All graduate students will encounter the words thesis or dissertation at one point in their studies. We know that it’s an important piece of paper that you will need to complete and submit in order to graduate. However, you might be asking, what is the difference between dissertation and thesis?’
The short answer is that a thesis is a scholarly writing piece that’s needed for a master’s degree, while a dissertation is for those who are looking to get a doctoral degree. There are differences in length, type of research, and presentation.
What is a Dissertation?
Students who are studying to get a Ph.D. will need to submit and present a dissertation at the culmination of their degree programs.
In basic terms, a dissertation is a kind of report or written work that contains original research regarding a subject. Doctoral students can choose the field of study they want to expand upon, and a dissertation is a perfect way to do so.
Dissertations are largely considered as the final project, and as such the student will be doing their own research, writing, drafting, and editing all throughout the process. Aside from having basic writing skills, students will need to do their own research (and therefore are the authors in the piece) that begins with a hypothesis that’s proven throughout the paper.
The written work must defend an argument and should have about 200 to 300 pages in length. It’s worthy to note that as with other school projects, a dissertation will have a deadline, and you will need to complete an oral report as part of the requirement.
An oral presentation is given to a panel of members of the faculty in order to prove that the student is well-versed and knowledgeable about their chosen field of study. Because the report is several hundred pages long it can take several hours for the presentation to run its course.
What is a Thesis?
Students who are studying to get a master’s degree will need to submit and present a thesis at the culmination of their scholastic journey, of course, if they are intended to write them without any help, otherwise is top find a top writing helper on Legitimateessaywriting.
A thesis is a type of written work that expands and analyzes already existing research. This is to prove to the panel of faculty members that they have a thorough understanding of the subject matter by going through an oral presentation and an interview or Q&A afterward.
Theses are also the final projects in a master’s program, with the student being tasked with writing and doing their own research. You will need to have basic research skills, writing skills, and editing, as well as proofreading.
The work must analyze existing research and expound upon it as necessary. A typical length is somewhere around a hundred pages, and it will have a deadline as well. An oral presentation is a significant part of the project. Because it’s shorter, a typical thesis session takes about an hour or so.
Dissertation vs Thesis: Similarities and Differences
Both dissertation and thesis are required to graduate, albeit from different educational courses. A thesis is mainly used in master’s degrees while a dissertation is mainly used in doctoral degrees.
Length is also a determining factor- to write a complete dissertation, the student will need two to three hundred pages’ worth of research, hypothesis, and analysis, while for a thesis the student will need about a hundred or so pages’ worth of research and analysis. It can be said that a dissertation is more complicated than a thesis, but the length is mainly due to the technicalities and the diversity in his or her chosen field of study.
A thesis only requires the student to look at existing research and content, while a dissertation requires an original idea that’s based on research. Length of presentation is also different as it takes longer to present a dissertation report orally compared to a thesis.
Both dissertation and thesis require original work- there’s no plagiarization allowed, but some editing, proofreading, and checking can be done by another person before submitting it to the faculty. Once given, both academic projects will have a deadline, to which an oral presentation and a Q&A will be held shortly days after. Lastly, both are equally important as students will need to submit them and be able to defend their papers in order to graduate.