claim thesis and hypothesis

The function of claims in academic writing is to provoke, analyse, or interpret rather than merely describe or present facts. They can do this by affirming, acknowledging, confirming, or refuting the proposition being made.

Your thesis is the central claim in your essay—your main insight or idea about your source or topic. Your thesis should appear early in an academic essay, followed by a logically constructed argument that supports this central claim.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why. The best thesis statements are: Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.

Claims are statements that support the thesis statement, but like the thesis statement, are not facts. Because a claim is not a fact, it requires supporting evidence. Evidence is factual information that shows a claim is true.

A thesis statement is a general overview used in research papers and other nonfiction writing. A research question is an interrogative sentence that your research attempts to answer, and a hypothesis is a prediction made before the actual research begins about what will happen.

A hypothesis is a statement that explains the predictions and reasoning of your research—an “educated guess” about how your scientific experiments will end. Use this guide to learn how to write a hypothesis and read successful and unsuccessful examples of a testable hypotheses.

Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college. This resource provides tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of different types of thesis statements.

The thesis statement or main claim must be debatable. An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

A hypothesis is a statement that can be proved or disproved. It is typically used in quantitative research and predicts the relationship between variables. A thesis statement is a short, direct sentence that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay or research paper. It is seen in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research.