Thesis statement

A thesis statement appears near the beginning of the introductory paragraph of a paper, and it offers a concise solution to the issue being addressed. It states the claim of the argument presented in a paper, and sometimes a brief summary of all explained reasons in the paper. A thesis statement is usually one sentence, though it may occur as more than one.^[1]

Works which frequently use thesis statements

A thesis statement is a short statement that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence. Whatever piece of work in which the thesis statement is being used, it should always adhere to the guidelines governed by its school of thought or .

Examples

"This book is filled with entertaining words, some of which are very confusing." "Wikipedia has a fascinating history, especially on how it got started!"

"If it weren't for the dictionary, we wouldn't know the meaning of words."

Main Sections in a Thesis

There are seven main sections included in a thesis which includes,^[2]

1.Title Page

2.Abstract

3.Method/Procedure

4.Result/Conclusion

5.References

6.Appendixes

7.Table of Figures

1.Title Page

Title page contains a unique topic on which the research is based, it is short yet descriptive. Abbreviations are avoided in title. It also includes author’s name. If the research paper is for some academic purpose, it includes the course name, semester and year.^[3]

2.Abstract

It is the part that summarizes the whole research into one paragraph (usually). It majorly includes the purpose of the research, the method used in conducting the research (with the names or the brief description of the methods used), the major findings of the research and discussion section that involves interpretation and future recommendations^[4]

3.Method/Procedure

This section describes as what has been the method used for the research, that is how you did it and what you did? It explains strategies, procedures, calculations, scientific methods and equipment’s description. The basic idea behind this is to provide reader a sufficient amount of information that explains the whole research report. Further this part also explains as how the data was gathered, how the analysis carried out and the sample selected for the research.^[3]

4.Result/Conclusion

This part incorporates the end point of the result that is the result of the conducted research. In this section, a researcher proves the point and includes weather the hypothesis he stated got accepted or rejected. It also gives some guidelines or recommendations for future research.^[3]

5.References

This part includes the list of sources or reference articles used for writing the research report. This could include the websites, articles, books etc. used to gather the relevant information for the research.^[5]

6.Appendix

It includes information that has been the side part and not essential but is needed to clarify the information without creating the burden in the body of the research. This part isn’t mandatory and therefore it is hardly found in the research reports. This part includes graphs, raw data, maps or other relevant diagrams.^[6]

7.Table of Figures

A table is created which includes the figure numbers in sequence to help readers get better clarity of the research analysis.^[7]

Things to Avoid in a Thesis

There are certain things to be avoided in a thesis,^[8] •Direct Quotes: It is advised not to use direct quotes in a scholarly technical paper because the research paper should contain the researcher’s own thoughts and findings.^[9] •Verb Tenses: Using wrong verb tenses are common in an academic research paper. These verb tenses includes “We, “Us ,etc.

•Proofreading:Spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, incomplete sentences, irrelevant information and other such errors must be avoided. Proofreading is very much important to make a research paper worth acceptable.

•Formatting: Formatting is one of the essential parts of research report. Academic writers at times don’t pay much attention on format and as a result it creates the uneven format mainly in tables and diagrams. The preview must be checked before printing to avoid such mistakes.

Further reading

• Jonathan Culler and Kevin Lamb. Just being difficult? : academic writing in the public arena Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8047-4709-1
• William Germano. Getting It Published, 2nd Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books. ISBN 978-0-226-28853-6. Read a chapter.
• Wellington, J. J. Getting published : a guide for lecturers and researcherLondon ; New York : RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. ISBN 0-415-29847-4
• John A. Goldsmith et al. "Teaching and Research" in The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career. ISBN 0-226-30151-6.
• Cary Nelson and Stephen Watt. "Scholarly Books" and "Peer Review" in Academic Keywords: A Devil's Dictionary for Higher Education. ISBN 0-415-92203-8.
• Carol Tenopir and Donald King. "Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Librarians and Publishers. SLA, 2000. ISBN 0-87111-507-7.
• Björk, B-C. (2007) "A model of scientific communication as a global distributed information system" Information Research, 12(2) paper 307.
• Furman, R. (2007). Practical tips for publishing scholarly articles: Writing and publishing in the helping professions. Chicago: Lyceum Books.

See also

• Topic sentence* Comprehensive examination
• Dissertations Abstracts
• Grey literature
• Postgraduate education

References

External links

• How to Write a Thesis Statement
• Research Writing Help