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The words ‘ dissertation ’ and ‘thesis’ both refer to a large written research project undertaken to complete a degree, but they are used differently depending on the country:
The main difference is in terms of scale – a dissertation is usually much longer than the other essays you complete during your degree.
Another key difference is that you are given much more independence when working on a dissertation. You choose your own dissertation topic , and you have to conduct the research and write the dissertation yourself (with some assistance from your supervisor).
Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:
However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.
At the bachelor’s and master’s levels, the dissertation is usually the main focus of your final year. You might work on it (alongside other classes) for the entirety of the final year, or for the last six months. This includes formulating an idea, doing the research, and writing up.
A PhD thesis takes a longer time, as the thesis is the main focus of the degree. A PhD thesis might be being formulated and worked on for the whole four years of the degree program. The writing process alone can take around 18 months.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05). What Is a Dissertation? | 5 Essential Questions to Get Started. Scribbr. Retrieved 22 July 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/what-is-a-dissertation/
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Erin Marie Furtak has found that asking herself three questions has helped her transition not just out of the academic year but also back into the fall term.
By Erin Marie Furtak
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I began the summer after my first year as an assistant professor having written almost nothing. As the constraints of the semester fell away, a wide expanse of time stretched before me to catch up on everything I hadn’t done in the past months.
To get started, I wrote down all the projects I wanted to complete before the fall. It was a long, unsorted list, including papers I wanted to publish from my dissertation, analyses I was wrapping up from my postdoc and projects I hoped would help establish my trajectory as a new tenure-line faculty member.
A few days later, I handed the list to a graduate student I was working with. She took one look and laughed out loud, saying it was kind of “scary.” While I was initially taken aback by her candor, she was right—the list was a totally unrealistic vision for my summer writing.
Sixteen years later, I have found better ways to think about my summer writing practice. I’ve found that three questions help me transition not just out of the academic year, but also back into the fall term: Is my writing practice sustainable? Is it portable? And is it adaptable to different seasons of my life?
Sustainable. How many times have we told ourselves that we’ll catch up on writing during our next break? As the expanse of multiple weeks of less structured time opens before us, it’s easy to think—as I did—that we’ll be able to bang out manuscript after manuscript.
There is some truth to this. A sustained focus and uninterrupted time can help us develop new insights and ideas. At the same time, we can only maintain a deep focus for a few hours at a time , and we need breaks . So while summer can be a good time to experiment with writing in ways that allow us more time to think , we also need to consider regular writing practices and routines that we can sustain over time.
I will admit I wasn’t so sure about this until I learned about Robert Boice’s research : faculty members who write in regular sessions, rather than waiting for bigger chunks of time, produce more pages of writing and also have more new, creative ideas.
A sustainable writing practice is one that we’re able to keep up year-round, not just in the summer, and not just when we aren’t teaching (or taking classes). It’s writing in a way that makes us feel like we can return again and again, rather than burning out and needing long breaks or doing all the work in spurts in anticipation of periods of time when we are not writing.
Portable. During the summer, we may find ourselves with fewer demands on our time and in spaces that are not an ideal location for writing. We may be traveling, bringing kids and loved ones hither and yon, doing fieldwork, or experiencing other kinds personal and professional reasons to be away from our preferred places to write.
To have a writing practice that can survive such dynamic shifts, I’ve found it helpful to think about how my writing practice is portable—that is, something I can do in a variety of locations, some of which I am able to choose, and others which I am placed in by necessity.
The summertime also allows us the chance to be outside more, and these changes in scenery can stimulate our creativity. Anne Lamott, in her classic book Bird by Bird , suggested carrying around a note card and pencil to capture the ideas that come to us in the in-between spaces. My 21st-century version is to capture my ideas in the Notes app on my cellphone. These words, bullet points or sometimes whole sentences can then be copied and pasted into a document when I’m back at my computer.
Being prepared in advance helps. We can take simple actions like saving local copies of collaborative documents to edit when we’re out of Wi-Fi range, printing physical copies that can be reviewed and annotated during kids’ swimming lessons or downloading journal articles that can be read and annotated on the go. We can even benefit from changing up the places we write. For example, if it’s a nice day, is there a comfortable, shady spot near home or campus where you can write for an hour?
Viewing our writing practice as portable helps us expand from the notion that writing only happens at our desk, on our computer. It helps us capitalize on the ideas and advances we make in those in-between spaces—not only in the summer but also during the semester, when we’re traveling to conferences, commuting or being in other spaces beyond our office.
Adaptable. The previous two questions can help us think about how our writing practice can take place in a variety of venues, and in a way that leaves us with the energy and interest to return to writing the next day. That said, once we figure this out for the summer, what will it look like transitioning into the fall?
A challenge—or, as I think about it, a gift—of the academic calendar is that we have the opportunity to reset multiple times a year. Those changes give us a chance to identify routines that work for us and shift our writing around our classes, meetings and other set events with the beginning of each new semester or quarter.
Our routines also change as we move through different seasons of our lives. Early in my career, I learned that the morning was my best thinking time, and I loved to write over a cup of coffee after I’d walked the dog. But once my kids were born, that pattern morphed into writing the first chance I got, which often was when the kids were dropped off at day care, school or summer camp. Later, when I took a role as an administrator, and my attendance was required at meetings first thing in the morning, writing came much later in the day.
Over time, I’ve learned that my writing practice needs to be adaptable to different times of year—and to the different seasons of my life. I have had to identify the routines—or, as Michael Hyatt calls them, rituals —that help me get in and out of writing. I like to cue up a favorite playlist and then orient myself to where I left off in my writing. I use an app to turn off the internet and distracting websites on my computer and cellphone and use colored pens and a journal to help me think outside the space of a word processor. When I’m finished, I leave myself a note on what I was doing, so I can dig in quickly the next time I can write.
Thinking about how our writing is sustainable, portable and adaptable can help us identify what we need in order to get our writing done and how we are integrating breaks and rest. Rather than holding out to write only in the summer, or to catch up—such as with my “scary list”—they can help us focus on developing a writing practice that’s never totally done, but something more like yoga. It’s a practice that we’re always working on, and what’s most important is that summer, fall or spring, we continue to show up to the page.
Erin Marie Furtak is professor of STEM education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is writing a memoir about her journey through chronic migraine as a mother and professor.
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COMMENTS
Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal. Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter. Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review. Undertake your own research. Present and interpret your findings. Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications.
Most dissertations run a minimum of 100-200 pages, with some hitting 300 pages or more. When editing your dissertation, break it down chapter by chapter. Go beyond grammar and spelling to make sure you communicate clearly and efficiently. Identify repetitive areas and shore up weaknesses in your argument.
Writing a thesis in a month is undoubtedly a challenging endeavor, but with a structured plan and disciplined approach, it is entirely achievable. This guide has provided a comprehensive step-by-step framework to help you navigate through the complexities of thesis writing efficiently. By adhering to the outlined strategies, from topic ...
It can be helpful to think of your Masters dissertation as a series of closely interlinked essays, rather than one overwhelming paper. The size of this section will depend on the overall word count for your dissertation. However, to give you a rough idea for a 15,000-word dissertation, the discussion part will generally be about 12,000 words long.
Writing a thesis in a month is an ambitious yet achievable goal, provided one approaches it with a structured plan and disciplined mindset. This guide has outlined the essential steps, from initial topic selection to the final stages of revision, offering practical advice and strategies to streamline the process. By adhering to a clear timeline ...
Writing a masters dissertation or thesis is a sizable task. It takes a considerable amount of research, studying and writing. Usually, students need to write around 10,000 to 15,000 words. It is completely normal to find the idea of writing a masters thesis or dissertation slightly daunting, even for students who have written one before at ...
Embarking on a 30-day thesis writing challenge may seem daunting, but with the right strategies, it's entirely possible to complete your dissertation within a month. This article outlines proven techniques that can help you accelerate your thesis completion, manage your time effectively, enhance your writing skills, navigate the emotional ...
FIGURE 8. EndNote's Cite While You Write function. 2) Intermediate documents: the thesis/dissertation proposal and grant applications. Think of your thesis or dissertation proposal and any grant applications as being a big first step toward the first chapter of your final document: the introduction.
Barring unforeseen events, the normal time range for finishing a dissertation seems to be 13-19 months, which can be rounded to one to one and a half years. If you are proactive and efficient, you can usually be at the shorter end of the time range.
A Step-By-Step Guide to Write the Perfect Dissertation "A dissertation or a thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on comprehensive research." The significance of dissertation writing in the world of academia is unparalleled. A good dissertation paper needs months of research and marks the end of your respected academic journey.
Instead of inserting "work on thesis" into your calendar, insert measurable goals like "finish Figure 1" or "write two pages of Chapter 2.". 7. Write In Very Short Bursts. Writing in several short bursts is more efficient than writing in a few, long extended periods of time. If you ever tried to write for several hours in a row, you ...
The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter). The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes: An introduction to your topic. A literature review that surveys relevant sources.
Students have to write a dissertation during their Ph.D. course. But many realize its importance and complexity only when there is little time left and are u...
A dissertation is usually a long-term project to produce a long-form piece of writing; think of it a little like an extended, structured assignment. In some subjects (typically the sciences), it might be called a project instead. Work on an undergraduate dissertation is often spread out over the final year. For a masters dissertation, you'll ...
Time to recap…. And there you have it - the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows: Title page. Acknowledgments page. Abstract (or executive summary) Table of contents, list of figures and tables.
7. Targets and consistency. I set myself a target of 3 months, broken down into targets for each chapter. This would give me about 3 months in reserve before the final absolute deadline. I had a daily minimum target of 500 words, which I knew I could meet even on the least productive days.
A PhD thesis (or dissertation) is typically 60,000 to 120,000 words ( 100 to 300 pages in length) organised into chapters, divisions and subdivisions (with roughly 10,000 words per chapter) - from introduction (with clear aims and objectives) to conclusion. The structure of a dissertation will vary depending on discipline (humanities, social ...
This includes formulating an idea, doing the research, and writing up. A PhD thesis takes a longer time, as the thesis is the main focus of the degree. A PhD thesis might be being formulated and worked on for the whole four years of the degree program. The writing process alone can take around 18 months.
I would recommend that you do not write your dissertation in a month. It will likely be not very good, and even fewer people will read it. That being said, i...
So, if you've done with the research, and is just outstanding around 50-60 percent of the write-up, I believe 3 months is totally doable. For context, I'm in the humanities field so if you're in a profoundly different field, things may be different. 5.
I will admit I wasn't so sure about this until I learned about Robert Boice's research: faculty members who write in regular sessions, rather than waiting for bigger chunks of time, produce more pages of writing and also have more new, creative ideas.. A sustainable writing practice is one that we're able to keep up year-round, not just in the summer, and not just when we aren't ...