In our program (R1 institution in Western USA), a dissertation is written for a PhD degree, and is only commenced after several years of relevant coursework. The topic is based on the expertise of the advisor, and the availability of funds to cover said project. Students do not generally get to write their dissertation on whatever project they dream up/solicit from the internet. I suppose an exception could be made if the student were to entirely self-fund his/her graduate career, but in the sciences (where students recieve tuition waivers and reasonable stipends), graduate students mostly work on projects that are funded by existing grants (ie. at the mercy of their advisor).

1. If you don't even know what topic area interests you by now, maybe you shouldn't be an advanced PhD student. Were there perhaps some courses that you liked? Or have you ever attended an interesting seminar?

2. In every research-oriented business school that I know, a PhD student would be a candidate for a degree from a particular department (and be subject to that department's requirements or at least the requirements of some particular interdisciplinary program to which the student has been formally admitted) rather than "anything but accounting."

3. Rather than seeking anonymous advice here, you should talk to your advisor and other faculty members.

One more data point when dissertation being used in non-Ph.D. degree requirement in UK. See this most recent thread. If I am not mistaken, the degree OP's pursuing seems to be equivalent to a undergrad (or a vocational) degree in the U.S., but OP used "dissertation" to describe the research project.

To the best of my knowledge, dissertation is the degree requirement for Ph.D (or doctoral) degree in the States and only Ph.D. degree candidates can self-identify as writing or working on dissertation. Even though I am not that familiar with the educational systems in Europe, but the threads I read on FT gave me the impression that European degree seekers tend to use the term "dissertation" in a much loose sense than Americans.

Meaning in Europe, any research project to complete the final degree requirements, ranging from undergrad, masters, and doctoral, can be called a "dissertation." That makes it difficult for the US-dominated IBB to effectively communicate w/r/t research purposes/methods/expectations fitting the level of degree in question.

Maybe our fellow European or other non-US FTers can clear up my confusion: "Is dissertation used in all levels of degree requirements in your country? Or dissertation is strictly for Ph.D., just like the American higher education?"

In some foreign educational systems, the term for thesis or dissertation is modified by the name of the degree. I can't immediately think of systems where there are separate words for thesis and dissertation like in the US, where I would say honors thesis (undergrad), masters thesis, but either doctoral/PhD thesis or doctoral /PhD dissertation. To me, thesis could mean any final degree project requirement (but not a course term paper) while dissertation specifically means doctoral or even PhD.

In French, for instance, one would say these de troisieme cyiecle (accents are missing and spelling looks wrong?) for a sort of graduate degree that might (I'm sure some would disagree) be considered between a MA/MS and PhD, and these d'etat (accents missing) for a higher level doctorate, but then aggregation or habilitation for the very high-level (in principle) major thesis that qualifies one to become a full professor. (The systems depend on the field and are evolving; in some academic areas, it's more of a competitive oral exam by a national committee.) In some French-speaking countries, a full professor is referred to as an ordinaire.

In German, one has the diplomarbeit (literally work or homework preceded by the title of the degree, usually translated as just diploma) for the traditional first degree which is considered roughly a MA/MS and doctorarbeit for the PhD. This is followed by the habilitation and the award of the venia legendi (Latin words) or right to teach. The latter, which could be viewed as equivalent to the standards for tenure, is expected for the equivalent of Associate Professor or Full Professor positions, although "equivalence" can sometimes be successfully argued, especially for foreigners. By the way, in German, an associate professor is called an extraordinary professor, while a full professor is an ordinary professor.

The systems are evolving as a result of the "Bologna Accords" which standardize European univesity education (in the part of Europe that agreeed to these reforms, roughly the EU) to an initial three-year degree (to be on the level of a US BA/BS but perhaps more specialized), followed by a two-year graduate degree based largely but not totally on further coursework, and then a research-based PhD (ideally in several more years). As in the US, different universities and departments have different standards.

I notice the OP hasn't been back for a few days to answer our questions. Looks like another hit-and-run.

I am writing my PhD in the UK at the moment, and I what I am working on is called a thesis. A dissertation is what I wrote for my Masters. However, I suspect some undergrad students might call an extended final year assignment a dissertation sometimes.

For more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis_or_dissertation

i did not survive many schools. i went to 4.

my bachelors required a dissertation, which i think was my most useful piece of work. my masters was called a thesis, had to be in type hard copy and carbons, and exposed me to xrays that have given me cancers. my ph.d. was called a thesis, was chosen and directed by my "advisor" . i did the lab part of a large project. i did not know what the hell the whole thing (big picture) was about. this project had half a dozen phd candidates doing exacting stuff. was very multidisciplinary. the lab work was just a pain in the .... the project needed really good lab people, and passed out phd's for performing miracles. the real problem to degree was passing the qualifiers.

i never heard of a phd in management, but i do not read the offers from on the line schools.

It's common, indeed a standard prerequisite for a teaching job in most university-level business schools. Some institutions that grant it use the initials DBA (Doctor of Business Administration), others PhD.

In any case, the term "PhD" in this thread was used in a generic sense for any doctorate in an academic field, not just one with those specific initials. When I got mine, I had a choice between PhD and ScD (Doctor of Science). I picked PhD because more people are familiar with it, but it was my choice after I had passed all the requirements.

What's an "on the line" school, BTW? Is it on a production line? Is your career on the line if you don't graduate? Or did you, perchance, mean "online?"

The OP is most likely an undergrad, given the overall quality of communication and gross lack of focus whatsoever. I wouldn't rule out a troll, either.

(I quoted you, but others have also posted similarly.) There are certainly more common uses of the terms 'dissertation', 'thesis', and so forth, but each university has its own lexicon. Most undergraduate honors programs require a 'thesis' in order to graduate "with honors," for example.

There is also the possibility that the OP is not a native English speaker and/or is not in a Western university, and he is translating whatever native term he uses, resulting in the subtle confusion.

Grants are few and far between outside the sciences. Liberal arts students are quite free to choose any thesis/dissertation topic on which their advisors are willing to sign off. I'm not sure how to categorize business school, but it is definitely not a science.

Labs? X-rays? Huh... based on your post, I would have pegged you for an English major with an e e cummings fetish.

Ok really sorry guys but i've been quite been busy over the past few days. I was actually told by my friends who have graduated to start early and look for an area of interest because by the time they were told to do so, they found that they did not have a lot of time. I'm actually in 2nd year of uni but i understand the difficulty that they are talking about. Therefore, i just wanted to expand my horizon and see what interesting topics there are in regard to the tourism and airline industry.

Thanks anyway

I think we can rule out this being someone pursuing a degree in the U.S., given that Americans are rarely "quite busy" (usually, they're "pretty busy" or "really busy"), and we don't attend Uni or even "go to University," instead "going to college."



If they're appropriate for your work, I like some of the suggestions posted early in the thread. Please do share some results when you're further along with your work!

It seems most people in this thread have done thesis/dissertation work themselves as well as endless term papers (US convention, indeed). My recent work with students at all levels suggests an increasing reluctance to do original research and a growing dependence on "mother-in-law" research to decide what to do. I would have been thrown out of my Ph.D. programs for general sloth were I to have tried that, I think. There are shining exceptions, but they seem to be, more often than not, in Asia. I find this to be very sad. Running a survey among enthusiasts might be a good idea, but surely we FTers are a hugely biased sample of anything. It makes the forums fun, but not too valuable for most kinds of research other than ones related to obsessions.

In the UK it is common for the term "dissertation" to be used, even officially/formally, for the "main" assignment for a bachelor's degree, normally in an arts-type subject. (It tends to be called a final-year project in some science/engineering subjects, e.g. Computer Science).

Neil

Whenever these threads come up they remind me how boring my dissertation was.

How the 1964 Fair Housing Act Adversely Affected Smaller Suburban Communities (Case Study: New Rochelle, NY)

Well thanks guys but i've still got plenty of time to do it anyway, 2 more years and i'll be doing it. My hope was just to see what people who have a fascination with the airline industry and tourism enjoy and from there find topics to do and to see what the latest topics are.

Thanks guys

Much appreciated