On this issue, I can only talk about it from the perspective of a composer, not necessarily as professional as musicology, but after all, I have also played Paganini's works adapted by Liszt. I wonder if the following points can help you:

First of all, Paganini is the protagonist, and Liszt is only making a technical adaptation, not a great idea. It's easy to figure this out first.

Secondly, as for Paganini, he was the first person to set off the whole romantic performing art trend in the first half of the19th century. The timbre and color of the violin have been expanded to an unprecedented extent. Key words: romanticism, freedom, improvisation, breaking the classical tradition, showing off skills, pursuing human liberation and arrogance.

Let's talk about Paganini's "Etude No.6". The materials used in this song are all from Paganini's "Capriccio No.24", but it is piano-oriented. The melody of this piece has been arranged by many composers. The reason for this is that Paganini greatly expanded the violin technology, which was cross-century and unprecedented at that time.

Your thesis can focus on the romantic trend of thought in Paganini era, and write more about Paganini's technical characteristics and styles, while Liszt's is less, because after all, there are many people who have adapted and changed well, and Liszt's composition is limited to technical deduction, while Rachmaninov's rhapsody on Paganini theme better embodies Paganini theme in scale and technology, which is more artistic.

(Pure personal opinion, pure handwork! ~ I hope my understanding can help you ~)