Thesis & Subtopics

Thesis & Subtopics By now, your proposal should have been approved and you have collected the bulk of your research. 

It’s time to develop your tentative thesis statement and subtopics for the body of your research.  You may have noticed your ideas about your topic have changed or even been challenged due to your research. You’ll need to develop a solid thesis statement. The thesis statement is typically the last sentence of your introduction. A thesis statement is not your opinion or a matter of fact, it is a clear and concise statement (argument) that you support in your paper (see example thesis statements).

 Subtopics are the headings that identify the main body of your research. You need to create 3-5 subheadings based on the research you have done. For example, a student studying the effects of overtime on nursing staff burnout might have collected research that leads to three subheadings: Statistics of Nursing Overtime, Causes of Nursing Burnout, andPsychological Effects of Burnout. 

Note** The subheadings in your research do not include your conclusions or inferences, they simply synthesize and present the information from the research you have collected into coherent sections. Do not present results in your subheading sections. We will present results in our draft paper next week.  

Criteria for Thesis & Subheadings:  

· Title 

· Introduction (this may come from week 1) – include your tentative thesis statement 

· 3-5 subheadings - include topic sentences that describe what is covered under each subheading and transition sentences that lead to the next subheading 

· References – Include references used in this paper 

Your completed assignment should be written third person and should be 3-5 pages in length (not including title page and references). Your assignment should use APA style formatting.