ABSTRACT
A dissertation or thesis is a research report. This book is designed to help students, and others who are inexperienced in preparing a dissertation or thesis, to overcome some of the main problems of format and style that frequently occur. The quality of the final printed version of a dissertation remains important. Positivistic research subscribes to the 'scientific method', which proceeds from the identification of a problem to the analysis of the problem, the formulation of hypotheses and the testing of those hypotheses, initially by deduction and subsequently by action. There are a variety of ways in which the products of a study or investigation can be prepared for presentations as a dissertation or thesis. The form in which the material is presented is the vehicle for the communication of ideas and information and, as such, should be recognised as a means rather than an end.
