Dissertation versus thesis
A thesis and a dissertation are two different words that highly confuse most people. Some use them interchangeably because they are unable to differentiate them. Although the two have a few similarities, the differences are more dominant. The major similarity between a dissertation and a thesis is the format. Both of them start with the introduction followed by literature review, body, conclusion, bibliography and finally the appendix.
While a dissertation is written by students who are undertaking doctoral studies, a thesis is created by master’s students. Dissertations involve coming up with new practices, theories, and concepts that will contribute to the field of study. While thesis papers are just like research papers that are written during undergraduate. They contain researched information. The writer uses researched information to relate and explain the subject at hand.
The thesis papers are smaller in size. They are mostly made of 100 pages or slightly more. A dissertation is much longer. It doubles or triples the number of pages contained in a thesis. While a thesis mainly contains researched information, most of the information in a dissertation is attributed to the writer.
A thesis tests what you learned during the entire master’s study, while a dissertation seeks for what you can contribute in that field of study. Dissertations contain background information, research information, the argument and how the writer supports their point of view. A thesis is made of researched information and an intense analysis of the information, together with comments. The thesis statements mostly test a person’s ability to think critically.
Students need to defend their work irrespective of whether it is a thesis or a dissertation. It is one of the requirements before one is allowed to graduate. Students choose the topics for themselves and expound on them. A dissertation is more complicated compared to a thesis paper. In a thesis, you have to include a thesis statement while a dissertation must have a hypothesis. A thesis statement is a statement that explains what argument the writer supports. It tells more about their point of view. A hypothesis highlights the expectation at the end of the paper.
In both cases, the writer has to avoid plagiarism as it can lead to serious consequences such as expulsion. A thesis paper is based on original research while a dissertation has already existing information. Homework help – Writers should avoid copying. In case they quote another person directly they should attribute the work to them.

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