What is the difference between dissertation and thesis

The main difference between a thesis and dissertation is the level at which you complete them. Your educational journey has prepared you with the right time management skills and writing skills to make this feat achievable!

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Academic Leadership. Academic Experience. UoPeople Difference. Online Learning at UoPeople. Global Network. Career Development. Life After Graduation. Student Life. Program Advising. A doctoral thesis is a focused piece of original research which is performed in order to obtain a PhD.

A dissertation is part of a broader post-graduate research project. Related: Hi there! Finished writing your thesis? However, the thesis has evolved since original research nowadays requires plenty of background research. So, a thesis will contain extensive citations and references to earlier work, although the focus remains on the original work that comes out of it. In the United States, the definition of a thesis is almost the opposite of that in Europe. Because a thesis is shorter than a dissertation it gradually came to mean a preliminary degree on the way to a doctorate.

Needless to say, the dissertation vs. Therefore, using one term instead of another is not acceptable as an academic. One must remember the purpose of each and use them accordingly. However, one is not undermined by the other.

And does the term you usue actually impact on what you actually end up writing? As many of you will already know there are plenty of differences between different forms of English, such as British English and American English. Around the world different countries, that speak English as their first language, use the words dissertation and thesis differently. Generally, nations whose academic system are based on the British systems of university education use dissertation to refer to the body of work at the end of a undergraduate or masters level degree , and use the word thesis to refer to the body of work produced at the end of a PhD.

In countries and institutions that are based on the American system of education, the words tend to be used in reverse. However, institutions and even different departments in the same university can use the words differently.

Having printed and bound thousands of both, even we were confused, so decided to find out. Our first stops were a couple of popular English Dictionaries, which showed the following definitions:. So, for me, the jury is still out. We tried another source … and another … and another. But we already knew that, of course.