A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification. [1] The word "thesis" comes from the Greek θέσις, meaning "position", and refers to an intellectual proposition. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly An intellectual (from the adjective meaning "involving thought and reason" is a person who tries to use his or her Intelligence and analytical thinking, In Logic and Philosophy, proposition refers to either (a the content or Meaning of a meaningful Declarative sentence "Dissertation" comes from the Latin dissertātiō, meaning "discourse. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. "
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Nature of a dissertation
The dissertation or thesis is normally the culmination of a candidate's research; submission of the thesis represents the completion of the final requirement for the degree being pursued. In certain faculties (such as fine or performance arts), the thesis may be in the form of an artistic performance, a written work (of music, or of fiction, for example), or a painting or other artistic production. Fine art is any Art form developed primarily for Aesthetics rather than Utility. This article is about Performance art For other uses see Performance (disambiguation Such a work is often termed a "creative thesis. "
The length of the thesis will vary depending on the specific degree. Thesis submitted as part of the requirements for an undergraduate degree are usually much shorter than those submitted as part of a PhD. (or other research-oriented doctorate, such as the Eng.D.). "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement The Engineering Doctorate scheme is a British postgraduate education programme promoted by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Length may be calculated in number of words, number of pages, or, when the thesis is written in a character-based language (such as Chinese or Japanese), number of characters. A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities
Thesis are most often written in the main language of instruction at the university granting the degree, but students of languages and linguistics, or those undertaking research in foreign languages, are sometimes permitted to submit the thesis in the language studied. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields In some countries it is a requirement to include at least some material in an international academic language; originally Latin and at one time French or German, this nowadays almost always means English. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In places where English is the predominant language of academic work, especially in the sciences, for example in the Netherlands or Scandinavia, an entire thesis may be submitted in English. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well
Presentation style
A typical thesis has a title page, an abstract, a table of contents and a bibliography. The title page or (which is no longer synonymous with frontispiece in modern usage of a Book, Thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front An abstract is a brief summary of a research article Thesis, review conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline A table of contents usually headed simply "Contents" is a list of the parts of a book or Document (including Acts of Parliaments) organized in the order Bibliography (from Greek grc βιβλιογραφία bibliographia, literally "book writing" as a practice is the academic study of Books Other components might include an introduction, materials and methods (in the case of scientific or technical thesis), results, discussion, acknowledgments, a dedication, indices and appendices, glossaries, lists of tables, images or figures, lists of abbreviations, and so on.
Style guides
Degree-awarding institutions often define their own house style that candidates have to follow when preparing a thesis document. A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for design and writing of documents either for general use or for a specific publication or organization In addition to institution-specific house styles, there exist a number of field-specific, national, and international standards and recommendations for the presentation of theses, for instance ISO 7144[1]. Other applicable international standards include ISO 2145 on section numbers, ISO 690 on bibliographic references, and ISO 31 on quantities and units. International standard ISO 2145 defines a typographic convention for the "numbering of divisions and subdivisions in written documents" ISO 690 is an ISO standard for bibliographic referencing in Documents of all sorts International Standard ISO 31 ( Quantities and units International Organization for Standardization, 1992 is the most widely respected style guide for the
Some older house styles specify that front matter (title page, abstract, table of content, etc. Book design is the art of incorporating the content style, format, Design, and sequence of the various components of a Book into a coherent ) uses a separate page-number sequence from the main text, using Roman numerals. Roman numerals are a Numeral system originating in ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals. The relevant international standard[1] and many newer style guides recognize that this book design practice can cause confusion where electronic document viewers number all pages of a document continuously from the first page, independent of any printed page numbers. Book design is the art of incorporating the content style, format, Design, and sequence of the various components of a Book into a coherent They therefore avoid the traditional separate number sequence for front matter and require a single sequence of Arabic numbers starting with 1 for the first printed page (the verso of the title page). The arabic numerals (often capitalized are the ten Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 which—along with the system
Presentation requirements, including pagination, layout, type and color of paper, use of acid-free paper (where a copy of the dissertation will become a permanent part of the library collection), paper size, order of components, and citation style, will be checked page by page by the accepting officer before the thesis is accepted and a receipt is issued. Acid-free paper is Paper that has a neutral or basic PH (7 or slightly greater There have been many standard sizes of Paper at different times and in different countries but today there are two widespread systems in use the international standard (A4 Theses which are incomplete or incorrectly formatted may not be accepted.
However, such strict standards are not always required. Most Italian universities, for example, have only general requirements on the character size and the page formatting, and leave much freedom on the actual typographic details. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest
Thesis committee
A thesis or dissertation committee is a committee that supervises a student's dissertation. This committee, consisting of a primary supervisor or advisor and two or more committee members, supervises the progress of the dissertation and may also act as the examining committee, or jury, at the oral examination of the thesis (see below).
The committee is chosen by the student in conjunction with his or her primary advisor, usually after completion of the comprehensive examinations, and may consist of members of the comps committee. The committee members are doctors in their field (whether a PhD or other designation) and have the task of reading the dissertation, making suggestions for changes and improvements, and sitting in on the defense. Usually, at least one member of the committee must be a professor in a department that is different from that of the student.
Regional and degree-specific practices and terminologies
Canada
At English-speaking Canadian universities, writings presented in fulfillment of undergraduate coursework requirements are normally called papers, term papers or essays. In Canada, the constitutional responsibility for Higher education, including Universities, rests with the Provinces and territories of Canada. In some Educational systems undergraduate education is Post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelor's degree. A long paper presented for completion of an honours degree is sometimes called a major paper, or, more rarely, an undergraduate thesis or honours thesis. Major papers presented as the final project for a masters degree are normally called theses; and major papers presenting the student's research towards a doctoral degree are called theses or dissertations. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement
At some Canadian universities where French is a primary language of study[2], students may have a choice between presenting a "mémoire"' which is a shorter synthetic work (roughly 75 pages) and a thèse which is one hundred pages or more. A synthetic monograph associated with doctoral work is referred to as a "thèse". Either work can be awarded a "mention d'honneur" (excellence) as a result of the decision by the examination committee, although these are rare.
A typical undergraduate thesis might be forty pages. Masters theses are approximately one hundred pages. PhD theses are usually over two hundred pages.
France
In France, the academic dissertation or thesis is called a thèse while the word dissertation is reserved for shorter (1,000-2,000 words), more generic exercises of logical demonstration. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.
UK
At universities in the United Kingdom, the term thesis is usually associated with PhD/EngD (doctoral) and research Master's degrees, whilst dissertation is the more common term for a substantial project submitted as part of a taught Master's degree or an undergraduate degree (e. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. The Engineering Doctorate scheme is a British postgraduate education programme promoted by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement g. BA, BSc or BEd). A Bachelor of Science ( BS, BSc or BSc in the UK; less commonly S A Bachelor of Education ( BEd) is an undergraduate Academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a Teacher in Schools.
Individual departments and faculties set thesis word lengths. Theses in the humanities and social sciences are typically 80,000-100,000 words, with theses in the sciences being roughly half that length. The length of an undergraduate or Master's dissertation varies considerably, but is almost always between 10,000 and 30,000 words.
US
In some United States doctoral programs, the term "dissertation" can refer to the major part of the student's total time spent (along with two or three years of classes), and may take years of full-time work to complete. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the At most universities, dissertation is the term for the required submission for the doctorate and thesis refers only to the master's degree requirement.
Thesis examinations
One of the requirements for certain advanced degrees is often an oral examination. This examination normally occurs after the dissertation is finished but before it is submitted to the university, and may comprise a presentation by the student and questions posed by an examining committee or jury. A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's Research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature In North America, this examination is known as a thesis or dissertation defense, while in England and other English-speaking countries it is called a viva voce.
Examination results
The result of the examination may be given immediately following deliberation by the examiners (in which case the candidate may immediately be considered to have received his or her degree), or at a later date, in which case the examiners may prepare a defense report that is forwarded to a Board or Committee of Postgraduate Studies, which then officially recommends the candidate for the degree.
Potential decisions (or "verdicts") include:
- Accepted / pass with no corrections.
- The thesis is accepted as presented. A grade may be awarded, though in many countries PhDs are not graded at all, and in others only one of the theoretically possible grades (the highest) is ever used in practice.
- The thesis must be revised.
- Revisions (for example, correction of numerous grammatical or spelling errors; clarification of concepts or methodology; addition of sections) are required. One or more members of the jury and/or the thesis supervisor will make the decision on the acceptability of revisions and provide written confirmation that they have been satisfactorily completed. If, as is often the case, the needed revisions are relatively modest the examiners may all sign the thesis with the verbal understanding that the candidate will review the revised thesis with his or her supervisor before submitting the completed dissertation.
- Extensive revision required.
- The thesis must be revised extensively and undergo the evaluation and defense process again from the beginning with the same examiners. Problems may include theoretical or methodological issues. A candidate who is not recommended for the degree after the second defense must normally withdraw from the program.
- Unacceptable
- The thesis is unacceptable and the candidate must withdraw from the program.
- This verdict is given only when the thesis requires major revisions and when the examination makes it clear that the candidate is incapable of making such revisions.
At most North American institutions the latter two verdicts are extremely rare, for two reasons. First, to obtain the status of doctoral candidates, graduate students typically write a qualifying examination or comprehensive examination, which often includes an oral defense. Students who pass the qualifying examination are deemed capable of completing scholarly work independently and are allowed to proceed with working on a dissertation. Second, since the thesis supervisor (and the other members of the advisory committee) will normally have reviewed the thesis extensively before recommending the student proceed to the defense, and therefore such an outcome would be regarded as a major failure not only on the part of the candidate but also by the candidate's supervisor (who should have recognized the substandard quality of the dissertation long before the defense was allowed to take place). It is also fairly rare for a thesis to be accepted without any revisions; the most common outcome of a defense is for the examiners to specify minor revisions (which the candidate typically completes in a few days or weeks).
On the other hand, at universities on the British pattern it is not uncommon for theses to be failed at the viva stage, in which case either a major re-write is required, followed by a new viva, or the thesis may be awarded the lesser degree of M. Phil (Master of Philosophy) instead, preventing the candidate from resubmitting the thesis. In the usage of India, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and some other countries the Master
Australia
In Australia, doctoral theses are examined without a live defense, except in extremely rare exceptions, usually by three examiners, two in the case of a Masters by research. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Typically, although this is not a requirement, one of these examiners will be from within the candidate's own department; the others will usually be from other universities and often from overseas. Following submission of the thesis, copies are sent by mail to examiners and then reports sent back to the institution.
North America
In North America, the thesis defense or oral defense is the final examination for doctoral candidates, and sometimes for masters candidates. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement
The examining committee normally consists of the thesis committee, usually a given number of professors mainly from the student's university plus his or her primary supervisor, an external examiner (someone not otherwise connected to the university), and a chair person. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects The external examiner plays an important role in all degree level Examinations in higher education in the United Kingdom. Each committee member will have been given a completed copy of the dissertation prior to the defense, and will come prepared to ask questions about the thesis itself and the subject matter. In many schools masters thesis defenses are restricted to the examinee and the examiners, but doctoral defenses are open to the public.
The typical format will see the candidate giving a short (20-40 minute) presentation of his or her research, followed by one to two hours of questions.
At some US institutions a longer public lecture (known as a "thesis talk" or "thesis seminar") by the candidate will precede the defense itself, in which case only the candidate, the examiners, and other members of the faculty may attend the actual defense.
UK and Hong Kong
In the UK, Ireland and Hong Kong the thesis defense is called a viva voce, (Latin for "by live voice") examination (viva for short). Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Involved in the viva are two examiners and the candidate. One examiner is an academic from the candidate's own university department (not any of the candidate's supervisors) and the other is an external examiner from a different university. A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects The external examiner plays an important role in all degree level Examinations in higher education in the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, there are only two or at most three examiners, and the examination is in many universities strictly in private — however, in the University of Oxford, at least, in theory any member of the University may attend a DPhil viva (the University's regulations require that details of the examination and its time and place be published formally in advance) provided he or she attends in full academic dress, but this rarely if ever happens nowadays[3]—. Also, in the UK, the candidate's primary supervisor is not permitted to ask questions during the viva, and their presence is not necessary.
Submission of the thesis
Submission of the thesis is the last formal requirement for most students before the defense. By the final deadline, the student must submit a complete copy of the thesis to the appropriate body within the accepting institution, along with the appropriate forms, bearing the signatures of the primary supervisor, the examiners, and, in some cases, the head of the student's department. Other required forms may include library authorizations (giving the university library permission to make the thesis available as part of its collection) and copyright permissions (in the event that the student has incorporated copyrighted materials in the thesis). Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for
Failure to submit the thesis by the deadline may result in graduation (and granting of the degree) being delayed. At most US institutions, there will also be various fees (for binding, microfilming, copyright registration, and the like) which must be paid before the degree will be granted.
Once all the paperwork is in order, copies of the thesis may be made available in one or more university libraries. A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution Specialist abstracting services exist to publicise the content of theses beyond the institutions in which they are produced.
References
- ^ a b c International Standard ISO 7144: Documentation — Presentation of theses and similar documents, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1986.
- ^ Carleton University - Canada's Capital University
- ^ Oxford University Examination Regulations, 2007
See also
- Graduate student
- Comprehensive examination
- Dissertation article at LISWiki, a Library and information science wiki
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