Every PhD thesis follows a structure recommended by the university. Discover about the various sections of a PhD thesis and their importance.

1. Understanding the
structure of PhD Thesis
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2. PhD Thesis Title
 The title is the face of a thesis. It denotes an
identity to the project and also gives an
insight about what the thesis is going to be
about. Hence then PhD thesis topic lay a
basic foundation of your thesis.
 While formulating a title, it must be
ensured that it clearly communicates the
idea that the aspirant has in mind. A vague
or disconnected title may fail to impress.
 The size of the title is another point that
should be noted, if it is too long it may miss
explaining the idea to the evaluators.
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3. Acknowledgements
 This is a page that contains a note of
gratitude and acknowledgment for those
who may have been of help in the process
of making the thesis.
 Aspirants usually show acknowledgement
to the institute, the mentor or the dean and
at times all three.
 The format of the write up that goes on the
acknowledgement sheet is generally in the
first person mode and the person making
the thesis, dedicates this page to those who
have been instrumental in the completion
of the project.
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4. Table of Contents
 This is an overview page for the entire
thesis.
 The contents page not only gives an insight
on the topics that are covered in the
project.
 Apart from showing the topics, the content
page also serves as a quick access tool for
reaching a particular point in the thesis,
without having to look through all the
pages.
 The content page usually consists of serial
numbers, sub serial numbers, particulars or
sub-topics and page numbers.
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5. Abstract of Thesis
 A window to the thesis may be named the
abstract.
 As the name suggests it is an abstract of the
entire thesis and serves as a summary of
the project.
 When choosing a thesis subject, it is first
necessary to provide the evaluator with the
abstract or the proposal of the project.
 If the abstract is impressive, it may help in
getting the topic getting approved.
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6. Introduction
 Any topic of study needs to be introduced
to the reader.
 In the case of the thesis, not only should the
introduction talk about the subject, but it
should also provide a short background
about the topic of study so that the project
does not have an abrupt start.
 The introduction serves well in cases when
the evaluator needs to know the thesis
aspirants understanding of the study.
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7. Literature Review
 The literature review section helps an
aspirant express the kind of study and
research he or she has made for the thesis.
 The section should talk about the personal
inferences and ideas of the aspirant that he
or she derived after studying various
resources.
 The inferences could be in the form of
comparative studies or even descriptions,
however one should avoid writing
summaries of studies while creating a
literature review.
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8. Research Methodology
 This is one of the most important sections
in the thesis, it is because of the
methodology information that an evaluator
may be able to know what kind of a thesis
research design or techniques aspirant has
used.
 The chapter should explain in detail the
ways in which a research will be carried out
and how one proposes to use the method.
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9. Data Analysis
 As the name suggests, this chapter works as
an explanatory section for any data
inferences that are made. The chapter gives
a summary of the analysis of a study that is
derived from researches and surveys.
 The data analysis that is done should be
explained in the chapter and an evaluator
should be able to get an unambiguous
account of how one came to the
conclusions mentioned in the inferences.
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10. Findings and Discussions
 The discussions and findings section is a
place where one can express their study
and their findings in a more detailed
manner.
 One must ensure that the findings are not
repeated from the literature review
 The findings and discussions should be
more in the context of the data analysis and
by way of examples or studies, one should
elaborate on the inferences found.
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11. Conclusions and Limitations
 The conclusions and limitations section is
the part of the thesis where one finishes off.
 This is the part where the writer can
express his or her findings in a new light and
can talk about how the findings of the
thesis may affect the study.
 One should also talk about the limitations of
the study in this section to show where the
scope of study was obstructed or how the
findings may be limited to the
understanding of the writer.
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12. Bibliography
 The bibliography is the part of the write up
where one puts in the names and resources
of the places where the study was found.
 The bibliography is important in order to
make sure that no copyright is infringed and
that the person who did the original study is
duly recognized and acknowledged.
 The section should include detailed
descriptions of all the journals, books,
websites or articles that the information is
studied and used from.
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13. Appendix
 This is the section where you can use all of
the information that did not suit the flow of
the thesis.
 The appendix should contain only relevant
study, data or survey that adds value to the
study as a whole or any part of the study.
 The appendix or appendices are
explanatory supplements used to explain
theories or studies and inferences.
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