Theses or dissertations are the product of extended independent research by students. They are often required at undergraduate level (e.g. final year Capstone projects), and are nearly always a feature of postgraduate research from Master's through to Ph.D. level. The terms thesis and dissertation are often used interchangeably. In the UK, dissertation tends to be the preferred term at undergraduate and taught postgraduate level, and thesis used for original research at doctoral (Ph.D.) level. Confusingly, in the US, usage of these terms is reversed! 

Print books offering guidance on how to write a thesis can be found at LB 2369 on floor 5 of the Albert Sloman Library, you can also search the library catalogue for ebook versions. You might also find these online guides helpful:

A guide to writing in Economics (2009) by Paul Dudenhefer (Duke University)

Writing Economics (2005) by Robert Neugeboren with Mireille Jacobson (Harvard University)

Students often need to consult theses for various reasons, including:

• checking the style and presentation of good past dissertations from their department
• not repeating research already undertaken
• using theses on a similar topic to help with the literature search, data sources, methods or data analysis

Essex Economics theses can be found in the following locations:

• Economics Department - copies of undergraduate and Master's dissertations. Top undergraduate dissertations (EC831) are published in the Essex Economics Students' Journal. For postgraduate taught students, some examples are available on the EC981 Moodle page.
• Albert Sloman Library - the University Library at Colchester holds print copies of all Essex Economics M.Phil. and Ph.D. dissertations up to 30 September 2016. They are listed in the catalogue, and must be consulted in the Library. To search by department type the keywords: essex thesis economics
• University of Essex Research Repository - contains digitised versions of theses submitted after 30 September 2016

To search for dissertations from other universities in the UK and beyond, there are a couple of very useful databases:  

EThOS offers access to digitised UK doctoral theses

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses lists North American & UK theses (with some coverage of other countries):

Many countries maintain repositories offering open access digitised dissertations. These can be useful to search if you have specific area interests. Useful listings of these repositories by country are maintained by:

If you want to cross-search your topic across countries you can use a portal that offer access to e-theses from around the world: