Difference btween Thesis and dissertatation

In the U.S one does a thesis for a Master's degree and a dissertation for a doctorate. In the South Africa degrees it usually a dissertation for the Masters and a thesis for a doctorate. Is this just a word play? Is a thesis in South Africa really a dissertation? How long or short (in pages , not knowlege} can a dissertation be? Thanks for your response.

 

A dissertation is an academic paper written for statisfying Masters degree requirements. The dissertation, which is equivalent to a master's thesis, is an independent research project that focuses on a particular issue or subject. The length of a dissertation varies but on average a dissertation is 60-100 pages.

A thesis, on the other hand, is equivalent to a doctoral dissertation. The thesis must introduce new research to the reader (proving or disproving a hypothesis). A thesis will consist of 5+ chapters. The average length of a thesis is 80,000 words or 375 pages excluding refrences, appendices and table of contents.

It should be notes that both the dissertation and thesis must be defended before a panel of professors and topic experts.

 

Re: Re: Difference btween Thesis and dissertatation

In my experience it is exactly backwards, the thesis the for the master's and the dissertation for doctrates. The descitpions above, exactly backwards, but right on.

 

US/UK ?

Dissertation (US):
1. In the United States, a dissertation is a lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university; a thesis (Webster's New World Dictionary ).

Other definitions of dissertation
2. A formal or elaborate argumentative discourse, oral or written; a disquisition; an essay; a discussion; as, Dissertations on the Prophecies.

3. A treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research; usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree.

Thesis (UK):
A doctoral thesis in the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth countries is normally called a [doctoral] dissertation in the United States. A master's thesis in the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth countries is also called a [/b]master's thesis[/b] in the United States.

Ike Okonkwo, PhD.

 

Re: Re: Re: Difference btween Thesis and dissertatation

Yes you are right. In the United States it's dissertation for doctorates and thesis for master's degrees. In other countries (especially the British Commonwealth) it's PhD (doctoral) thesis for doctorates and master's thesis for master's degrees.

Ike Okonkwo, PhD

 

Re: Re: Re: Difference btween Thesis and dissertatation

If you look at the program requirements for most doctoral programs in SA, AZ and UK, you will see that a thesis is required, whereas the dissertation is used for Master's degrees. The opposite of what is used in North America.

 

I must cordially dissent from my distinguished colleague Roy Savia's comment about the legeth of a thesis /dissertation, which he cited as 375 pages exclusive of notes or citations.

Here in the States, the length of a disseration is often determined by the subject area or topic. Psychology dissertations tend to be short (well under 100 pges) because they ask an empirical question or use a survey or strument. THey involve the same degree of research, but do not require the same amount of text to report the results. Dissertations in the humanities or history will be much longer, as they do not necessarily ask one specific question. There is, of course, the old legend, of the doctoral math major who solved a problem that had been plaguing mathematicians for years - his dissertatuion was one page, but no one doubted that it made the required original contribution to the body of literature in his field.

There are also subtle differences in the nomenclature used by specific schools. I recall that a few years ago, I ran across a doctoral thesis written for the Ed.D. program at Harvard University. Likewise, in many professional doctorates here in the states (such as the D.Min.), these are simply referred to as "final projects," which may or may not take the form of a traditioanl thesis or dissertation. Also, many non-traditional graduate programs have their own jargon (e.g., Vermont College's "final product," Union's "Project Demonstrating Ecellence," etc. - which also may or may not take traditional form).

Hmmmmm . . . I can see a new form of academic cocksmanship - "My dissertation's longer than yours," etc.

 

I totally agree with Steve's explanation of thesis/dissertation lengths and how they can vary (depending on the subject or discipline). In North America, doctoral dissertation lengths do vary. In fact, I've heard of one that was only 50 pages in length - I believe it was written by a physics PhD student.

However, UK and South African universities like to play number games with their doctoral students. UNISA, for example, requires its students to submit a manuscript of no less than 80,000 words (or roughly 375 pages). If you look at some of the UK schools like Leeds, Leicester, Manchester or Bradford, PhD students are required to provide their dissertation supervisors with a project of consisting of more than 80K but less than 100K.

 

At UOVS, the document produced by doctoral students is referred to as a thesis. In correspondence with my advisor I have used the term dissertation without being corrected but perhaps she is simply displaying some kindness (after all, she rips up everything else I write [just joking Boss] ) I am unaware of any specific requirement regarding length (easy does it, Steve) but I can assure everyone that this guy's thesis will be LLOOOONNGG because every single little thing must be painstakingly researched and documented (and who would have it any other way?) Right now, I'm thinking 400 pages.
Jack

 

Re: Re: Difference btween Thesis and dissertatation

But don't they also drive on the wrong side of the road?

 

UK thesis/dissertation

In the UK a doctorate submission is a THESIS - usually approximately 80,000 words in length excluding appendices, references, etc. Oxford may ask for 100,000 words. Professional doctorates usually require a shorter thesis of approximately 40,000-50,000 words plus course work assignments of approximately 5,000 words x 10 or 12 assignments.

A taught master's degree usdually includes a dissertation of anything from 10,000-20,000 words depending o how many credit units the submission is worth.

Research degrees at the master's level usually require a submission of a research document (after 2-3 years full-time study) of between 45,000-60,000 words and then, usually, this is also termed a research master's thesis rather than a dissertation.

AJJ

 

Re: UK thesis/dissertation

I agree with the above statements.

Ike

 

I Have seen "doctoral theses" requirements at foreign universities that include minimum length. There typically is no such length requirement at U.S. universities. The predominant term to designate the terminal acamenic requirement for a doctorate in the United States is "dissertation", although many people do call them "doctoral thesis". I have never seen a reference to a "masters dissertation" for an U.S. institution, but I am perfectly prepared to believe that this term is used by non-U.S. universities. After all, in England, if you receive a Bachelor of Medicine, you are referred to as "Doctor" but if you go on to complete a doctor of Medicine, you are referred to as "Mister".

A couple of years ago, I was attending a conference at a major doctoral granting university in the west and decided to look at the length of its dissertations (I was curious after having read some postings on Degreeinfo about dissertation length). There were over 1500 dissertations on the shelves. The shortest one, an experimental quantitative study--physics, if I recall correctly--was right around 100 pages total. The largest one (a qualitative comprehensive historical account of a college) ran well over 800 pages. The average dissertation length appeared to be in the area of 150-250 pages.

For what it's worth.

Tony Piña
Faculty, California State U. San Bernardino

 

Not quite right

Anthony is not quite right about the MD degree in the UK. Medical doctors come out of university with the Bachelor of Medicine (MB or BM) and Bachelor of Surgery (ChB) degrees and are then called 'doctor'. If they decide to go on and do a doctorate degree (PhD or MD) they will continue to be called 'doctor'. Only surgeons revert to being called 'Mister, Mrs, Ms' even if they have a PhD or MD degree! Consultant physicians remain 'Doctor'! Probably the only time a consultant surgeon would drop the 'Mister, Mrs, Miss' title would be if they became a university professor in a teaching hospital. Quirk of the British system - a left over from when surgeons were seen as the superior practitioner and, I guess, that remains so today to some extent.

AJJ

 

I stand corrected

Tony

 

A bit of a different topic - What schools / degrees require a disseration /thesis in a master's program. I was surprised how much it hurt me that I didn't have one completed when I began applying to a doctorate program. Thoughts?

 

To create this list would be quite a dauting tasks, since it is typically the academic department, rather than the school that decides whether a thesis, project, comprehensive evaluation, etc. is required for the masters. It is quite common for one department in a school to require a thesis, while another in the same school does not.

Case in point is where I teach (Cal State San Bernardino). For the MA degree in education-instructional technology, students have one of three options:

1. A research thesis
2. An instructional development project
3. An instructional improvement project

An example of #2 is one that I recently chaired where the candidate used the instructional systems design model to create an online course to train student tutors that is currently being used in a California community college. An example of the #3 is the implementation of an improved process for technology staff development at a school district.

I also teach online courses for the MA program in instructional technology at La Sierra University, which requires an applied project, but students can opt to do a research thesis if they wish.

Those who know that they will be going on to a doctorate would do well to consider taking the effort to do a thesis. I did a development project for my masters and, like Kristie, often wish that I had done a thesis instead.

Tony Pina
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

I agree with the North American views stated in this thread, but then again, I'm North American

I do get a different feel for the terms thesis and dissertation though.

To me, a thesis (at the masters level) is generally a project which requires the candidate to demonstrate some knowledge or understanding within a field.

A dissertation on the other hand, for a PhD though not neccessarily other doctorates, is more a project which is supposed to include a thesis, conduct research prooving or disprooving that thesis, and then use the results of that research to contribute to the body of knowledge in that field.

Because of the research basis of a dissertation, it is more likely to be published in journals, and generally requires a much more guided path to completion. The dissertation must be approved at several phases beyond the initial thesis, and the final result defended to the institution. One of the main goals of the dissertation is to introduce the student into the world of contributing knowledge and peer review which is part of most fields that have PhDs. Of course, much of this is all school dependant.

Do the descriptions above hold true for theses/dissertations in UK schools?

Daniel

 

Doing this to death?!?

Of course, everyone has the right to state what s/he thinks, feels, etc. Looking at what has already been stated I think we have done this topic to death and there is little more to be stated! The terms used are a cultural difference thing!

That's my view, thesis and disseration and project on the subject! Or, perhaps it was a class assignment!

AJJ

 

I recall reading someplace that John Nash's ("A Beautiful Mind") dissertation for his Princeton Ph.D. was 27 pages long. It was on Game Theory.