What is the difference?
At AUT, a thesis is associated with either a Doctoral or a Master's degree. It is a substantial piece of original research. A dissertation is associated with either a Master's or a Bachelor's degree with Honours and may be a smaller piece of research or a critical analysis and evaluation of the literature related to a topic.
What is an exegesis?
This is the written component of a practice-based thesis where the major output is a creative work. The exegesis constitutes at least 20% of the thesis.
ETD
ETD is a frequently used abbreviation for electronic thesis or dissertation and refers to a thesis/dissertation available online.
Note: universities in some other parts of the world such as North America, a dissertation is usually associated with a doctoral degree and a thesis with a master's degree. This is important to know when searching for theses/dissertations from other countries.