Thesis Statement

Every thesis has to make a contribution – it has to have a central argument that it offers to the field of study. It is often difficult to figure out what your exact thesis statement is but once you do so, you can get a clear sense of what smaller arguments will need to be built up through chains of evidence in order for the reader to be convinced of the thesis statement. This video uses an example from Education and so it will probably be of use to students from across the Humanities and Social Sciences. For those in the Natural Sciences, the building of an argument is generally (but not always) in a more linear fashion. But regardless of your field, you will have to make some contribution to the field and it is worth trying to sum this up in just one clearly constructed sentence.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University.

Explore these additional resources

• Just write – a video about getting going on your writing
• Supporting academic writing practices in postgraduate studies – this useful booklet provides a number of activities to improve academic writing
• The thesis as argument – this video looks at how we build arguments in academic writing
• Crafting your argument – this video looks at how we build arguments in academic writing
• The thesis of the thesis – This Doctoral Writing blog looks at how to craft the thesis statement

Who might find this useful?

This video would make a useful resource for a writing workshop. It is primarily aimed at the kinds of argument building and thesis statement construction found in the Humanities and Social Sciences – but it might help those in the Natural Sciences too to construct in just one clearly crafted sentence what it is that their study offers the field.