What Are the Differences And Similarities Between A Thesis And A Dissertation?

Each graduate or post-graduate student must have to write either a thesis or a dissertation. This is the most effective and detailed activity. Most students have to face this activity in their last semester where they have to select a topic and research for the same. The topic that they have to select should be in support of the specialisation they had selected. College and university students have to select their specific specialisation at the start of their graduate or post-graduate program.

Improper procedures and techniques for writing a thesis or a dissertation is not something new in the academic careers of the students. There is no doubt that the thesis is a unique and genuine paper with deep research. However, you don’t have to defend the thesis as you have to do for the dissertation in front of dissertation committee members. A dissertation demands deep scrutiny of the work where students have to present their research work and gives some time to the committee to find out questions that they can’t understand or they want you to briefly explain certain concepts.

The main objective of the committee dissertation is to check the level of understanding and knowledge of the students about the research they have conducted throughout the process. The main part of the dissertation is the literature review and most likely students can get more of the question from the literature review part.

Dissertation Vs Thesis: What Exactly They Are?

A thesis writing is based on a research work that is critically written and analysed. It is widely used for the master’s program where the students have to research hard and show their abilities and knowledge about the specific subject.

On the other hand, a dissertation is something bigger and lengthier than a thesis and all other academic assignments that students complete on a routine basis. It is normally a requirement of the PhD program. A student can only earn his or her degree when complete and defend the dissertation successfully. Students have to conduct original and unique research that should result in 0% plagiarism throughout the document.

What Are Differences Between A Dissertation And A Thesis?

Here are few basic differences between a dissertation and a thesis that help you to understand the nature of both documents;

  • The first and the most basic difference between a thesis and a dissertation is that dissertation requires more time and dedication than a normal thesis research work. On the other hand, as we have already discussed a thesis is a master’s degree requirement and a dissertation is demanded a doctoral degree.
  • The nature of the thesis is only focused on research where it confirms that the researcher has good and enough knowledge to write an effective thesis. However, a dissertation is a whole new level of the thesis where your research work is considered as a contribution to the selected area of concern by providing various new ideas that are relevant and effective for the selected area of study.
  • A thesis is a work that is based on existing research. However, the main objective of dissertation writing is to present some new ideas that are relevant to the topic and defend them by using theoretical framework, logical evidence, facts, and figures to make the claims more authentic.
  • A thesis is normally short in length than a dissertation. A thesis is usually a 4000 to 5000 words document. However, a dissertation is much lengthier writing than a thesis where students have to provide background history and information on the selected topic. An academic dissertation consists of a proper proposal, literature review, and complete details of the topic. A dissertation can be 3 times lengthier than a thesis.

What is common between A Thesis And A Dissertation?

As there are differences, also there are some similarities between a thesis and a dissertation. Let’s see these similarities to get good know-how of requirements for both.

  • A thesis and a dissertation both are the final requirements of your graduate or a post-graduate program. Students must have to complete them and submit them on time to earn the respected degree.
  • Both of these tasks require a complete and sound knowledge of the selected topic. Students cannot write even a single word significantly if they don’t have complete knowledge of the topic.
  • Both of them demands a necessity of research questions to make things certain for the targeted audience.
  • It is necessary to have the winning writing skills for a thesis, a dissertation, and all other academic activities that are entirely based on writing.
  • Students have to conduct deep research for a thesis and a dissertation. However, the intensity of the research process can vary between both of them.
  • Students have to maintain ethical values when working on their thesis or a dissertation and specifically when researching for the topic.
  • There is no place for plagiarism neither for a thesis nor for a dissertation or any other academic assignment that is based on research and writing.
  • Both a thesis and a dissertation demands good analytical skills to analyse and examine the results and findings significantly.
  • Students have to critically proofread and edit their documents accordingly before the process of submission.

Advice For Students Who Are Writing Either A Thesis Or A Dissertation

It cannot be an easy process to write an academic thesis or a dissertation. Students have to give their all to write a research paper. However, there are few strategies and basic factors that can be helpful to craft a winning thesis or a dissertation for your program.

Select Relevantly The Best Topic

It is necessary to select a topic that is relevant to the selected specialisation of your program. For example, if you have selected a business management specialisation, make sure that you select a topic accordingly. Relevancy matters a lot when selecting a topic for your thesis or a dissertation. Students who fail to choose a subject based on their specialisation, usually face troubles during the research process and the process of writing as well.

Never Skip The Research Process

As we have discussed earlier that research is a key demand of every other academic task based on writing. You cannot write your academic assignments without conducting deep research on the selected topic. Students have to thoroughly research through many sources that are credible and relevant to the selected topic. However, students have to deeply search the sources to check the relevancy and reliability of the sources before selecting them to gather the information.

Students who give time to their research process never face hurdles or any kind of trouble during the process of writing. Deep research allows you to comprehend the subject and to get the best understanding of the key concepts. So, ensure that you conduct deep and relevant research before you start working on your thesis or a dissertation.

Be Conscious Of The Structure

The framework is the most significant factor to organise the information in the right way whether it’s a thesis or a dissertation. Your entire hard work and commitment will go in vain if you can’t manage to organise the information accordingly. The best practice is to understand the structure and the entire framework of your thesis or dissertation before you start the process of writing.

The prime objective of the framework is to keep students on track during the research process and the process of writing. Both thesis and dissertation are lengthy activities than all other academic assignments and there are chances that students might lose the track of relevancy. Therefore, ensure that you are aware of the framework in order to get the relevant and desired results.

Get A Good Hold On Writing Skills

Writing is a basic necessity of each student whether he or she is a school, college, or university student. Without this basic set of skills, students cannot meet the requirements of any type of task that is entirely based on writing.

When it comes to writing an academic thesis or a dissertation, writing skills become a basic demand. Because you cannot write such a lengthy document that contains ten thousand to fifteen thousand words without having a grip on writing skills.

Don’t Fall Into The Trap Of Plagiarism

Students, when trying writing without the help of professionals might end up with plagiarism results. University professors cannot tolerate plagiarism in thesis, dissertation, or any other type of academic writing. Students should follow the correct procedures of writing if want plagiarism-free results throughout writing a thesis, dissertation, or any other type of academic writing.

However, students might end up with plagiarism results even unintentionally. This is why I strongly advise students to get assistance from professional dissertation writers. They can surely help you to find and follow the right way to get rid of the plagiarism results in your academic dissertation.

Give A Proper Time To Proofreading

When you write thousands of words for a thesis or a dissertation, the probability of mistakes increases accordingly. Therefore, make sure that you check your paper in depth before moving towards the submission process. Proofreading is an essential process. This helps you to find out the basic grammar and spelling mistakes throughout the document. It further assists you to find the gaps in the literature that you might need to fill for a better understanding of the targeted audience. However, in the case of an academic dissertation, the only targeted audience would be your dissertation instructor. So, make sure that you leave any mistakes in your dissertation.