A thesis is an academic paper submitted in partial fulfillment of a Master’s Degree program. On the other hand, a Dissertation is mostly submitted for a Doctorate award. In some situations, though, both terms are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. Whereas Americans prefer to call it a ‘thesis”, the European academic institutions use the “dissertation” designation.
Thesis papers are almost similar to research papers submitted for undergraduate degrees, except that a higher level of subject masterly is required in the former. A thesis paper involves a thorough analysis of the topic and a critical appraisal of primary and secondary data within a particular study domain. Therefore, this papers attempts to showcase the ability of the author to discuss information in depth and think critically.
In a dissertation, scholars apply other people’s research only as a guide to inform and guide their inquiry. Secondary materials are merely used to inform or prove a unique theory, concept, or hypothesis formulated by the researcher.
Most importantly, a dissertation is a more complex paper compared to a thesis. It is usually longer because the researcher has to include detailed background information on the topic under study. It could be two to three times the length of a normal thesis project.
