting the case for a jury.

That means that an empirical discussion should:

1. Tell the reader how the data was collected, with reference to the methods chapter/section

2. Tell them how they can access it if they wanted to replicate your study

3. Discuss what the results look like (using visual aids, such as tables, diagrams, graphs and so on)

4. Provide rich summaries of the findings

5. Discuss the gaps in the findings and analysis

6. Analyse the results

7. Discuss the implications of your findings

8. Discuss the limitations of the findings

Your PhD thesis. All on one page. 

Use our free PhD structure template to quickly visualise every element of your thesis. 

How do I write a discussion chapter?

Many students struggle to write up their discussion chapters . The reason is that they lack the confidence needed to make the kinds of knowledge claims required. The discussion chapter is where you start to develop your scholarly authority, and where you start to make truth claims about your interpretation of what’s going on. By implication, that means it is where you start to agree or disagree with existing literature and theoretical ideas. 

Another reason why students struggle is that they fail to realise the significance of their findings or, put differently, they don’t think their findings are significant enough in their own right. By the time we come to write our discussion, we are so conditioned by the findings that we may not realise that they are significant and do, in fact, make a contribution. There’s often an expectation gap here; students expect their contribution to be big, whereas, more often than not, the contribution a PhD actually makes is small and specific. 

As with every stage of your thesis, you must relate your discussion section/chapter to the background. Specifically, you need to relate it to the empirical chapter, aims and objectives, research questions, the gap in the literature and, if relevant, your theoretical framework. There will, therefore, be a lot of signposting to other parts of the thesis; doing so is necessary if you want to show the examiner that you can relate your findings to the broader context of your thesis and discipline.

One of the biggest obstacles is synthesising your empirical data and being able to critically discuss it in relation to this broader context. The authors of   How To Write A Better Thesis   offer up an effective technique you can use if you’re struggling to do this. They refer to it as a ‘mud-map’:

1. You can start by writing a long list of everything you have found.

2. See if you can sort and organise this list. Categorise each finding based on whether it is speculative or based in empirical fact. This is important because your discussion will need to be somewhat (but not too) speculative.

3. Try to categorise your different findings into themes.

4. Now try to find linkages between these themes.

5. Organise these themes into different section headings for the discussion chapter, and try to come up with sub-headings. 

When it comes to writing your discussion chapter, you can start by writing a few sentences that summarise the most important results. 

One danger when writing discussion sections is that they can be too wordy, offer too much interpretation and lack a clear structure.  To avoid this, you should make sure that every element of your discussion section addresses one of the following questions: 

• What are the relationships between observations? (The mud-map you developed earlier will help here.)
• Are there any trends and generalisations amongst the results? Are there any exceptions to these? 
• What are the causes of, or mechanisms behind, the underlying patterns you have uncovered?
• Do your results agree or disagree with previous work? 
• How do your findings relate to the theoretical framework you developed, if applicable? 
• How do the findings relate to the hypotheses you developed, if applicable? 
• What other explanations could there be for your results? This issue is more pertinent if you are engaging in theory creation/inductive reasoning.
• What do we now know as a result of your research that we didn’t know before? 
• What is the significance of these findings? 
• Why should we care about the findings?

When your discussion chapter is finished, your reader should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How do the findings relate to the theory and methods discussed previously?   

2. Why you have reached particular conclusions?   

3. How do your findings relate to the gaps in the literature you identified earlier?   

4. What implications do the findings have for the discipline and for existing understanding?

5. How do the findings relate to your research questions/aims and objectives?   

A particularly important theme that I want you to always bear in mind is that your interpretation and discussion of the findings needs to be done in such a way that it relates back to the aims, objectives, research questions, gap and any theory. Running through your thesis will be a central argument – your thesis statement – and it is in the empirical and, particularly, the discussion chapter, that you will present all of the evidence and logical argument necessary to support that argument.

Unsurprisingly then, these core sections of the thesis are the most important, as they are where you make your contribution. Of course, you have outlined what your contribution is in the introduction, so what you are arguing is no surprise. But, it is in the core of the thesis where you drill down into the detail and critically engage with that contribution, using your data to rigorously support your line of argument.

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10 comments.

Really great advice. I love simple, clear guidance. Especially when writing something that’s pretty complicated!!

Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you found it useful.

It’s really guiding me a lot.

This is really great. I have had serious challenges putting up a convincing empirical chapter.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Very insightful guidelines for PhD candidates. So appreciative for such work.

Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you’re finding the resources useful.

It’s really useful guidance. It helps a lot in simplifying the complex and messy ideas when starting the writing process.

Thanks for the kind words.

Very instructive.

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How To Write Chapter 2 Of A PhD Thesis Proposal (A Beginner’s Guide)

The second chapter of a PhD thesis proposal in most cases is the literature review. This article provides a practical guide on how to write chapter 2 of a PhD thesis.

Introduction to the chapter

Theoretical review, empirical review, chronological organisation of empirical literature review, thematic organisation of empirical literature review, developing a conceptual framework, research gaps, chapter summary, final thoughts on how to write chapter 2 of a phd thesis proposal.

The format for the literature review chapter is discussed below:

This section is about a paragraph-long and informs the readers on what the chapter will cover.

The theoretical review follows immediately after the introductory section of the chapter.

In this section, the student is expected to review the theories behind his/her topic under investigation. One should discuss who came up with the theory, the main arguments of the theory, and how the theory has been applied to study the problem under investigation.

A given topic may have several theories explaining it. The student should review all those theories but at the end mention the main theory that informs his study while giving justification for the selection of that theory.

Because of the existence of many theories and models developed by other researchers, the student is expected to do some comparative analysis of the theories and models that are applicable to his study.

After discussing the theories and models that inform your study, the student is expected to review empirical studies related to his problem under investigation. Empirical literature refers to original studies that have been done by other studies through data collection and analysis. The conclusions drawn from such studies are based on data rather than theories.

This section requires critical thinking and analysis rather than just stating what the authors did and what they found. The student is expected to critique the studies he is reviewing, while making reference to other similar studies and their findings.

For instance, if two studies on the same topic arrive at contrary conclusions, the student should be able to analyse why the conclusions are different: e.g. the population of study could be different, the methodology used could be different etc.

There are two ways of organising empirical literature: chronological and thematic:

In this method, the empirical literature review is organised by date of publication, starting with the older literature to the most recent literature.

The advantage of using this method is that it shows how the state of knowledge of the problem under investigation has changed over time.

The disadvantage of chronological empirical review is that the flow of discussion is not smooth, because similar studies are discussed separately depending on when they were published.

In this method, like studies are discussed together.

The studies are organised based on the variables of the study. Each variable has its own section for discussion. All studies that examined a variable are discussed together, highlighting the consensus amongst the studies, as well as the points of disagreement.

The advantage of this method is that it creates a smooth flow of discussion of the literature. It also makes it easier to identify the research gaps in each variable under investigation.

While the choice between chronological and thematic empirical review varies from one institution to another, the thematic synthesis is most preferred especially for PhD-level programs.

After the theoretical and empirical review, the student is expected to develop his own conceptual framework. A conceptual framework is a diagrammatic representation of the variables of a study and the relationship between those variables.

The conceptual framework is informed by the literature review. Developing a conceptual framework involves three main steps:

• Identify all the variables that will be analysed in your study.
• Specify the relationship between the variables, as informed by the literature review.
• Draw a diagram with the variables and the relationship between them.

The main purpose of conducting literature review is to document what is known and what is not known.

Research gaps are what is not yet known about the topic under investigation.

Your contribution to knowledge will come from addressing what is not yet known.

It is therefore important for PhD students to first review existing literature for their area of study before settling on the final topic.

Additionally, when reviewing literature, the student should review all of the most recent studies to avoid duplicating efforts. Originality is important especially for PhD studies.

There are different types of research gaps:

• Gaps in concepts or variables studied e.g. most studies on maternal health focus on pregnancy and delivery but not on post-partum period. So you conduct a study focusing on the post-partum period.
• Geographical coverage: rural vs. urban or rural vs. urban slums; developed vs. developing countries etc
• Time: past vs. recent
• Demographics: middle class vs. poor communities; males vs. females; educated vs. uneducated etc
• Research design: quantitative vs. qualitative or mixed methods
• Data collection: questionnaires vs. interviews and focus group discussions
• Data analysis techniques: descriptive vs. inferential statistics etc

This section provides a summary of what the chapter is about and highlights the main ideas.

This article provided some guidance on how to write chapter 2 of a PhD thesis proposal as well as the format expected of the chapter by many institutions. The format may vary though and students are advised to refer to the dissertation guidelines of their institutions. Writing the literature review chapter can be the most daunting task of a PhD thesis proposal because it informs chapter 1 of the proposal. For instance, writing the contribution to knowledge section of chapter 1 requires the student to have read and reviewed many articles.

Related post

How To Write Chapter 1 Of A PhD Thesis Proposal (A Practical Guide)

How To Write Chapter 3 Of A PhD Thesis Proposal (A Detailed Guide)

Grace Njeri-Otieno

Grace Njeri-Otieno is a Kenyan, a wife, a mom, and currently a PhD student, among many other balls she juggles. She holds a Bachelors' and Masters' degrees in Economics and has more than 7 years' experience with an INGO. She was inspired to start this site so as to share the lessons learned throughout her PhD journey with other PhD students. Her vision for this site is "to become a go-to resource center for PhD students in all their spheres of learning."

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