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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

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.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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How to write an IELTS thesis statement.

Ielts essay introductions and thesis statements..

updated: July 27th 2022. When writing the introduction of an IELTS essay there are two steps that need to be taken. Paraphrase the task question and write a Thesis Statement . If the question asks for an opinion then it must be in the thesis statement. It depends on the type of essay you are writing as they are not all the same. It is advisable to write a thesis in the introduction for every type of essay. A good thesis statement can help you get a good band score in task response in the writing section.

The thesis statement tells the examiner what the essay is going to be about and the conclusion of the essay paraphrases the thesis statement. Some teachers have other views and say that a thesis statement is not needed. There are different approaches to writing an IELTS essay. If you have 10 IELTS teachers in a room there will most likely be 10 different opinions on the matter.

In my opinion, a thesis statement is logical and shows the reader what to expect in the rest of the essay. However, do not confuse Thesis statements with memorised outline sentences. See this link here about that.

What exactly is a thesis statement?

‘A thesis statement tells the reader what your essay is going to be about in one or two sentences. It usually includes your opinion or states your position’

• Don’t use rhetorical questions in the thesis. The thesis statement is not a question.
• Make it clear what you are going to write about briefly (1 or 2 sentences)
• If it’s an opinion essay, give 2 reasons for your opinion in the thesis statement.
• The thesis statement comes after paraphrasing the question.
• Do not write an outline sentence, these look like a cliche and memorised. Examiners are trained to spot memorised phrases, for instance: ‘ This essay would like to explore reasons for this in more detail’
• Don’t confuse thesis statements with the above outline sentence. Outline sentences are for very long academic essays. See this lesson here on phrases to avoid.

For each essay type this is what should be in the Thesis statement:

1. Opinion essays: write 2 reasons for your opinion. 2. Advantage disadvantage essays:  state the advantage and the disadvantage, 3. Problem solution essays:   briefly state 1 or 2 problems and possible solutions. 4 . Discussion essays: after paraphrasing both sides of the argument, give your opinion with a reason why you hold that view. 5. Two part question essays: answer the 1st question then answer the 2nd question briefly.

First you have to identify what kind of essay it is.

The first step before you begin to write is to make sure you understand the question, then identify what kind of essay this will be. There are 5 variations on an IELTS discursive essay click here to see a lesson on this .

Before you write the thesis statement you will need to paraphrase the question , click here for a lesson on this. Click here to see how to write a good introduction to a Problem Solution essay.

1. Discussion essay.

This is the Paraphrased introduction with a Thesis statement.

A number of people believe serious crimes need to have a set punishment, whereas others argue that the situation of the crime must be considered. I agree that the circumstances of the crime itself should be taken into account because every case is different.

Thesis Statement: ‘ I agree that the circumstances of the crime itself should be taken into account because every case is different’

It is important to give a brief reason for your view, the body paragraphs should expand on this. The examiner can clearly see your position in the introduction. In this essay, my position is that every case is different and a prison sentence would not be appropriate.

Note: For a more academic feel, rather than using a personal pronoun to state your opinion, you could state your position like this below:

This essay agrees that the circumstances of the crime itself should be taken into account because every case is different.

2. Opinon essay.

Again you need to paraphrase the question and then clearly agree or disagree , remember to choose just one side.. the words: ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree’ means how much do you agree/disagree, or how far do you agree/disagree. You should mention the other side of the argument but stick to your own opinion. Balanced essays do not necessarily get a higher band score.

Give 2 reasons for your view in the thesis statement here. This is the Paraphrased introduction with a Thesis statement:

It is argued that society would be better off if every type of advertising was prohibited. I disagree that all advertising should be disallowed as this policy would not benefit society and would negatively impact the economy.

Thesis statement: ‘ I disagree that all advertising should be disallowed as this policy would not benefit societ y and would negatively impact the economy.’

In this thesis statement I have clearly stated why I hold the opinion that advertising should not be banned with 2 reasons (no benefit to society and bad for the economy)  Remember to keep the introduction to under 55 words or it will be too long.

As mentioned before, you can use a more academic way to state your view, such as:

This essay disagrees that all advertising should be disallowed because this policy would not benefit society and would have a negative impact on the economy.

3. Advantages disadvantages essay.

This is the Paraphrased introduction with a Thesis statement:

In recent times, people can reside wherever they want in the world because of the progress that has made in technology and transport. The main advantage is the career opportunities that a person can get outside their own country, while a possible downside would be the stress of adjusting to living in a different culture.

Thesis statement: ‘ The main advantage is the career opportunities that a person can get outside their own country, while a possible downside would be the stress of adjusting to living in a different culture.’

Try keeping the whole introduction under 55 words as you don’t want it to look like a body paragraph. You can write about 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages, but you need to keep the introduction concise.

Another method is to just refer to the advantage and state the disadvantage, such as:

In recent times, people can reside wherever they want in the world because of the progress that has made in technology and transport. Although there are advantages, the downside would be the stress of adjusting to living in a different culture.’

This allows you to keep the thesis statement concise especially if you want to cover two advantages (or disadvantages)

4. Advantages disadvantages outweigh essay (this needs your opinion).

This type of advantage disadvantage essay is special because it asks ‘ Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?’. This means you have to write about what side you think is stronger and reflect that in the essay and also in the thesis statement. You need to state an opinion here.

Some experts argue that children should study a new language at primary school as opposed to secondary school. This essay agrees that the advantages are stronger than the disadvantages because youngsters pick up and master new languages much easier than at a high school age.

Thesis statement: ‘This essay agrees that the advantages are stronger than the disadvantages because youngsters pick up and master new languages much easier than at a high school age .’

I have underlined the reason for my opinion here. Giving a reason for your opinion is important in a thesis statement. The introduction is 44 words long so that will be fine. Remember to also address the other side of the issue in the main body paragraphs, the side you think is weaker.

Another method here is to use this style which is very concise at 32 words but it does not contain a reason for my view.

Some experts argue that youngsters should study a new language at primary school as opposed to secondary school. In my view, the advantages of younger children learning new languages outweigh the disadvantages.

5. Problem solution / causes solution essay.

People living in large cities have to deal with many issues in their day to day lives. The main problems people face are high rental costs and overcrowding. Some possible solutions would be to build more affordable housing and more green spaces.

Thesis statement: ‘ The main problems people face are high rental costs and overcrowding. Some possible solutions would be to build more affordable housing and more green spaces.’

I have listed 2 problems high rents, overcrowding and 2 solutions affordable housing, green spaces . You can choose just one problem and one solution and that would be fine.

6. Two part question (direct question essay).

The world wide web is a huge source of knowledge which has created opportunities for people worldwide to study. However, not all information on the internet can be trusted, so the government needs to put measures in place to protect people from false information.

Thesis statement: ‘ However, not all information on the internet can be trusted, so the government needs to put measures in place to protect people from false information.’

Two part question essays are sometimes called ‘Direct question’ essays. They consist of 2 direct questions in the task question. Sometimes they will ask for your opinion such as: Do you think….?  or   What do you think…?

If the question asks for the opinion then you must state it. You should briefly answer the 2 questions in the thesis statement then give more detail in the body paragraphs.

Check out the blog posts about how to identify the 5 essay types and also how to paraphrase the question . These are key stages before writing your thesis statement. Make sure your whole introduction is under 55 words or it will be too long.

Take a look here at how to write a good introduction in writing task 2. Now you can try.

Here is a Discussion essay question where you have to give your opinion. Can you write a Thesis statement for it?

Some people believe that the best way to deal with heavy traffic in city centres is for privately owned vehicles to be banned, others however think this is not a realistic solution.  Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Task question again:

Some people believe that the best way to deal with heavy traffic in city centres is for privately owned vehicles to be banned, others however think this is not a realistic solution. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Paraphrased introduction: Some people argue that prohibiting private cars from city centres is the best way to tackle traffic congestion, whereas others say that this is unrealistic.

Thesis statement: I agree that private vehicles should be banned from city centres and more investment needs to be put into public transportation to alleviate traffic jams.

Full introduction with thesis statement:

Some people argue that prohibiting private cars from city centres is the best way to tackle traffic congestion, whereas others say that this is unrealistic. I agree that private vehicles should be banned from city centres and more investment needs to be put into public transportation to alleviate traffic jams.

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4.1 Developing and connecting thesis statements and lines of reasoning

5 min read • june 18, 2024

This guide will go over developing and connecting thesis statements and lines of reasoning.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement is a sentence or two that presents the central argument or main point of a piece of writing. It is the foundation of the argument and guides the development of the essay. The thesis statement should be clear, concise, and arguable, and should be supported by the rest of the essay. A strong thesis statement sets the tone for the essay and helps the writer stay focused and on track.

How do you develop a thesis statement?

• Determine the purpose of your essay:  What are you trying to argue or prove in your essay? What is the main point that you want to make?
• Narrow down your focus: Once you know what you want to argue, you need to narrow down your focus. What specific aspect of your argument are you going to focus on in your essay?
• Brainstorm:  Write down any thoughts, ideas, or examples that you have related to your topic.
• Refine your ideas: Look over your brainstormed list and pick out the strongest ideas. Think about how these ideas can be combined into a single argument.
• Write a preliminary thesis statement:  Use the information you’ve gathered to write a preliminary thesis statement. It should be clear, concise, and arguable.
• Revise: Revise your thesis statement as necessary. Make sure it is strong and clearly states your argument.
• Test: Test your thesis statement by seeing if it can be supported with evidence and arguments . If it cannot be supported, revise it until it is strong and arguable.

How do you develop lines of reasoning?

• Identify the premises: Identify the key points or arguments that you want to make in your essay. These are the premises that will form the foundation of your lines of reasoning.
• Analyze your evidence: Analyze the evidence you have gathered to support your premises. Make sure that the evidence is relevant and strong enough to support your argument.
• Connect the premises and evidence: Connect the premises with the evidence in a logical manner . Make sure that the evidence supports the premises and that the premises are connected in a way that makes sense.
• Build arguments: Build arguments based on the premises and evidence. Make sure that the arguments are clear and that the evidence supports each argument.
• Use transition words : Use transition words to connect the arguments and make the lines of reasoning clear and easy to follow.
• Evaluate: Evaluate the strength of your lines of reasoning. Make sure that the arguments are clear and well-supported. If necessary, revise the arguments to make them stronger.
• Repeat:  Repeat the process for each argument you want to make. Make sure that each argument supports your thesis statement and that the lines of reasoning are logically connected.

How can we connect the two together?

To connect your thesis and lines of reasoning, you need to ensure that the lines of reasoning support your thesis statement and that the thesis statement is reinforced by the lines of reasoning. Here are the steps to connect your thesis and lines of reasoning:

• Refine your thesis statement: Make sure that your thesis statement is clear and concise. It should state the main argument of your essay.
• Review your lines of reasoning: Review the lines of reasoning you have developed. Make sure that each line of reasoning supports your thesis statement.
• Connect the lines of reasoning to the thesis: Make sure that each line of reasoning is connected to the thesis statement. Use transition words and phrases to connect the lines of reasoning and the thesis statement.
• Reiterate the thesis: Reiterate the thesis statement in the conclusion of your essay. This helps to reinforce the connection between the thesis statement and the lines of reasoning.
• Evaluate the connection: Evaluate the connection between the thesis statement and the lines of reasoning. Make sure that the connection is clear and that the thesis statement is supported by the lines of reasoning.

"The use of plastic bags should be banned because they harm the environment and pose a threat to wildlife."

Here are the lines of reasoning that connect to the thesis statement:

• Plastic bags can take hundreds of years to decompose in the environment, causing harm to wildlife and ecosystems.
• Plastic bags are a significant source of pollution, affecting air and water quality.
• Plastic bags pose a threat to wildlife, as they can be mistaken for food and cause harm or death to animals. Each of these lines of reasoning supports the thesis statement by providing evidence that plastic bags harm the environment and wildlife. The lines of reasoning are connected to the thesis statement through the use of transition words and phrases, such as "causing harm to wildlife and ecosystems" and "affecting air and water quality." The thesis statement is also reinforced in the conclusion of the essay, where the writer reiterates the argument and emphasizes the importance of banning plastic bags.

Text Sample:

The use of plastic bags has been a controversial issue in recent years, with many people advocating for their ban due to the harm they cause to the environment and wildlife. The thesis statement of this argument is "The use of plastic bags should be banned because they harm the environment and pose a threat to wildlife." This statement is supported by three lines of reasoning. Firstly, plastic bags can take hundreds of years to decompose in the environment, which causes harm to wildlife and ecosystems. Secondly, plastic bags are a significant source of pollution and affect air and water quality. Finally, plastic bags pose a threat to wildlife, as they can be mistaken for food and cause harm or death to animals. Each of these lines of reasoning provides evidence that plastic bags are harmful to the environment and wildlife, and they are connected to the thesis statement through the use of transition words and phrases. The argument is reinforced in the conclusion, where the writer reiterates the importance of banning plastic bags and emphasizes the harm they cause to the environment and wildlife. The strong connection between the thesis statement and the lines of reasoning makes this argument well-organized and convincing, and it provides a compelling case for banning the use of plastic bags.

By connecting the thesis statement and lines of reasoning, you ensure that your essay is well-organized and that the arguments are logically connected. This makes it easier for the reader to understand and follow your argument, and increases the strength of your essay.

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How to write a thesis statement + examples

What is a thesis statement?

Is a thesis statement a question, how do you write a good thesis statement, how do i know if my thesis statement is good, examples of thesis statements, helpful resources on how to write a thesis statement, frequently asked questions about writing a thesis statement, related articles.

A thesis statement is the main argument of your paper or thesis.

The thesis statement is one of the most important elements of any piece of academic writing . It is a brief statement of your paper’s main argument. Essentially, you are stating what you will be writing about.

You can see your thesis statement as an answer to a question. While it also contains the question, it should really give an answer to the question with new information and not just restate or reiterate it.

Your thesis statement is part of your introduction. Learn more about how to write a good thesis introduction in our introduction guide .

A thesis statement is not a question. A statement must be arguable and provable through evidence and analysis. While your thesis might stem from a research question, it should be in the form of a statement.

Tip: A thesis statement is typically 1-2 sentences. For a longer project like a thesis, the statement may be several sentences or a paragraph.

A good thesis statement needs to do the following:

• Condense the main idea of your thesis into one or two sentences.
• Answer your project’s main research question.
• Clearly state your position in relation to the topic .
• Make an argument that requires support or evidence.

Once you have written down a thesis statement, check if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Your statement needs to be provable by evidence. As an argument, a thesis statement needs to be debatable.
• Your statement needs to be precise. Do not give away too much information in the thesis statement and do not load it with unnecessary information.
• Your statement cannot say that one solution is simply right or simply wrong as a matter of fact. You should draw upon verified facts to persuade the reader of your solution, but you cannot just declare something as right or wrong.

As previously mentioned, your thesis statement should answer a question.

If the question is:

What do you think the City of New York should do to reduce traffic congestion?

A good thesis statement restates the question and answers it:

In this paper, I will argue that the City of New York should focus on providing exclusive lanes for public transport and adaptive traffic signals to reduce traffic congestion by the year 2035.

Here is another example. If the question is:

How can we end poverty?

A good thesis statement should give more than one solution to the problem in question:

In this paper, I will argue that introducing universal basic income can help reduce poverty and positively impact the way we work.

• The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina has a list of questions to ask to see if your thesis is strong .

A thesis statement is part of the introduction of your paper. It is usually found in the first or second paragraph to let the reader know your research purpose from the beginning.

In general, a thesis statement should have one or two sentences. But the length really depends on the overall length of your project. Take a look at our guide about the length of thesis statements for more insight on this topic.

Here is a list of Thesis Statement Examples that will help you understand better how to write them.

Every good essay should include a thesis statement as part of its introduction, no matter the academic level. Of course, if you are a high school student you are not expected to have the same type of thesis as a PhD student.

Here is a great YouTube tutorial showing How To Write An Essay: Thesis Statements .

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9.1 Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement

Learning objectives.

• Develop a strong, clear thesis statement with the proper elements.
• Revise your thesis statement.

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. Maybe he told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. His ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you probably had many questions.

Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of order and confusing. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and to organize what they are about to discuss in the body.

Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. This idea stems from a topic you have chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. It is not enough merely to discuss a general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. You have to form a specific opinion, and then articulate that into a controlling idea —the main idea upon which you build your thesis.

Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject. For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to say about it?” Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and confident.

A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. It is specific and focuses on one to three points of a single idea—points that are able to be demonstrated in the body. It forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities.

Specificity. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. As you may recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care coverage.

Precision. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist for those who are uninsured by their employers. You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is.

Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual statement often is not considered arguable. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that can be supported with evidence.

Ability to be demonstrated. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details.

Forcefulness. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an argument. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose.

Confidence. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers’ sense of your confidence because these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. In other words, your stance has insufficient backing. Taking an authoritative stance on the matter persuades your readers to have faith in your argument and open their minds to what you have to say.

Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such as in my opinion or I believe . These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument. Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a thesis statement for each of the following topics. Remember to make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident.

• Texting while driving
• The legal drinking age in the United States
• Steroid use among professional athletes

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements:

• Specificity
• Ability to be argued
• Ability to be demonstrated
• Forcefulness
• The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play Fences symbolize the challenge of black males who lived through segregation and integration in the United States.
• Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal immigration.
• Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet spoils the outcome for the audience and weakens the plot.
• J. D. Salinger’s character in Catcher in the Rye , Holden Caulfield, is a confused rebel who voices his disgust with phonies, yet in an effort to protect himself, he acts like a phony on many occasions.
• Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown.
• Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future drug addicts.
• In today’s crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a stable, lucrative job.

You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends, coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays.

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis:

A thesis is weak when it is simply a declaration of your subject or a description of what you will discuss in your essay.

Weak thesis statement: My paper will explain why imagination is more important than knowledge.

A thesis is weak when it makes an unreasonable or outrageous claim or insults the opposing side.

Weak thesis statement: Religious radicals across America are trying to legislate their Puritanical beliefs by banning required high school books.

A thesis is weak when it contains an obvious fact or something that no one can disagree with or provides a dead end.

Weak thesis statement: Advertising companies use sex to sell their products.

A thesis is weak when the statement is too broad.

Weak thesis statement: The life of Abraham Lincoln was long and challenging.

Read the following thesis statements. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. For those that are weak, list the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis.

• The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets.
• The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare for the impending end of oil.
• Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century.
• In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore.
• Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support civil rights legislation.
• Because many children’s toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not all children’s toys are safe.
• My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I believe that a child without discipline can be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Writing at Work

Often in your career, you will need to ask your boss for something through an e-mail. Just as a thesis statement organizes an essay, it can also organize your e-mail request. While your e-mail will be shorter than an essay, using a thesis statement in your first paragraph quickly lets your boss know what you are asking for, why it is necessary, and what the benefits are. In short body paragraphs, you can provide the essential information needed to expand upon your request.

Thesis Statement Revision

Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. Remember from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement , an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the purpose of planning and guiding your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and reasons for those opinions. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have expressed in the body of the paper.

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to those questions. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement.

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

1. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people , everything , society , or life , with more precise words in order to reduce any vagueness.

Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life.

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents.

The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By replacing those general words like people and work hard , the writer can better focus his or her research and gain more direction in his or her writing.

2. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis.

Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke.

Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring members of that class with unearned income, instead of programs to improve their education and skill sets.

A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke . The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. (See Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” for more information on the 5WH questions.) By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

3. Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. Linking verbs are forms of the verb to be , a verb that simply states that a situation exists.

Working thesis: Kansas City schoolteachers are not paid enough.

Revised thesis: The Kansas City legislature cannot afford to pay its educators, resulting in job cuts and resignations in a district that sorely needs highly qualified and dedicated teachers.

The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are . Linking verbs often make thesis statements weak because they do not express action. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the second half of the sentence. Readers might wonder, “Why are they not paid enough?” But this statement does not compel them to ask many more questions. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that takes a more definitive stance on the issue:

• Who is not paying the teachers enough?
• What is considered “enough”?
• What is the problem?
• What are the results

4. Omit any general claims that are hard to support.

Working thesis: Today’s teenage girls are too sexualized.

Revised thesis: Teenage girls who are captivated by the sexual images on MTV are conditioned to believe that a woman’s worth depends on her sensuality, a feeling that harms their self-esteem and behavior.

It is true that some young women in today’s society are more sexualized than in the past, but that is not true for all girls. Many girls have strict parents, dress appropriately, and do not engage in sexual activity while in middle school and high school. The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions:

• Which teenage girls?
• What constitutes “too” sexualized?
• Why are they behaving that way?
• Where does this behavior show up?
• What are the repercussions?

In the first section of Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , you determined your purpose for writing and your audience. You then completed a freewriting exercise about an event you recently experienced and chose a general topic to write about. Using that general topic, you then narrowed it down by answering the 5WH questions. After you answered these questions, you chose one of the three methods of prewriting and gathered possible supporting points for your working thesis statement.

Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write down your working thesis statement. Identify any weaknesses in this sentence and revise the statement to reflect the elements of a strong thesis statement. Make sure it is specific, precise, arguable, demonstrable, forceful, and confident.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the boundaries of the problem and tell the goals of the project. After writing the proposal, you may find that the thesis needs revision to reflect exactly what is expressed in the body. Using the techniques from this chapter would apply to revising that thesis.

Key Takeaways

• Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized.
• A thesis statement is your interpretation of the subject, not the topic itself.
• A strong thesis is specific, precise, forceful, confident, and is able to be demonstrated.
• A strong thesis challenges readers with a point of view that can be debated and can be supported with evidence.
• A weak thesis is simply a declaration of your topic or contains an obvious fact that cannot be argued.
• Depending on your topic, it may or may not be appropriate to use first person point of view.
• Revise your thesis by ensuring all words are specific, all ideas are exact, and all verbs express action.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

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.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Positive or Negative Development: IELTS Model Essay

An IELTS model essay for positive or negative development questions. It is common in IELTS writing task 2 to be asked to choose either something is a positive or negative development/trend. Your task is to answer the question in the introduction and explain your answer in the body paragraphs.

These instructions are asking for your opinion so it is important that you give it clearly. If you fail to present a position of your own (a view point), you will have failed to complete the task and that will affect your score.

IELTS Positive Negative Essay Question

Nowadays, more people are choosing to socialise online rather than face to face. Is this a positive or negative development?

IELTS Model Essay: Positive or Negative Development?

An increasing number of people meet and talk to their friends online instead of in person. In my opinion, this is a negative development which can lead to isolation, potentially harmful situations and also problems later on in life.

One serious problem that can arise from people socialising online is that it can lead to isolation. Before the internet, people would frequently go out to meet friends, for example in cafes, bars or restaurants, whereas now people prefer to stay at home alone, chatting online. As a result, people are starting to spend the majority of their time alone at home in their room without meeting others. Isolation of this kind is not healthy and can sometimes lead to depression and other issues.

Another issue is that meeting people online can be risky. In other words, people can assume fake identities online as well as hide their true characteristics. This is particularly concerning for teenagers who are impressionable and can easily be led into dangerous situations. Furthermore, as this interaction is online, parents have no way of monitoring it and protecting their children.

Finally, socialising online can end in difficulties years later as conversations and shared photos that had been forgotten reappear. This situation is currently critical for many people, again especially for teenagers who do not think carefully before posting online. That is to say, information which is put online can remain there forever and while people may share intimate communications with close friends, these words can then resurface later on leading to much embarrassment.

In conclusion, although it has become more popular for people to socialise through the internet, it has brought about too many problems for this to be considered a positive trend.

Examiner’s Comments: This essay provides a clear answer to the essay question. The position is clearly presented in the introduction and also explained and supported throughout the essay. Linking devices are well used and ideas are organised logically. Language is flexible and accurate. This would reach band 9. (Word count = 286)

More IELTS Model Essays:

• IELTS Agree Disagree Essay (Opinion Essay)
• IELTS Discussion Essay
• IELTS Direct Question Essay 
• IELTS Solution Essay
• All IELTS Model Essays, Tips & Free Videos for Task 2

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Hi, Liz! Is it possible for you to check out my essay? If not, it’s okay. I hope you take care and thank you so much for providing the best IELTS lessons for free!

Recently, many people have preferred to meet with others online rather than in person. In my opinion, this is a negative development that could lead to isolation and being dependent on technology.

One serious problem that arises from people preferring to socialize online is isolation. This is because they are glued to their screens most of the time, ignoring their surroundings and the people near them. There is no spare time to bond with family and friends in person, which leads to feeling left out and alone. For example, going outdoors with friends for a simple walk or doing sports can have a positive impact on a person’s mood. However, they find it difficult to stop meeting people online since hiding behind their screens gives them a false sense of identity, which results in fake confidence and online dependency.

Another issue that stems from talking and meeting people on the internet is becoming dependent on technology. If their computers, laptops, or phones break one day, they do not know how to interact in person since they are used to communicating online. For example, they cannot express their feelings well in person compared to typing what they want to say. There is no healthy balance between socializing online and offline which has its own consequences.

In conclusion, the internet is being used recently to communicate with people more often than in person. Problems arise from this such as being isolated from family and friends who are near and turning to technology as the only means of socialization. There should be a healthy balance between spending time with people that you love offline and interacting online.

My website isn’t aimed at providing feedback but I will make a quick comment so that you and others can learn more. You have excellent English and the potential to really nail IELTS. Be careful of having a conclusion longer than your introduction. It is usually shorter than the introduction. So, pay attention to that in my model essays on this website. You can find more model essays on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ .

However, there is a more serious problem with a lack of direction in your body paragraphs and disconnected supporting points. Your topic sentence said that your main point was about isolation. But then you talk about having no time for people and ignoring surroundings (those two points aren’t actually directly connected to isolation which is your main point). You can see the connection in your own mind, but you haven’t connected these points to in writing inside the sentence. IELTS isn’t just about having ideas, it’s about connecting those ideas and presenting them according to IELTS band score requirements.

1) ignoring surroundings….”Socialising online not only isolates people from each other, but also isolates people from the outside world. In other words, the lack of time people spend being outside in nature because they are glued to their gadgets has a huge impact on their mental health which can lead to depression and other chronic illnesses.”

– As you see, I’ve now connected the idea of the outside world to the main point which is isolation.

IELTS writing isn’t just about good English. It’s 50% about writing skills and techniques for IELTS. Now you know how you must improve to hit band 8 or 8.5 or even 9. Either review my free model essays (link above) or get my advanced lessons to help you focus: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/ .

I really appreciate your feedback Liz. You give me more motivation for my exam. You are such a wonderful person. Again, thank you!

I have my exam in four day’s time, could you please check my response and provide me a score to the essay question.

In today’s world, people are preferring to socialize online as compared to meet each other like earlier days. In my opinion, it is a negative development as both the persons involved in socialization can get misguided, addicted and develop trust issues.

Misguidance can occur in myriad ways. An imposter can post a fake profile, a fake photo or even a fake description which can misguide the person socializing on the internet. As internet is open to people of varying age groups, young children being at tender age and easily gullible are influenced easily. Their ability to challenge is not formed and are at age where they refuse to listen to their elders making them even more vulnerable.

The other issue with socializing online is addiction to the internet and harming one’s own health. There has been a trend where children are always glued to the screens. This has not only affected their physical health but also mental health. Their ability to use own brain and take part in various activity has been significantly reduced making them a ‘couch potato’. Young children are getting obese and are acquiring lifestyle diseases.

To resolve the growing issue of people socializing online than offline, children should be encouraged from an early age to do a physical activity and an environment should be created for them to adopt a hobby where they direct their energies. Parents should also take an active part in child’s growth and the discipling should not be left to television or screens.

Just a few quick points: 1) you mentioned three reasons why it is negative in your introduction, but had only two main points for body paragraphs. This will lower your score. The points you mention in the thesis must reflect your body paragraphs which cover each point. This usually means you wrote your introduction before you planned your body paragraphs and supporting points. Never write one word until your whole essay is fully planned. 2) you lack a conclusion which will be a huge problem for your band score. Putting solutions in a final paragraph when the task never asked for solutions anyway, does not count as a conclusion. Your conclusion must summarise your main points. I strongly suggest you get my advanced writing task 2 lessons and learn the right way to tackle IELTS essays. There’s a discount on for the next few days: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Hi Liz, if the question ask to what entent it is an advantge and disadvantge, do I discuss both sides or give my opinion?

The questions are: To what extend do you agree or disagree? What are the advantage or disadvantages? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? or Are the advantages more important than the disadvantages?

The first one is an Opinion Essay and your whole essay is about your opinion. The second requires you to give both sides The last one asks you to evaluate both with an opinion.

Make sure you don’t confuse wording and that you understand which essay type you are tackling. See my advanced lessons for detailed training. You can find them in my store: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

in the question there was no request to give your opinion, but you still wrote “in my opinion” i don’t understand IELTS ☠️

There was a clear request for an opinion in the instructions. If you are asked to choose between two options, it will require your personal choice (that means, your opinion). See the main writing task 2 page of this website and you’ll find a link to “When to give your opinion in writing task 2”: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Dear Liz, first of all, many thanks for the countless effort you’ve put into the content of this website! I’m a bit confused about the ”positive or negative development” subtype of essay: your advanced material catalogues this kind of question as being another variant of advantages and disadvantages; however, in the aforementioned example you’ve made it pretty clear on which side of the fence you at. I can’t figure out why then an opinion essay backbone was used here instead of the regular A vs D model? Fair wind to all the candidates!

This is definitely not an essay similar to “what are the advantages and disadvantages?”. That essay requires no opinion at all. The essay “Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages” is an essay which does require an opinion and so does the positive negative essay – but they are not the same essay type. They are different, even though they both require an answer based on your personal opinion. The essay “Is this a positive or negative development” is one that I call a direct question essay and I don’t have an advanced lesson for it yet, but I will be making one soon.

hi I have a question . when it said that positive or negative trend/ development is this an agree/disagree question or an advatages /disadvantages question?

It is a positive/negative trend essay question. It is a different essay type with one single question that you must answer.

Hi Liz, Thank you so much for your content. I wish you all the best! Thanks to your lessons, I got an 8.5 overall and 8.0 for Writing. I just can’t believe it! Thank you so much!

Great job! Very well done to you 🙂

you’re my favorite teacher, as well you look like my mother 🥰 My mother died in 2015😔

I’m so sorry to hear about your mother. That is a great loss for you. I hope I can remind you of happy memories

Hello Dear Madam: It’s my essay about this title that you provided. Could you please reply me, is it a good way that I should write? Thank you.

These days an increase number of individuals are opting to communicate on the internet instead of meeting each other. In my view, it’s a negative development which bring some obdurate problems and unstable result during their performances.

Firstly, the most important reason is which in the internet people cannot find trusts to each other. In fact it is very hard to have a stable relation with the public. For instance, when individuals start some conversations such as politics or about some social jobs, which will be difficult to everyone to do completely in a better way. Furthermore a research has shown which doing some talks on the internet not only may not have a good result but also it maybe wasteful of time.

Secondly, another prominent reason is which individuals may not have relation forever. Clearly having a social correlation physically is better than online. Because on the internet humans are in idiomatic world. On the other hand, if humans may not have access to internet they may miss or interrupt their communications. For example, if people may have meeting on the internet such as in (what s app, Telegram, Twitter and other social media applications which as a result it will not affect effectively whether they visit each other.

In conclusion, online communications may not be more effective which sometimes it will create unclear result and would be hardship to have relation in all parts of the life. It is a predication which individuals should evolve their visiting in a physical way.

Hi liz, from India here. Thankyou so muuuuuch for your content!! I got 8 overall, and a 7.5 in writing, the one I always dreaded. I had a question on the causes of (topic) and whether its a positive or negative development combined as a single question. Just days before I went through this particular essay, and I used it to structure my essay. I didn’t expect it to come as it rare to ask this type. Nonetheless, thanks once again!

Very well done to you!! A great score 🙂

Hello mam Can write an essay introduction without a background statement.

No. All good IELTS essays will introduce the topic and specifics of the question which your essay will tackle in a background statement (the first sentence of your essay and of your introduction paragraph).

Where are you mam,,,,, I have been missing you for ages,,,, Won’t you back YouTube?

As soon as my health is more stable and I’m stronger, I’ll continue making videos. Each year I hope it will happen, but each year my health continues to be an issue. Lets see what happens next year.

The rising numbers of people preferring to socialize online rather that to search for real life connections is perceived as a negative development due to the detrimental effect it had on mental well-being, making it questionable to consider social media as a beneficial invention, highlighting the necessity of face to face communication.

Firstly, people leaning to make friends and spend time texting online rather than meeting and socializing in real life have shown to be harmful to one’s state of mind, causing people to feel alienated due to the ease of making friends online in contrast with real life, making it a better alternative for a lot of teenagers regardless to the fact that such sites like Facebook and Twitter have the tendency to bring the worst in people, resulting in a hostile environment where many face constant bullying and abuse.

Such drawbacks made it logical to put social media under the microscope as it proved to have many disadvantages, making it less efficient as an alternative to face to face communication owing to the benefits people gain from real life conversation and overall, real life socializing. a clear example of that, is the rise in popularity, meeting apps are experiencing in the last years, which presented better virtual environment where people can get to know each other, removing many of the useless features other social media apps have, directing people’s attention to setting plans and meeting in real life.

to conclude, despite the rise of people choosing to use social media sites as an alternative to the real-life old ways of socializing, it’s often seen by many to be nothing but a trend because of it negative effects, as other apps that focus on pushing people to meet provide better outcomes both practically and commercially.

Nowadays, an increasing number of people with health problems are using alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their normal doctor. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Mam, Will it be okay if I will write the positive development means pros of visiting their usual doctors in P1, as well as, ( Negetive development means) cons of not visiting their usual doctors in P???

I think these(my above ) both views are almost same.

Or Is it okay if I write 1 benefit of Visiting their usual doctors in P1 and its explanation too with relevant examples.And another benefit of same with explanations and examples in P2 ?

Would you mind suggesting me which will be going to right?

Please help me with this. I am little bit confused 😕

Try not to change this into an advantage disadvantage essay. It isn’t. It is a direct question essay. It gives you only one issue – people turning to alternative medicines instead of conventional medicine. And it asks you for the positive and negative of this trend. What is positive about people using alternative medicine instead of conventional medicine? What is negative about people using alternative medicine instead of conventional medicine. Those are your two body paragraphs. Always follow the instructions very carefully and don’t try to change the essay type.

Hi Liz, it has been a long time you have not uploaded any video on YouTube. Are you okaY?

I’m battling a serious long-term illness. I will continue making videos when I feel my health is more stable.

Wish you all the best!

This generation prefers to communicate via social media instead of one-on-one interaction. I believe this trend has resulted in an increased incidence of social isolation and loneliness which is harmful to mental health.

Firstly, although social media has created a platform where a person can reach another across the globe, it has also increased the incidence of social isolation. People spend more time online interacting with strangers. They would rather spend time with people online than have meaningful conversations with close friends and family. Social isolation and loneliness have been associated with an increased risk of depression and other mental illnesses.

Secondly, social media has increased the incidence of cyberbullying. Some people connect online to retrieve people’s personal information which they use to incite rumors. These bullies attempt to make their victims self-conscious and insecure. Worst case scenario, these bullies can locate their victims using the information they got online, and at times cause bodily harm to their victims. Cyberbullying has been linked to an increased rate of suicides and suicidal ideation.

Finally, most teenagers spend the bulk of their time each day online. With time, it is estimated that most young adults will lose their social skills. Humans are social beings. Without social interactions, one of the key components of human existence will be lost.

To conclude, social media has created a platform to improve connectivity. Ironically, it has instead increased the incidence of social isolation and loneliness. it is estimated that if this trend continues, people will no longer be able to socialize and have meaningful interactions.

Hi Liz, I hope you’re doing better than before. Thank you for sharing all the great information on this website and on Youtube. I just had one doubt regarding this type: What does it mean when you wrote “If you fail to present the position of your own (a view point), you will have failed to complete the task”? Like should I only mention only one side, i.e, positive or negative, because I was thinking we can balance it out too by mentioning both of them?

You need to be careful with your understanding of ” a balanced approach”. You can’t say that one thing is positive and negative at the same time. But you can QUANTIFY. This means you are very very specific about in which why it is positive and in which way it is negative and this is presented in your introduction as your position. Your whole essay will then support your position. Having a clear position is vital. For example: children watching TV – you think it’s positive and negative and your essay discusses this. In this case, you have converted an opinion essay into a discussion essay – you will lose marks. But if you say that watching too much TV is negative, but watching only some educational programs are positive – you now have a position which you will explain in your essay. Never take this approach unless you are 100% sure you know what you are doing. Otherwise, you will lose marks.

Thank you for sharing this great essay. The conclusion paragraph has only one sentence. Can we write a paragraph which contains only one sentence?

The conclusion is short and the essay is short. The average IELTS essay contains only around 13 – 15 sentences. That’s a very short essay. This means the introduction and conclusion will be short so that you can extend your body paragraphs for a high score.

“An increasing number of people meet and talk to their friends online instead of in person.”

Where is the verb?

There are two verbs: meet / talk

A simple way of writing this is with one verb:

“People meet their friends online instead of in person.”

From the simple sentence above, it is easier to spot the verb.

Hi Liz, Why are you not uploading new videos on YouTube?

Due to illness. I’ll try to make a video about my personal situation soon

God will heal you completely ma.

May God heal you. I have never know and very cheerful and happy person online. Watching your videos gives me so much joy

Dear Liz, I would like to know how many body paragraphs should a Positive Negative essay have? Does the marking scheme specify two or three to makes it decrestionary? I ask because some samples I’ve seen on this essay type, including yours, consistently give three body paragraph , whilst generally giving two for the other essay types.

Is the rule or mere coincidence, Please?

God bless you and your team for your selfless and humanitarian acts. The world is grateful.

There is nothing in the marking criteria which states how many paragraphs or body paragraphs you should have for any type of essay. Paragraphs need to be logically organised. Body paragraphs need to long enough that idea are sufficiently developed which means having too many body paragraphs would be a problem because they are likely to be too short. This means that either two or three body paragraphs are appropriate. You can’t have one body paragraphs because you are being marked on dividing main ideas into logical paragraphs. Thanks for your best wishes to my team – I work alone 🙂

Q.In the world today, the families has become smaller..

Is it a positive or negative development for families and society?

I approached this question by talking about the positive side of having a small family in the first paragraph and then in second para I discussed the negative side of having a small family while comparing it with having a bigger family with some relevant examples and finally concluded by saying it is a negative development by my personal view.

Is this approach correct for this question?

This question requires your opinion – not a discussion. If you think it is only negative, then you can’t write about the positive side. Your opinion must be consistent throughout the whole essay. If you think it is largely negative, but not completely negative, then you have a chance to present both sides.

Hi liz! hope you are all doing well.

I am wondering whether you can write ” in my opinion ….” in this question type. because it does not ask your opinion and just ask ” is this positive or…..” .

i think if the question was like this: ” Do you think this is a positive…..” you would be able to write “in my opinion”.

i am not sure and now i am confused! please let me know what do you think about this.

“Is this positive or negative” AND “do you think this is positive or negative” are the same questions. 100% the same. They are both directed to you personally and you must choose. It is a personal choice. It is your opinion in both.

Thanks mam for clearing this

In a positive or negative development question, can you choose both sides as your own opinion? Thanks

You can present both sides, but your opinion should favour one more than the other. It is asking for your opinion – not just a plain discussion.

Now a days, more people are choosing to socialize online rather than face to face. It is a positive or negative development.

These days, many people are communicating online rather than meeting in person. From my perspective, using online to stay connected is a negative development and it will create lots of problems. Technology had helped people to stay connected but it has also lead to unhealthy disorder. For example, 90% of younger generation had undergone depression and suicidal attempt due to loneliness. As they started to isolate themselves from others and had been interacting with people only through internet. Which is very unhealthy and cause these disorder. Moreover, it is very difficult for parent to monitor their kids and protect them through social network. Another negative aspect of this will harm individual life. To illustrate, people especially younger generation tend to make a relationship through different social website like facebook without even knowing him/her. Besides this, people used fake identities to make business and some even make their living through it. Which is very risky and will create lots of obstacle in people life. Non the less people will lost their trust in humanity. Lastly, choosing social network to socialse will make them distance between family and friends. It will also cause jealousy and lost in fait in one another. For example, my sister does not stay with us and we rarely meet. We used to interact like once in a blue moon through video calling and it did create a lots of distance between us as we work in different country. To conclude, socializing through social network have way more negative development. As it create lots of problems and it is very unhealthy. Therefore, it is much better to meet rather then connecting through online.

Dear Liz, Thank you for your outstanding Tips and Tricks. I have taken CD-IELTS today. I feel that it went good. In writing Task-II, the Question was: In some societies, fashion is more and more changing many people’s choice. Why is this? Do you think it is a negative or positive development?

I planned it in the following way.

Intro=Background statement+ reason+my opinion BP1= Reasons (Why?) BP2= ideas supporting my points-(negative opinion) Conclusion= restatement of background and reasons along with my opinion. (272 words)

Now I just want to know, what do you think? Was my approach right? Thanks in Advance Best Regards

All sounds fine. However, Task Response is more than just a brief outline of ideas. It’s about how you write topic sentences, how you explain yourself, how you connect ideas to the many task to make them 100% relevant. Good luck with your results 🙂

Your samples are really helpful and thanks to your work, I find it more easier from now.

Hmm, is it really correct sample? I mean there is no opinion or view written. What do you think? If I am wrong, please let me know why. And also I should mention that I am not professional like you 🙂

I’m a bit confused by your comment. The opinion is presented in the introduction: In my opinion, this is a negative development which can lead to isolation, potentially harmful situations and also problems later on in life. It is then explained in the body paragraphs. The thesis statement of the introduction always presents the opinion if the instructions ask for it.

If question asks for do the topic has more positives than negatives than the format to follow is same as advantages outweigh disadvantages?

I can’t thank you or praise you enough for the amount of good materials and information that you provide via your YouTube videos or your blog or your paid videos. I took your writing videos subscription along with your ebooks and they are of immense help to me.

However, I could not come across this ‘postive negative development’ type of essay types in any of your videos i subscribed to. If you could please help provide your two cents on correcting my understanding of this essay type of it falls under ‘advantages outweigh the disadvantages essay type with our won opinion’ OR does it fall under the bucket of opinion based essay that is ‘ do you agree or disagree and write your own opinion’. please help provide the structure just like your writing videos or direct me to one. Pretty please.

It falls under the label of “Direct Questions Essay”. This means you are given a direct question or questions. Not all teachers use the same names for essays or categorise them in the same way. It’s best to go for a balanced view with your opinion clearly leaning to one side more than the other.

We should try to use “phrasal verb” in writing or not?

You should use appropriate language and that might include phrasal verbs.

Dear Liz, I am a big fan of you and I appreciate your lessons and blog. Unfortunately, when I read your model essay about positive and negative developments I saw in the conclusion paragraph there is a big mistake because at the beginning you supported it is a negative development but later at the end, you said that is a positive trend. So, please read the essay again and correct it otherwise it could be confusing for us.

All the best for your future…

There is no error. The introduction and conclusion match You’ll need to review your understanding of this phrase in the conclusion “it has brought about too many problems for this to be considered a positive trend.”. It means – this cannot be positive because there are too many problems.

I am really sorry, that was my mistake because I couldn’t understand the inner meaning of this phrase. I am extremely sorry, I shouldn’t say that way before a clear review. Anyway, I wish you good luck and want more lessons from you…

All the best

No need to apologise. This is the kind of language that comes in the reading or listening test to check your understanding. The more familiar you are with such language, the better 🙂

Thank you so much for your kind information.

Dear mam, “Discuss it’s positive or negative sides”. In this types of question, is it mandatory to write our opinion? e.g. In my opinion………………..

And should we discuss only one side or we have to discuss its both side? Plz mam guide me how to write this types of question.Thanks❤️

I have never seen such instructions. You either get “discuss both sides” or “Is this a positive or negative development”. It isn’t actually possible in English to have “Discuss its X or Y” – it should be “and” when you have “Discuss it’s …”.

Plz mam tell me that i have discuss both postive and negative in the essay in which or was given if this will be wrong or not as i have attempted it partially

It is completely fine to have a partial approach – present both sides with your opinion clearly favouring one side.

Dear liz, In your above example task 2 can we write negative in para 2 and positive in para 2 or we have to justify any one of it in a complete essay. Thank u

I’m not sure why you would put negative first. You should keep a logical order when it comes to paragraphs. The examiner should never feel confused about the order.

Hi Liz, firstly, thank you so much for sharing your expertise and knowledge freely. my question is: some teachers categorize Task 2 questions into only 4 primary types, the so called “Opinion” / “Discussion” / “Opinion-Discussion” / “Situational (Direct Question)” and then suggest paragraph and content planning based on those. For example, it is recommended to NOT discuss both views in the “Opinion” type, which includes what you’d usually call “positive or negative” questions as well as the plain “what is your opinion” questions, and so on.

What is your take on this kind of classification? is it too broad? or just broad enough? (this might or might not be relevant, but I’m aiming to improve my band score from 7 to 8, so I tend to be extra vigilant when it comes to these types of guides/tips)

It makes no difference how a teacher categorises essays. The key aspect is if you feel fully prepared for all essay types. I break it down into five essay types, but within those five there are more variations. But again, there is no right or wrong – there is only full preparation or not enough preparation from a candidates perspective.

Hi Liz, Please if you don’t mind, can you summarily help to suggest how to go about this kind of question if we meet it in the exam. It seems to be a bit confusing in the approach expected.

“People born today can expect to live longer than people in the previous generation. What are some of the positive and negative implication of this phenomenon”

This is a simple advantage and disadvantage essay. It is asking for both sides = one body paragraph for each side.

Mam my local teacher has taught me that positive negative and adv outweigh disadv essays can be written with same style. Is it a right approach?

Yes, it is possible to do that – it would be a partial agreement where you admit one side and favour the other.

Sorry, I forgot to mention what my teacher writes in the outline of positive negative essay— In this essay advantage outweigh disadvantage

If it is still right then can a person score a 8 band with partial agreement?

You don’t get a particular band score because you chose a particular approach. Your score is based on other marking criteria. Even within Task Response it is about how you present ideas, how you use them, how you support them, much development you give them etc. Scores are not so simple to predict or estimate.

Thanks mam for your guidance I’ll keep that in mind

Dear Liz, I want to say a big THANK YOU for all your work. Your website is really helpful .I followed your tips many times and the explanations you give is so easy to be understood by everyone (even for those who have poor english😉).Keep going and don’t listen to those persons who are too frustated to understand the actually meaning of this website.By the way, tomorrow I have the second atempt for the IELTS test.The last one was overall 7 ,but W=6😕.Hopefully this time I will take it with at least 6.5.😁Many thanks again and hope you are feeling better now.😘😘

Fingers crossed tomorrow!! Remember that you need to take time to plan your task 1 and task 2. Then writing will be easier. Also keep your eye on the clock so that you manage your time properly. See this page for last minute tips on each section of the test: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-exam-tips-on-the-day/ . I’m really glad you found my site useful 🙂

thank u a lot mamm you are so nice 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

Can we consider this kind of essay (Is this a positive or negative development) as an opinion essay when answering? I am asking just because I need to be clear on when planning this type of essay.

IT is asking for your opinion. Yes, you can consider it similar to an Opinion Essay.

Hello mam Can i apply a balanced opinion approach to a negative or positive development essay Like you have done in the advanced video of the opinion essay

Q- more and more measures to improve security in urban areas have been introduced in many countries because of the increased crime rate Is it a positive or negative development?

Intro Increasing level of crime rate have promoted authorities in many countries to strengthen their security through a variety of measures. While Some of these measures pose potential risk to individual privacy, I feel that their benefits to city residents and cities as a whole make these changes a positive development overall.

BP1– POSITIVE EFFECTS lowering of crime rate Which has increased sense of safety Attract more investments

BP2 NEGATIVE privacy intruded Agencies can access call details However this concern is undue, authorities have no self vested interest So chances of this is extremely low.

In conclusion, although some of the security measures have been introduced infringe on people’s right to privacy, it is largely a positive development as the improved security makes city dwellers’ lives more secure and cities more desirable place to live, work and invest in.

Could u please clear my doubt? Is this a right approach

It’s fine.

Thanks mam for helping me again☺ Now I can apply it. I feared that it would lower my band scores

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How to Write a Thesis Statement

This post will show you how to write a strong IELTS thesis statement. It will also explain why you should vary your thesis statement according to the question type you are given in the IELTS writing test.

This post will look at:

• what a thesis statement is;
• how to identify the different question types;
• how to write a thesis statement for each question.

What is a thesis statement?

”A thesis is an idea put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed or analysed.”

A thesis statement is the most important sentence in your IELTS writing task 2 answer.  It is contained in the introduction ; each introduction should have one, along with a paraphrase  of the question and an outline statement.

A thesis statement is your main idea. I often describe it to students as “the way you feel about the whole issue in one sentence”. It tells the examiner that you have understood the question, and it will lead to a clearer, more coherent essay.

Let’s look at an example of an IELTS thesis statement:

Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use contributes to global warming and has other undesirable effects on people’s health and well-being.

Do you agree or disagree?

Thesis statement : This essay agrees that increasing motor vehicle use contributes to rising global temperatures and certain health issues.

As you can see, this sentence clearly shows the examiner how you feel about the question. The rest of your essay should support this statement.

How do I know what to write?

The first thing we need to do is to identify which type of question it is and look at the action words.  For example, in the question below, the action words are ‘do you agree or disagree?’

Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is contributing to global warming and having other undesirable effects on people’s health and well-being.

Do you agree or disagree?

Therefore, we need to tell the examiner clearly whether we agree or disagree, which will influence our thesis statement.

Let’s look at other examples:

Computers are being used more and more in education.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.

• Computers are being used more and more in education. Some people say that this is a positive trend, while others argue that it is leading to negative consequences.

Discuss both sides of this argument and then give your own opinion.

Students are becoming more and more reliant on computers.

What are some of the problems associated with reliance on computers, and what are some of the possible solutions?

The main keywords in each of the three questions above are more or less the same- education and computers. However, if we look at the action words, we can see that we must answer the three questions in very different ways, which will affect our thesis statement.

The action words are:

• What are some of the problems, and what are some of the possible solutions?

Therefore, it is important to take some time to analyse the question and establish what it  is actually asking us to do .

How do I write a thesis statement for each question type?

Once we have established what the question wants us to do, we can now think about our thesis statement. Below we will look at how to write a thesis statement for four different kinds of questions:

• Opinion Question (Do you agree or Disagree)
• Discussion Question (Discuss both points of view)
• Advantages and Disadvantage
• Problem and Solution.

You should remember that although IELTS writing part 2 questions normally follow a standard format as above, they sometimes change, and you should be prepared for that.

Opinion Question

Some aspects of celebrity culture have a bad influence on young people.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

We have three choices with this kind of question:

• I both agree and disagree

I tell my students to only choose options one or two . Choosing option three will often lead to a confused and/or very long essay. If you have just one opinion and you stick to this, it will lead to a clear and well-argued essay.

Therefore, you have two choices.

• I agree that some aspects of celebrity culture negatively influence young people.
• I disagree that some aspects of celebrity culture negatively influence young people.

All of your thesis statements for this kind of question should start with:

This essay agrees that…..

This essay disagrees that…..

We should try to avoid using personal pronouns like ‘I’ and we, therefore, use ‘This essay….’ instead.

Also, remember that we should not copy the question as this is not allowed in the IELTS writing test, and instead, we should paraphrase.

For example, ‘ This essay agrees that some famous people’s lifestyles have a detrimental effect on today’s youth.’

Second Example Opinion Question

Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve the growing traffic and pollution problems.

Thesis Statement: This essay disagrees that the best way to resolve increasing pollution and congestion problems is to raise the cost of fuel.

Discussion Question

Computers are being used more and more in education. Some people say this is a positive trend, while others argue that it leads to negative consequences.

For this question, we need to clearly state both sides of the argument and our own opinion.

We do this by simply paraphrasing the question, thus stating both sides, and then giving our own opinion. Our own opinion will be just one side of the argument.

Even if you favour both sides of the argument, state one. Again, this leads to a clearer answer.

Thesis statement: Some argue that schools and universities increasing the use of computers is beneficial, while others oppose this view. This essay agrees that the growing use of technology by educators is a positive development.

As you can see, this student has clearly stated both sides of the argument and stated which side of the argument she prefers.

Second Example Discussion Question

Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society. Others believe that school is the best place to learn this.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Thesis statement: Some argue that teachers should teach youngsters how to be upstanding members of the community, whereas others feel this is the role of the mother and father. This essay agrees that this duty should be filled primarily by parents.

Advantage and Disadvantages Question

In this question, we need to clearly state what we think the main advantage is and the main disadvantage.

Thesis Statement: The principal advantages are the instant information available to students and the ability to communicate with other students. The main disadvantages are the lack of discipline and motivation provided by computers.

Second Advantage and Disadvantages Question

Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school.

Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Thesis statement: The principal advantage is that exposing children to languages as early as possible leads to higher proficiency levels later in life, which outweighs the main disadvantage of young children being overwhelmed by too many subjects.

Problem and Solution Question

What is a problem associated with reliance on computers, and what is a possible solution? 

Our thesis statement will need to state one main problem and one main solution.

Thesis statement: The principal problem is students allowing machines to do all the work for them without thinking for themselves, and a possible solution is to have stricter supervision from teachers and parents.

Cause and Solution Question

In some countries, the average weight of people is increasing, and their levels of health and fitness are decreasing.

What do you think is the cause of this problem, and what measures could be taken to solve this?

Thesis statement: The principal cause of this problem is people’s sedentary lifestyles, and a possible solution is to educate society about the dangers of not keeping fit.

This is just a broad overview of IELTS thesis statements, and it should be read in conjunction with my article on how to write an effective introduction to be fully understood.

**Please note**

It should be reiterated that these are the four most common question types that come up in the IELTS writing test. However, these question types sometimes do vary, and you should be ready to change your IELTS thesis statements and introductions accordingly.

To do this confidently on the day of your exam, you must have practised many times beforehand.

You can browse the free IELTS Writing Task 2 materials on my website to improve your skills from home, but free materials can only help you so much. If you need reliable practice questions and feedback on your work, you should join the Waiting List to my VIP Course or contact my team here: [email protected].

Video Lesson: How THIS student scored a Band 8.5 in IELTS Writing

In this video, my student will show you how she scored a Band 8.5 in her IELTS Writing test.

Watch us break down her essay step-by-step, talking about her introduction, thesis statement, how she used vocabulary to score high, came up with strong ideas and much more. Check it out here:

About Christopher Pell

My name is Christopher Pell and I'm the Managing Director of IELTS Advantage.

I started IELTS Advantage as a simple blog to help 16 students in my class. Several years later, I am very humbled that my VIP Course has been able to help thousands of people around the world to score a Band 7+ in their IELTS tests.

If you need my help with your IELTS preparation, you can send me an email using the contact us page.

• Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
• Key to Comments
• Analytical Research Paper Checklist
• Test-Yourself Quiz on Commonly Confused Words
• Citing Sources
• Formatting Guidelines for Papers
• General Grading Criteria

Thesis Statements

A thesis statement defines the scope and purpose of the paper. It needs to meet three criteria:

1. It must be arguable rather than a statement of fact. It should also say something original about the topic.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart experiences the constraints of many social conventions in The House of Mirth . [Of course she does. What does she do with these social conventions, and how does she respond to them? What’s your argument about this idea?]

Better thesis: Lily Bart seeks to escape from the social conventions of her class in The House of Mirth , but her competing desires for a place in Selden’s “republic of the spirit” and in the social world of New York cause her to gamble away her chances for a place in either world. [You could then mention the specific scenes that you will discuss.]

2. It must be limited enough so that the paper develops in some depth.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart and Clare Kendry are alike in some ways, but different in many others. [What ways?]

Better thesis: Lily Bart and Clare Kendry share a desire to “pass” in their respective social worlds, but their need to take risks and to reject those worlds leads to their destruction.

3. It must be unified so that the paper does not stray from the topic.

Bad thesis: Lily Bart gambles with her future, and Lawrence Selden is only a spectator rather than a hero of The House of Mirth . [Note: This is really the beginning of two different thesis statements.]

Better thesis: In The House of Mirth, Lawrence Selden is a spectator who prefers to watch and judge Lily than to help her. By failing to assist her on three separate occasions, he is revealed as less a hero of the novel than as the man responsible for Lily’s downfall. [Note: Sometimes thesis statements are more than one sentence long.]

4. Statements such as “In this essay I will discuss ” or “I will compare two stories in this paper” or “I was interested in Marji’s relationship with God, so I thought I would talk about it in this essay” are not thesis statements and are unnecessary, since mentioning the stories in the introduction already tells the reader this.

Topic Sentences

Good topic sentences can improve an essay’s readability and organization. They usually meet the following criteria:

1. First sentence. A topic sentence is usually the first sentence of the paragraph, not the last sentence of the previous paragraph.

2. Link to thesis . Topic sentences use keywords or phrases from the thesis to indicate which part of the thesis will be discussed.

3. Introduce the subject of the paragraph. They tell the reader what concept will be discussed and provide an introduction to the paragraph.

4. Link to the previous paragraph. They link the subject of the present paragraph to that of the previous paragraph.

5. Indicate the progression of the essay. Topic sentences may also signal to the reader where the essay has been and where it is headed through signposting words such as “first,” “second,” or “finally.”

Good topic sentences typically DON’T begin with the following.

1. A quotation from a critic or from the piece of fiction you’re discussing. The topic sentence should relate to your points and tell the reader what the subject of the paragraph will be. Beginning the paragraph with someone else’s words doesn’t allow you to provide this information for the reader.

2. A piece of information that tells the reader something more about the plot of the story. When you’re writing about a piece of literature, it’s easy to fall into the habit of telling the plot of the story and then adding a sentence of analysis, but such an approach leaves the reader wondering what the point of the paragraph is supposed to be; it also doesn’t leave you sufficient room to analyze the story fully. These “narrative” topic sentences don’t provide enough information about your analysis and the points you’re making.

Weak “narrative” topic sentence: Lily Bart next travels to Bellomont, where she meets Lawrence Selden again. Stronger “topic-based” topic sentence: A second example of Lily’s gambling on her marriage chances occurs at Bellomont, where she ignores Percy Gryce in favor of Selden. [Note that this tells your reader that it’s the second paragraph in a series of paragraph relating to the thesis, which in this case would be a thesis related to Lily’s gambling on her marriage chances.]

3. A sentence that explains your response or reaction to the work, or that describes why you’re talking about a particular part of it, rather than why the paragraph is important to your analysis.

Weak “reaction” topic sentence: I felt that Lily should have known that Bertha Dorset was her enemy. Stronger “topic-based” topic sentence: Bertha Dorset is first established as Lily’s antagonist in the train scene, when she interrupts Lily’s conversation with Percy Gryce and reveals that Lily smokes.

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How to write a thesis statement, what is a thesis statement.

Almost all of us—even if we don’t do it consciously—look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement.

Why Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement?

• to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two
• to better organize and develop your argument
• to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument

In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.

How Can You Write a Good Thesis Statement?

Here are some helpful hints to get you started. You can either scroll down or select a link to a specific topic.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned

Almost all assignments, no matter how complicated, can be reduced to a single question. Your first step, then, is to distill the assignment into a specific question. For example, if your assignment is, “Write a report to the local school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class,” turn the request into a question like, “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” After you’ve chosen the question your essay will answer, compose one or two complete sentences answering that question.

Q: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?” A: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are . . .”

A: “Using computers in a fourth-grade class promises to improve . . .”

The answer to the question is the thesis statement for the essay.

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How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned

Even if your assignment doesn’t ask a specific question, your thesis statement still needs to answer a question about the issue you’d like to explore. In this situation, your job is to figure out what question you’d like to write about.

A good thesis statement will usually include the following four attributes:

• take on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree
• deal with a subject that can be adequately treated given the nature of the assignment
• express one main idea
• assert your conclusions about a subject

Let’s see how to generate a thesis statement for a social policy paper.

Brainstorm the topic . Let’s say that your class focuses upon the problems posed by changes in the dietary habits of Americans. You find that you are interested in the amount of sugar Americans consume.

You start out with a thesis statement like this:

Sugar consumption.

This fragment isn’t a thesis statement. Instead, it simply indicates a general subject. Furthermore, your reader doesn’t know what you want to say about sugar consumption.

Narrow the topic . Your readings about the topic, however, have led you to the conclusion that elementary school children are consuming far more sugar than is healthy.

You change your thesis to look like this:

Reducing sugar consumption by elementary school children.

This fragment not only announces your subject, but it focuses on one segment of the population: elementary school children. Furthermore, it raises a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree, because while most people might agree that children consume more sugar than they used to, not everyone would agree on what should be done or who should do it. You should note that this fragment is not a thesis statement because your reader doesn’t know your conclusions on the topic.

Take a position on the topic. After reflecting on the topic a little while longer, you decide that what you really want to say about this topic is that something should be done to reduce the amount of sugar these children consume.

You revise your thesis statement to look like this:

More attention should be paid to the food and beverage choices available to elementary school children.

This statement asserts your position, but the terms more attention and food and beverage choices are vague.

Use specific language . You decide to explain what you mean about food and beverage choices , so you write:

Experts estimate that half of elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar.

This statement is specific, but it isn’t a thesis. It merely reports a statistic instead of making an assertion.

Make an assertion based on clearly stated support. You finally revise your thesis statement one more time to look like this:

Because half of all American elementary school children consume nine times the recommended daily allowance of sugar, schools should be required to replace the beverages in soda machines with healthy alternatives.

Notice how the thesis answers the question, “What should be done to reduce sugar consumption by children, and who should do it?” When you started thinking about the paper, you may not have had a specific question in mind, but as you became more involved in the topic, your ideas became more specific. Your thesis changed to reflect your new insights.

How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

1. a strong thesis statement takes some sort of stand..

Remember that your thesis needs to show your conclusions about a subject. For example, if you are writing a paper for a class on fitness, you might be asked to choose a popular weight-loss product to evaluate. Here are two thesis statements:

There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.

This is a weak thesis statement. First, it fails to take a stand. Second, the phrase negative and positive aspects is vague.

Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

This is a strong thesis because it takes a stand, and because it's specific.

2. A strong thesis statement justifies discussion.

Your thesis should indicate the point of the discussion. If your assignment is to write a paper on kinship systems, using your own family as an example, you might come up with either of these two thesis statements:

My family is an extended family.

This is a weak thesis because it merely states an observation. Your reader won’t be able to tell the point of the statement, and will probably stop reading.

While most American families would view consanguineal marriage as a threat to the nuclear family structure, many Iranian families, like my own, believe that these marriages help reinforce kinship ties in an extended family.

This is a strong thesis because it shows how your experience contradicts a widely-accepted view. A good strategy for creating a strong thesis is to show that the topic is controversial. Readers will be interested in reading the rest of the essay to see how you support your point.

3. A strong thesis statement expresses one main idea.

Readers need to be able to see that your paper has one main point. If your thesis statement expresses more than one idea, then you might confuse your readers about the subject of your paper. For example:

Companies need to exploit the marketing potential of the Internet, and Web pages can provide both advertising and customer support.

This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. One way to revise the thesis would be to write:

Because the Internet is filled with tremendous marketing potential, companies should exploit this potential by using Web pages that offer both advertising and customer support.

This is a strong thesis because it shows that the two ideas are related. Hint: a great many clear and engaging thesis statements contain words like because , since , so , although , unless , and however .

4. A strong thesis statement is specific.

A thesis statement should show exactly what your paper will be about, and will help you keep your paper to a manageable topic. For example, if you're writing a seven-to-ten page paper on hunger, you might say:

World hunger has many causes and effects.

This is a weak thesis statement for two major reasons. First, world hunger can’t be discussed thoroughly in seven to ten pages. Second, many causes and effects is vague. You should be able to identify specific causes and effects. A revised thesis might look like this:

Hunger persists in Glandelinia because jobs are scarce and farming in the infertile soil is rarely profitable.

This is a strong thesis statement because it narrows the subject to a more specific and manageable topic, and it also identifies the specific causes for the existence of hunger.

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Essay Writing Guide

Writing Thesis Statement

Last updated on: Jun 28, 2024

How To Write A Thesis Statement - A Step by Step Guide

By: Nova A.

14 min read

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Feb 26, 2019

Are you tired of struggling with weak thesis statements that fail to make a compelling impact in your academic writing? 

The frustration is real. 

Without a well-crafted thesis statement, your arguments may lack focus and your ideas may appear scattered.

But fret not! 

In this comprehensive blog, we will provide you guidance along with examples and tips to refine your skills.

So, let’s start reading!

On this Page

What is Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is the backbone of any academic paper or essay. It serves as a concise summary of the main argument or point that you will be making throughout your work. 

According to thesis statement defination:

“A thesis statement is a sentence that serves as a clear and focused roadmap for the reader. It outlines the central idea and guides the direction of the entire piece of writing.”

Importance of a Good Thesis Statement

A good thesis statement is essential for several reasons. 

Here are the key points highlighting the importance of a well-crafted thesis statement:

• A strong thesis statement helps clarify the main argument or point of your paper, providing a clear direction for both you as the writer and your readers.
• A well-written thesis statement orient your readers and enables them to anticipate the content and structure of your work.
• The thesis statement conveys your stance or position on the topic. It gives your readers an indication of what to expect and how you will approach the subject matter.
• A compelling thesis statement grabs the reader's attention , encouraging them to continue reading.
• Crafting a thesis statement forces you to clarify your main points and supporting arguments, resulting in a well-structured and coherent paper.

Characteristics of a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement possesses several key characteristics that make it effective and impactful. 

Understanding these characteristics is essential for crafting a strong and compelling thesis statement.

Here are the key characteristics to consider:

• Clear and Concise: A good thesis statement is clear, presenting the main argument or point in a straightforward manner. It avoids vague or ambiguous language, ensuring that the reader understands the central idea without confusion.
• Specific and Focused: A thesis statement is specific, addressing a particular aspect or angle of the topic. It avoids broad or general statements, honing in on a well-defined argument or position.
• Arguable and Debatable: A strong thesis statement presents an argument or claim that can be debated or challenged. It goes beyond stating a mere fact and instead takes a stance that can be supported with evidence and analysis.
• Supported by Evidence : A thesis statement is supported by evidence, which may include examples, statistics, research findings, or logical reasoning. It provides a clear link between the main argument and the supporting evidence that will be presented in the paper.
• Engaging and Intriguing: An effective thesis statement grabs the reader's attention and sparks curiosity. It presents an interesting and thought-provoking perspective, enticing the reader to continue reading.
• Relevant to the Topic: A thesis statement is directly related to the topic or subject matter of the paper. It ensures that the main argument is pertinent and contributes to the overall understanding of the topic.

How Long Should A Thesis Statement Be?

A thesis statement should generally be concise and to the point, consisting of one or two sentences.

While there is no strict rule regarding the exact length, it is recommended to keep it within this range to maintain clarity and effectiveness.

A longer thesis statement may become convoluted and dilute the main argument, potentially confusing the reader. On the other hand, an overly brief thesis statement might lack the necessary depth and specificity to adequately guide the paper. 

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

How to Write a Thesis Statement 

Writing a strong thesis statement requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Follow these steps to create an effective thesis statement:

Understand the Assignment

Carefully read and analyze the assignment prompt or guidelines. Identify the key requirements, such as the topic, purpose, and specific instructions for the thesis statement.

Conduct Research

Gather relevant information and conduct research on the topic. 

Explore different perspectives, arguments, and evidence related to your subject matter. This will help you develop a well-informed and comprehensive thesis statement.

Identify the Main Argument

Determine the main argument or position you want to present in your paper. Consider the specific angle or perspective you wish to take on the topic.

Refine Your Argument

Evaluate the ideas generated during brainstorming. Select the strongest and most compelling argument that aligns with your research and purpose.

Ensure your argument is specific, focused, and debatable.

Revise and Polish

Review your thesis statement and refine it if necessary.

Consider feedback from professors, peers, or writing tutors to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

Ensure that your thesis statement accurately represents the content and direction of your paper.

How Do I Know if My Thesis is Strong?

Determining the strength of your thesis statement is crucial to ensure its effectiveness in guiding your paper. Here are some indicators to help you assess the strength of your thesis:

Clarity and Specificity

• Is your thesis statement clear and concise, conveying the main argument without ambiguity?
• Does it provide specific details that focus the direction of your paper?

Arguability

• Does your thesis statement present a debatable claim or argument?
• Can someone reasonably hold a different viewpoint or counter-argument?

Evidence and Support

• Can you provide sufficient evidence or examples to support your thesis statement?
• Is there enough research or data available to back up your claims?

Relevance to the Topic

• Does your thesis statement directly address the topic or prompt given?
• Does it stay focused on the main subject matter without drifting into unrelated areas?

Scope and Complexity

• Does your thesis statement address the complexity of the topic?
• Does it allow for a comprehensive exploration of the subject rather than oversimplifying it?

Coherence and Logic

• Does your thesis statement present a logical argument that flows well?
• Are the main points and supporting arguments connected in a cohesive manner?

Good Thesis Statement Examples

Crafting a good thesis statement is essential for a strong and effective academic paper. 

Here are some how to write a thesis statement examples for essays on different subjects:

Thesis Statement for a Research Paper:

Thesis Statement Example on Global Warming:

Thesis Statement about Social Media:

Thesis Statement Example on Education:

Examples of Thesis Statement for Different Types of Essays

Thesis statements play a crucial role in various types of essays, guiding the writer's argument and providing a clear focus for the reader. 

Here are strong thesis statement examples in essays:

Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay presents a balanced discussion on a controversial topic. In this essay, the writer takes a stance and provides evidence and reasoning to support their position.

Here is a thesis statement example in argumentative essay:

Persuasive Essay

A persuasive essay aims to convince the reader of a particular viewpoint through logical reasoning and persuasive techniques.

Check out this thesis statement in persuasive essay example:

Analytical Essay

An analytical essay delves into the analysis and interpretation of a piece of literature, artwork, or a concept.

Given below is a thesis statement example for an analytical essay: 

Expository Essay

An expository essay aims to provide a clear and objective explanation or analysis of a topic. The writer has to present facts, evidence, and examples to support the main idea.

Here is a thesis statement example for an expository essay:

Personal Essay

A personal essay is a form of writing that explores a specific personal experience, reflection, or insight. It often involves sharing personal anecdotes or emotions to engage the reader.

Given below is a thesis statement example for a personal essay:

Do’s and Don’ts of Thesis Statement Writing

When it comes to crafting a thesis statement, certain guidelines can help you create a strong and effective statement. 

Here's a table outlining the do's and don'ts of thesis statement writing:

All in all, crafting a strong thesis statement is crucial for a successful academic paper. With guidance and support, you can confidently present a strong argument and make a meaningful contribution to your field. 

For “ write my essay ” assistance, contact the best essay writing service: 5StarEssays.com. 

Our essay writers will help you in crafting a well structured thesis statement that will help your research paper to stand out! 

So why wait? Let us help you excel in your academic endeavors.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is a thesis statement.

The ideal length for a statement is one to two sentences long, which is about 30-40 words. However, the length of a statement depends on the type of essay you are writing. For example, if you are writing a typical 5 paragraph essay, you wouldn’t make your thesis super long.

Similarly, if you are writing a more complex and lengthy paper, such as a research paper, the thesis statement will be written accordingly.

How to start a thesis statement?

To start a thesis statement, first, come up with a question regarding the topic at hand. Think of a topic that needs to be addressed, and then answer it with your statement.

For instance,

Question: Why should kids in the 4th-grade use computers in class?

Thesis Statement: Having computers in class can help 4th graders develop technological skills.

This example of a thesis statement will help you understand the concept.

Can a thesis statement be a question?

A thesis statement cannot be a question because it defines the purpose of the essay and states your claim.

Can a thesis statement be a hook?

No. a thesis statement cannot be a hook because both of them serve different purposes. A thesis is written at the end of an introductory paragraph and makes a claim.

In contrast, a hook sentence is the opening line of an introduction and is written to grab the reader’s attention.

What are the two elements of a thesis statement?

A good thesis statement is based on two elements. A precise and to-the-point subject and element.

As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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Examples of such essays:

In some cities, the government has tried to reduce traffic. For instance, they imposed a congestion tax during rush hours. Do you think this development is positive or negative?

Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) are the main sources in many countries, but in some countries the use of alternative sources of energy (wind energy and solar energy) are encouraged. To what extent do you think it is a positive or negative development?

Nowadays young people are admiring media and sports stars, even though they do not set a good example. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Positive Negative Development – is one of the opinion essays like Agree/Disagree Like Agree/Disagree – the student has 2 options.

Let’s take the one of the examples we discussed earlier and discuss how to attempt these essays.

Completely One-Sided Essay

Writing the introduction – 2 sentences.

Sentence1: Paraphrase the topic It is commonly observed that the youth of today admire and follow celebrities like media and sports stars despite them not acting as good role models. Sentence 2: Write your opinion. First, think of your points. How Negative

• When youth see celebrities involved in bad habits alcohol or drugs either in real life or on the big screen/TV, they also feel like trying it.
• Impossible standards of beauty like zero figure. It lowers the confidence of youth and many of them go through eating disorders
• Overspending, as they feel like buying expensive products like the latest fashions, clothes promoted by celebrities. Might also lead to crime as youth sometimes commit small crimes like thefts and stealing to obtain such products.

No positive points, all negative – one-sided Opinion : I strongly believe that this is a negative development. Complete Introduction: It is commonly observed that the youth of today admire and follow celebrities like media and sports stars despite them not acting as good role models. I strongly believe that this is a negative development.

Writing the Body Paragraphs

Step 1: Write 3 body paragraphs with each paragraph representing different points. Para 1: Point 1 Para 2: Point 2 Para 3: Point 3 and 4 Step 2: Begin Para 1 with a sentence telling the examiner that you are discussing the negatives. Step 3: Use connectors between each point. For example, in this case For point 1: Firstly, For point 2: The second negative is that For point 3: Finally,

Body Paragraph 1: Media and sports stars have a lot of negative effects on youth. Firstly, celebrities are often portrayed drinking or smoking in advertisements, TV shows and movies. Some stars post pictures of themselves partying and drinking on social media platforms. This normalizes and glamorizes behavior like smoking, binge drinking and illicit drug use, making youth feel that it’s appropriate to do the same. Experimenting with drugs and alcohol affects their health, behavior and grades. Body Paragraph 2: Secondly, some celebrities create impossible standards of beauty, as a result of which more and more young adults feel less confident and more dissatisfied with their looks. Teenagers are at a phase of their life where they undergo massive changes physically, mentally, and emotionally. As celebrities are becoming thinner and thinner, the self-confidence of their fans is lost, and they suffer from body displeasure. This causes young fans to strive to be unhealthily thin and stop eating altogether, which may prove fatal at times. Body Paragraph 3: Finally, sometimes celebrities ignore the public interest while endorsing the latest fashions and products. Thus, in a way, they promote trends that might be harmful to youth and society. For example, many celebrities promote sugary drinks or fast foods, even though they themselves don’t consume them. Sometimes, they promote costly fashions and gadgets and teenagers force their parents to buy these products. Some teens or youth also resort to petty crimes like stealing just to acquire these products and consequently destroy their whole life.

Step 1: Repeat your opinion, using different words. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the increasing influence of celebrities on youth has several adverse consequences for them as well as the society.

Having negatives but overall positive (Partial Essay)

Sentence 1: Paraphrase the topic It is irrefutable that most of the countries depend on fossil fuels for energy generation, but it is also true that many countries are shifting towards renewable sources like wind, solar and tidal energy. Sentence 2: Write your opinion. First, think of your points.

How Positive

• Renewable last forever, fossils overuse.
• Non-polluting
• Decrease imports as can be produced locally
• Less maintenance or operation costs.

How Negative

• High upfront cost
• Not as reliable- For example- Solar not at night

Opinion : Although there are few drawbacks of renewable energy, I believe the lowering dependence on fossil fuels is a positive development. Complete Introduction: It is irrefutable that most of the countries depend on fossil fuels for energy generation, but it is also true that many countries are shifting towards renewable sources like wind, solar and tidal energy. Although there are few drawbacks of renewable energy, I believe the lowering dependence on fossil fuels is a positive development.

Step 1: Write 3 body paragraphs with each paragraph representing different points. 2 Paragraphs: Main side – Positive 1 Paragraph: Opposite side – Negative The order doesn’t matter. Para 1: Point 1 & 2 (Positive) Para 2: Point 3 & 4 (Negative) Para 3: Point 1 & 2 (Negative) Step 2: Begin Para 1 with a sentence telling the examiner that you are discussing the positives. Begin Para 3 with a sentence telling the examiner that you are discussing the negatives. Step 3: Use connectors between each point. For example, in this case For point 1: Firstly, For point 2: The second positive is that For point 3: In addition For point 4: Finally, Step 4: Use connector – like However, On the other hand when the tone changes from Positive to Negative – So beginning of Para 3 Step 5: Use connectors to connect negative points For point 1: The main drawback For point 2: Another drawback

Body Paragraph 1: Firstly, alternate sources are renewable, while conventional sources like coal and oil are non-renewable. Fossils take millions of years to make and countries are using them at an alarming rate. This means that if people continue using them at the same rate, there will be nothing left for our future generations. The second advantage is that these non-conventional sources do not pollute the environment. It is well known that fossil fuels are a major contributor to greenhouse gases and consequently global warming. Body Paragraph 2: In addition, renewable energy sources reduce dependence on foreign energy imports as they can be produced locally. Thus, these sources can not only increase energy independence but also save valuable foreign exchange. Finally, these sources require less maintenance because they have fewer movable parts as compared to conventional energy sources. Body Paragraph 3: On the other hand, there are also a few drawbacks of renewable energy. The main drawback is the high upfront cost, which is considerably higher than conventional energy sources. Another major issue with them is that they are not as reliable as fossil fuel-based energy generation as they depend upon wind speed and hours of sunshine, which varies from day to day and season to season.

Step 1: Repeat your opinion, using different words. Summing up, despite the problems associated with renewable energy, I consider the shift towards it to be beneficial on the whole.

More examples of discuss essays can be found here

Makkar ielts academic essay book can be purchase here, 6 thoughts on “positive negative development essay”.

Honestly saying this is a good format and easy to understand 😃👍

can we write all positive ideas in two paragraphs?ie.,(pos idea 1+pos idea 2)–paragraph 1 pos idea 3+pos idea 4)–paragraph 3 conclusion

Thank you so much for all the efforts that you have putted in this essay.and also you made it very easy to understand . i would say it was incredible overall.

Nice teaching

I feel that they are very much helpful…watched the essay writing process of few more other educators but your method is the best & easy.It is helping me to write an essay with ease rather than frightening as I would earlier.Now I’m interested in writing more &more essays.Thank you very much mam…

Absolutely helpful. The structure to write different essays is clearly outlined with techniques and tips. Thanks, Makkar mam!!

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How to Write a Positive or Negative Development IELTS Essay

Posted by David S. Wills | Nov 22, 2021 | IELTS Tips , Writing | 0

In task 2 of the IELTS writing test, you could be asked to write a positive or negative development essay . This article will explain how to analyse the question, plan your answer, and then write an essay that can score you at least band 7.

What is a Positive or Negative Development IELTS Essay?

There are different kinds of question in task 2 of the IELTS writing test, but one of them will give you a statement and then say something like “Is this a positive or negative development?” In a sense, then, it is a form of opinion essay.

Here is an example:

Today, more people are waiting until their thirties to get married and have children. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

This kind of question is quite simple because you are given a development (that more people now wait to have children) and you must decide whether that is positive or negative . There is nothing tricky about this.

Still, it is worth mentioning a few things because people often make mistakes with this sort of question:

• This is not a discussion essay , so you do not have to give a balanced answer
• If you say “this is a very negative development,” then don’t explain the positives
• Once you have given your answer, you should try to justify your perspective

Analysing the Question

Let’s consider the above question a little more closely. You must decide whether it is a positive or negative development that people now wait until their thirties to get married and have children. Thus, we can essentially have three possible answers:

• It is a positive development.
• It is a negative development.
• It is neither wholly positive nor negative.

I strongly recommend that you choose an approach that allows you to develop your answers clearly and convincingly. By that, I mean you should decide to give the answer that allows you to present good ideas and then justify them. Take a minute or two to figure this out before you begin properly planning and writing your essay.

For example:

When you look at these ideas, which ones do you think would be the easiest to develop? There is no correct answer here – it is totally up to you .

Remember that for a good score in Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion , you must develop your ideas and sequence them logically. Thus, choose carefully at this stage.

If you have trouble generating ideas , then you can research different topics in preparation for your essay by looking online. For example, here we are discussing having babies at an older age, so we might look for news articles and then take ideas and vocabulary from there. Here is an article from Forbes about why millennial women are waiting longer to have children. Here is one from The Guardian about waiting until you’re in your fifties! Remember: Good writers read a lot.

How to Structure a Positive or Negative Development IELTS Essay

There is no perfect way to structure an IELTS essay, but there are good ways and bad ways. I strongly recommend writing four paragraphs and making sure that each paragraph has a single focus. For a positive/negative development essay, it would be a good idea to pick two main arguments in support of your view, then provide them as the focus of each body paragraph.

That’s pretty simple, right?

Mistakes that people make here include:

• Putting too many ideas into each paragraph
• Feeling that they have to give balance
• Providing an unclear position

The best approach to IELTS is keeping things simple. I cannot stress enough that overcomplicating an issue is a bad idea . Thus, using the above structures is a really effective way to produce a great essay that is capable of achieving at least band 7.

Keep in mind that approach #3 (neither wholly positive nor negative) is naturally going to be a little more complicated than the others. If you are not confident in your ability to structure an essay, you might want to avoid this one.

Personally, I feel that this issue is not purely positive or negative, so I would choose the third option. Here is my sample answer.

Sample Band 9 Answer

While in previous generations it was normal for people to get married and start a family at a very young age, nowadays people tend to wait until they are in their thirties. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this development, and so this essay will explain why it is neither a wholly positive nor negative trend.

Traditionally, people would get married and settle down at a very young age because life expectancies were short and there were also few other options available to most people. Nowadays, with people expected to live into their seventies or eighties, it is reasonable to wait until later to get married and have children. This allows people to develop more prior to starting a serious relationship or embarking on the journey of parenthood. They can gain an education, see the world, find out more about themselves, and even have the sort of fun experiences that are difficult in the midst of parental responsibility.

However, it could also be argued that people are naturally inclined to settle down earlier. The human body has evolved over millions of years to reproduce at an early age and, when people try to have children later, it often ends in failure or even with birth defects. Therefore, perhaps it is more reasonable to settle down and do this at an earlier age, and then the parents can enjoy more freedom once their children have grown up and left home. In terms of love, people who meet later might also feel a sense of regret that they did not share their younger years as this is a special time when life can be more eventful and passionate.

In conclusion, there are both advantages and disadvantages to settling down early, and it is really just a personal choice that will suit different people in different ways.

Notes on the Answer

You may look at this and think, “But that’s an advantages and disadvantages essay …” Well, it certainly looks like it because I have used the phrase “advantages and disadvantages” twice! However, I have made it clear that it is about the positive vs negative issue and that my position is that it cannot be said to be either of them.

For me, this allows an in-depth discussion that gives nuance and allows me to show my critical thinking skills to the examiner. One thing to avoid, though, is cramming too many ideas into each paragraph, which can be a big problem with balanced essays like this.

Another Sample Essay

Ok, let’s take another look so that we can get an idea of how to give a straightforward answer.

Here’s the question:

Nowadays, more people are choosing to socialise online rather than face to face. Is this a positive or negative development?

And here’s my answer:

In the twenty-first century, the internet is changing the way that people socialise. Where we used to talk face-to-face, now we tend to use different types of technology to communicate. This essay will argue that it is a positive development.

The first reason why this is positive is that humans have always adapted in order to communicate more efficiently. In fact, our ability to communicate well has led us to be the most sophisticated and powerful animal on the planet. We have developed thousands of complex languages, then learned to write them down, and in the last few hundred years we have discovered printing and telephones. Now that we have the internet, our communication skills are becoming even greater as a species, and it is hard to see why that could be a negative development.

Furthermore, the internet has allowed people from all over the world to interact with each other. Rather than speak only with our immediate friends and family, or our social or national group, we can now speak with people from anywhere, and the communication is instant. This allows us to break down traditional cultural barriers and will hopefully lead to a worldwide decline in prejudice and hatred. This is an unprecedented development in world history, and one that I think is going to make largely positive changes for all humankind.

In conclusion, the switch from face-to-face to online communication is not a negative development in human history; instead, it allows us to communicate better and interact with other people from different backgrounds.

My position was clear throughout the essay, which is really important. I started by using this easy phrase:

• This essay will argue that it is a positive development.

I then transitioned nicely into the next paragraph by saying:

• The first reason why this is positive is that…

I built up my argument convincingly throughout that paragraph, then switched to my second argument with:

• Furthermore…

Again, that paragraph built up a nice argument, and this time is reached a sort of summary sentence:

• This is an unprecedented development in world history, and one that I think is going to make largely positive changes for all humankind.

That led naturally into the conclusion, which reaffirmed my position.

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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Developing Strong Thesis Statements

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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. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people.

Example of a non-debatable thesis statement:

This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the problem. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is unambiguously good.

Example of a debatable thesis statement:

This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution.

Another example of a debatable thesis statement:

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is the most effective strategy.

The thesis needs to be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the more evidence you will need to convince readers that your position is right.

Example of a thesis that is too broad:

There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use, recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate.

Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable topic.

We could narrow each debatable thesis from the previous examples in the following way:

Narrowed debatable thesis 1:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.

Narrowed debatable thesis 2:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus.

Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," or " on average " also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, or, in other words, what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example:

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:

Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:

Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.

IELTS Task 2 Question Types: Positive Negative Development

by Dave | Understanding Task 2 Writing | 3 Comments

I have collected here a variety of positive or negative development question task types from the real IELTS test.

Enjoy and consider signing up for my Patreon Ebooks here .

In many countries nowadays, consumers can go to a supermarket and buy food produced all over the world.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Read my essay here.

Nowadays, there is more and more competition for getting into university.

Is this a positive or negative development?

In many societies, there is a growing emphasis on individualism, with people prioritizing their personal goals and desires over collective interests.

Is this is a positive or negative development?

My full EBook (including past EBooks) is available here.

Around the world, rural people are moving to cities and urban areas, so populations in the countryside are decreasing .

Fossil fuels are the main source of energy around the world today. In some countries, the use of alternative sources of energy is replacing fossil fuels. 

Today, many people use the internet and smartphones to transfer money to friends, family, and businesses.

Nowadays, an increasing number of people with health problems are using alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their normal doctor.

Many cities are now turning parks and farmland into new housing developments.

Many supermarkets are selling more and more products that are imported from other countries instead of selling food that is locally sourced.

What are the reasons for this?

Many people put their personal information online (address, telephone number, and so on) for purposes such as signing up for social networks or online banking.

Read my sample answer here.

Nowadays some older people choose to live in retirement communities and centers with other people, rather than living with their adult children.

Film stars and celebrities often share their views on public matters that have little to do with their profession.

Some countries import a large amount of food from other parts of the world.

To what extent is this a postive or negative trend?

Many people nowadays tend to marry and have children in their thirties rather than at a younger age.

Some countries invest in specialized sports facilities for top athletes but not for the average people.

The number of people who are interested in and wearing fashionable clothes is increasing.

Many local languages today are dying out due to the rise of languages like English.

Due to television and the internet it is easier today for a large number of people to become famous.

More and more people today are becoming overly dependent on the internet and phones.

Nowadays more tasks at home and work are being performed by robots.

Is this a negative or positive development?

Nowadays because of digital technology it is possible for not only studios but also individuals to produce their own films.

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Dave,you are a genius, keep the good work up I believe I will do amazingly good in my IELTS exam.

No problem!

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Band 8+: Many people nowadays spend a large part of their free time using a smartphone. What do you think are the reasons for this? Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

It is becoming extremely common for people to constantly use smartphones. I think this addiction is caused by several factors, including their convenience and accessibility. Even though smartphones are considered useful tools, in my view, they may have several drawbacks.

The main reason many individuals spend an excessive amount of their spare time on their phones is the accessibility of a wide range of websites, games for entertainment, and applications. Not only the younger generation but also older people tend to visit websites such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and others that offer both insightful and facetious videos. As a result, it seems that much of our time is spent watching the latter, leading to a habit of consuming more and more of these videos. In addition, people use smartphones primarily for communication, which is also a time-consuming activity.

However, this trend brings several drawbacks. In terms of communication, it is likely that online interactions will increasingly reduce face-to-face engagement in the near future. For instance, even within families, people are now creating groups and primarily communicating through these family chat groups. Moreover, the overuse of phones can have damaging effects on health. People are more likely to develop eye-related disorders, mental health issues, and even face an increased risk of cancer. The more we struggle to disconnect from digital devices, the higher the chances of developing a serious addiction.

To sum up, while smartphones offer a wide range of advantages, they also have negative aspects that consume our time and impact our well-being. Their convenience and accessibility can lead to excessive use, reducing face-to-face interactions and contributing to health issues.

Check Your Own Essay On This Topic?

Generate a band-9 sample with your idea, overall band score, task response, coherence & cohesion, lexical resource, grammatical range & accuracy, essays on the same topic:, many people nowadays spend a large part of their free time using a smartphone. what do you think are the reasons for this do you think this is a positive or negative development.

Smartphones have become a fundamental part of our life and a lot of people usually spend their spare time surfing on the internet, chatting or scrolling on social networks. Probably we do not give so much importance, but in our pocket we have an incredible piece of technology. Smartphones connected to the Internet can really […]

Majority of people think or believe that some people currently spend most of their free time using a smartphone. These days smartphone has significant impact in our society such as in our daily life calling each other or see each other from video call so people can talk anytime that is much more good and […]

These days ,a lot of individuals use their telephones for the majority of their leisure time.There are likely to be a number of reasons for people to use their smartphones in their free time,as it is now quite common for this development. One widely held view is accessing to the internet. Having a wealth of […]

It is a common belief that the majority of people cannot imagine their lives without using smartphones and due to this fact they spend a considerable amount of time looking at screens of their devices. There are a lot of reasons for this tendency and in this essay I will look at some of them […]

Other Topics:

Some people think educating children of different abilities together will benefit them. others think intelligent children should be taught separately and give special courses. discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Whether young children should be divided into different groups according to their academic performance has been hotly debated in recent years. Some people argue that studying by different groups helps enhance efficiency, while the majority, including myself, firmly believe that letting children with different abilities study together may not be the most efficient approach, but […]

Whether young children should be divided into different groups according to their academic performance has been hotly debated in recent years. Some people argue that studying by different groups helps enhance the efficiency, while majority, including myself, firmly believe that letting children with different abilities study together may not be the most efficient approach, but […]

Some people believe that the higher a product is priced, the more likely it is that people will want to buy it. To what extent does price influence potential buyers? What other factors influence people to buy a product?

In this contemporary era, it is noticed that the expensive products always seek the interest of the Individuals .Certainly , most of the individuals tend to purchase that product as it maintain their social status However, there are numerous factors which influence individuals to buy that good as durability and appearance . Individuals not only […]

Some people argue that it is not wise for an industry to replace its experienced but old workers with new and young yet inexperienced individuals. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some people believe that experienced but old workers should not be replaced by young and non-experienced individuals for an industry. This essay agrees with this statement, because old workers have achieved mastery. On the one hand, it is a good idea for an industry to replace its experienced but old workers new and young yet […]

Keeping animals in captivity such as zoos has now been popular, even now that they have evolved into ‘animal parks’ or similar facilities. What do you think the advantages and disadvantages from this?

The practice of keeping animals in zoos has been a trend in most countries. Nowadays, they have developed into “animal parks” or similar facilities. This issue, it is believed, would bring about, in spite of some possible disadvantages, several advantages that I will outline in my essay. Perhaps, one major drawback from this issue would […]

In the past, teachers were the main source of information, but today students have a wide source of information, so teachers are no longer important in modern education. Do you agree or disagree?

Different opinions have been raised about whether teachers are the main source of information in modern schooling or not. In this essay, I believe that teachers still play an important role in providing knowledge for students. On the one hand, there is an emerging issue that fake news continuously is posted on some sources of […]

Plans & Pricing

• Open access
• Published: 26 August 2024

Paramedics’ experiences and observations: work-related emotions and well-being resources during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic—a qualitative study

• Henna Myrskykari 1 , 2 &
• Hilla Nordquist 3  

BMC Emergency Medicine volume  24 , Article number:  152 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

As first responders, paramedics are an extremely important part of the care chain. COVID-19 significantly impacted their working circumstances. We examined, according to the experiences and observations of paramedics, (1) what kinds of emotions the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel experienced in their new working circumstances, and (2) what work-related factors became resources for the well-being of EMS personnel during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This qualitative study utilized reflective essay material written by experienced, advanced-level Finnish paramedics ( n  = 30). The essays used in this study were written during the fall of 2020 and reflected the period when Finland had declared a state of emergency (on 17.3.2020) and the Emergency Powers Act was implemented. The data was analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis.

The emotions experienced by the EMS personnel in their new working circumstances formed three themes: (1) New concerns arose that were constantly present; (2) Surviving without proper guidance; and (3) Rapidly approaching breaking point. Three themes were formed from work-related factors that were identified as resources for the well-being of the EMS personnel. These were: (1) A high level of organizational efficiency was achieved; (2) Adaptable EMS operations; and (3) Encouraging atmosphere.

Conclusions

Crisis management practices should be more attentive to personnel needs, ensuring that managerial and psychological support is readily available in crisis situations. Preparedness that ensures effective organizational adaptation also supports personnel well-being during sudden changes in working circumstances.

Peer Review reports

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare personnel across the globe faced unprecedented challenges. As initial responders in emergency healthcare, paramedics were quickly placed at the front lines of the pandemic, dealing with a range of emergencies in unpredictable conditions [ 1 ]. The pandemic greatly changed the everyday nature of work [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Those working on the front line were suddenly forced to adjust to personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements [ 9 , 10 ] and rapidly changing instructions that caused significant adjustments to their job description [ 11 , 12 ]. For instance, it has been reported that during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, including paramedics working in prehospital emergency care, experienced a significant increase in stress [ 10 , 13 ] due to several reasons, such as the lack of protection and support, increased demands, lack of personnel, fear of exposure to COVID-19 during missions, concerns of spreading the virus to family members, and frustration over quickly changing work policies [ 11 , 14 , 15 ].

With the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, some research has been directed toward identifying available resources that help in coping with such situations. For example, Sangal et al. [ 15 ] underscored the association between effective communication and reduced work stress and burnout, and emphasized the critical need for two-way communication, consistent messaging, and the strategic consolidation of information prior to its dissemination. In parallel, Dickson et al. [ 16 ] highlight the pivotal role of leadership strategies in fostering a healthful work environment. These strategies include being relationally engaging, visibly present, open, and caring for oneself and others, while embodying core values such as compassion, empathy, courage, and authenticity. Moreover, Awais et al. [ 14 ] identify essential measures to reduce mental distress and support EMS personnel’s overall well-being in pandemic conditions, such as by providing accessible mental health and peer support, ensuring a transparent information flow, and the implementation of clear, best-practice protocols and guidelines. As a lesson learned from COVID-19, Kihlström et al. (2022) add that crisis communication, flexible working conditions, compensation, and allowing for mistakes should be part of crisis management. They also emphasize the importance of psychological support for employees. [ 12 ]

Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic had a multifaceted impact on EMS personnel, highlighting the necessity for comprehensive support and resilience strategies to safeguard their well-being [ 11 , 17 , 18 ] alongside organizational functions [ 12 , 19 ]. For example, in Finland, it has been noted in the aftermath of COVID-19 that the availability and well-being of healthcare workers are key vulnerabilities of the resilience of the Finnish health system [ 12 ]. Effective preparedness planning and organizational resilience benefit from learning from past events and gaining a deeper understanding of observations across different organizational levels [ 12 , 19 , 20 ]. For these reasons, it is important to study how the personnel experienced the changing working circumstances and to recognize the resources, even unexpected ones, that supported their well-being during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 12 , 19 ].

The aim of this study was to examine the emotions experienced and the resources identified as supportive of work well-being during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of the paramedics. Our research questions were: According to the experiences and observations of paramedics, (1) what kinds of emotions did the EMS personnel experience in the new working circumstances, and (2) what work-related factors became resources for the well-being of EMS personnel during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this study, emotions are understood as complex responses involving psychological, physiological, and behavioral components, triggered by significant events or situations [ 21 ]. Resources are understood as physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the work that help achieve work goals, reduce demands and associated costs [ 22 ].

Materials and methods

This qualitative study utilized reflective essay material written in the fall of 2020 by experienced, advanced-level paramedics who worked in the Finnish EMS during the early phase of the pandemic, when Finland had declared (March 17, 2020 onward) a state of emergency and implemented the Emergency Powers Act. This allowed for new rules and guidelines from the government to ensure the security of healthcare resources. Some work rules for healthcare personnel changed, and non-urgent services were limited.

Data collection procedures

This study is part of a broader, non-project-based research initiative investigating the work well-being of paramedics from various perspectives, and the data was collected for research purposes from this standpoint. The data collection for this study was conducted at the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences as part of the Current Issues in EMS Management course. The course participants were experienced, advanced-level Finnish paramedics who were students of the master’s degree program in Development and Management of Emergency Medical Services. A similar data collection method has been utilized in other qualitative studies [for example, 23 , 24 ].

The South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences granted research permission for the data collection on August 20, 2020. The learning platform “Learn” (an adapted version of Moodle [ 25 ]) was used to gather the data. A research notice, privacy statement, and essay writing instructions were published on the platform on August 21, 2020. The paramedics were asked to write about their own experiences and observations regarding how the state of emergency impacted the work well-being of EMS personnel. They were instructed not to use references but only their own reflections. Three guiding questions were asked: “What kind of workloads did EMS personnel experience during the state of emergency?” “How has this workload differed from normal conditions?” and “What effects did this workload have on the well-being of the EMS personnel?”. The assignment did not refer solely to paramedics because the EMS field community may also include individuals with other titles (such as EMS field supervisors or firefighters performing prehospital emergency care); hence the term “EMS personnel” was used.

The essay was part of the mandatory course assignments, but submitting it for research purposes was voluntary. The paramedics were informed that their participation in the study would not affect their course evaluations. They had the freedom to decline, remove parts of, or withdraw the essay before analysis. None of the paramedics exercised these options. They were also informed that the last author removes any identifying details (such as names, places, and organizational descriptions that could reveal their workplace) before sharing the data with other, at the time unnamed, researchers. The last author (female) is a senior researcher specializing in EMS and work well-being topics, a principal lecturer of the respective course, and the head of the respective master’s program, and familiar to all of them through their studies. The paramedics were aware that the essays were graded by the last author on a pass/fail scale as part of the course assessment. However, comprehensive and well-reasoned reflections positively influenced the course grade. The evaluation was not part of this study. The paramedics had the opportunity to ask further questions about the study directly from the last author during and after the essay writing process and the course.

The paramedics wrote the essays between August 23, 2020, and November 30, 2020. Thirty-two paramedics (out of 39) returned their essays using the Learn platform during this timeframe. Thus, seven of the course completions were delayed, and the essays written later were no longer appropriate to include in the data due to the time elapsed since the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All 32 gave their informed consent for their essays to be included in the study. Essays written by paramedics who had not actively participated in EMS field work during exceptional circumstances were excluded from the material ( n  = 2), because they wrote the essay from a different perspective, as they could not reflect on their own experiences and observations. Thus, a total of 30 essays were included in the study. The total material was 106 pages long and comprised 32,621 words in Finnish.

Study participants

Thirty advanced-level paramedics from Finland participated in this study. They all had a bachelor’s degree in emergency care or nursing with additional emergency care specialization. At the time of the study, they were pursuing their master’s studies. Thirteen of them were women, and seventeen were men. The average age of the participants was 33.5 years among women and 35.9 years among men. Women had an average of 8.7 years of work experience, and men had 8.8 years. All the participating paramedics worked in EMS in different areas across Finland (except northern Finland) during their studies and the early phase of the pandemic.

Data analysis

The data was analyzed with a thematic analysis following the process detailed by Braun & Clarke [ 26 ]. First, the two researchers thoroughly familiarized themselves with the data, and the refined aim and research questions of the study were formulated inductively in collaboration based on the content of the data (see [ 26 ], page 84). After this, a thorough coding process was mainly carried out by the first author (female), who holds a master’s degree, is an advanced-level paramedic who worked in EMS during the pandemic, and at the time of the analysis was pursuing her doctoral studies in a different subject area related to EMS. Generating the initial codes involved making notes of interesting features of anything that stood out or seemed relevant to the research question systematically across the entire dataset. During this process, the original paragraphs and sentences were copied from the essay material into a table in Microsoft Word, with each research question in separate documents and each paragraph or sentence in its own row. The content of these data extracts was then coded in the adjacent column, carefully preserving the original content but in a more concise form. Then, the content was analyzed, and codes were combined to identify themes. After that, the authors reviewed the themes together by moving back and forth between the original material, the data in the Word documents, and the potential themes. During this process, the authors worked closely and refined the themes, allowing them to be separated and combined into new themes. For example, emotions depicting frustration and a shift to indifference formed their own theme in this kind of process. Finally, the themes were defined into main, major and minor themes and named. In the results, the main themes form the core in response to the research questions and include the most descriptions from the data. The major themes are significant but not as central as the main themes. Major themes provide additional depth and context to the results. One minor theme was formed as the analysis process progressed, and it provided valuable insights and details that deepened the response to the research question. All the coded data was utilized in the formed themes. The full content of the themes is reported in the Results section.

The emotions experienced by the EMS personnel in their new working circumstances formed three themes: New concerns arose that were constantly present (main theme); Surviving without proper guidance (major theme); and Rapidly approaching breaking point (major theme) (Fig.  1 ). Work-related factors identified as resources for the well-being of EMS personnel formed three themes: A high level of organizational efficiency was achieved (main theme); Adaptable EMS operations (major theme); and Encouraging atmosphere (minor theme) (Fig.  2 ).

Emotions experienced by the EMS personnel in their new working circumstances

Main theme: New concerns arose that were constantly present

The main theme included several kinds of new concerns. In the beginning, the uncertainty about the virus raised concerns about work safety and the means to prevent the spread of the disease. The initial lack of training and routines led to uncertainty. In addition, the decrease in the number of EMS missions raised fears of units being reduced and unilateral decisions by the management to change the EMS personnel’s work responsibilities. The future was also a source of uncertainty in the early stages. For example, the transition to exceptional circumstances, concerns about management and the supervisors’ familiarity with national guidelines and lack of information related to sickness absence procedures, leave, personal career progression, and even the progress of vaccine development, all contributed to this feeling of uncertainty. The initial uncertainty was described as the most challenging phase, but the uncertainty was also described as long-lasting.

Being on the front line with an unknown, potentially dangerous, and easily transmissible virus caused daily concerns about the personnel’s own health, especially when some patients hid their symptoms. The thought of working without proper PPE was frightening. On the other hand, waiting for a patient’s test result was stressful, as it often resulted in many colleagues being quarantined. A constant concern for the health of loved ones and the fear of contracting the virus and unknowingly bringing it home or transmitting it to colleagues led the EMS personnel to change their behavior by limiting contact.

Being part of a high-risk group , I often wondered , in the case of coronavirus , who would protect me and other paramedics from human vanity and selfishness [of those refusing to follow the public health guidelines]? (Participant 25)

The EMS personnel felt a weight of responsibility to act correctly, especially from the perspective of keeping their skills up to date. The proper selection of PPE and aseptic procedures were significant sources of concern, as making mistakes was feared to lead to quarantine and increase their colleagues’ workloads. At the same time, concerns about the adequacy of PPE weighed on the personnel, and they felt pressure on this matter to avoid wastage of PPEs. The variability in the quality of PPE also caused concerns.

Concerns about acting correctly were also tied to ethical considerations and feelings of inadequacy when the personnel were unable to explain to patients why COVID-19 caused restrictions on healthcare services. The presence of students also provoked such ethical concerns. Recognizing patients’ symptoms correctly also felt distressing due to the immense responsibility. This concern was also closely tied to fear and even made some question their career choices. The EMS personnel were also worried about adequate treatment for the patients and sometimes felt that the patients were left alone at home to cope. A reduction in patient numbers in the early stages of the pandemic raised concerns about whether acutely ill individuals were seeking help. At the same time, the time taken to put on PPE stressed the personnel because it increased delays in providing care. In the early phase of the pandemic, the EMS personnel were stressed that patients were not protected from them.

I’m vexed in the workplace. I felt it was immediately necessary to protect patients from us paramedics as well. It wasn’t specifically called for , mostly it felt like everyone had a strong need to protect themselves. (Participant 30)

All these concerns caused a particularly heavy psychological burden on some personnel. They described feeling more fatigued and irritable than usual. They had to familiarize themselves with new guidelines even during their free time, which was exhausting. The situation felt unjust, and there was a looming fear of the entire healthcare system collapsing. COVID-19 was omnipresent. Even at the base station of the EMS services, movement was restricted and social distancing was mandated. Such segregation, even within the professional community, added to the strain and reduced opportunities for peer support. The EMS personnel felt isolated, and thoughts about changing professions increased.

It was inevitable that the segregation of the work community would affect the community spirit , and a less able work community has a significant impact on the individual level. (Participant 8)

Major theme: Surviving without proper guidance

At the onset of the pandemic, the job description of the EMS personnel underwent changes, and employers could suddenly relocate them to other work. There was not always adequate support for familiarizing oneself with the new roles, leading to a feeling of loss of control. The management was described as commanding and restricting the personnel’s actions. As opportunities to influence one’s work diminished, the sense of job satisfaction and motivation decreased.

Some felt that leadership was inadequate and neglectful, especially when the leaders switched to remote work. The management did not take the situation seriously enough, leaving the EMS personnel feeling abandoned. The lack of consistent leadership and failure to listen to the personnel caused dissatisfaction and reduced occupational endurance. In addition, the reduced contact with colleagues and close ones reduced the amount of peer support. The existing models for psychological support were found to be inadequate.

Particularly in the early stages, guidelines were seen as ambiguous and deficient, causing frustration, irritation, and fear. The guidelines also changed constantly, even daily, and it was felt that the information did not flow properly from the management to the personnel. Changes in protection recommendations also led to skepticism about the correctness of the national guidance, and the lack of consistent guidelines perplexed the personnel. Internalizing the guidelines was not supported adequately, but the necessity to grasp new information was described as immense and cognitively demanding.

At times , it felt like the work was a kind of survival in a jungle of changing instructions , one mission at a time. (Participant 11)

Major theme: Rapidly approaching breaking point

Risking one’s own health at work caused contentious feelings while concurrently feeling angry that management could work remotely. The arrogant behavior of people toward COVID-19 left them frustrated, while the EMS personnel had to limit their contacts and lost their annual leave. There were fears about forced labor.

Incomplete and constantly changing guidelines caused irritation and indifference, as the same tasks had to be performed with different levels of PPE within a short time. Some guidelines were difficult to comply with in practice, which was vexing.

Using a protective mask was described as distressing, especially on long and demanding missions. Communication and operation became more difficult. Some described frustration with cleaning PPE meant for single use.

Ensuring the proper implementation of a work pair’s aseptic and equipment maintenance was burdensome, and explaining and repeating guidelines was exhausting. A feeling of indifference was emphasized toward the end of a long shift.

After the initial stage, many began to slip with the PPE guidelines and found the instructions excessive. COVID-19 information transmitted by the emergency center lost its meaning, and instructions were left unheeded, as there was no energy to believe that the patient would have COVID-19, especially if only a few disease cases had been reported in their area.

It was disheartening to hear personnel being labeled as selfish for demanding higher pay during exceptional circumstances. This lack of recognition eroded professionalism and increased thoughts of changing professions.

However , being a doormat and a human toilet , as well as a lack of appreciation , undermines my professionalism and the prolonged situation has led me to seriously consider a different job , where values other than dedication and constant flexibility carry weight. I have heard similar thoughts from other colleagues. None of us do this for money. (Participant 9)

Work-related factors identified as resources for the well-being of EMS personnel

Main theme: A high level of organizational efficiency was achieved

The main theme held several different efficient functions. In the early stages of the pandemic, some felt that the information flow was active. Organizations informed the EMS personnel about the disease, its spread, and its impact on the workplace and emergency care activities.

Some felt that managers were easily accessible during the pandemic, at least remotely. Some managers worked long days to be able to support their personnel.

The response to hate and uncertainty was that one of the supervisors was always present in the morning and evening meetings. Supervisors worked long hours so as to be accessible via remote access. (Participant 26)

The organizations took effective steps to control infections. Quick access to COVID-19 tests, clear guidelines for taking sick leave, and permission to take sick leave with a low threshold were seen as positive things. The consideration of personnel belonging to risk groups by moving them to other work tasks was also perceived as positive. In addition, efforts were made to prevent the emergence of infection chains by isolating EMS personnel in their own social facilities.

Established guidelines, especially on the correct use of protective measures, made it easier to work. Some mentioned that the guidelines were available in ambulances and on phones, allowing the protection guidelines to be checked before going on a mission.

The employers took into account the need for psychological support in a diverse manner. Some organizations provided psychological support such as peer debriefing activities, talking therapy with mental health professionals, actively inquiring about their personnel’s feelings, and training them as support workers. The pandemic situation also caused organizations to create their own standard operating models to decrease mental load.

Fortunately , the problem has now been addressed actively , as a peer-to-peer defusing model was built up at our workplace during the crisis , and group defusing has started , the purpose of which is to lighten the work-related mental load. (Participant 3)

Major theme: Adaptable EMS operations

There were several different resources that clarified mission activities. The amount of protective and cleaning equipment was ramped up, and the treatment equipment was quickly updated to meet the demands brought about by the pandemic and to enable safety distances for the EMS personnel. In addition, various guidelines were amended to reduce exposure. For example, personnel on the dedicated COVID-19 ambulances were separated to work without physical contact with others, and field supervisors joined the EMS missions less often than before. Moreover, people at the scene were contacted by phone in advance to ensure that there would be no exposure risk, which also allowed other occupational safety risks to be identified. New practices resulted from the pandemic, such as cleaning communication equipment during shift changes and regularly using PPE with infected patients. All of these were seen as positive resources for efficient work.

At the end of each shift , all keys , telephones , etc., were cleaned and handed over to the next shift. This practice was not previously established in our area , but this will become a permanent practice in the future and is perceived by everyone in our work community as a positive thing. (Participant 10)

Some stated that access to PPE was sufficient, especially in areas where the number of COVID-19 infections was low. PPE was upgraded to make it easier to wear. Further, organizations acquired a variety of cleaning equipment to speed up the disinfection of ambulances.

Organizations hired more employees to enable leave and the operation of dedicated COVID-19 ambulances. The overall number of ambulances was also increased. Non-urgent missions were handled through enhanced phone services, reducing the unnecessary exposure of EMS personnel to COVID-19.

Five extra holiday substitutes were hired for EMS so that the employer could guarantee the success of agreed leave , even if the Emergency Preparedness Act had given them opportunities to cancel or postpone it. (Participant 12)

Minor theme: Encouraging atmosphere

Peer support from colleagues, a positive, comfortable, pleasant work environment, and open discussion, as well as smooth cooperation with other healthcare employees were felt to be resources for work well-being by reducing the heavy workload experienced. Due to the pandemic, the appreciation of healthcare was felt to increase slightly, which was identified as a resource.

One factor affecting resilience in the healthcare sector is certainly that in exceptional circumstances , visibility and appreciation have somewhat increased. (Participant 23)

This study examined, according to the experiences and observations of paramedics, (1) what kinds of emotions the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel experienced in their new working circumstances, and (2) what work-related factors became resources for the well-being of EMS personnel during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each research question was answered with three themes.

Previous studies have shown that the pandemic increased the workload of paramedics, prompting changes in their operating models and the function of EMS to align with new pandemic-related requirements [ 9 , 27 ]. Initially, the paramedics in the current study described facing unclear and deficient guidelines and feeling obligated to follow instructions without adequate support to internalize them. Constantly changing instructions were linked to negative emotions in various ways. Moreover, the overwhelming flood of information was heavily connected to this, although the information flow was also perceived as a resource, especially when it was timely and well-structured. The study by Sangal et al. [ 15 ] has raised similar observations and points out the importance of paying special attention to the personnel working in the frontline, as in EMS, who might be more heavily impacted by too much information and anxiety about it. They also discovered that three factors are crucial for addressing the challenges of information overload and anxiety: consolidating information before distributing it, maintaining consistent communication, and ensuring communication is two-way. McAlearney et al. [ 11 ] found that first responders, including EMS personnel, reported frustration regarding COVID-19 information because of inconsistencies between sources, misinformation on social media, and the impact of politics. A Finnish study also recognized that health systems were not sufficiently prepared for the flood of information in the current media environment [ 12 ]. Based on these previous results and our findings, it can be concluded that proper implementation of crisis communication should be an integral part of organizations’ preparedness in the future, ensuring that communication effectively supports employee actions in real-life situations. Secondly, this topic highlights the need for precise guidelines and their implementation. With better preparedness, similar chaos could be avoided in the future [ 17 ].

Many other factors also caused changes in work. The EMS mission profile changed [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], where paramedics in this study saw concerns. To prevent infection risk, the number of pre-arrival calls increased [ 7 ], the duration of EMS missions increased [ 8 , 9 ], and the continuous use of PPE and enhanced hygiene standards imposed additional burdens [ 9 , 10 ]. In Finland, there was no preparedness for the levels of PPE usage required in the early stages of the pandemic [ 12 ]. In this study, paramedics described that working with potentially inadequate PPE caused fear and frustration, which was increased by a lack of training, causing them to feel a great deal of responsibility for acting aseptically and caring for patients correctly. Conversely, providing adequate PPE, information and training has been found to increase the willingness to work [ 28 ] and the sense of safety in working in a pandemic situation [ 29 ], meaning that the role of precise training, operating instructions and leadership in the use of PPE is emphasized [ 30 ].

The paramedics in this study described many additional new concerns in their work, affecting their lives comprehensively. It has been similarly described that the pandemic adversely affected the overall well-being of healthcare personnel [ 31 ]. The restrictions implemented also impacted their leisure time [ 32 ], and the virus caused concerns for their own and their families’ health [ 11 , 28 ]. In line with this, the pandemic increased stress, burnout [ 10 , 33 ], and anxiety among EMS personnel and other healthcare personnel working on the frontline [ 11 , 14 , 34 , 35 ]. These kinds of results underscore the need for adequate guidance and support, a lack of which paramedics reported experiencing in the current study.

Personnel play a crucial role in the efficient operation of an organization and comprise the main identified resource in this study. Previous studies and summaries have highlighted that EMS personnel did not receive sufficient support during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 11 , 14 , 17 , 18 ]. Research has also brought to light elements of adequate support related to the pandemic, such as a review by Dickson et al. [ 16 ] that presents six tentative theories for healthful leadership, all of which are intertwined with genuine encounter, preparedness, and information use. In this current study, the results showed numerous factors related to these contexts that were identified as resources, specifically underlined by elements of caring, effective operational change, knowledge-based actions, and present leadership, similarly described in a study by Eaton-Williams & Williams [ 18 ]. Moreover, the paramedics in our study highlighted the importance of encouragement and identified peer support from colleagues as a resource, which is in line with studies in the UK and Finland [ 12 , 23 , 37 ].

In the early stages of the pandemic, it was noted that the EMS personnel lacked adequate training to manage their mental health, and there was a significant shortage of psychosocial support measures [ 14 ], although easy access to support would have been significant [ 18 ]. In the current study, some paramedics felt that mental health support was inadequate and delayed, while others observed an increase in mental health support during the pandemic, seeing it as an incentive for organizations to develop standard operating models for mental support, for example. This awakening was identified as a resource. This is consistent, as providing psychological support to personnel has been highlighted as a core aspect of crisis management in a Finnish study assessing health system resilience related to COVID-19 [ 12 ]. In a comprehensive recommendation commentary, Isakov et al. [ 17 ] suggest developing a national strategy to improve resilience by addressing the mental health consequences of COVID-19 and other occupational stressors for EMS personnel. This concept, applicable beyond the US, supports the view that EMS organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the need to prepare for and invest in this area.

A fundamental factor likely underlying all the described emotions was that changes in the job descriptions of the EMS personnel due to the pandemic were significant and, in part, mandated from above. In this study, paramedics described feelings of concern and frustration related to these many changes and uncertainties. According to Zamoum and Gorpe (2018), efficient crisis management emphasizes the importance of respecting emotions, recognizing rights, and making appropriate decisions. Restoring trust is a significant challenge in a crisis situation, one that cannot be resolved without complete transparency and open communication [ 38 ]. This perspective is crucial to consider in planning for future preparedness. Overall, the perspective of employee rights and obligations in exceptional circumstances has been relatively under-researched, but in Australia, grounding research on this perspective has been conducted with paramedics using various approaches [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The researchers conclude that there is a lack of clarity about the concept of professional obligation, specifically regarding its boundaries, and the issue urgently needs to be addressed by developing clear guidelines that outline the obligation to respond, both in normal day-to-day operations and during exceptional circumstances [ 39 ].

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory recognizes that in a resilient organization, different levels adapt to changing environments [ 19 , 20 ]. Barasa et al. (2018) note that planned resilience and adaptive resilience are both important [ 19 ]. Kihlström et al. (2022) note that the health system’s resilience was strengthened by a certain expectation of crisis, and they also recognized further study needs on how effectively management is responding to weak signals [ 12 ]. This could be directly related to how personnel can prepare for future changes. The results of this study revealed many negative emotions related to sudden changes, but at the same time, effective organizational adaptation was identified as a resource for the well-being of EMS personnel. Dissecting different elements of system adaptation in a crisis has been recognized as a highly necessary area for further research [ 20 ]. Kihlström et al. (2022) emphasize the importance of ensuring a healthy workforce across the entire health system. These frameworks suggest numerous potential areas for future research, which would also enhance effective preparedness [ 12 ].

Limitations of the study

In this study, we utilized essay material written in the fall of 2020, in which experienced paramedics reflected on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic from a work-oriented perspective. The essays were approached inductively, meaning that they were not directly written to answer our research questions, but the aim and the research questions were shaped based on the content [ 26 ]. The essays included extensive descriptions that aligned well with the aim of this study. However, it is important to remember when interpreting the results that asking specifically about this topic, for instance, in an interview, might have yielded different descriptions. It can be assessed that the study achieved a tentative descriptive level, as the detailed examination of complex phenomena such as emotions and resources would require various methods and observations.

Although the essays were mostly profound, well-thought-out, and clearly written, their credibility [ 42 ] may be affected by the fact that several months had passed between the time the essays were written and the events described. Memories may have altered, potentially influencing the content of the writings. Diary-like material from the very onset of the pandemic might have yielded more precise data, and such a data collection method could be considered in future research on exceptional circumstances.

The credibility [ 42 ] could also have been enhanced if the paramedics who wrote the essays had commented on the results and provided additional perspectives on the material and analysis through a multi-phase data collection process. This was not deemed feasible in this study, mainly because there was a 2.5-year gap between data collection and the start of the analysis. However, this also strengthened the overall trustworthiness of the study, as it allowed the first author, who had worked in prehospital emergency care during the initial phase of the pandemic, to maintain a distance from the subject, and enabled a comparison of our own findings with previously published research that investigated the same period in different contexts. The comparison was made when writing the discussion, with the analysis itself being inductive and following the thematic analysis process described by Braun & Clarke [ 26 ].

When evaluating credibility [ 42 ], it should also be noted that the participants who wrote the essays, i.e., the data for the study, were experienced paramedics but also students and one of the researchers was their principal lecturer. This could potentially limit credibility if the students, for some reason, did not want to produce truthful content for their lecturer to read. However, this risk can be considered small because the essays’ topics did not concern the students’ academic progress, the essays’ content was quite consistent, and the results aligned with other studies. As a strength, it can be considered that the students shared their experiences without holding back, as the thoughts were not for workplace use, and they could trust the data privacy statement.

To enhance transferability [ 42 ], the context of the study was described in detail, highlighting the conditions prevailing in Finnish prehospital emergency care during the early stages of the pandemic. Moreover, including a diverse range of perspectives from paramedics working in different regions of Finland (except Northern Finland) contributes to the transferability of the study, indicating that the results may be applicable and relevant to a wider context beyond a single specific region.

Dependability [ 42 ] was reinforced by the close involvement of two researchers from different backgrounds in the analysis of the material, but a limitation is that no separate analyses were conducted. However, the original data was repeatedly revisited during the analysis, which strengthened the dependability. Moreover, the first author kept detailed notes throughout the analysis process, and the last author supervised the progress while also contributing to the analysis and reporting. The research process is also reported in detail.

This study highlighted numerous, mainly negative emotions experienced by EMS personnel during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic due to new working circumstances. At the same time, several work-related factors were identified as resources for their well-being. The findings suggest that crisis management practices should be more attentive to personnel needs, ensuring that personnel have the necessary support, both managerial and psychological, readily available in crisis situations. Effective organizational adaptation in a crisis situation also supports personnel well-being, emphasizing the importance of effective preparedness. Future research should particularly focus on considering personnel well-being as part of organizational adaptation during exceptional circumstances and utilize these findings to enhance preparedness.

Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the inclusion of sensitive information and the extent of the informed consent provided by the participants.

Abbreviations

Complex Adaptive Systems (theory)

Coronavirus Disease 2019

Emergency Medical Services

Personal Protective Equipment

United Kingdom

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Acknowledgements

We want to sincerely thank all the paramedics who participated in this study.

Open access funded by Helsinki University Library.

Open Access funding provided by University of Helsinki (including Helsinki University Central Hospital).

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Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Henna Myrskykari

Emergency Medical Services, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

Department of Healthcare and Emergency Care, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Kotka, Finland

Hilla Nordquist

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Contributions

Study design (HM, HN). Data collection (HN). Methodology (HN). Analysis (HM, HN). Writing (HM, HN). Review and editing (HM, HN). Supervision (HN). Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Henna Myrskykari .

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Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The study followed the good scientific practice defined by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK [ 43 ]. The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and applicable national guidelines. Adhering to the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) guidelines on ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland, an ethical review statement from a human sciences ethics committee was not required for this type of study. The participants consisted of adult students engaged in regular employment. Their involvement in the research was grounded on informed consent. The study did not involve concerns regarding the participants’ physical integrity, nor were they subjected to exceptionally strong stimuli. The potential for causing mental harm was not beyond what is typically encountered in everyday life, and their participation did not pose any safety risks [ 44 ].

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Not applicable.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Myrskykari, H., Nordquist, H. Paramedics’ experiences and observations: work-related emotions and well-being resources during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic—a qualitative study. BMC Emerg Med 24 , 152 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-024-01072-0

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Received : 25 April 2024

Accepted : 13 August 2024

Published : 26 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-024-01072-0

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