Project or Thesis: Which one is right for you

When considering the project and thesis options, students need to determine which option fits better:

• The project path directs students to research and develop a new solution to a known problem. The research, development, testing, evaluation and resulting demonstration make up the deliverables for the project. Often a project implements an idea proposed in a dissertation or peer reviewed article. Often the research used provides expected outcomes to test the correctness of the project. Also major software or hardware development projects may qualify for the project option.
• The thesis path directs students to apply new or known ideas often found in peer reviewed articles, books or dissertations to unique circumstances. The thesis should apply the idea to a concrete dataset to validate or invalidate the idea’s application to the circumstances. A thesis may also propose new ideas that it subsequently validates or invalidates through experimental or logical/mathematical methods.

To help understand which category a particular development effort falls into, ask the following question: are you writing code to directly fulfill the requirements of your degree or are you writing code to generate data for analysis in support of your thesis?