Working towards your thesis but struggle to select the best type of PhD thesis? Learn about the main types and benefits of doctoral dissertation types!
Do you know hat is the best type of thesis for your research? I didn’t know until the second year of my PhD program. Deciding what’s the best for your PhD degree isn’t easy, as it will have many implications, from how you’ll structure PhD thesis and through to how you approach the preparation for the thesis defense during PhD viva voce.
Ultimately, agreeing on the type of thesis you’ll compile in due course of your research journey early with your supervisor has many benefits. It gives you clarity of where you’re heading, reduces the anxiety associated with writing your thesis, and gives you a point of reference for easier decision making.
But what are the most popular types of a PhD thesis that you may consider for your PhD degree? Let me elaborate on this a bit more.
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What is a PhD thesis?
Once you get admitted to a graduate school for a PhD degree, your ultimate goal is to conduct exciting and novel research. The output of your work needs to be presented in the form of an academic report – a PhD thesis, aka. doctoral dissertation.
The specific requirements for the format of the doctoral dissertation vary depending on whether you do your research in the United Kingdom, the United States or another country, the university you’re enrolled on, and even the type of doctoral degree you’re undertaking. The expectations will also vary between life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering and so on. Therefore, the key thing that you need to do as a PhD researcher is to check how your university defines a PhD thesis.
Here are several definitions for doctoral dissertation:
“PhD thesis (ˌpiːˌeɪtʃˈdiː ˈθiːsɪs) [is] a research thesis written and submitted by a student wishing to be awarded a PhD” Collins Dictionary
“Thesis / Dissertation [is] a long piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one that is done for a higher college or university degree” Cambridge Dictionary
“Thesis [is] a scholarly essay defending some proposition, usually a dissertation submitted for an academic degree” Oxford Reference
From the above references, you can conclude that thesis is a piece of academic work that contributes to the academic body of knowledge and is presented by someone wishing to obtain a higher education degree, such as EngD or PhD degrees.
Have you come across an interesting definition of a thesis? Share it with others in the comment or tag us @MotivatedAcademic on social media.
Is a doctoral dissertation equivalent to a PhD thesis?
In most cases, the terms PhD thesis and doctoral dissertation are used interchangeably. However, some sources indicate that there may be some differences.
For example, the Royal Literary Fund indicates that you complete the dissertation during your masters, whereas you write your thesis during your PhD degree. The Best Masters Degree portal claims, h