Are doctoral theses changing over time?

Abstract

This poster presents longitudinal data on the length and chapter composition of 800 doctoral theses deposited at the University of Auckland between 2008 and 2015. Over this period, the doctoral statute has been amended to allow for more flexibility in the format of a thesis submitted for examination, such as the inclusion of creative practice and peer-reviewed publications. In addition, the funding mechanisms for doctorates in New Zealand have put a premium on candidates completing in a timely fashion. Given these two contexts we speculated that the length of an average doctoral thesis would be declining over time. One hundred doctoral theses – overwhelmingly PhD theses with a smattering of name doctorates –deposited in the University Library from each calendar year were randomly selected to assess: the number of pages; chapter composition; and inclusion of published papers within the thesis. These data were then correlated against academic faculty to tease out variations across the disciplines. Overall, our findings indicate that the doctoral thesis has remained relatively stable in length and chapter structure.