Dissertations and Theses: About Dissertations

An ETD is an electronic or digital copy of a thesis or dissertation.

An IR, or institutional repository, is a digital space for collecting, preserving and disseminiating the intellectual output of an institution. Many universities include dissertations and theses in their institutional repositories.

Dissertations contain recent research that may not yet be published; reviewing dissertations can be helpful when preparing for your own dissertation.

The literature review chapter of a dissertation attempts to cover all of the relevant literature on a topic. Use that and the references to discover sources.

Review the methodology chapter of a dissertation that used a methodology you're interested in using for your own research. Measurements used in the dissertation will be described in this chapter and a copy of the measurement tool should appear in the appendix.

Recommendations for future research are contained in the last chapter of a dissertation. This is where the author makes recommendations based on existing gaps in the literature. To help focus your research question review the recommendations for future research in a dissertation written on your topic.