LibGuides: Academic Research and Writing: Developing Your Thesis

What is a Thesis

A thesis statement, located in the introduction paragraph, is a one sentence summary of your paper's argument or purpose. Most theses answer a question and include the cause and effect of an issue. The topic of your paper is the effect that you have observed and the cause is how that effect came to exist. For example, if the topic of your paper is homelessness in Sacramento, your thesis statement will end up as something like "homelessness in Sacramento is caused by..."

More resources:

Creating a Thesis Statement
From the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.
How to Write a Thesis Statement
From the Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University Bloomington.
Thesis Statements
From The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Thesis Statements
From Walden University's Writing Center.

Writing an Effective Thesis Statement

This video from Linda Brown at Tulsa Community College provides a brief overview of developing your thesis statement.