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WRITINGYOUR THESISSTATEMENT

GivennowwhatyouknowfromtheWhatisaThesisStatementarticle,howdoyou
writeaclear,focusedanddirectivethesisstatementfordifferentkindsofwrittencompositions?
Letshereconsiderthesisstatementsin writingacademicresearchpapers.

AcademicResearchPapers
Researchpapersarepartoflegitimatecollegeanduniversitysuccess,butfewstudents
enjoythemuntiltheyarefinished.Somepeopleslackof enjoymentinwritingresearchpapersis
likely dueto theirheavydemandsonresearchtime,criticalthinkingskills,andgoodquality
writing.Thereisquiteadifferencebetweenpoor,fair,andexcellentlycomposedresearch
papers,andthatdifferenceisveryobvioustotheintelligentreader. Excellentresearchpapers
requiremuchwork,timeandskill.1
Writingrequirementsforaresearchpapervarydependingontheschool andinstructor,
theassignmentpurpose,andtheresearchpapersthesisstatement.2 Ifyouarewritingaresearch
paperfromitsinception and/orareresponsibleforthepapersthesisstatement,youshouldalso
read theHowtoresearchaThesisStatementarticle.
Inanacademicresearchpaper, thewritersintentisusually toinform concerningatopic,
toevaluatedataanddrawconclusions,ortopersuadethereader towardacertainviewpoint.In
anycase,agoodquality research paperisaninvolvedanalysis.Theonethesisstatementthat
guidestheentirepaperwillnotbesuccessfulwithoutsolidresearchevidenceandasoundly
writtenargumenttosupportit.3 Allthesefeaturesmaketheeffectivethesisstatementcrucially
importantanddifficulttowritewell.Therefore,themosteffectiveandaccurateversionofthe
thesisstatementmightnotappearuntilthefinaleditedversion ofthepaper.
Avalidandeffectiveresearchpaperthesisstatementneednotaccomplishmorethanone
purposeunlesssoinstructed.Mostresearchpapers,regardlessoflengthandamountofwork
involved,haveaverysmallaudienceofreaders.Consequently,thethesisstatementneednot
specifyeverypurposeitwillserve,butitshouldrevealanypurposethatisnotobviousor
requestedbythefinalreader.
Thethesisstatementmustbegeneralenoughtoincorporatethecontentsoftheentire
paperinanutshell.However,thestatementmustinturnbespecificenoughtogivethereader
clearandfocuseddirectionfortheentirepaper.Therefore,agoodqualityresearchpaperthesis
statementmightrequireseveralrevisionsbythetimethepaperiscompleted. Iftheresearchfor
thepaperrevealsthattheoriginalthesisstatementissimplywrong,thewritermustreplacethe
statementwithanewandvalidonethatgoodqualityresearchsupports.

WhatdoesaresearchpaperThesisStatementlooklike?
Considerthisexampleofanactual thesisstatementquotedfrom auniversity seminary
project4 :

ItisthereforethethesisofthisstudythattheintimaterelationshipbetweenGodthe
Father,JesusChrist,andhumanfollowersasdescribedinJohn15:117servesasan
intentionalmeanstoaccomplishtheprimarygoalofdivineglorification.

Strengthsofthis ThesisStatement
Noteintheexampleabovethatthethesisstatementisunavoidablyclear.Thestatement
usestheacademicthirdpersonhe/she/itperspective,whichisbestformostresearchpapers. A
definiteneedforresearchissuggestedbythetopicofstudybeinginterpretationofaspecific
concept(a Biblicaltext).Thestatementisoriginalandcreativeyetalsoventurestoinform the
readerbecausetheproposed topicisnotobvioustothereader. Thestatementventuresto
persuadethereadertotheparticularinterpretationitproposes.Thestatement,inthiscase,does
notneedtostateadesiretoevaluatedatabecausethatpurposeismadevery clearintheprojects
instructionsgivenbythefinalreader.

WeaknessesofthisThesisStatement
Theexamplethesisstatementshownaboveisweakinthatitdoesnotrevealoneofthe
writersintentions.Thatis,inthecourseoftheprojectpaper, thewriterattemptstomotivatethe
reader(s)toaction.Suchmotivationissincerebutnotobvioustoorrequestedbythereaderyet
thethesisstatementgivesnoindicationofanintentiontomotivatetoaction.Inaddition,the
thesisstatementiswordy(containsunnecessarywords).

RevisedThesisStatement
If theomissionofthewritersintentiontomotivatereadersandthewordinessare
corrected,thethesisstatementwouldbeaccuratelyimprovedlikeso:
ThisstudyrevealshowtheintimaterelationshipbetweenFather God, JesusChrist,
andhumanfollowersinJohn15:117servesasameanstoaccomplishtheprimary
goalofdivineglorificationandtoinspirethisgoalinmodernfollowers.

SummaryofKey Points
Theresearchpaperthesisstatement
1.

isgeneralenoughtobeconciseandcontainentireresearchpaper.

2.

isspecificenoughtobeclearandguidingforentirepaper.

3.

mayhavemorethanonepurposeforthepaper.

4.

shouldexpressanypurposethatisnotobvioustoorrequestedbythefinal reader.

5.

isuselessifgoodqualityresearchdoesnotsupportit.

6.

mighthavetoberevisedorreplacedbythetimethepaperisfinished.

7.

normallywillusethethirdpersonhe/she/itperspective.

Hacker,Diana(2006). TheBedfordhandbook (7th ed.).Boston/NewYork:Bedford/St.Martins,containsmuch

advicerelevanttowritingacademicresearchpapersingeneralandforvariousformats.Seeespecially:pp.2425,
3138, 53, 5660, 97, 178179,492493, 527790.
2

Theconsiderationsforacademicresearchpapersareverymuchthesameasthoseforclinicalcasestudies.For
purposesof keepingthis article toaneffectivelength,clinicalcasestudiesarecoveredinaseparate article.
3

Awellresearchedandwrittenresearchpaperisscholarlyandcouldrunfrom10to40pagesormore.Many
academicscholarly,professionalandclinicaljournalarticlesandconferencepapersareinessencewellwritten
researchpapers.Inascholarlybookofessays,eachchapterisineffectitsownacademicresearchpaper.
4

Atkins,T.R.(2006). Thathemightbeglorifiedinus:AstudyofJohn15:117.Unpublishedmastersthesis,
RegentUniversitySchoolof Divinity,VirginiaBeach,Virginia,UnitedStates,p.4.