What is difference between the terms "thesis" and "thesis work"? What would you use to describe the content and achievements of your thesis / thesis work.
My thesis / thesis work has treated new concepts in general relativity.
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1The thesis is the document itself, while the thesis work is the associated research and experimentation. That said, I think the boundaries are quite blurry on this one, and there are plenty of sentences where the two could be used somewhat interchangeably (although I would avoid saying, "While I was working on my thesis work...").– J.R.Commented Aug 18, 2013 at 21:36
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The word thesis originates from Greek where it means an argument or a proposition. In an academic context, a thesis, or dissertation, contains the results of a student's research: it is their argument of the ideas they have developed. Therefore, it is appropriate to use
My thesis has treated new concepts in general relativity,
assuming that there is a central argument concerning concepts in general relativity.
Thesis work is the research that is done in the process of completing the thesis. It might be more appropriate to use this term if highlighting a particular sub-component of a thesis. For example, one could say
My thesis work included data analysis and statistical modelling
to show skills that had been developed while compiling the thesis, but are tools for producing results rather than concepts to be proposed in the thesis itself.
My thesis work has treated new concepts in general relativity
might be more appropriate if these new concepts are only a small aspect of the work. Perhaps in this case it could be that you are studying history of science and the main argument is about how new ideas become accepted as main-stream.
Additionally, one may wish to use thesis work if still completing the document to avoid the implication of the thesis being finished. For example
I am a second-year student and my thesis work is on geodesics in Kerr spacetime.
Here, we have explained the topic for the thesis, but not gone as far as saying that a thesis actually exists, merely that there is some work towards it.
For completeness, although this is unlikely to be a source of confusion for thesis vs thesis work, thesis work could be used by a student to signify work they intend to be used in their thesis, as opposed to administrative tasks, work for side-projects or classes, or anyother research-related task that will not directly contribute to the thesis.
