Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

Writing the background
chapters

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●
Focus of the study:
what is being researched and why;
●
Data used in the study:
justification for the choice of data;
●
Contribution of the study: importance of the project for the field of
study.
The first of these, background theory, is covered in most detail in the litera-
ture review chapter/s. This backgrounding of the project should lead to what
is being researched and why. That is, the background chapters should lead to
the gap (or gaps) in the field that the thesis or dissertation is aiming to fill.
All of this will vary depending on the level of thesis or dissertation the stu-
dent is working on. Table 7.1, taken from Hart’s (1998) book Doing a
Literature Review, summarizes these differences. As can be seen from this table,
the higher the level of study, the more depth and breadth is expected in the
review of the literature.