Organisation Patterns

Before embarking on writing a thesis or dissertation, you should be aware of the major conventions in your discipline in terms of organisation patterns typically used. What often differentiates one thesis from another, is the placement of the Literature Review in relation to the Introduction, and the Recommendations for Future Research in relation to the conclusion. For example, the Literature Review can often be found in the introduction chapter in humanities, MPLS and Medical subjects, but can be its own chapter in the Social Science.

In the hard sciences (MPLS/Medicine), we sometimes find that the conclusion can be quite brief, with most of the conclusion content amalgamated into the discussion chapter. Sometimes we even see a Conclusion chapter that is only a couple paragraphs long, and then a separate chapter called "Future Research".

Let's consider the different organisational patterns that are typically seen by students in different Oxford disciplines. In the link below are five common organisational patterns found in dissertations and theses written by Oxford students. You will see that some are more Social Science based and some more fitting for Natural Science studies. Remember, though, these are generic disciplinary patterns; you will still need to research examples from your department to see how they conform to, or differ from, these patterns:

Common Organisational Structures by Discipline

Here are three examples of Oxford Tables of Contents:
Organisational Patterns: Examples
 

When reviewing organisational patterns from previous dissertations or thesis in your field, you should ask the following questions:

  • Which generic pattern reviewed above is closest to the theses/dissertations in your field?
  • How specifically does the structure of the theses/dissertations deviate from the generic pattern?
  • Where are the literature reviews found in the theses/dissertations, and are they presented in their own self-enclosed section/chapter or are they part of the introduction?
  • Does the conclusion chapter follow directly on from the discussion? Is the ‘recommendations for future research section’ presented in its own section/chapter?