SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: THESIS vs DISSERTATION
Students reaching the end of their academic years are usually asked to submit a unique piece of work that illustrates their knowledge and will to look for knowledge along with the demonstration of expertise necessary to conceive such a piece. It can be a thesis dissertation.
It is commonly believed that the two i.e. Thesis and Dissertation are more or less the same which is preposterously wrong and can get a student in serious trouble if he/she doesn’t acknowledge the differences and acts accordingly.
THESIS
In the USA “a thesis” is needed for either diploma, undergraduate, or Master’s degree, whereas a “dissertation” is required to be written at the Ph.D. level.
DISSERTATION
In the UK, “a dissertation” is needed for either diploma, undergraduate, or Master’s degree, whereas “thesis” is needed for a degree award of MPhil/Ph.D.
LENGTH
A thesis is much shorter usually ranging up to 100 pages which are subject to change at the will of the University/Institution or the academic requirements.
Being more detailed that a thesis a dissertation ranges from 250-300 pages which is subject to change at the will of the University/Institution or the academic
DATA
In a thesis, the information used is the information that has been collected by someone already. The data composed in a thesis is based on the hypothetical analysis of contents
In a dissertation, you have to conduct thorough research and come up with information of your own. A dissertation is composed of theory and argumentation based on original research.
TIME MANAGEMENT
A thesis being shorter in length and requiring less amount of research and study requires considerably less amount of time and usually, students are tasked with a thesis when less time is available.
A dissertation being the longer and more detailed version with all the research and writing process is what requires a tremendous amount of time and this is why it is tasked when there is sufficient time available.
OBJECTIVITY
In a thesis, you have an objective and a point to prove and all your efforts are directed towards proving it failing which one can fail the thesis itself.
In a dissertation, you have to focus on everything, and in some instances if you are unable to prove everything about your research proposal you have to accept and defend the limitations of your research process.
A thesis is more like an extended-term paper or a research paper. A thesis is the mere hypothetical analysis of the data available already.
A dissertation is more like a book and it’s usually more published worthy too. A dissertation is a combination of original research and established theories.
After all these differences between thesis and dissertation, there is no way we can say that the two terms are synonymous as is a general perception and it is obvious that the two terms being different from each other represent a different kind of work altogether. If the two are classified Dissertation will definitely stand higher than the thesis due to its broader and original nature.