If you're in a rush, break down the acknowledgments section into 3 main paragraphs. Try and answer the questions (in bullet points) under each paragraph. We have suggested the proportion of words to be written for each paragraph. Having examined hundreds of theses at the undergraduate and master's level, we find that the word count for an acknowledgments section is typically between 100-200 words. However, if your university has given you a suggested word count, use that.
What did you learn through the thesis process?
For example:
Time management.
Critical analysis.
Bridging theory and practice.
Dealing with people and/or organizations.
Research techniques (e.g., broad versus focused research, critical literature review, collecting data, analysis, writing up, etc.).
How to work independently (long time frame).
How to 'sell? something you were interested in to academics, research participants, and/or organizations.
What challenges did you face?
For example:
Time pressures (meeting deadlines, dealing with overruns, balancing workload).
Getting access (to organizations and/or people).
Learning new skills / techniques (e.g., software packages, statistics analysis, content analysis).
New process (not like any essay, so no experience; not knowing where to start).
Financial pressures (e.g., limited budget to collect data; travel, transcription, data entry, etc.).
How did you overcome these challenges?
For example:
Focused on securing access to the research organizations and/or research participants early in the dissertation process.
Narrowed down research aims early on; set achievable research questions/objectives; avoided the danger of taking on something too broad.
Wrote up chapter-by-chapter as the research progressed rather than writing up all at once when the data was collected and analysed.
Sought academic and technical advice and support from experts whenever needed; didn't ?hide in a shell?.
Who helped you with your thesis?
For example:
Supervisor and/or tutor
Other academics
Research participants
Friends and family
An organisation
Financial sponsors
God
How did they help you?
For example:
Read over drafts
Provided you with materials
Made suggestions
Challenged your ideas
Provided technical guidance
Gave moral support
Do you accept responsibility for all the ideas in the thesis and have you properly credited others through sound referencing?
Is there anyone you want to dedicate the thesis to?
If you find that you have more time to spend on your Acknowledgements section, you can access our more comprehensive guide here.