Do RA schools or individual committees ever put a minimum number of page requirements on dissertations? The unaccredited school I am looking at requires 150 pages, which I think is great but of course I could see quantity over quality....not interested in that debate though. Just wanted to know if this is a common practice to have a certain number of pages required. Thanks BrianH
I've seen both lower and upper limits stated, but usually in terms of words, rather than pages, and often in ranges, rather than absolutes. For instance, here are some British schools: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/edres/study/docprog/assessment.htm http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/ArtHistory/postgrad.htm http://www.bris.ac.uk/classics/pgrad/research.html http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/thrs/postgrad/pgres-deg.htm http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/phd-students/phd-students_home.htm http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/phd-students/phd-students_home.htm http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iwlri/html/degrees_available.htm Some guidelines, some maximums. Also depends on the particular discipline. A math proof can take literally weeks to write (and months to get "just right" -- or more), and may take half a page total space. A half dozen such proofs ... well, you get the picture.
I took a look at the Argosy (blech) dissertation guide. It states, "While there is no specific length requirement for the dissertation, it is expected that all dissertations be at least 100 to 150 pages." The ones I saw were at the higher end of the spectrum or longer.
150 to 300 pages is a common range for dissertations; however, some may be more or less depending on the discipline, topic, type of research design...etc. Here is a link that examines a cross section of dissertation data and compares the average number of pages by school. http://www.newknowledge.us/dissertation_compare/dissertation_comparisons.htm Tom
Single space, 6pt helvetica narrow, .2mm borders, 11inX17in paper..... Actually, double spaced, US letter size, 1 inch margins top, bottom, & right, with 1-1/2 inch on the left for binding..... Oh, it was one o'dem rhetorical things!!!!!
