Are bibliographies and references the same?
No a bibliography is everything you have used in the course of your research, like newspaper articles, interviews etc. It also should include readings around the topic. A reference list is purely what you have cited in the body of your essay/dissertation. They both look the same, it depends on whihc method of referencing you’re using. I use the Harvard system and in my references at the end of my essay I would have an alphabetical list of things like this: Smith, E. (2008) How to write references 4th edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign; Il.
To put it simply, all bibliographies are a compliation of references, but not all references are part of a bibliography. A reference does not have to be a printed source. For example, references could also comprise of investigation and research into primary materials done by yourself or personal interviews with people who make a contribution, or confirm, a portion of your essay. You would catagorize information gained from such an interview as a reference, but it is not part of a bibilography, as it was not contained in a published book or thesis. Hope that makes sense!
