42 Research Starts With a Thesis Statement

Emily A. Wierszewski’s essay confronts the bad idea about writing (from the collection of the same name) that “Research Starts with a Thesis Statement.” Instead, Wierszewski addresses the research process, why certain bad ideas get stuck in the public psyche, and offers more useful starting places for research.

Read Emily A. Wierszewski’s “Research Starts With a Thesis Statement.”

Listen to Kyle Stedman’s audio-version of this text.

Keywords from this chapter in Bad Ideas about Writing

discovery, process, research, thesis, thesis-first research model

Author Bio from Bad Ideas about Writing

Emily Wierszewski has been teaching writing for over ten years, most recently at Seton Hill University outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Her graduate work focused on nonfiction writing, including the study of what makes writing persuasive, as well as how people learn to read and write. As a professor, she’s very interested in how her college students understand and have used the research process before coming to her class, including how their preconceptions about the purpose and process of research impact their attitudes toward and proficiency with college-level inquiry. She recently wrote a book chapter about how comics can help students more effectively engage with research in the writing classroom. Her Twitter handle is @ewazoo23.