[Vocabulary] thesis/dissertation

[milan2003_07]

Hi,

I'm a PhD student and now I'm working on a project which I'll defend at the end of my postgraduate course. What is the correct name of this project - thesis or PhD dissertation?

Is there any difference between these two words?

Thanks

 

[allenman]

Yes, dissertation is given by PhD students. A thesis is given by a master's student.

I am not a teacher nor am I a PhD

 

[5jj]

I'm a PhD student and now I'm working on a project which I'll defend at the end of my postgraduate course. What is the correct name of this project - thesis or PhD dissertation?

In my (BrE) experience, your project is a thesis. A dissertation is more likely to be a project for a lower-level degree. However, some people appear to use the words interchangeably, and I believe that AmE works the other way round.

 

[milan2003_07]

Well, I see there is a difference because I'm used to saying "project" or "graduation project" about a master's or bachelor's student and "PhD thesis" or just "thesis" about a postgraduate project that people defend when three or two years have passed since the end of their master's program. Anyway I'll remeber about AE usage.

However I'd like someone else who speaks AE to confirm this. Not because I mistrust the opinion expressed above, but just because I'd like to make sure it's really so because if I say "thesis" in the US meaning "PhD thesis" I might be misunderstood. To avoid this I need to be sure I must say "dissertation" in this case.

Best