W H AT I S T H E D I F F E R E N C E

BETWEEN A THESIS AND A

D I S S E R TAT I O N ?
APRIL 28, 2021 | STAFF WRITERS

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If you’re in a graduate program or are thinking about continuing your

education after you obtain your bachelor’s degree, you might be
wondering what the di몭erence between a thesis and dissertation is.
While they are similar in some ways, there are a few di몭erences that set
them apart from one another.

Similarities

Before researching the di몭erence between a thesis and dissertation, you

should understand that they are very similar. In fact, the two terms are
often used interchangeably. Both theses and dissertations are papers
that are assigned to graduate students. Since they are fairly extensive
papers, you’ll be given a large window of time to do whichever type of
paper you are assigned. It will be due at the end of your last year of
study. In order to get your degree, you’ll have to get a passing grade on
your project. The good news is that while it won’t be a group project,
you’ll still be able to get some help from advisers and peers. With many
people to help you along the way, passing your thesis or dissertation
should be very attainable. If you do end up failing the 몭rst time around,
many schools will let you resubmit it after you do more work to meet
the requirements.

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Type of Degree

According to the United State Census Bureau, over one in ten individuals
in the United States have a master’s degree or have obtained even
higher education, but less than two percent of individuals have obtained
a doctorate degree. One di몭erence between a thesis and dissertation is
that theses are usually required for a master’s degree and dissertations
are usually required for doctorate degrees; however, this isn’t always
true. Some master’s degree programs don’t require a thesis or
dissertation at all. These programs usually have two separate paths that
students can take: a thesis option and a non-thesis option. A student
who eventually wants to get a doctorate degree is usually encouraged to
take the thesis option to prepare himself or herself for the dissertation
that he or she will have to write as a doctorate student.

Purpose

Perhaps the biggest di몭erence between a thesis and dissertation is the

intended purpose. A thesis, commonly required to obtain a master’s
degree, is supposed to test a student’s understanding of his or her 몭eld
of study. The student formulates a proposition, or thesis, based on
previous work done by others in the 몭eld. This previous work is analyzed
by the student in his or her paper as he or she makes a case for a
certain point of view. A dissertation is usually done by a doctorate
student and focuses on original research. A student who is assigned a
dissertation is required to come up with a subject in his or her 몭eld that
hasn’t already been researched. The student then must come up with a
hypothesis and do original research to prove or disprove the hypothesis.

Whether you’re already a graduate student or are just trying to prepare

as much as possible, it’s always good to do research whenever you have
questions about your education. The di몭erence between a thesis and
dissertation might not seem very big, but you’ll need to know how they
di몭er before you start working on either of them.

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