The dissertation does not have any one fixed outline, but in general it consists of five different sections. These sections of the dissertation outline include: the introduction, the literature review, the methodology, the reporting of findings, and the conclusion.
The introduction is generally the first part of the dissertation outline. Here, a brief background to the problem under study is given, followed by a statement of the problem. This part of the outline also describes the purpose of the dissertation, the extent of its scope, and why it is important to study the problem. It contains a testable hypothesis and a conceptual framework.
The dissertation outline also consists of the literature review. This part of the dissertation outline discuses what previous researchers have done on the problem under study, the contributions that their research works have made, and the areas that are still in need of attention.
Some dissertation outlines however consider the literature review to be part of the introduction, and combine the conceptual framework and the methodology into one section for a four-part outline. The other part of the dissertation outline is the methodology. This part of the outline is concerned with how data for the study will be collected and analyzed, as well as the limitations that are likely to be faced in the process and the assumptions made. In the findings part of the dissertation outline, the findings are reported. These either refute or support the hypothesis, on the basis of which inferences and conclusions are made as the last part of the dissertation outline.
