ACWR303 - Academic Writing for Nursing

 Once you’ve formulated a specific focus for your research, you may find the following strategies useful:
 

• Phrase your topic as a specific research question – Stating your topic as a research question may help you to focus your information search process more effectively and keep you focused on what you want to learn through your research. Here’s an example of three possible research questions related to a single topic--the portrayal of women in cigarette ads:

(a)  How were women portrayed in cigarette ads in women’s magazines from 1950 to 1980?

(b)  How did the portrayal of women in cigarette ads in women’s magazines evolve from 1950 to 1980?

(c)  How did the portrayal of women in cigarette ads in women’s magazines from 1950 to 1980 reflect social trends during that time period?

Note that these three questions are all good questions, but they would likely lead to papers that differ in terms of their emphasis, arguments, and structure.

• Develop a TENTATIVE thesis in response to your research question. Just as scientists develop a hypothesis before conducting research to test that hypothesis, you may find that spending a few hours developing a tentative thesis in response to your research question can be a useful writing strategy as it will likely

(1) make your research process more efficient as you begin with an argument in mind;

(2) encourage you to read more critically as you test your ideas and hypothesis as you proceed with your research;

(3) lead to a more original and thoughtful paper.
 

Of course, you should always be ready to refine or even radically change your tentative thesis as your research progresses. The tentative thesis is just a starting point for your thinking and research.

Here’s an example of the process of developing a tentative thesis. Let’s say that you’ve decided to research whether democratic reforms are likely to take hold over the long term in Afghanistan. Before starting immediately on your Information Collection phase, try spending an hour or two freewriting or idea-mapping about what cultural, historical, social, educational, religious, legal, economic, and political factors would likely improve or inhibit the chances of long-term democratic reforms. Then to get your tentative thesis, sum up your answer to the question in a sentence or two. Here’s what two tentative (but opposing) theses might look like for the above question:

(a) In Afghanistan, widespread poverty combined with government corruption and a long history of ethnic conflict make it unlikely that democratic reforms will take hold over the long term. If the Afghan people cannot trust their government to improve their economic prospects, then they will likely embrace any leaders who appear to promise more stability—even if it comes at the expense of democratic reforms.

 (b) Despite Afghanistan’s widespread poverty and long history of ethnic conflict, democratic reforms will likely take hold over the long term if the Taliban insurgency is reduced to a manageable level, if government corruption is effectively addressed, and if the idea of democracy is promoted by religious leaders and through an expanded education system.
 

Remember that good (tentative) thesis statements not only sum up the answer to the research question but also highlight the key lines of support for the position. For more on writing thesis statements, see the University of Toronto Writing Support website.