Project versus Thesis:
What is the difference between a thesis:
- CS 690 Master's Thesis Research - Two Course Sequence
- CS 695 Master's Thesis
and a project
Similarities:
The thesis and project are similar in a few ways. First, they are both
suppose to demonstrate that you've learned something, and that you have the
ability to learn new things.
Second, both the thesis and project are "capstone" experiences. That
means they should draw on and integrate the knowledge that you gained in the
tracks that you took for your degree.
Third, both the thesis and project culminate in a public presentation.
Focus:
The primary way that a project is different than a thesis is in how you
demonstrate your knowledge. With a project you demonstrate this by building
something. It may involve something new (new technology, new methodology,
etc.). Basically, a project is "applied" knowledge and learning with the
product being the goal.
In contrast, the goal of a thesis is to become a "mini-expert" in a given
field by researching the answer to a question and/or exploring the impact of
an assumption (your hypothesis).
This exploration then leads to some statement of fact (thesis). You (and
your thesis advisor) come up with a question/assumption that is then tested.
You would then develop and conduct experiments to either prove or disprove
the hypothesis. This would then lead to one or more conclusions regarding
validity of your hypothesis.
In a thesis, you demonstrate your knowledge through a full semester of
research, investigation, deduction, reason, and experimentation. Note that
the "experimentation" part (which in CS/IS means building a software system)
is not the goal. It is just a tool to investigate your thesis. A thesis "feels"
more like the scientific method
than a project.
Originality:
Another important difference is originality. Projects are not expected
to be earth shattering, or potentially even original. They are used to
demonstrate that you can draw together your classroom experiences into an
applied project.
With a thesis, your work is expected to be original. You are contributing
knowledge to the CIS field. As such, your work should be publishable (even
though you may not pursue actual publication). That means your work should
stand up to review by practicing professionals in the field.
Write-up:
Since you demonstrate your knowledge in a project by building a product,
only a brief report is required. This report is not nearly as rigorous as
the one done for the thesis, and serves to summarize your project (describe
the problem, present your solution, illustrate its usage).
In a thesis, however, most of the work you do doesn't necessarily produce
anything (e.g, reading research papers). Therefore, a huge chunk of your
thesis time is spent writing up your thesis document (typically the entire
semester in which CS 695 is taken). This describes all the work that you've
done from the initial narrowing of the thesis topic through the final
analysis of results. It demonstrates all of the knowledge that you gained
and your ability to integrate it, analyze it, and draw conclusions from it.
In essence, the thesis demonstrates that you have become a "mini-guru" in
your subject area. Your original research and your thesis document are the
goals of the thesis experience.
Presentation:
The final difference is in the presentation. With a project, the focus
is on "look what I built". You explain the design and implementation of
your project, and perhaps demo the project. Questions are often of the form
"How did you do that?".
A thesis is presented in two parts. The first is a presentation of the
idea, a thesis proposal. The thesis proposal is given at the end of
CS 690, where you present your original hypothesis, demonstrate that you
have sufficient background preparation to address the topic (typically
through literature review), and solicit feedback from faculty.
The second thesis presentation is the defense, which is done at
the end of CS 695. The defense shows that you have mastered your subject
area. You are also defending your work and your results. During the defense
you present your analysis, describe the experiments that you conducted, and
defend your conclusions. Questions are more of the form "Why did you do
that?" and "Did you think about this...". You are expected to be able to
answer the questions, even if you don't know the answer(!).
Summary:
In summary, if you have want to build a (perhaps better) mousetrap, then
do a project. If you have an original idea that you want to explore, then do
a thesis.
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