How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Updated: 26 Jun 2023

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Do you want to write organized and informative academic papers? Then, you need to learn how to write a thesis statement.

When you are writing any academic paper, like an essay, or a report, there is always one or two ideas that you want to express. These ideas are stated in a statement that we call a thesis. You can have a thesis statement in other types of writing, like articles, speeches, and newsletters, to pass your message to the readers. So, a thesis is important in any writing to ensure you deliver the targeted information.

What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is a single line or two that ties together the main argument on a topic. So thesis statement summarizes a topic and declares your opinion. Some theses will offer readers a quick and easy-to-follow summary of the paper's discussion. So it helps the reader decide whether to read an article because they know what to expect.

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A thesis statement should always appear in the introduction of a term paper, research, or essay so that the readers can know what to expect in the essay. Thus, the essay acts as a map or a guide for you and your audience. You can get more tips on how to write a thesis in our term paper writing service.

Which are the Types of Thesis Statements?

There are three types of thesis statements, as explained:

Argumentative or persuasive is a claim you make about a topic and should support it with reasons and evidence. This thesis statement aims to persuade the reader about the subject. An argumentative thesis should have a claim, reasons, and the order of presenting them.
Analytical – it’s a type of statement that breaks down ideas or issues into simple components for your audience. It’s applied in research papers to analyze and interpret various topic aspects. When writing this statement, ensure you know what to analyze, how you discovered the analysis, how to organize the discoveries, and the order of presenting them.
Explanatory - explains the idea that you have to the audience. The statement gives the categories you will use to organize the essay, what you will explain, and the order in which you will present the ideas.

Which are the Steps of Writing a Thesis?

There are four steps that you should follow to create a strong thesis statement:

1. Start with a Question

Before you start your research, ensure you have a question in mind or the working thesis. So, work out what you want to say about the subject. So, with this question in mind as you research, it will help you gather relevant information in creating a quality thesis.

For example, you may start with a research question such as:

“Which are the factors that lead to poor performance in schools?”

2. Develop a Statement that Addresses the Question

After identifying the research question, then it’s time for preliminary research. Use all the relevant and credible materials that you can find to gather answers to your question. So, your working thesis is only a draft, so you should seek answers to create a strong statement.

As we will discuss, there are features you should consider to form a solid thesis. Your claim should be precise, show confidence, and be arguable. Therefore, consider this as you create a claim from the research question.

For example, after conducting research, you may get answers to the above research question and form a thesis like the following:

“Lack of quality learning resources and few teachers have led to poor performance in schools in the marginalized areas. “

3. Use Evidence and Reasoning to Support Your Claim

When you form a thesis, it now acts as a guide in your research. It helps you narrow down the subject and find relevant answers and evidence to support the claim. You can use the existing literature from other authors to help you gather information and support this statement.

Your research now becomes easy and goes deep into finding facts and relevant examples concerning your statement. Therefore as you research, you can develop and refine your thesis further to ensure it includes the three parts: topic, analysis, and an explanation. Refine this thesis with these questions: why do you hold this claim or the topic, what do you need your readers to learn, and how is the mission implemented in the paper?

For example:

“Poor performance of students in marginalized areas has occurred due to lack of quality learning resources and teaching staffs. This issue started due to poor education funding in those areas leading to fewer teaching staff. If no measures are taken, poor education systems will gradually affect the labor force and economy.”

4. Anticipate Counter-arguments

This step helps prove if your claim is factual or has a counter-argument. If the statement lacks this aspect, you need to revise it. Counter-arguments add complexity to your thesis and also in finding evidence that will make it stronger.

The above are the steps that you should follow in creating a strong thesis for your research. If you need help in any of the steps, place an order for our academic writing services. You can also learn more tactics on how to write a research paper article.

What are the Features of a Solid Thesis Statement?

The thesis contains three parts, topic, analysis, and assertion or explanation.

Specificity – a thesis statement should concentrate on a particular topic. It should rule out the broad content of the topic and focus on one clear claim about the topic.
Precision – a good thesis should be precise enough to allow a logical argument and be focused on the topic.
Ability to argue – ensure that the thesis statement contains a point of view that you can support with evidence. If the statement is factual, then it’s not considered arguable.
Confidence – ensure you use confidence in the claim for the audience to trust you. If you choose words like, I feel, I believe, these will weaken your claim and imply that you are the only person who believes in this statement.
Forcefulness – use an assertive tone that ensures you make an argument.
Original – a strong thesis statement should present original or unique ideas about the topic to keep the reader interested. Therefore, to ensure you develop an original statement and do thorough research. When researching, use primary and secondary sources of information to create an original thesis. If you aren’t sure where to seek primary and secondary sources, check out our article on, the difference between primary and secondary sources.
Position – a good thesis should appear at the beginning of an essay to inform the readers of what you will discuss. Therefore, introduce your thesis within the last two or three sentences in the introduction.
Length – your thesis can be long or short depending on how many points you have but ensure it’s always concise. The thesis can have two clauses, dependent and independent but ensure you aim for at least 2 lines.

Thesis Outline

When creating your thesis statement, ensure you consider the following format:

Start the claim with the main topic and focus of your paper
Put your thesis in one sentence or two if it's long
Revise the claim with specific terms to make it more convincing
Revise the statement further to cover the scope of your essay and make it strong.
Include the thesis statement in your essay within the introduction paragraph's last two or three lines.

How Should You Revise Your Thesis?

To ensure you have a strong thesis for your research, you should revise it accordingly using these simple tricks:

Identify all the nonspecific words and replace them. These are words that add fluff, so ensure the statement is precise.
Clarify your ideas by asking yourself questions to narrow them to a specific statement. These questions we mentioned above are the why, what, and how
Keep off the general claim that is challenging to support; you will have a hard time researching
Replace all the linking verbs with action verbs. For instance, a statement like, why are the teachers not paid enough? Change to, who is not paying the teachers enough? The second question will trigger the readers to ask more questions than the first one.

Is Thesis Statement the Same as Research Hypothesis?

A thesis isn’t the same as a research hypothesis because the latter can be proved or disapproved. A hypothesis is applied in quantitative research and predicts the relationship between variables, whereas a thesis statement summarizes the main topic you will discuss in your essay or research. This claim can be applied to qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods. The statement should be developed, supported, and explained in your research paper or essay.

Therefore, every research study should contain a thesis statement. However, if the research aims to prove or disapprove a point, it will have a claim statement and a hypothesis. You can learn more about these research methods in this article: how to write a research methodology.

Which are the Examples of Thesis Statements?

By now, you have learned the best steps for writing a thesis. There are also the features that your thesis should portray to be solid. Thus there are two types of claims, a strong and a weak one. To help you understand the difference, let’s look at the examples of a weak and a strong claim.

Weak Thesis Statement Examples

Pilau rice is easy to make because it requires only three ingredients
Students can’t be forced to wear uniforms
Businesses should exploit the marketing potential of technology to advertise and offer customer support.

Solid Thesis Statement Examples

Pilau is a favorite meal for everyone that requires rice, meat, potatoes, and spices.
Students should wear school uniforms to create harmony and be equal in school.
Technology has improved the marketing potential of businesses in advertising on various platforms and offering customer technical support.

You can keep learning more about the types of thesis and examples here.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which are the 4 Questions that Can Strengthen My Thesis Statement?

As you develop your claim, check out these questions to help you:

Does my thesis directly relate to the topic?
Have I picked a specific topic that is easy to research
Is my claim an argument?
Does this statement answer my question?

2. Which are the Best Qualities of a Solid Thesis?

A quality thesis should have the following

Be clear
Should be concise
Be original
Be arguable
Forceful
Show confidence

So for a good thesis, it shouldn’t be:

A question - something that you can’t argue
A subjective opinion- can you find something in literature to prove this point?
A religious or political belief
A statement of fact

3. What are the Benefits of Using a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement should support and offer the following benefits:

This should assist the writer focus on the main idea of the essay or research paper
It should help the reader to understand the main idea of the essay
Keeps your ideas organized and know the important points you want to focus on
Gives readers satisfaction at the conclusion after discovering you have fulfilled your promise of the main idea.

In a Nut-Shell

This guide has given you a clear and detailed process of how to write a thesis statement. A claim should help you write an organized essay and focus on the main purpose. Again, it should help your readers understand or have a flow of the paper’s content. Thus, a thesis statement can make your readers read the paper.

Therefore you should apply the above-given features to create a quality thesis statement. Be sure your claim is precise, arguable, clear, and specific. If you are stuck in creating a thesis for your essay or research paper, place an order for our writing help.

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement - Homeworkmarket

author Melaine

Meet the author

By Melanie

Melanie is a seasoned writer with more than 8 years of experience. She is passionate about academia and works off the clock to ensure she write the topnotch content for her readers.

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