53a. Forming a working thesis

53aForm a working thesis.

Once you have read a variety of sources, considered your issue from different perspectives, and chosen an entry point in the research conversation (see 50b), you are ready to form a working thesis: a one-sentence (or occasionally a two-sentence) statement of your central idea. (See also 1c and 53d.) Because it is a working, or tentative, thesis, it is flexible enough to change as your ideas develop. Ultimately, the thesis expresses not your opinion but your informed, reasoned position.

In a research paper, your thesis will answer the central re-search question that you pose (see 50b). Here, for example, are student writer Anna Orlov’s research question and working thesis.

research question

Should employers monitor their employees’ online activities in the workplace?

working thesis

Employers should not monitor their employees’ online activities because electronic surveillance can compromise workers’ privacy.

After you have written a rough draft and perhaps done more reading, you may decide to revise your thesis, as Orlov did. Her revised thesis represents a fuller understanding of the different positions in the debate about workplace monitoring.

revised thesis

Although companies often have legitimate concerns that lead them to monitor employees’ Internet usage—from expensive security breaches to reduced productivity—the benefits of electronic surveillance are outweighed by its costs to employees’ privacy and autonomy.

The thesis usually appears at the end of the introductory paragraph. To read Anna Orlov’s thesis within her introduction, see page 1 of her paper.

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