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The words ‘ dissertation ’ and ‘thesis’ both refer to a large written research project undertaken to complete a degree, but they are used differently depending on the country:
The main difference is in terms of scale – a dissertation is usually much longer than the other essays you complete during your degree.
Another key difference is that you are given much more independence when working on a dissertation. You choose your own dissertation topic , and you have to conduct the research and write the dissertation yourself (with some assistance from your supervisor).
Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:
However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.
At the bachelor’s and master’s levels, the dissertation is usually the main focus of your final year. You might work on it (alongside other classes) for the entirety of the final year, or for the last six months. This includes formulating an idea, doing the research, and writing up.
A PhD thesis takes a longer time, as the thesis is the main focus of the degree. A PhD thesis might be being formulated and worked on for the whole four years of the degree program. The writing process alone can take around 18 months.
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Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05). What Is a Dissertation? | 5 Essential Questions to Get Started. Scribbr. Retrieved 24 June 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/what-is-a-dissertation/
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Basics of thesis statements.
The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper. Specific means the thesis deals with a narrow and focused topic, appropriate to the paper's length. Arguable means that a scholar in your field could disagree (or perhaps already has!).
Strong thesis statements address specific intellectual questions, have clear positions, and use a structure that reflects the overall structure of the paper. Read on to learn more about constructing a strong thesis statement.
This thesis statement has no specific argument:
Needs Improvement: In this essay, I will examine two scholarly articles to find similarities and differences.
This statement is concise, but it is neither specific nor arguable—a reader might wonder, "Which scholarly articles? What is the topic of this paper? What field is the author writing in?" Additionally, the purpose of the paper—to "examine…to find similarities and differences" is not of a scholarly level. Identifying similarities and differences is a good first step, but strong academic argument goes further, analyzing what those similarities and differences might mean or imply.
Better: In this essay, I will argue that Bowler's (2003) autocratic management style, when coupled with Smith's (2007) theory of social cognition, can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover.
The new revision here is still concise, as well as specific and arguable. We can see that it is specific because the writer is mentioning (a) concrete ideas and (b) exact authors. We can also gather the field (business) and the topic (management and employee turnover). The statement is arguable because the student goes beyond merely comparing; he or she draws conclusions from that comparison ("can reduce the expenses associated with employee turnover").
This thesis draft repeats the language of the writing prompt without making a unique argument:
Needs Improvement: The purpose of this essay is to monitor, assess, and evaluate an educational program for its strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will provide suggestions for improvement.
You can see here that the student has simply stated the paper's assignment, without articulating specifically how he or she will address it. The student can correct this error simply by phrasing the thesis statement as a specific answer to the assignment prompt.
Better: Through a series of student interviews, I found that Kennedy High School's antibullying program was ineffective. In order to address issues of conflict between students, I argue that Kennedy High School should embrace policies outlined by the California Department of Education (2010).
Words like "ineffective" and "argue" show here that the student has clearly thought through the assignment and analyzed the material; he or she is putting forth a specific and debatable position. The concrete information ("student interviews," "antibullying") further prepares the reader for the body of the paper and demonstrates how the student has addressed the assignment prompt without just restating that language.
This thesis statement includes only obvious fact or plot summary instead of argument:
Needs Improvement: Leadership is an important quality in nurse educators.
A good strategy to determine if your thesis statement is too broad (and therefore, not arguable) is to ask yourself, "Would a scholar in my field disagree with this point?" Here, we can see easily that no scholar is likely to argue that leadership is an unimportant quality in nurse educators. The student needs to come up with a more arguable claim, and probably a narrower one; remember that a short paper needs a more focused topic than a dissertation.
Better: Roderick's (2009) theory of participatory leadership is particularly appropriate to nurse educators working within the emergency medicine field, where students benefit most from collegial and kinesthetic learning.
Here, the student has identified a particular type of leadership ("participatory leadership"), narrowing the topic, and has made an arguable claim (this type of leadership is "appropriate" to a specific type of nurse educator). Conceivably, a scholar in the nursing field might disagree with this approach. The student's paper can now proceed, providing specific pieces of evidence to support the arguable central claim.
This thesis statement uses large or scholarly-sounding words that have no real substance:
Needs Improvement: Scholars should work to seize metacognitive outcomes by harnessing discipline-based networks to empower collaborative infrastructures.
There are many words in this sentence that may be buzzwords in the student's field or key terms taken from other texts, but together they do not communicate a clear, specific meaning. Sometimes students think scholarly writing means constructing complex sentences using special language, but actually it's usually a stronger choice to write clear, simple sentences. When in doubt, remember that your ideas should be complex, not your sentence structure.
Better: Ecologists should work to educate the U.S. public on conservation methods by making use of local and national green organizations to create a widespread communication plan.
Notice in the revision that the field is now clear (ecology), and the language has been made much more field-specific ("conservation methods," "green organizations"), so the reader is able to see concretely the ideas the student is communicating.
This thesis statement is not capable of development or advancement in the paper:
Needs Improvement: There are always alternatives to illegal drug use.
This sample thesis statement makes a claim, but it is not a claim that will sustain extended discussion. This claim is the type of claim that might be appropriate for the conclusion of a paper, but in the beginning of the paper, the student is left with nowhere to go. What further points can be made? If there are "always alternatives" to the problem the student is identifying, then why bother developing a paper around that claim? Ideally, a thesis statement should be complex enough to explore over the length of the entire paper.
Better: The most effective treatment plan for methamphetamine addiction may be a combination of pharmacological and cognitive therapy, as argued by Baker (2008), Smith (2009), and Xavier (2011).
In the revised thesis, you can see the student make a specific, debatable claim that has the potential to generate several pages' worth of discussion. When drafting a thesis statement, think about the questions your thesis statement will generate: What follow-up inquiries might a reader have? In the first example, there are almost no additional questions implied, but the revised example allows for a good deal more exploration.
If you are having trouble getting started, try using the models below to generate a rough model of a thesis statement! These models are intended for drafting purposes only and should not appear in your final work.
When drafting your thesis statement, avoid words like explore, investigate, learn, compile, summarize , and explain to describe the main purpose of your paper. These words imply a paper that summarizes or "reports," rather than synthesizing and analyzing.
Instead of the terms above, try words like argue, critique, question , and interrogate . These more analytical words may help you begin strongly, by articulating a specific, critical, scholarly position.
Read Kayla's blog post for tips on taking a stand in a well-crafted thesis statement.
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How to write a thesis statement, what is a thesis statement.
Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.
In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.
Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One
Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.
Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”
A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”
The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.
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Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.
A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:
Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.
Brainstorm the topic . Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.
You start out with a thesis statement like this:
Sugar consumption.
This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.
Narrow the topic . Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy.
You change your thesis to look like this:
Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.
This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.
Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.
You revise your thesis statement to look like this:
More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.
This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.
Use specific language . You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:
Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.
This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.
Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:
Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.
Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.
1. a strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand..
Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:
There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.
This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.
Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.
This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.
Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:
My family is an extended family.
This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.
While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.
This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.
Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:
Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.
This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:
Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.
This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however .
A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:
World hunger has many causes and effects.
This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:
Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.
This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.
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What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.
When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.
You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus.
Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.
Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point.
The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.
Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.
When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:
Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:
If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that.
If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:
“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”
Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:
“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”
Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves.
Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.
When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.
If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.
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What if I told you that one sentence in your essay or thesis could be the difference between a First and a Fail?
It may sound absurd – perhaps even unfair – but it’s true. I refer, of course, to the thesis statement. A thesis statement is your entire essay if it were condensed into a single sentence. If your essay title is a question, then your thesis statement is the one-sentence answer.
It tends to arrive near the end of the first paragraph of a thesis.
Let’s take a look at an example from a Master of Education degree thesis:
Thesis title What constitutes ‘good writing’ for GCSE students of English?
Thesis statement The examination rubric by which GCSE English writing performance is assessed, influenced by a long history of variable ‘tastes’, may now be said to describe ‘good writing’ as that which is grammatically accurate, sophisticated, and suited to purpose, genre and audience.
(The thesis statement would be located in paragraph 1, after a brief overview of the subject).
As I mentioned, the way your thesis statement is written can be the difference between a First and a Fail. But how?
To answer that, let’s think about what ‘thesis’ means. From the Greek thésis, meaning ‘proposition’, your thesis is your main argument.
It is the position you have to support and defend for the remainder of your essay. Without something clear to defend, the fortress you build will crumble and the army you deploy will run about like headless chickens.
In essence: without a clear thesis statement, you don’t have an essay.
“Establishing a clear thesis at the start of your essay is crucial for both you and your examiner. For your examiner, it’s evidence that you have answered the question. For you, it can function as an essay plan.”
For both of you, it’s a litmus test for the quality of the argument: if you can’t fit your essay’s arguments into a sentence, they are too diffuse; and if you can’t stick to your thesis statement’s focus throughout your essay, you are not focused.
A precisely focused and well-grounded essay is more worthy of a First Class grade than one with a scattergun approach.
What your thesis statement includes is determined by three things:
1. The subject and topic of the essay. 2. The purpose of the essay. 3. The length of the essay.
Let’s examine each of those in more detail to see how they can help us refine our thesis statement.
Look at this real-life title from an undergraduate Sports Science essay:
What are the key differences between training recommendations for maximising muscular strength and maximising muscular hypertrophy?
The first task is, of course, to determine the subject of the essay.
In this example, that would be ‘training recommendations for maximising muscular strength and training recommendations for maximising muscular hypertrophy’.
Knowing that means that I know I will need to deploy my knowledge about those two similar but distinct areas. It also means that I should be using the specialist terminology relevant to the field, such as load, isotonic and volume.
Next, I need to determine the topic.
Here it would be ‘the key differences’ between training recommendations for those two goals. That phrase ‘key differences’ is likely to be at the heart of my thesis statement, to show that I’m on track.
With that in mind, my thesis statement might look like this:
Whilst both training outcomes require resistance training centred upon isotonic contractions, it is likely that the absolute load requirements may need to be higher for strength purposes, whilst the total training volume may need to be higher for hypertrophy purposes.
It is by no means a complete essay, but it states clearly what the ‘short answer’ to the question is, whilst paving the way for the ‘long answer’ to follow.
But what if the essay isn’t just looking for the facts organised into a specific order? What if the essay is asking for analysis? Or an argument?
Different essay purposes require different thesis statements. Fortunately, there are only three main essay purposes, and they’re pretty easy to recognise:
1. The expository essay: This is an essay type that asks for the key facts on a subject to be laid out, with explanations. The Sports Science question above is an example of this. It asks for the WHAT and HOW of something.
2. The analytical essay: This essay type asks you not only to lay out the facts, but also to analyse and deconstruct them to better understand them. It is typical in subjects such as English Literature and Fine Art. It asks for the WHY of something.
3. The argumentative essay: This type of essay asks you to use the facts available, to analyse them for value, and then to provide a point of view about the subject. It moves more quickly through the WHAT, HOW and WHY of a topic through to: WHY DOES IT MATTER?
All of the above essay types need a thesis statement that includes a proposition (a statement which answers the question or addresses the title).
Beyond that, these three essay types all require different additions.
For the expository essay , you need to add an overview of the details of the conclusion. Let’s look at an example:
Expository essay title: What are the key differences between training recommendations for maximising muscular strength and maximising muscular hypertrophy? (BSc in Sports Science)
Expository thesis statement: Whilst both training outcomes require resistance training centred upon isotonic contractions, it is likely that the absolute load requirements may need to be higher for strength purposes, whilst the total training volume may need to be higher for hypertrophy purposes. (The basic conclusion is that both approaches need isotonic resistance training; the details are teased out in bold.)
For the analytical essay , you need to add an overview of the analysis performed. Here’s an example:
Analytical essay title: Why did England and Wales vote to leave the European Union? (BA in Politics)
Analytical thesis statement: A close consideration of the voter demographics, the populist nature of political messages leading up to the referendum, and the history of Britain’s status in the EU, will demonstrate that Brexit was primarily motivated by the machinations of the Right.
(The basic conclusion is that Brexit was influenced by politicians; the analytical approach is in bold.)
For the argumentative essay , you need to add an overview of your reasoning. Another example:
Argumentative essay title: To what extent do you consider the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays to be in question? (BA in English Literature)
Argumentative thesis statement: Shakespeare’s authorship of his plays is beyond question, given both the entirely unconvincing nature of any counter-theories and the relatively unstable conception of the playwright’s identity as it stands. (The basic conclusion is that Shakespeare did write his plays; the reasoning is in bold.)
As you can see from these examples, the purpose of the essay gives a very clear demand for something beyond a simple answer.
But, there’s more!
The prescribed length of the essay also defines what you need to do with your thesis statement.
Your thesis statement is a microcosm : a miniature, compressed version of your whole essay.
So, it makes sense that the length of the actual essay is going to impact upon the content of the thesis statement.
If, for example, your essay is expected to be 800 words long and on the subject of Eve in the Bible, then it would be overly ambitious for your thesis statement to say: ‘through comprehensive study of the Bible and extant criticism’. For an 800 essay, more precision will be necessary. It would be better for your thesis statement to say: ‘with due awareness of the complexity of the issue, focusing on feminist readings of Genesis .’
“Matching the scope given in your thesis statement to the depth you provide in your essay is a very effective way to ensure precision.”
Contrastingly, if your essay is expected to be 80,000 words long (a PhD thesis, for example), on the subject of stop-motion animation, it would be rather unambitious to suggest that the essay will ‘provide a visual analysis of Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers’, only. For a PhD, we would expect more content to be covered, and multiple approaches to analysis to be considered.
Indeed, matching the scope given in your thesis statement to the depth you provide in your essay is a very effective way to ensure precision.
It’s a simple, three-part process:
1. Identify the question in the title (or make a question from the statement). 2. Answer that question in as few words as possible. 3. Complete the sentence by providing an overview of the foundation behind your answer.
Easy, right? It can be!
That said, there are plenty of traps that essayists can fall into with this part of the essay. Let’s look at some of these pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Pitfall #1: amateurish style.
This is common throughout academic essays written by beginners. It’s not just the thesis statement that falls foul of sounding amateurish. There are plenty of ways this happens, which are beyond the scope of this argument, but the following example is a prime example: In this essay, I will explore the various pieces of evidence before concluding.
This is amateurish for a few reasons. Firstly, it doesn’t actually say anything. You could otherwise word it, ‘I will write an essay which answers the question’ – a rather wasted sentence. The next, and more forgivable issue is the use of the first-person. We want to get a sense that an individual wrote this essay, but we never want to hear them mentioned! Make sense? No? Sorry.
This should instead read more like:
This essay considers evidence from X in light of Y which ultimately reveals Z at the heart of the issue.
(It focuses on the specifics, X, Y, and Z, and is devoid of any mention of its author.)
This is similar to amateurish style. However, empty phrasing is not just amateur-sounding; it’s manipulative-sounding.
Using phrases such as “in order to” instead of, simply, “to” – or “due to the fact that” instead of just “as” – look like attempts to fill up the word count with waffle rather than content. The same goes for phrases that can be substituted for one word: ‘it is evident that’ can (and should) become ‘evidently’.
Watch this thesis statement from a GCSE essay on Music go from hideous to tolerable:
Beethoven was unable to hear his work, due to the fact that he was deaf, so it is evident that he musically conceptualised the notes in order to compose. (Wordy!)
Beethoven was unable to hear his work, as he was deaf, so it is evident that he musically conceptualised the notes to compose. (Slightly less wordy.)
Beethoven’s deafness made him unable to hear his work, so evidently he musically conceptualised the notes to compose. (About as concise as such a complex sentence will get…)
Do not mistake wordiness for sophistication. Your ideas should be sophisticated; your writing should be clear.
For an examiner, the English language is not just a vehicle for your ideas. It should be, but the academic process always involves the assessment of your expression.
So, to satisfy our examiners’ prescriptive tastes, we need to adhere to the basic tenets of Standard English.
Take a look at the following thesis statement example from an A Level Sociology essay: Considering the status of BAME in Internet culture, the demonstrably racist treatment at the hands of the police, and the energy behind the BLM protests, concluding that there is hope for the future.
This sentence has no finite main verb, so it is technically not a sentence. To become a grammatical sentence, we would need to make ‘concluding’ finite: ‘it can be concluded’, or ‘we conclude’.
The writer got lost in this example because the sentence was so long!
Long sentences can also lead to a failure to make subject and verb agree, like in the next thesis statement example from a school Geography essay:
The most populous municipalities of Spain, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Zaragoza, does not rank in the top ten most dense populations of the country, with the exception of Barcelona.
Because the subject ‘municipalities’ is separated from the verb ‘does’ by eight words, it is easy to forget that they do not agree. It should, of course, be ‘do, not ‘does’.
The thesis statement, as I said at the start, can be the difference between a First and a Fail. So, take your time with it.
Write it carefully.
Then redraft and refine it several times, until it’s as good as you can make it.
The payoff is a slick, coherent thesis statement that paves the way to a great essay that really impresses your examiner.
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The thesis sentence is arguably the most important sentence in an academic paper. Without a good, clear thesis that presents an intriguing arguable point, a paper risks becoming unfocused, aimless, not worth the reader's time.
Because the thesis sentence is the most important sentence of a paper, it is also the most difficult to write. Readers expect a great deal of a thesis sentence: they want it to powerfully and clearly indicate what the writer is going to say, why she is going to say it, and even how it is that she is going to go about getting it said. In other words, the job of the thesis sentence is to organize, predict, control, and define the paper's argument.
In many cases, a thesis sentence will not only present the paper's argument, it will also point to and direct the course that the argument is going to take. In other words, it may also include an "essay map" - i.e., phrases or clauses that map out for the reader (and the writer) the argument that is to come. In some cases, then, the thesis sentence not only promises an argument, it promises the structure of that argument as well.
The promises that a thesis sentence makes to a reader are important ones and must be kept. It's helpful sometimes to explain the thesis as a kind of contract between reader and writer: if this contract is broken, the reader will feel frustrated and betrayed. Accordingly, the writer must be very careful in the development of the thesis.
Chances are if you've had trouble following or deciphering the argument of a paper, there's a problem with the thesis. If a tutor's first response to a paper is that he doesn't know what the paper is about, then the thesis sentence is either absent from the paper, or it's hiding. The first thing you might wish to do is to ask the writer what his thesis is. He may point to a particular sentence that he thinks is his thesis, giving you a very good place to start.
Let's say that you've read a paper in which you've encountered this thesis:
Although heterosexuality has long been regarded as the only natural expression of sexuality, this view has been recently and strongly challenged by the gay rights movement.
What's wrong with this sentence? Many things, the most troublesome of which is that it argues nothing. Who is going to deny that the heteronormative view has been challenged by the gay rights movement? At this point, you need to ask the writer some questions. In what specific ways has the gay rights movement challenged heterosexuality? Do these ways seem reasonable to the writer? Why or why not? What argument does he intend to make about this topic? Why does he want to make it? To whom does he want to make it?
After giving the writer some time to think about and talk about these questions, you'll probably want to bring up another problem that is certain to arise out of a thesis like this one: the matter of structure. Any paper that follows a thesis like this one is likely to ramble. How can the reader figure out what all the supporting paragraphs are doing when the argument itself is so ill-defined? You'll want to show the writer that a strong thesis suggests - even helps to create - strong topic sentences. (More on this when we consider matters of structure, below).
But before we move on to other matters, let's consider the problem of this thesis from another angle: its style. We can see without difficulty that the sentence presents us with at least two stylistic problems: 1) this thesis, which should be the most powerful sentence of the paper, employs the passive voice, and 2) the introductory clause functions as a dangling modifier (who regards heterosexuality as the only natural way to express sexuality?).
Both stylistic problems point to something at work in the sentence: the writer obliterates the actors - heterosexuals and homosexuals alike - by using the dangling modifier and the passive voice. Why does he do that? Is he avoiding naming the actors in these sentences because he's not comfortable with the positions they take? Is he unable to declare himself because he feels paralyzed by the sense that he must write a paper that is politically correct? Or does he obliterate the actors with the passive voice because he himself wishes to remain passive on this topic?
These are questions to pose to the writer, though they must be posed gently. In fact, you might gently pose these questions via a discussion of style. For instance, you might also suggest that the writer rewrite the sentence in the active voice:
Although our society has long regarded heterosexuality as the only natural expression of sexuality, members of the gay rights movement have challenged this view strongly.
This active construction helps us to see clearly what's missing:
Although our society has long regarded heterosexuality as the only natural expression of sexuality, members of the gay rights movement have challenged this view strongly, arguing XYZ.
This more active construction also makes it clear that merely enumerating the points the author wants to make is not the same thing as creating an argument. The writer should now be able to see that he needs to go one step further - he needs to reveal his own position on the gay rights movement. The rest of the paper will develop this position.
In short, there are many ways to begin work on a writer's thesis sentences. Almost all of them will lead you to other matters important to the paper's success: its structure, its language, its style. Try to make any conversation you have about thesis sentences point to other problems with the writing. Not only is this strategy efficient, but it also encourages a writer to see how important a thesis is to the overall success of his essay.
For the sake of making (we hope) a somewhat humorous illustration of the matter at hand, we offer the following scenario, which shows how tutor and tutee can talk their way to a workable thesis - and, indeed, to a good essay. So sit back, and enjoy this "break" in your training.
Imagine (though it is indeed quite a stretch) that a freshman composition teacher has the audacity to assign a paper on cats (the animals, not the play). The students may write any kind of paper they like - narration, description, compare/contrast, etc. - as long as their essays contain a thesis (that is, that they argue some point) concerning cats. A writer comes to you for help in developing her thesis. You read the assignment, and then you tell the writer that she first must choose the kind of paper she would like to do. She decides to do a narrative because she thinks she has more freedom in the narrative form. Then you ask her what she has to say about cats. "I don't like them," is her reply.
"OK," you say, "that's a start. Why don't you like them?" The writer has lots of reasons: they smell, they're aloof, they shed, they keep you up nights when they're in heat, they're very middle class, they steal food off of the table, they don't get along with dogs (the writer loves dogs), and on, and on. After brainstorming for a while, you tell the writer to choose a few points on which she'd like to focus - preferably those points that she feels strongly about or those which seem unusual. She picks three: cats smell, they steal food, and they are middle class. She offers her thesis: "I don't like cats because they are smelly, thieving, and middle class."
"O.K.," you say, "It's not a very sophisticated thesis but we can use it for now. After all, it defines your stance, it controls your subject, it organizes your argument, and it predicts your strategy - all the things that a thesis ought to do. Now let's consider how to develop the thesis, point by point."
You begin to ask questions about cats and their smell. "What do they smell like?" you say. The writer thinks awhile, and then says, "They smell like dirty gym shorts, like old hamburgers, like my eighth-grade math teacher's breath." The writer laughs, particularly fond of the final simile. Then she adds, "My boyfriend has a cat. A Tom. When he moved into his first apartment, that cat sprayed all over the place, you know, marking his territory. The place stunk so bad that I couldn't even go there for a week. Can you imagine? Your boyfriend gets his first apartment, and you can't even go in the place for a week?"
The writer has sparked your imagination; you think that she can spark her teacher's imagination as well. "Why don't you do your narrative about your boyfriend's cat? You could tell the story - or you could make up a story - about going over there for dinner, hoping for a romantic evening, and being put off by the cat." The writer likes this idea and goes off to write her draft. She returns with the following story about her boyfriend and his cat.
She was hoping for a romantic dinner; he was making her favorite meal. She could smell the T-bone and the apple pie before she even got to his door. But when she opened the door, her appetite was obliterated: the smell of cat spray smelled worse than her eighth-grade math teacher's breath. Of course, because she remained hopeful for a romantic evening, she put on her best face, tried not to grimace, and gave her boyfriend the flowers she'd picked up on the way. They chat; everything is going fine; he goes to the kitchen to check on dinner; she hears his shriek. The cat has stolen all of the food! Upon searching, they find the cat under the sofa, not only with their dinner, but with the writer's wallet, her favorite picture of her mom torn in half, her new leather jacket now full of cat hairs. This cat not only stinks, he's a thief as well. Still, the evening need not be a total waste. They order pizza, have some wine. She and her man talk; their moods improve, and she decides that it might be a nice time to kiss. She pulls the old yawn trick to get her arm around him, and just as she's ready to kiss him the cat jumps into his lap. "Oh, Pookie, Pookie, Pookie," her boyfriend says, giving himself over to the purring cat. "Damn lap cat," the writer says to herself, and leaves it at that. She has written a paper illustrating that cats are smelly, thieving, and middle class. She has fulfilled her thesis.
Now, you like this paper. It's got a great voice, and it's got humor. You feel, however, that the writer should refine the thesis. It has served the writer well in helping her to organize, control, predict, and define her essay; however, she needs now to consider how to choose words and a tone which will hook the reader and reel him in. You explain to the writer that her thesis can be humorous, that she can feel free to be extreme, because a funny, exaggerated thesis would suit this funny, exaggerated paper.
After some doodling and some dialogue, the writer comes up with the following thesis: "All cats should be exterminated because they are the stinking, kleptomaniacal darlings of the bourgeoisie." You laugh; you like it. Moreover, the thesis has given the writer an ending for her essay: she exterminates the cat in her boyfriend's microwave, convinces him to get a goldfish instead, and the two of them live happily ever after. The writer is happy. The tutor is happy. The paper works.
While you will likely not encounter a "cat" assignment at Dartmouth, this sort of experience with writing a thesis is a common one. Even when papers are more sophisticated than this one - even when the subject is Hitler's rise to power, or Freud's treatment of taboo - writers will often write a working thesis, one that guides them through the writing process. Then they will return to the thesis, sometimes several times before their paper is finished, revising it to better fit their paper's increasingly refined argument and tone.
Look at the sentence's structure. Is the main idea of the paper placed appropriately in the main clause? If there are parallel points made in the paper, does the thesis sentence signal this to the reader via some parallel structure? If the paper makes an interesting but necessary aside, is that aside predicted - perhaps in a parenthetical element? Remember: the structure of the thesis sentence also signals much to the reader about the structure of the argument. Be sure that the thesis reflects, reliably, what the paper itself is going to say.
As to the style of the sentence: hold the thesis sentence to the highest stylistic standards. Help a writer to make sure that it is as clear and concise as it can be, and that its language and phrasing reflect confidence, eloquence, and grace.
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Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.
A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.
Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:
In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.
How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.
While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.
For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .
To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.
Download Word template Download Google Docs template
It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.
The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.
You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.
A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.
Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.
To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.
As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.
Address | Describe | Imply | Refute |
Argue | Determine | Indicate | Report |
Claim | Emphasize | Mention | Reveal |
Clarify | Examine | Point out | Speculate |
Compare | Explain | Posit | Summarize |
Concern | Formulate | Present | Target |
Counter | Focus on | Propose | Treat |
Define | Give | Provide insight into | Underpin |
Demonstrate | Highlight | Recommend | Use |
If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!
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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .
The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.
A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
George, T. (2023, November 21). Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved June 24, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/dissertation-thesis-outline/
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A claim is a formal request for compensation, reimbursement, or acknowledgment of a right. It often involves submitting relevant documentation to support the demand. For instance, a Payment Claim is submitted to receive due payment for services rendered, while an Authorization Letter to Claim grants permission for another person to claim on behalf of the rightful owner. In specialized fields, a Construction Claim addresses disputes or additional costs in building projects, and an Insurance Claim seeks financial recovery for losses covered under an insurance policy.
A claim is a formal request for compensation, reimbursement, or acknowledgment of a right, often supported by relevant documentation. It is commonly used in various contexts such as payments, insurance, and legal disputes.
A claim in a sentence is a statement or assertion that expresses a belief, opinion, or point of view, often serving as the main argument or thesis in a piece of writing. For example, “Regular exercise improves mental health by reducing stress and anxiety.
Claim : A claim is the main argument or thesis statement of a piece of writing. It is the writer’s position on a particular topic or issue. The claim should be specific, debatable, and clearly stated.
Example: Claim: “School uniforms improve student behavior and academic performance.”
Reason : A reason explains why the claim is valid. It provides the rationale behind the claim and shows why the reader should accept it. Reasons should be logical and directly support the claim.
Example: Reason: “Uniforms create a sense of equality among students, reducing peer pressure and distractions.”
Evidence : Evidence consists of facts, statistics, examples, expert opinions, or other data that support the reason. It provides concrete proof that the reason is valid and, consequently, that the claim is true.
Example: Evidence: “A study conducted by XYZ University found that schools with uniform policies saw a 20% decrease in disciplinary issues and a 15% increase in test scores.”
A claim of policy is a statement that advocates for a specific course of action or change in policy. It suggests that certain actions should be taken to address a problem or improve a situation. This type of claim often includes a proposal for a solution and is typically supported by evidence showing why the proposed action is necessary and beneficial.
Writing an argumentative essay involves presenting a clear stance on a particular issue and providing evidence to support your position. This type of essay requires critical thinking, strong reasoning, and a structured approach to persuade the reader of your viewpoint. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you craft a compelling argumentative essay.
An argumentative essay is a piece of writing that presents a claim and supports it with evidence and reasoning. The goal is to convince the reader to accept or at least seriously consider your perspective.
The introduction sets the stage for your essay. It should:
“In today’s digital age, the use of social media has become ubiquitous. While it offers numerous benefits, there is a growing concern about its impact on mental health. This essay will argue that excessive social media use leads to increased anxiety and depression among teenagers.”
The thesis statement clearly states your main argument. It should be concise and specific.
“Excessive use of social media contributes to heightened anxiety and depression among teenagers.”
Each body paragraph should focus on one main idea that supports your thesis. Include evidence such as statistics, quotes, studies, and real-life examples.
Paragraph 1:
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Addressing counterarguments strengthens your essay by showing you have considered multiple viewpoints.
Counterargument: Some argue that social media helps teenagers build social connections and support networks.
Rebuttal: While social media can facilitate connections, it often leads to superficial relationships. Moreover, the negative effects on mental health outweigh the potential benefits of these connections.
The conclusion should summarize your main points and restate the thesis in light of the evidence presented. It should also provide a final thought or call to action.
A claim is the main argument or stance you take on a particular issue in your essay.
State your claim clearly and concisely in the thesis statement of your introduction.
No, a claim should be a declarative statement, not a question.
Generally, one main claim is supported by several smaller, supporting claims.
A strong claim is specific, debatable, and backed by evidence.
No, a claim should be an argument that requires support and evidence, not a universally accepted fact.
Yes, addressing counterclaims strengthens your argument by showing consideration of opposing views.
Yes, refining your claim as you gather more evidence and insights is common.
A claim is the main argument of the essay, while a topic sentence introduces the main idea of a paragraph.
Ensure your claim presents a viewpoint that others might dispute or have differing opinions on.
Text prompt
10 Examples of Public speaking
20 Examples of Gas lighting
Doctoral candidate Lanyu Shang successfully defended her dissertation, "A Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence Approach Towards Equality, Well-Being, and Responsibility in Sustainable Communities," on June 19.
Her doctoral committee included Associate Professor Dong Wang (chair); Assistant Professor Jessie Chin; Ximing Cai, professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Na Wei, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Abstract: This dissertation introduces a human-centric artificial intelligence for sustainable communities (HAI4SC) approach that harnesses the complementary strengths of artificial intelligence (AI) and human intelligence (HI) to foster equality, well-being, and responsibility. AI has shown superiority in processing large amounts of data, identifying latent patterns, and making predictions, addressing the scalability and complexity of sustainability challenges. On the other hand, HI excels in providing context, domain expertise, and human-centric insights, which are essential for understanding the complex social and physical factors for community sustainability. This dissertation develops a holistic HAI4SC approach by addressing three fundamental challenges: multimodality, adaptability, and trustworthiness. First, we develop a multimodal information fusion system to seamlessly integrate multimodal content in enhancing community information credibility. Moreover, we design an adaptive cross-domain analytic framework that explicitly incorporates and adapts domain knowledge from well-studied source domains for improving the resilience and well-being of sustainable communities. Additionally, we develop a trustworthy social-physical knowledge distillation scheme that effectively models the diverse and uncertain human inputs from community stakeholders to strengthen the community responsibility and sustainability.
Graduate School
The graduate school is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 ddf fellowship recipients.
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2024-2025 DDF Fellowship! The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) gives the University's most accomplished Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to an outstanding research project by providing time to finalize and write a dissertation during the fellowship year.
Mechanical Engineering Advisor(s): Rajesh Rajamani "Vehicle Tracking Based on Low-Cost Sensors: Applications to Micromobility Devices and Autonomous Vehicles"
History Advisor(s): David Chang, Jean O'Brien "Vincennes in Myaamionki: Constructing and Contesting Indiana's Past in Miami Homelands"
Geography Advisor(s): Vinay Gidwani "Exclusionary Inclusion: How Caste and Capital Logics Shape the Politics of Recognition, Formalization, and Infrastructural Reform in Contemporary Urban India"
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Advisor(s): Benjamin Munson "Say exactly what I say: Social considerations for children’s performance in sentence repetition tasks"
Social and Administrative Pharmacy Advisor(s): Jon Schommer "Key Components for Planning and Developing New Pharmaceutical Enterprise that Produces the COVID-19 Vaccine in Nigeria for Local Uptake"
Education, Curriculum and Instruction Advisor(s): Erin Baldinger "Learning the Nonlinear Dynamics of Climate Change through Mathematics Instruction"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos "Efficient Robotic Automation Leveraging Optimal Visual and Language Information"
Chemical Engineering Advisor(s): Theresa Reineke, Frank Bates "Design and synthesis of bottlebrush polymers for improved oral drug delivery"
Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology Advisor(s): Angela Birnbaum "Prediction of fetal exposure of anti-seizure medication dosing during pregnancy through the development of physiologically-based models for prediction of lamotrigine exposure"
Social and Administrative Pharmacy Advisor(s): Angeline Carlson "Postpartum Depression: Racial and Geographical Disparities, Social Determinants, and Healthcare Utilization Patterns in the United States"
Applied Plant Sciences Advisor(s): Candice Hirsch "Quantifying maize kernel attributes affecting quality in masa-based products"
Biostatistics Advisor(s): Weihua Guan, Tianzhong Yang "Statistical Models for Understanding Genetic and Genomic Foundations of Childhood Cancers: A Focus on Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"
Rehabilitation Science Advisor(s): Ann Van de Winckel "Development of a Novel Evaluation Scale for Mental Body Representations (MBR) in Adults with Spinal Cord Injury
Epidemiology Advisor(s): Erin Marcotte "The effects of policy and neighborhood-level social determinants of health on childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia survival disparities"
Educational Psychology Advisor(s): Kristen McMaster "Toward the Fair and Valid Use of Curriculum-Based Measurement in Writing with Struggling Writers From Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds"
Electrical Engineering Advisor(s): Ulya Karpuzcu "Computing with Spins: The Good, the Bad, and the Odd"
Integrative Biology and Physiology Advisor(s): Joseph Metzger, Xavier Revelo "Mechanism of Innate Immunity Activation and Inflammation Onset in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy"
Political Science Advisor(s): Tanisha Fazal "Taking Care of Fighters: Rebel Groups and their Provision of Medical Care to Fighters"
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics Advisor(s): Christina Camell "Cytotoxicity, exhaustion, and immunosenescence in CD8+ T cells during aging"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Dongyeop Kang "Cognitively Informed Natural Language Generation"
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Advisor(s): Sarah Hobbie, Peter Kennedy "Fungal controls on forest soil carbon storage under climate change"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Courtney Roberts "Inducing Regioselecitivty in Metal-Bound Arynes Reactions via Catalyst Control"
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development Advisor(s): Joan DeJaeghere, Bhaskar Upadhyay "Racialized and Sexualized Bodies: Northeastern Indian Students’ Experiences in Higher Educational Institutions"
Earth Sciences Advisor(s): Joshua Feinberg "Approaches in rock magnetic analysis: Insights into remanence acquisition, sea-level reconstruction, and advancement of techniques"
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics Advisor(s): Stefani Thomas "Histone Deacetylase Proteins as Therapeutic Targets in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer"
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Advisor(s): Kaylee Schwertfeger "LYVE-1+ macrophages modulate the extracellular matrix and contribute to mammary tumor growth"
Education, Curriculum and Instruction Advisor(s): Betsy Maloney Leaf "The Three Rs: An Intergenerational Exploration of Black Womanhood in Education & Dance"
Psychology Advisor(s): Bob Krueger "Associations between Loneliness, Epigenetic Age Acceleration, and Chronic Physical Health Conditions at Midlife"
Mass Communication Advisor(s): Rebekah Nagler "Responses to Politicized News Media Coverage About Health and Science: What is the role of perceived controversy?"
Physics Advisor(s): Maxim Pospelov "CP-violating observables within and beyond the Standard Model"
Educational Psychology Advisor(s): David DeLiema "Tree Climbing: Attunement to material contribution during playful climbing"
Nursing Advisor(s): Carolyn Porta "Are We Preparing Nursing Students to Address Health Equity? A Mixed Methods Study of Baccalaureate Nursing Programs"
Child Psychology Advisor(s): Canan Karatekin, Megan Gunnar "How neighborhoods shape health from adolescence to adulthood: An examination of age-varying effects and change over time"
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Advisor(s): Craig Packer "Understanding human-wildlife interactions in a shared savanna landscape: impacts of cattle on wild herbivores spatiotemporal dynamics"
Anthropology Advisor(s): Kieran McNulty "The Ecological Context of Early Ape Evolution"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Chad Myers "Computational methods for chemical genetic networks to discover precision cancer drugs"
Design Advisor(s): Brad Hokanson "The Effect of Creative Problem Solving Training on Students’ Creative and Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions"
Mechanical Engineering Advisor(s): James Van de Ven "Flow and Torque Ripple Reduction in Positive Displacement Pumps and Motors"
Child Psychology Advisor(s): Ann Masten, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan "Resilience Processes in Twin Cities Immigrant and Refugee Children"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Phillipe Buhlmann "Expanding the Working Ranges and Applications of Ion Selective Electrodes"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Zhi-Li Zhang "Domain-Knowledge-Guided Machine Learning for Networked Systems"
Physics Advisor(s): Andrey Chubukov "Interplay between nematicity and superconductivity in iron-based high temperature superconductors, application to doped FeSe"
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Plant and Microbial Biology Advisor(s): Dave Moeller "The role of mating system transitions in flowering plant speciation"
Electrical Engineering Advisor(s): Kia Bazargan "Self-Similarity-Based Computing"
Mechanical Engineering Advisor(s): Jeff Tithof "Novel Strategies to Address Neurological Disorders through Numerical Simulation of Cerebrospinal Fluid Drainage"
Natural Resources Science and Management Advisor(s): Mae Davenport "Homesteaders to Harvesters: Case Studies in Black and Indigenous Reparative Environmental Justice"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Eric Van Wyk "Enabling Practical Modular Language Specifications"
Mechanical Engineering Advisor(s): Uwe Kortshagen "Carbon-Free Iron Ore Reduction using Hydrogen Plasma: Towards Green Steel"
Business Administration Advisor(s): Karen Donohue "Improving the Sustainability of E-Commerce Logistics through Change in Consumer Behavior"
Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration Advisor(s): Eva Enns, Xiao Zang "Optimizing harm reduction services to prevent drug overdose deaths and improve racial/ethnic health equity among people at risk for drug overdose in Minnesota"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Yao-Yi Chiang "Spatiotemporal Prediction and Forecasting with Multimodal and Multiscale Data"
Civil Engineering Advisor(s): Bill Arnold "Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in wastewater and the environment: Quantification and Removal"
Materials Science and Engineering Advisor(s): Nathan Mara, Calvin Sun "Fundamental understanding of mechanical behavior in pharmaceutical crystals for accelerated drug manufacturing"
Family Social Science Advisor(s): Chalandra Bryant "African American Bereavement: How Do Youth and Families Navigate Loss?"
Theatre Arts Advisor(s): Margaret Werry, Sonali Pahwa "Housewives, Writers, and Communists: Staging Domesticity in Imperial Germany to Make Labor Visible"
Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media Advisor(s): Christine Marran "The Stakes of Tricontinental Cinema: Radical Politics and Aesthetics in the Global 1960s"
Comparative and Molecular Biosciences Advisor(s): Yuying Liang, Hinh Ly "New Insights into the Biology and Composition of Medically Important Viruses"
Chemical Engineering Advisor(s): Bharat Jalan "Engineering thin film synthesis and electronic properties of iridium-based oxides"
Biomedical Engineering Advisor(s): Jonathan Sachs "Investigation of fibril cavity amino acids and small molecules as modulators of selfassembly and toxicity of neurodegeneration-related proteins"
Child Psychology Advisor(s): Sylia Wilson, Ann Masten "A Causally- and Genetically-Informed Approach to Depression and Substance Use Comorbidity During Adolescence and the Role of the Parent-Child Relationship"
Chemical Engineering Advisor(s): Matthew Neurock "First-principles Insights into The Catalytic Conversions of CO2 to Value-added Chemicals and Fuels"
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development Advisor(s): Stuart Yeh "Public Narrative and Its Relationship to Traumatic Stress: Applying Evaluative Thinking and Problem Definition to a Critical Social Issue"
Medicinal Chemistry Advisor(s): Courtney Aldrich "Chemical Probes for the Identification and Validation of Targets in Mycobacterial Metabolism"
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics Advisor(s): Wendy Gordon "The Development and Utilization of High Throughput Methods of Mechanotypying"
Plant and Microbial Biology Advisor(s): Trinity Hamilton "Microbial diversity across spatial and temporal scales in high mountain watersheds of the Teton Range, USA"
Conservation Sciences Advisor(s): Joseph Bump "Unraveling the Ecological Complexity of Yellowstone's Large Mammal Predator-Prey Dynamics"
Earth Sciences Advisor(s): Pete Makovicky "The Macroevolution of the Ornithischian Dental Battery"
Linguistics Advisor(s): Claire Halpert "Ge-gikendamang Enwewaad Netaa-anishnaabemojig: linguistic analysis of clause type in of Ojibwe language reclamation"
Plant and Microbial Biology Advisor(s): Kathleen Greenham "Integrating time of day dynamics into transcriptomic and metabolic networks to improve crop performance"
Sociology Advisor(s): Michelle Phelps "Covenanted-Policing: Policing, Spatial Racism, and Health (In)Equity in Minneapolis, MN"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Courtney Roberts "Advances in Modern and Traditional Methods for Pharmaceutically Relevant C–C and C–N Bond Formation"
Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology Advisor(s): R. Stephanie Huang "Deciphering Sex Differences in Tumor Progression and Cancer Treatment Response by Studying Intratumoral Microbiome-Host Interactions"
Geography Advisor(s): Vinay Gidwani, Bruce Braun "A State of Uncertainty: Flood and Erosion Management in the Brahmaputra Valley (India)"
Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics Advisor(s): Juan Carlos Rivera-Mulia, Walter Low "Overcoming barriers to organ generation for transplantation therapy through interspecies chimerism"
Sociology Advisor(s): Joachim Savelsberg, Alejandro Baer "History in Whose Hands? Women's Collective Memory of the Yugoslav Wars in Serbia"
Rehabilitation Science Advisor(s): Manda Keller-Ross, Ida Fonkoue "Sympathetic Regulation and Endothelial Function in Postmenopausal Females with Sleep Disturbance"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Mark Distefano "Building the Protein-Drug Revolution"
Public Affairs Advisor(s): Ragui Assaad "The nexus of climate change, migration and conflict in Sudan"
History Advisor(s): Andrea Sterk "Saints, Soldiers, and Society in the Late Roman West: Reassessing the End of Empire in Italy and Illyricum"
Family Social Science Advisor(s): Stacey Horn "Perceptions and Meaning-Making of Homophobic Language Among Mandarin-Speaking Adolescents"
Pharmaceutics Advisor(s): Changquan Sun "Tabeletability Flip of Drugs upon Formulation"
Biomedical Engineering Advisor(s): David Wood "Defining the mechanics and kinetics of red blood cell sickling in sickle cell disease"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran "Modulating the structure and function of bacterial heme proteins"
Business Administration Advisor(s): Elizabeth Campbell "When Underperformance Means Success: Mixed-Methods Theory-Building & Testing of Strategic Underperformance"
Computer Science Advisor(s): Shashi Shekhar "Vehicle-Physics-Informed AI for Transportation Science"
Pharmacology Advisor(s): Ameeta Kelekar "Bcl-2 protein, Noxa, as a Regulator of Proliferative Metabolism and Apoptotic Cell Death in human CD8+ T cells"
Electrical Engineering Advisor(s): Mingyi Hong "Aligning Human and AI Systems: Framework, Algorithm Design and Applications in Large Language Models"
Mathematics Advisor(s): Pavlo Pylyavskyy "Super Cluster Algebras and Generalized Boson-Fermion Correspondence"
Mechanical Engineering Advisor(s): Sun Zongxuan "System Modeling and Motion Control for Autonomous Off-road Vehicles"
Chemistry Advisor(s): Ilja Siepmann, Tim Lodge "Self-Assembly of Polymers and Amphiphiles into Bicontinuous Phases"
Hongju Park from Dr. Mohamad Faradonbeh’s lab successfully defended his dissertation titled “Partially Observable Stochastic Contextual Bandits” on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Congratulations Dr. Park!
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Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal. Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter. Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review. Undertake your own research. Present and interpret your findings. Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications.
A thesis statement is a very common component of an essay, particularly in the humanities. It usually comprises 1 or 2 sentences in the introduction of your essay, and should clearly and concisely summarize the central points of your academic essay. A thesis is a long-form piece of academic writing, often taking more than a full semester to ...
A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program. Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you've ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating ...
A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay. It usually comes near the end of your introduction. Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you're writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your ...
A thesis is an in-depth research study that identifies a particular topic of inquiry and presents a clear argument or perspective about that topic using evidence and logic. Writing a thesis showcases your ability of critical thinking, gathering evidence, and making a compelling argument. Integral to these competencies is thorough research ...
A thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
A thesis statement . . . Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic. Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper. Is focused and specific enough to be "proven" within the boundaries of your paper. Is generally located near the end ...
Thesis. Your thesis is the central claim in your essay—your main insight or idea about your source or topic. Your thesis should appear early in an academic essay, followed by a logically constructed argument that supports this central claim. A strong thesis is arguable, which means a thoughtful reader could disagree with it and therefore ...
A good thesis statement needs to do the following: Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences. Answer your project's main research question. Clearly state your position in relation to the topic. Make an argument that requires support or evidence.
A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay. Steps in Constructing a Thesis. First, analyze your primary sources. Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication.
Revised on 5 May 2022. A dissertation is a large research project undertaken at the end of a degree. It involves in-depth consideration of a problem or question chosen by the student. It is usually the largest (and final) piece of written work produced during a degree. The length and structure of a dissertation vary widely depending on the ...
The thesis statement is the brief articulation of your paper's central argument and purpose. You might hear it referred to as simply a "thesis." Every scholarly paper should have a thesis statement, and strong thesis statements are concise, specific, and arguable. Concise means the thesis is short: perhaps one or two sentences for a shorter paper.
Thesis Statements. A thesis is the main claim you are making in an argument, similar to the hypothesis in a scientific experiment. It is what you are trying to prove or persuade your audience to believe or do. It's helpful to develop a working thesis to guide your composition process. "Working" is the operative word here; your ideas are ...
A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say: World hunger has many causes and effects. This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons.
The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence, which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though. Writing a Good Thesis Statement: 4 Steps
The thesis statement is the one sentence that encapsulates the result of your thinking, as it offers your main insight or argument in condensed form. A basic thesis statement has two main parts: Topic: What you're writing about. Angle: What your main idea is about that topic.
The kind of thesis statement you write will depend on the type of paper you are writing. Here is how to write the different kinds of thesis statements: Argumentative Thesis Statement: Making a Claim. An argumentative thesis states the topic of your paper, your position on the topic, and the reasons you have for taking that position.
It may sound absurd - perhaps even unfair - but it's true. I refer, of course, to the thesis statement. A thesis statement is your entire essay if it were condensed into a single sentence. If your essay title is a question, then your thesis statement is the one-sentence answer. It tends to arrive near the end of the first paragraph of a ...
The promises that a thesis sentence makes to a reader are important ones and must be kept. It's helpful sometimes to explain the thesis as a kind of contract between reader and writer: if this contract is broken, the reader will feel frustrated and betrayed. Accordingly, the writer must be very careful in the development of the thesis.
•A topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph that signals to the reader what the para- graph's main idea will be. •Topic sentences should: » relate back to the argument of the thesis; » concisely summarize the key idea of the paragraph; » can even contain key words from the thesis statement. ToPic SenTenceS and comPrehen Sion
A dissertation prospectus is a research proposal providing a rationale for the proposed research, an outline of the proposed research, a discussion of the scholarship that is expected to ground the study. The purpose of the prospectus is to provide a solid foundation for the dissertation, show persuasive evidence that the project is both well ...
An analysis of the far-left "Squad" lawmaker's Manhattanville College dissertation, conducted by the Daily Wire, discovered "multiple instances" of apparent plagiarism, including some ...
This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline. Tip You can find a thesis and dissertation outline template below, as well as a chapter outline example, and example sentences ...
Claim in a sentences. A claim in a sentence is a statement or assertion that expresses a belief, opinion, or point of view, often serving as the main argument or thesis in a piece of writing. For example, "Regular exercise improves mental health by reducing stress and anxiety.
This dissertation develops a holistic HAI4SC approach by addressing three fundamental challenges: multimodality, adaptability, and trustworthiness. First, we develop a multimodal information fusion system to seamlessly integrate multimodal content in enhancing community information credibility. Moreover, we design an adaptive cross-domain ...
06/25/2024 By Karen Mullins. The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Proposal Defense by AnaCristina Bedoya entitled, "The Kinda Shit You Get on Your TV: Exploring the Role of Pornography Use on the Sexual Scripts and Psychological and Sexual Wellbeing of Survivors of Sexual Assault."
Embattled "Squad" member Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. is facing allegations of plagiarism from a 2019 dissertation he wrote, according to a new report.
It is our pleasure to announce that Brandon Tsai, a PhD candidate of the Genetics and Genomics Home Area in the Department of Human Genetics, will defend his dissertation on " Determining the Mechanisms by which Exercise Exerts its Effect on Cancer" on Monday, July 1, 2024, at 2:00pm in person at CHS 23-105 and via Zoom.We invite you as members of the academic community to join us!
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023-2024 DDF Fellowship! The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) gives the University's most accomplished Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to an outstanding research project by providing time to finalize and write a dissertation during the fellowship year.. Hamidreza Alai ...
Thesis and Dissertations >> MS Thesis; PhD Dissertation; Statistics Club; Slideshow. Hongju Park Successfully Defends Dissertation. Monday, June 24, 2024 - 9:37am. Image: Hongju Park from Dr. Mohamad Faradonbeh's lab successfully defended his dissertation titled "Partially Observable Stochastic Contextual Bandits" on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.