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demonstrate the ability to write academic level work in your PhD thesis

Answering A Popular Question: Do All PhD Programs Require A Dissertation?

Many students and even dealers in long-distance PhD courses are in the lookout to make the PhD programs convenient. There would be nothing more heart-warming for students than the news that dissertation has been made optional. However, currently, that is not the case.

A researched piece of work

A potential Doctorate in Philosophy has to choose a subject topic and do intense research before formulating and encapsulating it in a consumptive piece of work. He also has to pass typical examinations to get through. Most students go the distance, but fall shy of writing the dissertation. Their best attempt at it is a first-rate proposal.

Vital statistics

Statistics show that the percentage of students leaving the course before completing the dissertation is almost 50%; suggesting that nearly half the students bypass the methodical work. The system is referred to as ABD or ‘All but Dissertation’.

Stray cases

Actually, some universities may offer a Doctorate to students without necessitating the major work. Most such universities ask for a huge price for the same; and this trait actually dampens their credibility. For instance, Deaking University offers such an option in the Technology field.

Preposterous to assume

In hindsight, it is almost preposterous to think that you can get a doctorate without completing the dissertation. The course means and essays that you will have to submit an original work of great responsibility, acuity and comprehensiveness. You cannot become a doctor by jumping a tree; you need to labor for it and through your jugular.

Difference from thesis

A dissertation is widely different from a thesis, which is required in Master’s course and even for some Bachelor courses. A thesis merely elicits an inarguable research work on a topic; making the reader knowledgeable. It covers thorough sampling, survey and an acute methodology.

Dissertation, meanwhile, takes a broader look at the topic. There has to constructive inflection of perspectives in an organized manner; emphasized at crucial junctures by non-defiant logics. It clarifies the topic in such a redoubtable manner that it automatically becomes authoritative, leading eventually to the writer being referred to as an authority or a Doctor in the subject.

Answering the question

Again coming to the question, all PhD programs require a significant paper, as the whole concept of Doctorate resonates with it. However, there are stray cases of certain courses where you may not need to complete the major work and yet get the Doctorate.