thesis on development

Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University

Developing a Thesis Statement

Many papers you write require developing a thesis statement. In this section you’ll learn what a thesis statement is and how to write one.

Keep in mind that not all papers require thesis statements . If in doubt, please consult your instructor for assistance.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement . . .

• Makes an argumentative assertion about a topic; it states the conclusions that you have reached about your topic.
• Makes a promise to the reader about the scope, purpose, and direction of your paper.
• Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper.
• Is generally located near the end of the introduction ; sometimes, in a long paper, the thesis will be expressed in several sentences or in an entire paragraph.
• Identifies the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

Not all papers require thesis statements! Ask your instructor if you’re in doubt whether you need one.

Identify a topic

Your topic is the subject about which you will write. Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic; or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper.

Consider what your assignment asks you to do

Inform yourself about your topic, focus on one aspect of your topic, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts, generate a topic from an assignment.

Below are some possible topics based on sample assignments.

Sample assignment 1

Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II.

Identified topic

Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis

This topic avoids generalities such as “Spain” and “World War II,” addressing instead on Franco’s role (a specific aspect of “Spain”) and the diplomatic relations between the Allies and Axis (a specific aspect of World War II).

Sample assignment 2

Analyze one of Homer’s epic similes in the Iliad.

The relationship between the portrayal of warfare and the epic simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64.

This topic focuses on a single simile and relates it to a single aspect of the Iliad ( warfare being a major theme in that work).

Developing a Thesis Statement–Additional information

Your assignment may suggest several ways of looking at a topic, or it may name a fairly general concept that you will explore or analyze in your paper. You’ll want to read your assignment carefully, looking for key terms that you can use to focus your topic.

Sample assignment: Analyze Spain’s neutrality in World War II Key terms: analyze, Spain’s neutrality, World War II

After you’ve identified the key words in your topic, the next step is to read about them in several sources, or generate as much information as possible through an analysis of your topic. Obviously, the more material or knowledge you have, the more possibilities will be available for a strong argument. For the sample assignment above, you’ll want to look at books and articles on World War II in general, and Spain’s neutrality in particular.

As you consider your options, you must decide to focus on one aspect of your topic. This means that you cannot include everything you’ve learned about your topic, nor should you go off in several directions. If you end up covering too many different aspects of a topic, your paper will sprawl and be unconvincing in its argument, and it most likely will not fulfull the assignment requirements.

For the sample assignment above, both Spain’s neutrality and World War II are topics far too broad to explore in a paper. You may instead decide to focus on Franco’s role in the diplomatic relationships between the Allies and the Axis , which narrows down what aspects of Spain’s neutrality and World War II you want to discuss, as well as establishes a specific link between those two aspects.

Before you go too far, however, ask yourself whether your topic is worthy of your efforts. Try to avoid topics that already have too much written about them (i.e., “eating disorders and body image among adolescent women”) or that simply are not important (i.e. “why I like ice cream”). These topics may lead to a thesis that is either dry fact or a weird claim that cannot be supported. A good thesis falls somewhere between the two extremes. To arrive at this point, ask yourself what is new, interesting, contestable, or controversial about your topic.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times . Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Derive a main point from topic

Once you have a topic, you will have to decide what the main point of your paper will be. This point, the “controlling idea,” becomes the core of your argument (thesis statement) and it is the unifying idea to which you will relate all your sub-theses. You can then turn this “controlling idea” into a purpose statement about what you intend to do in your paper.

Look for patterns in your evidence

Compose a purpose statement.

Consult the examples below for suggestions on how to look for patterns in your evidence and construct a purpose statement.

• Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis
• Franco turned to the Allies when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from the Axis

Possible conclusion:

Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: Franco’s desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power.

Purpose statement

This paper will analyze Franco’s diplomacy during World War II to see how it contributed to Spain’s neutrality.

• The simile compares Simoisius to a tree, which is a peaceful, natural image.
• The tree in the simile is chopped down to make wheels for a chariot, which is an object used in warfare.

At first, the simile seems to take the reader away from the world of warfare, but we end up back in that world by the end.

This paper will analyze the way the simile about Simoisius at 4.547-64 moves in and out of the world of warfare.

Derive purpose statement from topic

To find out what your “controlling idea” is, you have to examine and evaluate your evidence . As you consider your evidence, you may notice patterns emerging, data repeated in more than one source, or facts that favor one view more than another. These patterns or data may then lead you to some conclusions about your topic and suggest that you can successfully argue for one idea better than another.

For instance, you might find out that Franco first tried to negotiate with the Axis, but when he couldn’t get some concessions that he wanted from them, he turned to the Allies. As you read more about Franco’s decisions, you may conclude that Spain’s neutrality in WWII occurred for an entirely personal reason: his desire to preserve his own (and Spain’s) power. Based on this conclusion, you can then write a trial thesis statement to help you decide what material belongs in your paper.

Sometimes you won’t be able to find a focus or identify your “spin” or specific argument immediately. Like some writers, you might begin with a purpose statement just to get yourself going. A purpose statement is one or more sentences that announce your topic and indicate the structure of the paper but do not state the conclusions you have drawn . Thus, you might begin with something like this:

• This paper will look at modern language to see if it reflects male dominance or female oppression.
• I plan to analyze anger and derision in offensive language to see if they represent a challenge of society’s authority.

At some point, you can turn a purpose statement into a thesis statement. As you think and write about your topic, you can restrict, clarify, and refine your argument, crafting your thesis statement to reflect your thinking.

As you work on your thesis, remember to keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Sometimes your thesis needs to evolve as you develop new insights, find new evidence, or take a different approach to your topic.

Compose a draft thesis statement

If you are writing a paper that will have an argumentative thesis and are having trouble getting started, the techniques in the table below may help you develop a temporary or “working” thesis statement.

Begin with a purpose statement that you will later turn into a thesis statement.

Assignment: Discuss the history of the Reform Party and explain its influence on the 1990 presidential and Congressional election.

Purpose Statement: This paper briefly sketches the history of the grassroots, conservative, Perot-led Reform Party and analyzes how it influenced the economic and social ideologies of the two mainstream parties.

Question-to-Assertion

If your assignment asks a specific question(s), turn the question(s) into an assertion and give reasons why it is true or reasons for your opinion.

Assignment : What do Aylmer and Rappaccini have to be proud of? Why aren’t they satisfied with these things? How does pride, as demonstrated in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” lead to unexpected problems?

Beginning thesis statement: Alymer and Rappaccinni are proud of their great knowledge; however, they are also very greedy and are driven to use their knowledge to alter some aspect of nature as a test of their ability. Evil results when they try to “play God.”

Write a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the essay you plan to write.

Main idea: The reason some toys succeed in the market is that they appeal to the consumers’ sense of the ridiculous and their basic desire to laugh at themselves.

Make a list of the ideas that you want to include; consider the ideas and try to group them.

• nature = peaceful
• war matériel = violent (competes with 1?)
• need for time and space to mourn the dead
• war is inescapable (competes with 3?)

Use a formula to arrive at a working thesis statement (you will revise this later).

• although most readers of _______ have argued that _______, closer examination shows that _______.
• _______ uses _______ and _____ to prove that ________.
• phenomenon x is a result of the combination of __________, __________, and _________.

What to keep in mind as you draft an initial thesis statement

Beginning statements obtained through the methods illustrated above can serve as a framework for planning or drafting your paper, but remember they’re not yet the specific, argumentative thesis you want for the final version of your paper. In fact, in its first stages, a thesis statement usually is ill-formed or rough and serves only as a planning tool.

As you write, you may discover evidence that does not fit your temporary or “working” thesis. Or you may reach deeper insights about your topic as you do more research, and you will find that your thesis statement has to be more complicated to match the evidence that you want to use.

You must be willing to reject or omit some evidence in order to keep your paper cohesive and your reader focused. Or you may have to revise your thesis to match the evidence and insights that you want to discuss. Read your draft carefully, noting the conclusions you have drawn and the major ideas which support or prove those conclusions. These will be the elements of your final thesis statement.

Sometimes you will not be able to identify these elements in your early drafts, but as you consider how your argument is developing and how your evidence supports your main idea, ask yourself, “ What is the main point that I want to prove/discuss? ” and “ How will I convince the reader that this is true? ” When you can answer these questions, then you can begin to refine the thesis statement.

Refine and polish the thesis statement

To get to your final thesis, you’ll need to refine your draft thesis so that it’s specific and arguable.

• Ask if your draft thesis addresses the assignment
• Question each part of your draft thesis
• Clarify vague phrases and assertions
• Investigate alternatives to your draft thesis

Consult the example below for suggestions on how to refine your draft thesis statement.

Sample Assignment

Choose an activity and define it as a symbol of American culture. Your essay should cause the reader to think critically about the society which produces and enjoys that activity.

• Ask The phenomenon of drive-in facilities is an interesting symbol of american culture, and these facilities demonstrate significant characteristics of our society.This statement does not fulfill the assignment because it does not require the reader to think critically about society.

Drive-ins are an interesting symbol of American culture because they represent Americans’ significant creativity and business ingenuity.

Among the types of drive-in facilities familiar during the twentieth century, drive-in movie theaters best represent American creativity, not merely because they were the forerunner of later drive-ins and drive-throughs, but because of their impact on our culture: they changed our relationship to the automobile, changed the way people experienced movies, and changed movie-going into a family activity.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast-food establishments, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize America’s economic ingenuity, they also have affected our personal standards.

While drive-in facilities such as those at fast- food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and dry cleaners symbolize (1) Americans’ business ingenuity, they also have contributed (2) to an increasing homogenization of our culture, (3) a willingness to depersonalize relationships with others, and (4) a tendency to sacrifice quality for convenience.

This statement is now specific and fulfills all parts of the assignment. This version, like any good thesis, is not self-evident; its points, 1-4, will have to be proven with evidence in the body of the paper. The numbers in this statement indicate the order in which the points will be presented. Depending on the length of the paper, there could be one paragraph for each numbered item or there could be blocks of paragraph for even pages for each one.

Complete the final thesis statement

The bottom line.

As you move through the process of crafting a thesis, you’ll need to remember four things:

• Context matters! Think about your course materials and lectures. Try to relate your thesis to the ideas your instructor is discussing.
• As you go through the process described in this section, always keep your assignment in mind . You will be more successful when your thesis (and paper) responds to the assignment than if it argues a semi-related idea.
• Your thesis statement should be precise, focused, and contestable ; it should predict the sub-theses or blocks of information that you will use to prove your argument.
• Make sure that you keep the rest of your paper in mind at all times. Change your thesis as your paper evolves, because you do not want your thesis to promise more than your paper actually delivers.

In the beginning, the thesis statement was a tool to help you sharpen your focus, limit material and establish the paper’s purpose. When your paper is finished, however, the thesis statement becomes a tool for your reader. It tells the reader what you have learned about your topic and what evidence led you to your conclusion. It keeps the reader on track–well able to understand and appreciate your argument.

Writing Process and Structure

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Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Generating Ideas for

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Generating Ideas for Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

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This thesis contains three chapters that fall under the broad banner of development economics, with a particular focus on the study of mechanisms and strategies that improve public goods delivery. The first chapter studies the role of financial incentives as signals of job attributes when these are unknown to potential applicants. I create experimental variation in expected earnings and use it to estimate the effect of financial incentives on candidates’ perception of a newly created health worker position in Uganda and, through this, on the size and composition of the applicant pool. I find that more lucrative positions are perceived as entailing a lower positive externality for the community, and discourage agents with strong prosocial preferences from applying. While higher financial incentives attract more applicants and increase the probability of filling a vacancy, they hamper retention and performance. This is because the signal they convey reduces the ability to recruit the most socially motivated agents, who are found to stay longer on the job and to perform better. The second chapter analyzes the role of social connections on the targeting choices of delivery agents. During the expansion of an agriculture extension program in Uganda, we randomly selected one delivery agent out of two eligible candidates per community. We find that social connections matter: relative to farmers connected only to the non-selected candidate, those connected only to the selected delivery agent benefit more from the program. They are indeed more likely to receive advice, training and more likely to adopt improved seeds, a new beneficial technology. We show that these results are consistent with delivery agents (a) putting positive weight on the utility of farmers connected to them (altruism) and (b) putting a negative weight on the utility of farmers connected to the rival candidate (spite). This sheds light on the importance of both positive and negative social preferences in shaping program delivery. The third chapter studies the effect of movement restrictions on education. The evidence is based on the construction of the West Bank Separation Barrier in 2003. The exposure of an individual to the Barrier is determined both by her locality of residence and by whether she was in school or about to start school when the Barrier was built. Using a difference-indifferences approach, I find that movement restrictions increase the probability of dropping out from elementary and preparatory school by 3.7 and 6 percentage points respectively, i.e. a 50% increase relative to localities with no movement restrictions, while the proportion of children who have never attended school increased by 3.6 percentage points. Among all households, the poorest ones are the most affected, indicating that movement restrictions not only deteriorate the average education level but also increase income inequality.

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2021 Theses Doctoral

Essays on Development Economics

Weiner, Scott

This dissertation consists of three essays, each covering very distinct topics under the broad umbrella of Development Economics, each set in a different region of the developing world (Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia). The one element that loosely ties them together is that they each seek to add, in a small way, to our understanding of factors that contribute to, and in some cases may entrap people in, poverty: factors such as (lack of) geographic mobility, hunger, and disease. In the first chapter, I use the natural experiment of military conscription in Argentina, which randomly assigned not only military service, but also the location of service, to study the effect of this temporary displacement on long-run migration rates. I then use a rich source of administrative earnings and employment data to investigate the labor-market implications of conscription and, in particular, displacement. I find that conscription on the whole caused a small increase in the likelihood of appearing in the formal labor force, and a small increase in earnings particularly for those who were assigned to serve in the Navy. Assignment to military service outside of one's province of origin increased the likelihood of living outside the province of origin by 2.5 percent, and while the net effects of this displacement on earnings and employment are imprecisely estimated, the evidence suggests that there are modest long-term benefits of conscription in Argentina that are not fully attributable to displacement. In the second chapter, I investigate the effects of Ramadan on calorie consumption and labor supply among Muslim households in rural Malawi. Across four rounds of household survey data, I find no evidence of a decrease in calorie consumption during Ramadan on average. I do, however, find evidence that working-age people reduce their weekly work by about three hours, or nearly 20 percent, on average. This finding on calories shows substantial variation across the different rounds of data. The evidence presented calls into question the hypothesis that consumption during Ramadan should fall more dramatically when the holiday overlaps with the harvest (when baseline consumption levels are relatively high compared to the rest of the year), compared to when Ramadan falls near the annual hunger season (when baseline consumption levels tend to be much lower). I discuss potential implications of this variation for our understanding of seasonal consumption patterns. The third and final chapter, which is authored jointly with Kaivan Munshi and Nancy Luke, discusses a randomized intervention conducted in rural South India aimed at improving rates of treatment completion for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB), despite being a highly treatable disease, kills well over 1 million people every year, with 95 percent of cases and deaths appearing in developing countries. India bears the largest TB burden of any country, with more than 25 percent of the world's total yearly cases. A key factor for successful management of TB is ensuring that patients complete the full six-month (or more) treatment regimen: missing even a few doses of the prescribed medications increases the likelihood of relapse and development of a drug-resistant strain of TB, which is much more difficult and costly to treat effectively. We conduct an intervention allowing patients to select a community member to serve as a Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) provider to help ensure compliance with the full treatment regimen. Although patients assigned a Community DOT provider report significantly more frequent visits and higher rates of satisfaction compared to our control group, we do not find any significant improvement in treatment outcomes among those assigned this intervention. We explore several potential explanations for this finding and suggest potential avenues for future research.

Geographic Areas

• India, South
• Development economics
• Poverty--Research
• Food consumption--Research
• Tuberculosis--Treatment

More About This Work

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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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Developing a Thesis

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Once you've read the story or novel closely, look back over your notes for patterns of questions or ideas that interest you. Have most of your questions been about the characters, how they develop or change?

For example: If you are reading Conrad's The Secret Agent , do you seem to be most interested in what the author has to say about society? Choose a pattern of ideas and express it in the form of a question and an answer such as the following: Question: What does Conrad seem to be suggesting about early twentieth-century London society in his novel The Secret Agent ? Answer: Conrad suggests that all classes of society are corrupt. Pitfalls: Choosing too many ideas. Choosing an idea without any support.

Once you have some general points to focus on, write your possible ideas and answer the questions that they suggest.

For example: Question: How does Conrad develop the idea that all classes of society are corrupt? Answer: He uses images of beasts and cannibalism whether he's describing socialites, policemen or secret agents.

To write your thesis statement, all you have to do is turn the question and answer around. You've already given the answer, now just put it in a sentence (or a couple of sentences) so that the thesis of your paper is clear.

For example: In his novel, The Secret Agent , Conrad uses beast and cannibal imagery to describe the characters and their relationships to each other. This pattern of images suggests that Conrad saw corruption in every level of early twentieth-century London society.

Now that you're familiar with the story or novel and have developed a thesis statement, you're ready to choose the evidence you'll use to support your thesis. There are a lot of good ways to do this, but all of them depend on a strong thesis for their direction.

For example: Here's a student's thesis about Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent . In his novel, The Secret Agent , Conrad uses beast and cannibal imagery to describe the characters and their relationships to each other. This pattern of images suggests that Conrad saw corruption in every level of early twentieth-century London society. This thesis focuses on the idea of social corruption and the device of imagery. To support this thesis, you would need to find images of beasts and cannibalism within the text.

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PhD thesis Ensuring Sustainable Development within a Changing Climate

Related Papers

Valerie E Foster Githinji , Todd A Crane

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Nsisha, a rural village located close to the shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania, this article analyzes how climate change and variability intersect with other stressors that affect rural livelihoods, particularly HIV/AIDS. The analysis integrates theories of vulnerability from both climate and HIV/AIDS literatures to show how these intersecting stressors compound livelihood vulnerability in complex ways. Climate change and variability are linked to declining agricultural yields and an increase in food and nutrition insecurity and poor health in this region. This situation heightens poverty and susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, compromising people’s abilities to cope and adapt. Because of social dynamics, single mothers and their children are particularly affected by these compound vulnerabilities. Climate change and variability are significant contributing vulnerability factors that sustain and exacerbate asymmetrical poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and HIV/AIDS. By describing the links between vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and climate variability, findings highlight the importance of holistic and localized approaches to adaptation, instead of trying to isolate single issues. Prioritization of multidisciplinary research focusing on the socially differentiated and gendered distribution of vulnerability specifically in regard to poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and HIV/AIDS is recommended as a means to enrich the understanding of climate change vulnerability. Adaptation strategies should address how climatic shifts interact with generalized poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, health, and gendered vulnerability in areas most affected.

Valerie E Foster Githinji

Everyday social dynamics and cultural drivers of women’s experiences with HIV/AIDS: voices from Buhaya, Tanzania is based on ethnographic research conducted in 2005-06 in the village of Nsisha, which is located close to the shores of Lake Victoria and is approximately twelve kilometers from the town of Bukoba. Nsisha is a rural village comprised of 184 households and approximately one thousand inhabitants. Like most households in northwestern Tanzania, which is referred to as ‘Buhaya’ and refers to the homeland of the Bahaya people who form the largest ethnic group in this area, each and every household in Nsisha has been indirectly or directly affected by HIV/AIDS, meaning that either household members have been infected by HIV/AIDS, or households have absorbed children from their extended family and clan who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In Buhaya, ‘vulnerability’ is shaped by a multitude of bio-physical and socio-ecological challenges which synergistically intertwine, yielding varying levels of individual struggle and abilities to cope and maintain livelihood resilience. The physical terrain of this region is marked by high rainfall, undulating ridges and overused soils which are increasingly acidic and infertile. Given that most people in the area are semi-subsistent farmers, their ability to derive food, nutrition and health security from the land is critical to their survival. The more recent events of climate variability phenomena - which are projected to endure - compound the challenges posed by the physical landscape and result in unpredictable seasonality, erratic and heavier rains and longer drought periods - which can result in increased rates of malaria, cholera, food, nutrition and health insecurity and HIV/AIDS. Buhaya is a region with a heavy disease burden which affect plants, animals, and humans and which independent of other forces, pose great threats to livelihood security, and like climate variability, lead to declines in food, nutrition, arable land and widespread and chronic poverty. High population densities combined with land shortages and soil infertility escalate and perpetuate poverty and its emanations. When these aforementioned bio-physical challenges intermix, emanations of livelihood vulnerability escalate exponentially, especially for poor people who lack needed buffers - and specifically for women and dependent children in this patriarchal society where land is primarily still bequeathed patrilineally. Given women’s subordinate position in Buhaya in general, they lack as much access to basic human needs – land, food, nutrition, health and economic security – as compared to men. The HIV/AIDS epidemic emerged in Buhaya at a time of agricultural decline and socio-cultural change. At this time, bananas – the cultural staple food crop – were being ravaged by a variety of pathogens, leading to a significant reduction in yield and a change in the daily diet. In addition, cattle husbandry was on the decline due to disease and the inability to maintain their health. Given this situation, farmers lacked the green manure essential for maintaining soil fertility, and for the ample growth of bananas, as well as other important food crops. These compounding factors lead to permutations of household poverty and food and nutrition insecurity, including the scarcity of protein and capital traditionally derived from livestock and milk. Similarly, socio-cultural chaos and change at the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was punctuated by an influx of refugees from the border countries and consequently, high competition over livelihood resources, poverty imposed by the aftermath of the Kagera War and historical neglect from mainland Tanzania. While not an exhaustive list of the bio-physical and socio-ecological challenges which synergistically react in Buhaya, these common challenges affect most farmers in Buhaya. In this context, those most vulnerable and susceptible to acquiring HIV/AIDS are the poor who lack buffers to livelihood challenges, and alternatives to their impoverished situation. The status of one’s age, dependency, health, marital and socio-economic status intermix, affecting their ability to buffer against widespread challenges. Due to socio-cultural and physiological reasons, women - and consequently their dependent children - are by far the most vulnerable to the cycle of poverty, HIV/AIDS and their manifestations, and the situation can repeat generationally. In whole, the tiers of research and the in-depth questions asked and detailed answers recorded yield four different cross-sectional analyses of the ‘ecology’ of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Buhaya: (1) one which cuts across social stratification within the community, arguing who has more social capital and how this affects their vulnerability; (2) a second which focuses primarily on food and agricultural issues, and more specifically – bananas; (3) a third cross sectional category which centers on climate factors; (4) and a fourth and final category for this thesis which cuts across age categories and focuses on the social variation of widowhood. This dissertation is comprised of six subsequent sections; an Introduction chapter which lays out the thinking behind the design of the research topic, field research methods used, and general thematic analyses which emerge; which is followed by four thematic chapters, and ends with the General Concluding Discussion. The four chapters appear as follows: (1) Gendered vulnerability in an ecology of poverty and AIDS in northwestern Tanzania; (2) Ethno-cognitive connections between HIV/AIDS and banana plants in the Bahaya agricultural society of northwestern Tanzania; (3) Compound vulnerabilities: the intersection of climate variability and HIV/AIDS in northwestern Tanzania; (4) Widowhood in Buhaya, Tanzania: livelihood challenges, strategies for coping and resilience. The General Concluding Discussion closes, highlighting how each chapter is a specific emanation of the thesis topic, and how collectively, they combine to comprehensively illustrate the everyday challenges women in Buhaya, Tanzania experience in regard to surviving and coping in the face of patriarchy, poverty and HIV/AIDS. As will be illustrated, this thesis argues that within a context of poverty and HIV/AIDS, multiple factors synergize, causing widespread poverty, and the threats and lived realities of land, food, nutrition and health insecurity, and to persistent and bequeathed cycles of entrapment. While poverty and its emanations are ubiquitous in Buhaya, a detailed focus on case studies reveals that while people are poor and suffering, they are still employing the strategies that they can and the resources that they can garner to buffer against livelihood challenges, and attempt to get ahead. I have chosen to focus on case studies because the detailed realities of people’s lives provide the best understanding to revealing where people are falling short, and how their lives can be buffered and improved. As the chapters and case studies collectively show, in an ‘ecology of poverty and HIV/AIDS’, those that suffer the most are those least equipped to deal with the poverty and marginalization bestowed on them by patriarchal and patrilineal customs and social stratification; the threats of agricultural decline and food insecurity; the negative effects wrought by climate variability; and ultimately, age and the social variation of widowhood. These four themes of socio-ecological vulnerability, as argued in this thesis, combine to perpetuate vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, poverty and its bequeathed manifestations and cycles.

Alfred Opere , Richard Kangalawe

Clare Stott

The Fifth Assessment Report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released in 2014. It examines the impacts of climate change, inherent vulnerabilities and adaptation responses across the globe. The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are identified as being particularly vulnerable to climate change due to economic and capacity barriers. This paper examines the LDCs within the IPCC report to highlight how climatic impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation are portrayed for these countries. It illuminates a need for a greater focus on the LDCs by the IPCC and for further research concentrated on the LDCs in general, in order to enhance the state of knowledge on LDCs and appropriately guide related policy.

liknaw kassa

Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf

Water, Air, & Soil …

Ana Iglesias

Davison Muchadenyika

Climatic Change

Alfred Opere , D. Olago , Richard Kangalawe , Gilbert Ouma

UTAFITI Journal

Samwel J Kabote

Abstract Compared to other regions in the world, agricultural performance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has for many decades been deteriorating. Theoretically, it has been argued that rapid population growth could be responsible for not only deteriorating agricultural performance but also to environmental degradation. On the other hand, the Asian Green Revolution of 1960s has been reported as a success story in terms of transforming agriculture and improving food security in the context of increasing population in countries such as China and India. This article reviews the Malthusian theoretical ideas and their relevance to agricultural transformation in the African context and sub-Saharan Africa in particular. It further discusses empirical evidence emanating from sub-Saharan Africa in relation to agricultural productivity, population growth and the integrity of the environment. Based on ensuing discussions, the agricultural sector in SSA needs to be transformed, and theoretical arguments that negate the Malthusian stance are really relevant in this sub-continent. It is further stressed that replicating the Asian Green Revolution will not work perfectly in SSA because of variations in context based on policy, institutional, and structural arrangements. Therefore, transforming agriculture in this sub-continent is not an easy and straight forward task; rather, its success will depend on the interplay between policy interventions, integrating the agricultural sector with other sectors of the economy, active participation of different stakeholders, as well as government mediations. Keywords: agriculture transformation, Green Revolution, population growth, environmental degradation

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How are icts used as tools in raising public awareness, and what makes them effective : a case study of the work of odpem in kingston, jamaica , from isolation to integration : a case study of the akha hill tribe people in the chiang rai province of northern thailand, with a special focus on religious aspects , sustainable development since the 2004 tsunami : a glimse into the fisheries of hambantota district, sri lanka , promoting private-public synergies for managing flooding in kampala city : a case stydy of bwaise, parish iii, kampele division , the voices of the invisible girls : reintegration of former female child soldiers in burundi , the roma people : the effects of discrimination on living standards, a case study of kristiansand, norway , the causes of and impact from deforestation on local level sustainable forest management in ghana : a survey of dwease and praaso communities in the ashanti region , how cooperation between international ngos and local youth associations influence civil society in malawi : a case study of plan malawi's partnerships with youth organizations and networks , social capital and rural producer organisations : an assessment of the relevancy of social capital in the functioning of rural producers organizations in bolivia , exploring the impacts of refugee camps on host communities : a case study of kakuma host comunity in kenya , development without rights : an analysis of the chinese development policies in tibet in a power and post-development perspective , assessing the health implications of improved water supply in rural ghana : the case of atwima mponua district in the ashanti region of ghana , kandyan forest gardens(kfg's) for sustainable development , congolese rape victims' struggles for recognition : what can be done to challenge this reality , the significance of women's participation in community forest sustainable management : a case study of shikharpur community forest, hokse vdc-3. kavre district, nepal , cultural industries and development : a qualitative study of actors within puebla's cultural industries, rooted in unesco's pluralistic valuation of "culture" with an emphasis on the development potential , listening to people: local perspectives on mining child labour and community development in cerro rico - bolivia , the effectiveness of microcredit programmes on alleviating poverty and empowering women in cairo, egypt , indigenous livelihood and wellbeing : the consequence of ecosystem degradation in indigenous territories. a case study of the guaraní of the tarija region, bolivia , human development in spaces of group boundaries : social and spatial borders between muslims and christians and their effects on the human development in jos, nigeria .

Browsing Theses and Dissertations (Development Studies) by Title

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• Accounting for sustainable development in water services : a case of Lephalale Local Municipality in the Limpopo province, South Africa  Makgatho, Selina Magugudi ( 2022-09 ) Local government, in terms of its constitutional obligation is liable for service provision. But in the provision of service there is a need for accountability. This will assist municipalities to track improvement derived ...
• Achieving equity and gender equality in Uganda’s tertiary education and development  Odaga, Geoffrey ( 2019-12 ) Grounded in feminist epistemology, the study focused on the concepts of location, social position, gender and Affirmative Action to assess the social phenomenon of inequality in the distribution of public university ...
• Adoption of information and communication technology for the development of the incubated rural farming cooperatives in Limpopo province, South Africa  Seroka, Michael Phaane ( 2022-11 ) Information and communication technology (ICT) is ubiquitous and has penetrated various economies and farming included. The advent of ICT has expanded the farming sector evidenced by a whole range of value chains that can ...
• Advancing the rights of rural women with disabilities in Zimbabwe: challenges and opportunities for the twenty first century  Dziva, Cowen ( 2018-02 ) Disability studies largely ignored or neglected the experiences of rural women with disabilities (WWD) in the Global South. This qualitative study documents the challenges faced by Zimbabwean rural WWD in the enjoyment of ...
• Africa is not a country: perceptions of poverty by Christians in Germany  Dieckmann, Daniel ( 2021-06 ) This research examines the perception that Christians in Germany have of poverty in Africa and the extent to which this thinking corresponds to a holistic understanding of poverty. The study is examined in the context ...
• An afrocentric critique of the discourse of good governance and its limitations as a means of addressing development challenges in Nigeria  Adejumo-Ayibiowu, Oluwakemi Damola ( 2018-09-11 ) The current study is an African-centred critique of the idea of ‘good governance’; which since the 1990s, has been a prescription of the international development institutions for all development challenges facing developing ...
• Analysing the sustainable livelihoods of domestic female migrants in Dunoon, Cape Town in the Western Cape of South Africa  Tokoyo, Bertha ( 2023-01-11 ) There is proof that women continue to migrate from other countries to seek better ways of survival and to increase their sustainable livelihood. These women’s migration is linked to their provisional efforts and the ...
• Analysis of a model designed for land restitution in protected areas in South Africa  De Koning, Maria Adriana Imelda ( 2010-10 ) This thesis investigates the design of a model, methods and guidelines that may assist government agencies in South Africa to find a balance between the objective of biodiversity conservation and increased local economic ...
• An analysis of climate change resilience of vulnerable rural communities in Malawi  Mkungula, Yusuf Malsellino ( 2021-05 ) Climate change is increasingly becoming a global challenge and countries are feeling its impacts. Malawi is heavily affected by the impacts of climate change because her economy depends on agriculture which is extremely ...
• An analysis of Dubai's socio-economic development strategies and performance between 1998-2008  Thompson, Paul Anthony ( 2014-03-17 ) This study explores the socio-economic development path of the former Trucial State of Dubai, now an economic powerhouse within the Federal State of the United Arab Emirates. This thesis emanated out of the researcher’s ...
• Analysis of factors influencing provision of municipal services in the rural districts : the case study of Luwingu District Council of Zambia  Longa, Simon ( 2018-06 ) Provision of municipal services to urban residents particularly those residing in small towns across developing countries, is facing challenges. A small town or rural district of Luwingu in Zambia, is no exception. This ...
• Analysis of foreign aid effectiveness on economic development in Ethiopia  Tagese Helore Lamore ( 2022-08 ) In this study the effectiveness of foreign aid on economic development and poverty alleviation in Ethiopia during the period of 2011 to 2020 was analysed. On the one hand, government reports have indicated that the country ...
• Analysis of government agricultural food security pack programme: the case of Mpulungu District, Northern Province, Zambia  Royd, Tembo ( 2021-06 ) This study investigated the effects, capacity, and challenges of the food security pack programme in Mpulungu district, Northern Province, Zambia. The primary sources of data were farm household surveys, focus group ...
• Analysis of livelihoods and food security of poor urban households: the case of urban productive safety-net beneficiaries in Ethiopia  Tegegn Gebeyaw Wassie ( 2022-07 ) Social protection, including social assistance or safety nets, is considered a proven means of reducing poverty, promoting livelihood, improving food security and nutrition status of the poorest households. The Government ...
• An analysis of perceptions amongst farmers on the adoption of GM technology in Paarl, Western Cape - South Africa  Owusu, Festus ( 2020 ) In early 2003, a persistent drought threatened about 15 million people in the Southern African region (SADC) with starvation as farmers in this region were not able to produce enough food. A similar threat was experienced ...
• An analysis of public perception towards consuming genetically modified crops and the acceptance of modern agricultural biotechnology: a South African case study  Makaure, Cleopas ( 2019-01 ) South Africa is one of the biggest producers of genetically modified crops in the world. However, recent studies in South Africa show a low public willingness to consume genetically modified crops and accept modern ...
• An analysis of the actor-oriented approach as tool in international development cooperation  Bosman, Willem ( 2009-08-25 ) No abstract available
• An analysis of the benefits of the growth in tourism to the local communities in the Panorama region, Mpumalanga Province  Monakhisi, Ngwako Philemon ( 2009-08-25 ) In recent decades tourism has asserted its importance as the biggest employer and foreign exchange earner in both the developing and developed countries. Consequently, there has been increasing attention to tourism ...
• Analysis of the compatibility of customary land tenure with food security: a case of Binga District, Zimbabwe  Dube, Mathew Unique ( 2021-11-30 ) The study focused on the analysis of the compatibility of customary land tenure with food security in Binga District, in the northwest of Zimbabwe. The practices in customary land tenure that lead to food insecurity ...
• An analysis of the effects of parent emigration on the social security of children left behind: the case of Highfield, Harare in Zimbabwe  Masaila, Fesiline ( 2022-02 ) This study examined the perspectives of caregivers on how parental emigration impacts the social security of children left behind in Highfield, Zimbabwe. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with caregivers, as well as ...

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REACH OUT AND READ: PROGRAM DELIVERY EVALUATION AT AN OUTPATIENT PEDIATRIC CLINIC FOR IDENTIFYING PARENT CONCERNS IN DEVELOPMENT

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• Affiliation: School of Nursing
• Evaluation of an evidence-based program, such as Reach Out and Read, for effectiveness at the individual site level enables providers and policymakers to maximize the benefits of the program for better patient outcomes (Jimenez, et al., 2023). The goals of Reach Out and Read are to promote early literacy and early relational health as well as language and development for the pediatric population. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of delivery of the intervention. The aim is to provide the program with data and recommendations with the guidance of a systematic evaluation framework. The project utilized qualitative methods to gather feedback from the perspectives of the caregivers of pediatric patients. A caregiver survey was provided, and 120 anonymous and voluntary surveys were gathered. The surveys were developed with the help of the CIPP Program Evaluation Model, and the data was analyzed for common themes and findings. Almost unanimously the parents had received a developmentally appropriate book, their child enjoys reading with them, and they feel supported by their healthcare provider. No unanswered concerns regarding their child’s development were found and all answers regarding their understanding of their child’s needs and development were positive. Only 75% reported that reading was actually discussed and 58% were given reading tips or resources. This program evaluation gave important insight to the practice, the patients and families, and the organization on the use of the intervention during well-child checks. Parents overall had appropriate perceptions of the program benefits and had adequate home reading habits. There is room for improvement in some areas of patient education during visits, but the information ultimately provides validation to the clinic of their important work in promoting early literacy and relational health.
• Reach Out and Read
• Program Evaluation
• https://doi.org/10.17615/g24b-ar82
• Dissertation
• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Rankin, Audra
• Peppers, Katherine
• Ramos, Teandra
• Doctor of Nursing Practice
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School

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Princeton University

Can ‘forever’ chemicals become less so this senior thesis works toward smarter cleanup of pfas..

By Molly Sharlach

May 20, 2024

For her senior thesis, Amélie Lemay worked with Ian Bourg, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute. She developed complex simulations of how PFAS molecules, a critical class of environmental contaminants, move and interact at the interface of water and air. Photos by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy

The class of chemicals known as PFAS — used in firefighting foams, some nonstick cookware, and many other products — can resist heat and repel water. Their chemical bonds are hard to break, and they persist in water sources for decades.

Exposure to them has been associated with cancers, “impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently set national limits for PFAS in drinking water.

For her thesis research, Princeton senior Amélie Lemay has crafted computer simulations that could one day help lead the way to removing PFAS pollution from the environment.

Lemay, a civil and environmental engineering major, used simulations to investigate how seven types of molecules behave above bodies of water, where the water meets the air. She modeled their tendencies to mix with water or stick to the water-air boundary, and probed how mixtures of PFAS molecules interact — mimicking the messy reality of contaminated water.

Detailed knowledge of this chemistry could be key to understanding how remediation methods will work in settings like water treatment plants. Over the next few years, utilities across the United States will need to find effective ways to remove PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from drinking water to comply with the EPA limits.

“Most of our drinking water treatment plants are not set up to deal with these compounds,” said Lemay. “This type of research can eventually lead to better ways to be able to take PFAS out of water.”

Lemay, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, came to Princeton with aspirations of using engineering to address environmental challenges. But using computer simulations to understand pollution was not part of her plan.

The summer after her first year, in 2021, Lemay secured internship support from Princeton’s High Meadows Environmental Institute to conduct field work with associate professor Ian Bourg on how rocks weather in the Princeton area and in the French Alps — research with implications for soil nutrients and atmospheric CO2 forecasting.

But COVID-19 travel restrictions were still in place that summer, so Bourg worked remotely with Lemay and several other students to set up simulations exploring the behavior of pollutants ranging from PFAS to anti-inflammatory drugs to insecticides.

“I actually ended up really liking this alternative project, and I think it’s even better suited for me than the original project would have been,” said Lemay, who earned certificates in statistics and machine learning and sustainable energy .

The research was an excellent opportunity for Lemay to build her computer coding skills and learn the intricacies of molecular dynamics simulation software.

“When I first started with Professor Bourg, he had to walk me through step by step how to create a file” simulating a single chemical compound, Lemay said. Over time, she learned to add more complexity, accounting for variables like salinity and surface tension. Now the work is “like second nature.”

The summer project was a new direction in the lab’s research. Bourg, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute, said he was learning along with the students. He quickly realized that he could rely on Lemay: “She’s been thinking like a grad student since the very beginning, in terms of being super conscientious and questioning the way we do things,” said Bourg.

Lemay and Ethan Sontarp, a geosciences major, continued the project as research assistants in Bourg’s group for the next two years. Eventually, they modeled the behavior of more than 80 organic pollutants at the water-air interface.

Lemay and Sontarp were co-first authors of a 2023 paper reporting the results in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The article has been downloaded more than 2,000 times and is Bourg’s most-read research paper from last year — a testament to its value as a resource for researchers looking to improve the tracking and remediation of pollutants, said Bourg.

In her junior year, Lemay conducted independent work with Professor Barry Rand , who studies the properties of new materials for solar cells, analyzing factors that influence the adoption of rooftop solar energy. She published this analysis last year in the journal Energy Policy.

For her senior thesis with Bourg, she developed complex simulations of how multiple PFAS molecules move and interact at the interface of water and air. Her results have revealed that the contaminants’ movements are not limited only by physical space but also by complex charge interactions among neighboring PFAS molecules.

Lemay is now submitting this work for scientific publication. The simulations are a powerful way to understand how pollutants move in the environment, potentially helping to explain how rain interacts with contaminants, and why sea spray and lake spray aerosols are an important source of PFAS exposure in coastal communities. Lemay hopes this understanding can inform strategies to clean up PFAS pollution.

Lemay turned to engineering in high school, when she took part in a summer research program on biomolecular engineering. “In science, you’re seeking to uncover the unknown, which is very important,” she said. “But I found that the problem-solving and design aspects of engineering really appealed to me. I loved how practical and pragmatic the applications were.”

After nearly three years of research at Princeton, Lemay has gained comfort with the uncertainties of the process. “If you pursue something, and you don’t fully understand what the data are showing you at first — that used to be distressing to me,” she said. “But I’ve come to realize that it’s part of the process. You’re trying to do something that’s never been done before. No one has the right answer.”

This summer, Lemay will pursue a project advised by Professor Mark Zondlo analyzing electric vehicle use and neighborhood-level air pollution.

In the fall, she will begin a Ph.D. program in civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She’s interested in using computational methods to design chemicals for programmed degradation, to prevent problems with environmental contamination in the future.

“I think Princeton’s focus on undergraduate research really sets this institution apart,” said Lemay. “I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with multiple mentors who have shown me … how to design solutions and search for knowledge, and then share that with the greater community.”

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Energy and Environment

Related department.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

05/21/24 CLASS OF ‘24 SPOTLIGHT ON MICHAEL ARIAS

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Graduating with a Master of Architecture, Michael Arias in his final thesis project transformed the simple concept of the line into a storytelling narrative, exploring how lines function in architecture physically and metaphorically. During his time at USC, Michael helped host 250+ high school students from the ACE Mentor Program and studied abroad in Japan. Moving forward, he hopes to make an impact on the current housing crisis while developing and designing his own projects.

Learn more about Michael’s journey.

Q: Tell us briefly about your background and why you chose your program at USC Architecture.

I grew up in Los Angeles and graduated with an English Literature degree from the University of California, Davis. I chose USC for the quality and breadth of student work and the talented faculty that drives the curriculum forward. I knew I wanted to come to USC after a one-on-one meeting with our Graduate Director, Alvin Huang. Taking the time to meet with admitted students on a personal level showed me the care and devotion that USC has for its students.

Q: What is the title and short description of your final thesis project?

The title of my thesis is “Archipelago of the Line.” It investigates the creative process by distilling our built world down to the most fundamental element: the line. It was an exploration of how the line manifests both in two and three dimensions and how we inhabit the spaces that line creates. In a storybook-like narrative, the protagonist travels to islands in an archipelago, each island a host to a concept of the line in architecture whether it be a physical feature or a metaphorical circumstance: a path, a barrier, an armature, a tether, an event. The story becomes a glossary of architectural concepts, a reference to evaluate form and order, and a tool to generate one’s own architectural language.

Q: What have been your best experiences during your program?

There are a few memories that stand out: studying abroad in Japan or hosting over 250 high school students from the ACE Mentor Program with our AIAS Vice President Grace Poillucci. However, I think my favorite part about the program are the experiences with the talented and passionate people I’ve met along the way, from newfound, lifelong friends to the professors that have made a serious impact on how I think about architecture and challenge the world around me.

Q: What are you hoping to pursue after graduation?

My goal is to become a registered architect and develop and design my own projects. I want to make an impact on our current housing crisis. I’m confident what I have learned here at USC from both the Master of Architecture program and the Certificate in Real Estate Development from the Price School of Public Policy has given me the skills to make a difference.

  Related Links: MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

Latest News

File(s) under embargo

Reason: None of the research in this thesis has thus far been published, as it is part of larger projects that will be published after I graduate. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the information in this file private until such time as it is all published, which will almost certainly be the case in 2 years.

until file(s) become available

Understanding the folding of amyloids using cryo-EM: In vitro studies and methods development

Neurodegenerative diseases are progressive, incurable conditions that affect tens of millions of people worldwide and are characterized by the aggregation of misfolded protein in the brain. Though the precise role of these amyloid aggregates in the onset and progression of these diseases is not clear at this time, there is a pressing need to understand how they form and spread in human disease. In service to these aims, I have conducted three small projects to expand knowledge in this regard. I first investigated the use of thioflavin T, a common amyloid stain, as an affinity reagent for the general purification of amyloid filaments from ex vivo samples, observing strong potential using a relatively simple, inexpensive magnetic bead conjugation technique. I next analyzed the formation of filaments of a truncated recombinant amyloid-beta peptide with residues 1-35, observing a new filament type formed at low pH in the wild-type sequence of this truncated peptide. Finally, I conducted structural studies on amyloid-beta(1-42) filaments prepared under different conditions consistent with traumatic brain injury to observe their effect on amyloid folding. While I found no effect of differential conditions on filament type, the low-resolution structures solved were highly consistent with aggregates found in Alzheimer’s disease patients, presenting a promising way forward for in vitro modeling of amyloid filaments that are true to pathology. In sum, the work here presented advances the concepts of both how amyloid aggregates from patient brains can be best prepared for structural analysis, and the factors underpinning their aggregation at the onset of neurodegenerative disease.

F.90025118.02.028

F.90025118.02.032, f.90025118.02.025, degree type.

• Master of Science
• Biological Sciences

Campus location

• West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Additional committee member 2, additional committee member 3, usage metrics.

• Cell neurochemistry
• Structural biology (incl. macromolecular modelling)