Is the word “dorm” acceptable in a thesis?

Question

I'm writing a thesis about students living in dormitories and I would like to know if a dorm is an acceptable expression for a dormitory?

I don't live in GB nor in USA and the thesis is neither about students from GB nor from USA, so I don't see any difference between residence hall and dormitory.

Answer 1

As bib mentioned, dorm is an informal word. Collins agrees.

However, a very interesting Ngram that shows the informal word is steadily making headway into published works.

Normally, I would caution against using such informal language in a thesis. However, if dormitory life is the central theme of your thesis, using the lengthier dormitory over and over again might decrease the readability of your work.

I would suggest deliberately introducing the shorter word early on in your work:

The dormitories (or "dorms") are where...

After that, you should be able to use the word dorms elsewhere in the document.

Really, though, you ought to check with your advisor on this.

Answer 2

In the US, dorm is an acceptable short form of dormitory, but in most cases would be considered informal.

While there is no specific difference between residence halls and dormitories, the former would be more likely used in referring to educational settings, and the latter is used in all contexts, including both school and business settings.