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

Application: discipline-specific expectations
Ask your student to look at a number of theses or dissertations written
in their area of study to identify discipline-specific expectations for
organizing their thesis or dissertation. Ask them to make a list of these
and bring them to you for discussion.
Conclusion
Thinking about the shape and organization of the thesis or dissertation, and
various ways of organizing tables of contents, may seem like a somewhat tech-
nical affair to be discussing with students. The table of contents may be the
last thing a student writes, but is often one of the first things an examiner
will read. The table of contents along with the thesis title are important ‘sites
of identity negotiation where the writer begins to align him or herself with a
research tradition’ (Starfield and Ravelli 2006: 226). The contents pages pre-
sent an overview of the thesis and, as such, act as an initial guide for the
reader of thesis. They also start to show how the student has located their
work within a particular disciplinary, and research, culture. As Starfield and
Ravelli (2006: 226) observe:

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all the reading, research and writing the candidate has undertaken ...
begins to be presented in the contents pages, for the reader (examiner) to
recognize, and accept or reject as a valid contribution to a research culture.
The overall shape of theses and dissertations
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