The one of the highest form of dissertation is PhD dissertation. So it is necessary that it should be properly written without any error. Many students don’t even know how to write or start dissertation, on which their degree depends. Master’s degree is a professional degree, while PhD degree is usually attains to teach at university level.
Dissertation is submitted at the end of your academic career, at master’s and at PhD, and your whole study and observation is dependent on dissertation. Dissertation is also known as thesis, in some universities thesis and dissertation is treated separately. Thesis is one that is submitted at the end of master’s degree, while dissertation is submitted at the end of PhD.
"A PhD thesis will demonstrate, in the context of a substantial and original contribution, mastery of the subject of concern and well as a furthering of understanding in that field of knowledge, through the discovery of knowledge, the formulation of theories, or the innovative re-interpretation of known data and established ideas."
"A masters thesis must be a substantial work generally based on independent research which shows a sound knowledge of the subject of the research, evidence of the exercise of some independence of thought, and the ability of expression in clear and concise language."
There are number of differences between master’s and PhD dissertation which are as follows:
1. Master’s dissertation needs enough information and argument of the literature in the particular field of study; while in PhD dissertation the contribution of knowledge is important.
2. Master’s dissertation needs good style and presentation; while PhD dissertation needs good presentation and style.
3. The amount of material that needs to be produced is also one of the main differences between master’s and PhD dissertation.
4. PhD dissertation takes much longer time to complete while master’s dissertation will complete within a year or less.
5. The standard of writing for master’s dissertation is relatively lower than the standards for PhD, and also PhD dissertation is more strictly monitored by the advisory committee.
6. In master’s program you can easily take help in writing a dissertation from your professors, but in PhD program you will have to work much more independently.
7. Master’s dissertation is much shorter in length then PhD dissertation. Master’s dissertation varies between 10,000 to 20,000 words or 80 to 100 pages, while PhD dissertation is more than 90,000 to 100,000 words or 300 to 400 pages.
Above are the main differences between master’s dissertation and PhD dissertation. Writing a dissertation, whether it is of masters or PhD is not easy. It requires number of years for research and writing a good dissertation.
Obviously there is room for overlap here, and examiners have the option of passing a Masters thesis as a PhD and vice versa. Below is one examiner's opinion of what the difference is between a Masters and a PhD:
"The regulations give the examiners an opportunity to argue the case for the upgrading of an (Masters) dissertation to a (PhD). I have thought about this, but although I believe the thesis to be of a very high standard ..., it lacks a number of elements which I would expect to find in a doctorate, e.g.,
1. The thesis lacks an elaborated theoretical framework. While not insensitive to theoretical issues, ... the thesis does not offer us a theoretical framework through which to "read" the data.
2. The thesis also lacks a "literature review", that is a systematic review of the theoretical and comparative literature relating to the empirical material covered in the thesis. A good knowledge of the wider literature ... is revealed throughout the thesis, but nowhere is this pulled together in a theortical narrative.
3. While none of these omissions detracts from the (masters) thesis, it means that a good deal more work would be needed to convert the thesis into a doctorate."
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By : Broad williams
