what questions should a thesis answer

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 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

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

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

While Sandel argues that pursuing perfection through genetic engineering would decrease our sense of humility, he claims that the sense of solidarity we would lose is also important.

This thesis summarizes several points in Sandel’s argument, but it does not make a claim about how we should understand his argument. A reader who read Sandel’s argument would not also need to read an essay based on this descriptive thesis.  

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence) 

Michael Sandel’s arguments about genetic engineering do not take into consideration all the relevant issues.

This is an arguable claim because it would be possible to argue against it by saying that Michael Sandel’s arguments do take all of the relevant issues into consideration. But the claim is too broad. Because the thesis does not specify which “issues” it is focused on—or why it matters if they are considered—readers won’t know what the rest of the essay will argue, and the writer won’t know what to focus on. If there is a particular issue that Sandel does not address, then a more specific version of the thesis would include that issue—hand an explanation of why it is important.  

Arguable thesis with analytical claim 

While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake” (54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well” (51) is less convincing.

This is an arguable analytical claim. To argue for this claim, the essay writer will need to show how evidence from the article itself points to this interpretation. It’s also a reasonable scope for a thesis because it can be supported with evidence available in the text and is neither too broad nor too narrow.  

Arguable thesis with normative claim 

Given Sandel’s argument against genetic enhancement, we should not allow parents to decide on using Human Growth Hormone for their children.

This thesis tells us what we should do about a particular issue discussed in Sandel’s article, but it does not tell us how we should understand Sandel’s argument.  

Questions to ask about your thesis 

• Is the thesis truly arguable? Does it speak to a genuine dilemma in the source, or would most readers automatically agree with it?  
• Is the thesis too obvious? Again, would most or all readers agree with it without needing to see your argument?  
• Is the thesis complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument?  
• Is the thesis supportable with evidence from the text rather than with generalizations or outside research?  
• Would anyone want to read a paper in which this thesis was developed? That is, can you explain what this paper is adding to our understanding of a problem, question, or topic?
• picture_as_pdf Thesis

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8 Creating a Thesis to Answer your Research Question

A research paper starts with a research question. The thesis is your one-sentence answer to your research question. It is the single most important sentence in your essay or research paper.

Learning Objectives

After completing the activities in this chapter, you will be able to

• identify the components of a thesis statement
• understand the use of parallel structure in a thesis statement
• evaluate thesis statements

Starting with a Research Question

It’s a good idea to start a writing project with a research question.

Look at these example research questions:

• Is music piracy beneficial or harmful to the music industry?
• What are the benefits of exercise?
• Should the government increase the minimum wage?
• How can people live more environmentally friendly lives?

Now you need to do research to determine your answer to the question.

You need to decide your stance and how you can support your stance with persuasive reasons.

Creating a Thesis Statement

You can write a draft thesis statement after you’ve done some preliminary research to determine your stance and some main reasons for your stance. Your thesis statement is a concise one-sentence answer to your research question.

The thesis statement expresses three things:

• the specific topic of the paper
• your stance (or, “opinion” or “position”) on that topic
• the main reasons for your opinion

The table below shows how a thesis statement evolves from a broad topic.

Can you identify the three necessary components in each of the thesis statements above?

Parallel Structure in Thesis Statements

Notice that the supporting reasons in each thesis above are given in parallel structure.

Learning Check

Thesis statement placement.

Your thesis is the single most important sentence in your writing. In academic writing, the thesis statement is placed at the end of the introductory paragraph.

Develop a working thesis statement that states your controlling idea for the piece of writing you are doing. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly.

Articles (a, an, the) are often placed before nouns in English. They can be tricky to understand, especially for English as a Second Language learners, because there are a lot of rules, a lot of exceptions to those rules, and this grammar doesn't exist in all languages.

Information from: https://open.lib.umn.edu/writingforsuccess/chapter/5-3-count-and-noncount-nouns-and-articles/ [1]

Nouns  are words that name things, places, people, and ideas. Right now, you may be surrounded by desks, computers, and notebooks. These are called  count nouns  because you can count the exact number of desks, computers, and notebooks—three desks, one computer, and six notebooks, for example.

On the other hand, you may be carrying a small amount of money in your wallet and sitting on a piece of furniture. These are called  noncount nouns . Although you can count the pieces of furniture or the amount of money, you cannot add a number in front of  money  or  furniture  and simply add – s  to the end of the noun. Instead, you must use other words and phrases to indicate the quantity of money and furniture.

Incorrect:  five moneys, two furnitures

Correct:  some money, two pieces of furniture

By the end of  Section 5.3.1 “Count and Noncount Nouns” , you will grasp the difference between the two types of nouns and be able to use them confidently in speaking and writing.

Count and Noncount Nouns

A count noun refers to people, places, and things that are separate units. You make count nouns plural by adding – s .

Table 5.1  Count Nouns

A noncount noun identifies a whole object that cannot separate and count individually. Noncount nouns may refer to concrete objects or abstract objects. A  concrete noun  identifies an object you can see, taste, touch, or count. An  abstract noun  identifies an object that you cannot see, touch, or count. There are some exceptions, but most abstract nouns cannot be made plural, so they are noncount nouns. Examples of abstract nouns include anger, education, melancholy, softness, violence, and conduct.

Table 5.2  Types of Noncount Nouns

On a separate sheet of paper, label each of the following nouns as count or noncount.

• Electricity ________
• Water ________
• Book ________
• Sculpture ________
• Advice ________

On a separate sheet of paper, identify whether the italicized noun in the sentence is a count or noncount noun by writing  C  or  NC  above the noun.

• The amount of  traffic  on the way home was terrible.
• Forgiveness  is an important part of growing up.
• I made caramel sauce for the organic  apples  I bought.
• I prefer film  cameras  instead of digital ones.
• My favorite subject is  history .

Definite and Indefinite Articles

The word  the  is a  definite article . It refers to one or more specific things. For example,  the woman  refers to not any woman but a particular woman. The definite article  the  is used before singular and plural count nouns.

The words  a  and  an  are  indefinite articles . They refer to one nonspecific thing. For example,  a woman  refers to any woman, not a specific, particular woman. The indefinite article  a  or  an  is used before a singular count noun.

Definite Articles ( The ) and Indefinite Articles ( A/An ) with Count Nouns

I saw  the  concert. (singular, refers to a specific concert)

I saw  the  concerts. (plural, refers to more than one specific concert)

I saw  the  U2 concert last night. (singular, refers to a specific concert)

I saw  a  concert. (singular, refers to any nonspecific concert)

On a separate sheet of paper, write the correct article in the blank for each of the following sentences. Write  OK  if the sentence is correct.

• (A/An/The) camel can live for days without water. ________
• I enjoyed (a/an/the) pastries at the Bar Mitzvah. ________
• (A/An/The) politician spoke of many important issues. ________
• I really enjoyed (a/an/the) actor’s performance in the play. ________
• (A/An/The) goal I have is to run a marathon this year. ________

Correct the misused or missing articles and rewrite the paragraph.

Stars are large balls of spinning hot gas like our sun. The stars look tiny because they are far away. Many of them are much larger than sun. Did you know that a Milky Way galaxy has between two hundred billion and four hundred billion stars in it? Scientists estimate that there may be as many as five hundred billion galaxies in an entire universe! Just like a human being, the star has a life cycle from birth to death, but its lifespan is billions of years long. The star is born in a cloud of cosmic gas and dust called a nebula. Our sun was born in the nebula nearly five billion years ago. Photographs of the star-forming nebulas are astonishing.

Collaboration

Once you have found all the errors you can, share with a classmate and compare your answers. Did your partner find an error you missed? Did you find an error your partner missed? Compare with your instructor’s answers.

Key Takeaways

• You can make count nouns plural by adding  -s .
• Count nouns are individual people, places, or things that can be counted, such as politicians, deserts, or candles.
• Noncount nouns refer to whole things that cannot be made plural, such as salt, peace, or happiness.
• The  is a definite article and is used to refer to a specific person, place, or thing, such as  the  Queen of England.
• A  and  an  are indefinite articles, and they refer to nonspecific people, places, or things, such as  an  apple or  a  bicycle.

Writing Application

Write five sentences using the definite article  the . Write five sentences using the indefinite article  a  or  an . Exchange papers with a classmate and check each other’s work.

To learn more about articles

• Read Chapter 5.3 of Writing for Success [2] .
• online exercise 1 from OWL Purdue
• online exercise 2 from OWL Purdue

CS 050: Academic Writing and Grammar Copyright © by Confederation College Communications Department and Paterson Library Commons is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Reference management. Clean and simple.

Is it a good thesis topic?

Does the topic have a clear aim?

Is the topic researchable, is the topic original enough, will the topic be interesting to your audience.

• What methodology will your topic require?

Additional criteria for a good thesis topic

Frequently asked questions about having a good thesis topic, related articles.

Before starting the actual research for your thesis, you need to make sure that your topic is well formed. Take a look at this list of questions to find out if your topic is ready to work on.

First things first, is your topic clear enough? The ideal path of deciding a topic starts by making it as comprehensive as possible. This is easier said than done, as people often have one idea in mind but another one in the paper.

Tip: To ensure that your topic is clear and comprehensible, try explaining it to a friend or colleague.

As James Hamilton, coach for Ph.D. students, concludes in his guide on finding a thesis topic “clarity is the key.” Therefore, we recommend explaining your topic to someone foreign to your field.

Dissect every part of the topic and describe them in the most simple way. This will help you see your topic from a different perspective. Once you have a simplified version, you can start adding layers of complexity.

Once you are sure the topic is crystal clear, it is time to find out the most important factor: does the topic offer enough information? If you came up with the topic from material you read before, or you heard about it in a lecture, it means the topic is probably highly researchable.

Use keywords related to your topic and search for them in:

• library catalogs
• academic databases
• academic search engines
• Google scholar
• academic repositories

Consider meeting with an academic librarian, who can help you generate keywords.

Every thesis requires a level of originality but, let's be honest, research is never completely original. Still, why not make it as original as you can within your limits? You will dive in a sea of papers with a similar approach to yours. This is your chance of finding an angle that has never been taken before.

Therefore, we recommend finding a gap in the research, or a certain angle that has been done before but could be further developed. How? By simply paying particular attention to your sources.

Tip: To determine if your thesis topic is original, consider speaking with your advisor, or others in your field, who may know the research landscape really well.

Academic writing shouldn’t be boring. Depending on the level of your thesis, its appeal will vary. Identify the audience of your thesis and adapt its style and structure accordingly.

A bachelor’s thesis has to be interesting for the professor who grades it it. An MA thesis should attract your supervisor, and potential future employers. A Ph.D. thesis should strive to make a clear intervention in the field that will catch the attention of other scholars. It should engage peers, supervisor, and general researchers.

Once you know who you are writing for, it becomes easier to adapt your style to your target audience. We also recommend these 13 ways to make your writing more interesting to read.

W hat methodology will your topic require?

Picking a suitable research methodology is one of the most important components that can make a project fail or succeed.

Being aware of what type of outcome you want and how much time you have to conduct research will help you choose the right methodologies. For example, if you want qualitative data and you have enough time, then you can carry out a focus group.

If you want quantitative data in a short period of time then an online survey suffices. Time and goal will be the decisive factors in almost every project.

Check out our guide on How to gather data for your thesis for further instructions on collecting empirical data and choosing a methodology.

• Qualitative : focus groups, interviews, literature reviews, etc.
• Quantitative : surveys, experiments, longitudinal studies, etc.

You might also ask yourself these questions when you are assessing if your thesis topic is good:

• Is the topic easy to find?
• Is the topic of interest in contemporary culture?
• Will the topic bring you any benefit after graduation?

Every thesis requires a level of originality but let's be honest, research is never completely original. To have an original topic, we recommend finding a gap in the research. How? By simply finding a certain angle that has been done before but could be further developed.

Academic writing shouldn’t be boring. In order to make it interesting, you should identify the audience of your project and adapt it accordingly. A bachelor’s thesis has to be interesting for the professor who grades it it. An MA thesis should attract your supervisor, and potential future employers. A Ph.D. thesis should strive to make a clear intervention in the field that will catch the attention of other scholars.

We recommend explaining your topic to someone foreign to your field. Dissect every part of the topic and describe it in the most simple way. This will help you see your topic from a different perspective.

If you came up with the topic from material you read before, or you heard about it in a lecture, it means the topic is probably highly researchable. Use keywords related to your topic and search for them in catalogs, databases, search engines, and libraries.

Some other questions you can ask yourself (or others) to know if your thesis topic is good:

The top 10 thesis defense questions (+ how to prepare strong answers)

Crafting a thesis is significant, but defending it often feels like the ultimate test. While nerve-wracking, proper preparation can make it manageable. Prepare for your thesis defense with insights on the top questions you can expect, including strategies for answering convincingly.

Mastering the thesis defense: cultivate a success mindset

Question 1: why did you choose this particular topic for your research, question 2: how does your research contribute to the existing body of knowledge, question 3: what are the key findings of your research, question 4: can you defend your research methodology, question 5: how did you analyze the data and what challenges did you encounter, question 6: what theoretical frameworks or references underpin your research, question 7: how did you address ethical considerations in your research, question 8: in what ways does your research contribute to the field, question 9: how did you ensure your research was free from bias, question 10: where can future research go from here.

Nurturing a success mindset for your defense is pivotal. This means adopting a mental outlook geared towards achieving favorable outcomes during your thesis defense. To truly excel in this pivotal academic moment, it’s imperative to cultivate both confidence and composure.

Confidence enables you to present your research with conviction, while composure allows you to navigate any challenges with grace and clarity.

Remember, you know your thesis best, so trust in your expertise.

In essence, a success mindset encompasses the belief in your abilities, coupled with the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure.

Stay composed and focused, relying on your thorough preparation. If you encounter a question you can’t answer, gracefully guide the conversation back to familiar topics.

Use strategic responses when needed. For example, if a question goes beyond your thesis scope, acknowledge its relevance but steer back to your focused areas. Similarly, if you’re unfamiliar with a theory or literature, admit it but offer related insights or perspectives.

By embracing these principles and staying confident and adaptable, you’ll navigate your thesis defense with ease.

This question delves into the origins of your academic journey, aiming to understand not just what you studied, but the underlying motivations and processes that drove your exploration. It’s not merely about the superficial aspects of your research, but rather about the deeper intellectual curiosity that ignited your quest.

To effectively respond, take the opportunity to elaborate on the intricacies of your journey. Begin by unpacking the specific interests or questions that sparked your intellectual curiosity in the subject matter. What events, experiences, or influences led you to delve into this particular area of study? Providing an anecdote or example that vividly illustrates the genesis of your scholarly pursuit can be helpful.

Moreover, discuss the gaps you identified in the existing literature that motivated you to contribute to your field. What deficiencies or unanswered questions did you observe? How did these gaps inspire you to embark on your research journey with the aim of filling these voids? By articulating the specific shortcomings in the current body of knowledge, you demonstrate a nuanced understanding of your research area and underscore the significance of your work.

Additionally, highlight any personal or academic experiences that played a pivotal role in steering you towards your chosen topic. Whether it was a transformative educational experience, a profound personal interest, or a meaningful encounter, these experiences can offer valuable insights into the origins of your scholarly pursuits.

In summary, when articulating your narrative, consider the following key points:

• Unpack the specific interests or questions that sparked your intellectual curiosity.
• Discuss the gaps in the existing literature that motivated your research.
• Highlight any personal or academic experiences that influenced your choice of topic.

This question delves into the vital role your research plays within the existing body of knowledge, urging you to articulate its significance and impact. It’s not merely about the subject matter you’ve studied, but also about the unique contributions and advancements your research brings to your field. To effectively respond, delve into the intricacies of your work and its implications for the broader academic landscape.

Begin by emphasizing the novelties and breakthroughs your research introduces. Highlight specific aspects of your study that represent advancements in understanding or methodologies. Whether it’s a novel approach to a longstanding problem, the discovery of new phenomena, or the development of innovative methodologies, these contributions underscore the significance of your research within the academic community.

Next, describe how your work engages with or challenges current conversations in your field. Discuss the existing paradigms or theories your research builds upon or critiques. Articulate how your findings contribute to ongoing debates or reshape prevailing understandings. By positioning your research within the broader context of scholarly discourse, you showcase its relevance and impact on the evolving landscape of your field.

Illuminate how your findings could influence future research trajectories. Explore potential avenues for further inquiry that emerge from your research findings. Consider how your work opens up new questions or areas of exploration for future researchers. By identifying these potential research directions, you demonstrate the forward-looking nature of your work and its potential to shape the future trajectory of your field.

In summary, when addressing how your research contributes to the existing body of knowledge, consider the following key points:

• Emphasize the novelties and breakthroughs your research introduces.
• Describe the conversations in your field that your work engages with or challenges.
• Illuminate how your findings could influence future research trajectories.

Addressing the question of your research’s key findings demands skill, as it necessitates succinctly summarizing your work while conveying its significance. To effectively respond, distill your findings into digestible takeaways that encapsulate the essence of your research. Identify the central discoveries or outcomes of your study, ensuring clarity and conciseness in your presentation.

Furthermore, relate these findings to the broader implications they hold for your field. Articulate how your research contributes to advancing knowledge or addressing pressing issues within your academic discipline. Consider the potential impact of your findings on theory, practice, or policy, highlighting their relevance and significance within the larger scholarly community.

Additionally, be prepared to elucidate the nuances and complexities involved in your results. While providing a concise summary of your findings is essential, it’s equally important to acknowledge the intricacies and limitations of your research. Discuss any methodological considerations, unexpected outcomes, or areas for further investigation, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of your work.

In summary, when addressing the key findings of your research, consider the following key points:

• Distill your findings into digestible takeaways.
• Relate the outcomes to the broader implications they hold for your field.
• Be prepared to shed light on the nuances and complexities involved in your results.

Defending your research methodology entails a comprehensive understanding of its rationale, alignment with research objectives, and acknowledgment of potential limitations. It’s not merely about explaining the methods employed but also justifying why they were chosen over alternative approaches. To effectively respond, delve into the intricacies of your methodology and its implications for the study.

Begin by elucidating the reasons for selecting the chosen methodology over alternatives. Discuss the specific advantages or suitability of the selected approach in addressing the research questions or objectives. Consider factors such as feasibility, appropriateness for the research context, and compatibility with the theoretical framework guiding your study.

Furthermore, explain how your chosen methods align with your research objectives. Articulate how the selected methodology enables you to achieve the intended outcomes and contribute to answering the research questions. Discuss how each methodological choice supports the overall research design and furthers the overarching goals of the study.

Be prepared to discuss the limitations inherent in your chosen methodology and how you mitigated them. Acknowledge any constraints or shortcomings associated with the selected approach, such as potential biases, sample size limitations, or data collection challenges. Demonstrate your awareness of these limitations and discuss the strategies implemented to address or minimize their impact on the validity and reliability of your findings.

In summary, when defending your research methodology, consider the following key points:

• Justify the methodology with reasons for selecting it over alternatives.
• Explain the methods’ alignment with your research objectives.
• Be ready to discuss the limitations and how you mitigated them.

Addressing the intricacies of data analysis involves not only outlining the techniques employed but also navigating the challenges encountered and evaluating the reliability and validity of the interpretations drawn. When responding to inquiries about data analysis, it’s essential to provide a comprehensive understanding of the methodologies employed, the obstacles faced, and the strategies utilized to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the findings.

Begin by outlining the techniques used for data analysis. Describe the specific methods, tools, and software employed to process and interpret the data collected. Whether it involved quantitative statistical analysis, qualitative coding techniques, or a combination of both, provide insights into the analytical framework guiding your study. Additionally, discuss the rationale behind the chosen analytical approach and how it aligns with the research objectives and questions.

Next, share the hurdles faced during the data analysis process and how you overcame them. Reflect on any challenges encountered, such as data cleaning issues, missing data, or unexpected patterns in the dataset. Discuss the steps taken to address these challenges, whether through iterative refinement of analytical techniques, consultation with peers or supervisors, or adaptation of the research design. Highlighting your ability to navigate obstacles demonstrates resilience and resourcefulness in overcoming methodological challenges.

Furthermore, discuss the reliability and validity of your data interpretation. Evaluate the rigor and credibility of your analytical process, considering factors such as data integrity, consistency, and relevance to the research objectives. Discuss any measures taken to ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, such as inter-coder reliability checks, triangulation of data sources, or member checking with participants. By critically examining the reliability and validity of your data interpretation, you provide insights into the robustness of your analytical approach and the credibility of the conclusions drawn.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about data analysis, consider the following key points:

• Outline the techniques used for data analysis.
• Share the hurdles faced during the process and how you overcame them.
• Discuss the reliability and validity of your data interpretation.

Exploring the theoretical underpinnings of your research involves delving into the foundational frameworks and seminal works that informed your study’s conceptual framework and analytical approach. When responding to inquiries about theoretical frameworks , it’s essential to provide a comprehensive understanding of the theories and references that shaped your research, elucidate their influence on your hypothesis and analysis, and reflect on the potential contributions or revisions your study may offer to existing theoretical foundations.

Begin by naming the key theories and seminal works that guided your research. Identify the theoretical frameworks that provided the conceptual scaffolding for your study, as well as the seminal works that shaped your understanding of the research area. Discuss how these theories and references informed your research design, methodology, and analytical approach, providing a theoretical lens through which to interpret your findings.

Elucidate on how these frameworks shaped your hypothesis and analysis. Describe how the theoretical perspectives and insights gleaned from seminal works informed the development of your research questions, hypotheses, and analytical framework. Discuss the ways in which these theoretical frameworks guided your data collection and interpretation, influencing the selection of variables, measures, and analytical techniques employed in your study.

Reflect on how your research may contribute to or revise these theoretical foundations. Consider the implications of your findings for advancing existing theoretical frameworks or revising established paradigms within your field. Discuss how your research extends or challenges current theoretical perspectives, offering new insights, conceptual refinements, or empirical evidence that may enrich or reshape prevailing theories. By critically examining the relationship between your research and existing theoretical frameworks, you provide insights into the broader theoretical implications and contributions of your study.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about theoretical frameworks, consider the following key points:

• Name the key theories and seminal works that guided your research.
• Elucidate on how these frameworks shaped your hypothesis and analysis.
• Reflect on how your research may contribute to or revise these theoretical foundations.

When addressing ethical considerations in your research, it’s essential to demonstrate a commitment to upholding ethical standards and protecting the rights and well-being of participants. Responding to inquiries about ethical protocols involves explaining the steps taken to ensure ethical conduct throughout the research process, describing the consent process and data protection measures implemented, and mentioning any institutional review board (IRB) approvals obtained.

Begin by explaining the ethical protocols you followed. Detail the ethical guidelines, codes of conduct, or regulatory frameworks that informed your research design and conduct. Discuss how these guidelines influenced decisions regarding participant recruitment, data collection methods, confidentiality protocols, and data storage procedures, emphasizing your adherence to ethical principles throughout the research process.

Describe the consent process, if applicable, and how you protected participants’ data. Provide insights into how informed consent was obtained from participants, including the procedures used to inform participants about the research purpose, risks, benefits, and their rights. Discuss any measures taken to safeguard participants’ privacy and confidentiality, such as anonymizing data, securing data storage, and limiting access to sensitive information, ensuring the protection of participants’ identities and personal information.

Mention any institutional ethics review board approvals you obtained. Highlight any formal ethical review processes or approvals obtained from relevant regulatory bodies, such as IRBs or ethics committees. Discuss how the research protocol was reviewed for compliance with ethical guidelines and standards, including considerations of participant welfare, informed consent procedures, and data protection measures. By acknowledging the oversight and approval of institutional review bodies, you demonstrate your commitment to ethical integrity and accountability in conducting research involving human subjects.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about ethical considerations in your research, consider the following key points:

• Explain the ethical protocols you followed.
• Describe the consent process and data protection measures implemented.
• Mention any institutional ethics review board approvals obtained.

When discussing the contributions of your research to the field, it’s essential to highlight the novel insights and potential impact your thesis offers. Responding to inquiries about your research’s significance involves detailing the unique perspectives and fresh understanding it brings to the academic discourse, as well as considering its implications for future research or practice and arguing its relevance within the broader academic community.

Begin by detailing the novel insights your thesis provides. Articulate the key findings, discoveries, or perspectives that distinguish your research from existing literature and contribute to advancing knowledge within your field. Discuss how your study fills gaps in current understanding, challenges established assumptions, or offers innovative approaches to addressing pressing issues, highlighting its potential to generate new avenues of inquiry and broaden the scope of scholarly discourse.

Discuss how your findings might influence future research or practice. Consider the implications of your research for shaping future scholarship, informing policy decisions, or guiding professional practice within relevant domains. Reflect on the potential practical applications, theoretical advancements, or methodological innovations stemming from your findings, highlighting their significance for advancing the field and addressing real-world challenges.

Be prepared to argue the relevance of your research within the broader academic community. Articulate the broader significance of your study within the context of current debates, trends, or priorities within your discipline. Discuss how your research aligns with existing scholarly agendas, contributes to interdisciplinary dialogue, or addresses pressing societal concerns, underscoring its relevance and potential impact on shaping the direction of future research and practice.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about the contributions of your research to the field, consider the following key points:

• Detail the novel insights your thesis provides.
• Discuss how your findings might influence future research or practice.
• Be prepared to argue the relevance of your research within the broader academic community.

When ensuring the integrity of your research and minimizing bias, it’s crucial to maintain objectivity and rigor throughout the study. Responding to inquiries about bias involves discussing the steps taken to uphold objectivity, describing any blind or double-blind procedures employed, and acknowledging and mitigating any unavoidable biases that may have arisen during the research process.

Begin by discussing the steps taken to maintain objectivity and rigor. Detail the strategies implemented to minimize the influence of personal biases, preconceptions, or external factors on the research outcomes. This may include adhering to a predetermined research protocol, using standardized procedures for data collection and analysis, and engaging in peer review or validation processes to ensure the reliability and validity of the findings.

Describe any blind or double-blind procedures employed in the study. Explain how blinding techniques were used to prevent bias in data collection, analysis, or interpretation. This may involve withholding certain information from researchers or participants to minimize the potential for conscious or unconscious bias to influence the results. Discuss how these procedures were implemented and their impact on enhancing the credibility and impartiality of the research outcomes.

Acknowledge any unavoidable biases that may have emerged during the research process and discuss how they were mitigated. Reflect on the inherent limitations or sources of bias in the study design, data collection methods, or participant selection criteria. Discuss the steps taken to minimize the impact of these biases, such as conducting sensitivity analyses, controlling for confounding variables, or triangulating data sources to corroborate findings.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about bias in your research, consider the following key points:

• Discuss steps taken to maintain objectivity and rigor.
• Describe any blind or double-blind procedures employed.
• Acknowledge any unavoidable biases and discuss how they were mitigated.

When considering the potential trajectory of your research topic, it’s essential to identify areas where further investigation could yield valuable insights, discuss unexplored questions that emerged from your research, and reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research endeavors. Responding to inquiries about the future direction of research involves suggesting fruitful areas for further investigation, highlighting unresolved questions, and leveraging the limitations of your study as opportunities for future exploration.

Begin by suggesting areas where further investigation could be fruitful. Identify specific gaps, ambiguities, or unanswered questions within the existing literature that warrant additional inquiry. Consider emerging trends, advancements in technology or methodology, or pressing societal issues that may inform potential research directions. Propose research topics or hypotheses that build upon the findings of your study and extend the boundaries of current knowledge within your field.

Discuss unexplored questions that arose from your research. Reflect on any unexpected findings, anomalies, or areas of ambiguity that emerged during the course of your study. Consider how these unanswered questions or unresolved issues could serve as catalysts for future research endeavors, prompting further investigation into related phenomena, alternative explanations, or novel research methodologies.

Reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research. Acknowledge any constraints, biases, or methodological shortcomings that may have influenced the outcomes or interpretations of your study. Discuss how these limitations provide opportunities for future research to refine methodologies, address confounding variables, or explore alternative theoretical frameworks. Consider how addressing these limitations could enhance the validity, reliability, and generalizability of future research findings within your field.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about the potential trajectory of your research topic, consider the following key points:

• Suggest areas where further investigation could be fruitful.
• Discuss unexplored questions that arose from your research.
• Reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research.

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Libraries & Cultural Resources

Research guides, guide to research and writing for the academic study of religion.

• Topic Pyramids
• Research Assignment Parameters
• Thesis statement
• Identifying Interests
• Controversy
• Availability of Sources
• Preliminary Research
• Developing Your Question and Thesis
• Research Question and Thesis Statement Examples
• Periodicals
• Primary Sources
• Reference Works - Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Biographies etc
• Journal Articles
• Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
• Web Search Engines
• Web Directories
• Invisible Web
• Does the Library hold the article I need?
• Locating resources unavailable at U of C Library
• Content of Databases
• Standardized Terminology
• Review Quiz Databases
• Keyword Searching
• Search Limits
• Phrase Searching
• Truncations and Wildcards
• Boolean Operators
• Proximity Operators
• Natural Language Searching
• Searching Basics Quiz
• Search Overview
• Selecting Records
• Combing Searchers
• General Criteria
• Quoting in text
• in Text Citations
• List of References
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Staying Organized
• Links to Writing Help
• Sources Used in Creating this Workbook

Research Question and Thesis

If you have followed all the previous steps, you should be very close to developing a good question if you haven’t already. Here are a few examples of good and bad questions to help you distinguish an effective research question from an ineffective one.

Example #1: Why has religious fundamentalism arisen in North America?

Example #2: what is the relationship between theology and religious studies.

This is a good start, but it is much too general.

What does Donald Wiebe say about theology and religious studies?

This is more specific but you still need to bring the controversy to the forefront. As it stands, it invites a mere summary of Donald Wiebe's position.

Good research questions on this topic might be :

• Are there any conceptual problems with Wiebe's distinction between theology and religious studies?
• Does Wiebe's position on the distinction between theology and religious studies represent a radical departure from previous understandings of the relationship between the two?
• Does Wiebe's agenda to eliminate theology from Religious Studies have any unforeseen or undesirable practical implications?

All three of these questions have a narrower focus and can be answered in a variety of ways. Answering any of these questions will generate a thesis statement. Remember, the answer that you give to a research question is your thesis statement.

For further examples of good research questions, see Research Strategies by  Badke .

The Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement directly answers your research question, and takes a stand (rather than announces the subject) that others might dispute. In other words, it is provocative and contestable. A strong thesis clearly asserts your position or conclusion and avoids vague language (e.g. “It seems…). Your thesis should be obvious, easy to find, and clearly stated in the opening paragraph of your paper. The rest of your paper is devoted to substantiating your thesis by offering evidence in support of your claim. Remember, that it is perfectly acceptable to change your thesis if the evidence leads you to an alternative conclusion.

For examples of strong thesis statements, look for abstracts and articles from peer-reviewed journals and books, and attempt to find the thesis in each of these sources. The author(s) of these sources typically state their conclusions in several different ways.

Examples of thesis statements are italicized in the abstracts provided below.

“S tating the problem under discussion as "Islam and Science" is false because this formulation implies that there is such a thing as a reified and ahistorical and hence immutable "Islam" that is responsible for advancing or impeding scientific activity, both past and present.   In fact, Islam, like all other religions, is the specific ideology of a particular, historically determined society (i.e., Islam in Baghdad in the 830s, in Damascus in 1300, in Cairo around 1000, etc.) and has itself no historical agency; what that particular society accomplishes in the way of science wholly depends on who is using that ideology (if it is being used) and to what ends. The analysis of scientific activity in Islamic societies, therefore, can proceed only from the investigation of the social and political factors at play in each particular case. Injecting the notion of “Islam” into these discussions merely obfuscates the issue and confuses students, distracting them from historical analysis and political action.” Source: Gutas, Dimitri. 2003. “Islam and Science: A False Statement of the Problem.”  Islam & Science  1, no.2: 215-20.

“In this response article, some of the most challenging aspects of Islam and science discourse are discussed. Responding to the specific issues of the relationship between Islam and science and the normative Islamic tradition, the article explores the claims of a secular view that there is no such thing as essential Islam and that there is no relationship between Islam and the scientific tradition that arose in the Islamic civilization.  This view is refuted on the basis of historical, logical and internal evidence .”                                                                                     Source: Iqbal, Muzaffar. 2003. “Islam and Science: Responding to a False Approach.”   Islam & Science  ,  1, no. 2: 221-34.

“This rejoinder is a further contribution to the debate begun by M. Iqbal and D. Gutas on the differing perspectives and methodological assumptions of faith-based and secular approaches to the study of the history of science in religious cultures.  While the arguments presented are to some degree ad hominem, they do aim to highlight certain logical inconsistencies in the conceptualization of the role of religion in the study of science and in the revisionist portrayal of as a causal agent that functions independently of its adherents .” Source :  Reisman, David C.  2004. “An Unfortunate Response: Iqbal on Gutas.”  Islam & Science  2, no.1: 63-73.

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• Last Updated: Jun 9, 2022 2:27 PM
• URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/research-and-writing-religion

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17 Thesis Defense Questions and How to Answer Them

A thesis defense gives you the chance to show off your thesis work and demonstrate your expertise in your field of study. During this one- to two-hour discussion with the members of your thesis committee, you'll have some control over how you present your research, but your committee will ask you some prodding questions to test your knowledge and preparedness. They will all have read your thesis beforehand, so their questions will relate to your study, topic, methods, data sample, and other aspects.

A good defense requires mastery of the thesis itself, so before you consider the questions you might face,

1. What is your topic, and why did you choose it?

Give a quick summary in just a few sentences on what you've researched. You could certainly go on for hours about your work, but make sure you prepare a way to give a very brief overview of your thesis. Then, give a quick background on your process for choosing this topic.

2. How does your topic contribute to the existing literature? How is it important?

Many researchers identify a need in the field and choose a topic to bridge the gaps that previous literature has failed to cover. For example, previous studies might not have included a certain population, region, or circumstance. Talk about how your thesis enhances the general understanding of the topic to extend the reach beyond what others have found, and then give examples of why the world needs that increased understanding. For instance, a thesis on romaine lettuce crops in desert climates might bring much-needed knowledge to a region that might not have been represented in previous work.

3. What are the key findings of your study?

When reporting your main results, make sure you have a handle on how detailed your committee wants you to be. Give yourself several options by preparing 1) a very general, quick summary of your findings that takes a minute or less, 2) a more detailed rundown of what your study revealed that is 3-5 minutes long, and 3) a 10- to 15-minute synopsis that delves into your results in detail. With each of these responses prepared, you can gauge which one is most appropriate in the moment, based on what your committee asks you and what has already been requested.

4. What type of background research did you do for your study?

Here you'll describe what you did while you were deciding what to study. This usually includes a literary review to determine what previous researchers have already introduced to the field. You also likely had to look into whether your study was going to be possible and what you would need in order to collect the needed data. Did you need info from databases that require permissions or fees?

5. What was your hypothesis, and how did you form it?

Describe the expected results you had for your study and whether your hypothesis came from previous research experience, long-held expectations, or cultural myths.

6. What limitations did you face when writing your text?

It's inevitable — researchers will face roadblocks or limiting factors during their work. This could be a limited population you had access to, like if you had a great method of surveying university students, but you didn't have a way to reach out to other people who weren't attending that school.

7. Why did you choose your particular method for your study?

Different research methods are more fitting to specific studies than others (e.g., qualitative vs. quantitative ), and knowing this, you applied a method that would present your findings most effectively. What factors led you to choose your method?

8. Who formed the sample group of your study, and why did you choose this population?

Many factors go into the selection of a participant group. Perhaps you were motivated to survey women over 50 who experience burnout in the workplace. Did you take extra measures to target this population? Or perhaps you found a sample group that responded more readily to your request for participation, and after hitting dead ends for months, convenience is what shaped your study population. Make sure to present your reasoning in an honest but favorable way.

9. What obstacles or limitations did you encounter while working with your sample?

Outline the process of pursuing respondents for your study and the difficulties you faced in collecting enough quality data for your thesis. Perhaps the decisions you made took shape based on the participants you ended up interviewing.

10. Was there something specific you were expecting to find during your analysis?

Expectations are natural when you set out to explore a topic, especially one you've been dancing around throughout your academic career. This question can refer to your hypotheses , but it can also touch on your personal feelings and expectations about this topic. What did you believe you would find when you dove deeper into the subject? Was that what you actually found, or were you surprised by your results?

11. What did you learn from your study?

Your response to this question can include not only the basic findings of your work (if you haven't covered this already) but also some personal surprises you might have found that veered away from your expectations. Sometimes these details are not included in the thesis, so these details can add some spice to your defense.

12. What are the recommendations from your study?

With connection to the reasons you chose the topic, your results can address the problems your work is solving. Give specifics on how policymakers, professionals in the field, etc., can improve their service with the knowledge your thesis provides.

13. If given the chance, what would you do differently?

Your response to this one can include the limitations you encountered or dead ends you hit that wasted time and funding. Try not to dwell too long on the annoyances of your study, and consider an area of curiosity; for example, discuss an area that piqued your interest during your exploration that would have been exciting to pursue but didn't directly benefit your outlined study.

14. How did you relate your study to the existing theories in the literature?

Your paper likely ties your ideas into those of other researchers, so this could be an easy one to answer. Point out how similar your work is to some and how it contrasts other works of research; both contribute greatly to the overall body of research.

15. What is the future scope of this study?

This one is pretty easy, since most theses include recommendations for future research within the text. That means you already have this one covered, and since you read over your thesis before your defense, it's already fresh in your mind.

16. What do you plan to do professionally after you complete your study?

This is a question directed more to you and your future professional plans. This might align with the research you performed, and if so, you can direct your question back to your research, maybe mentioning the personal motivations you have for pursuing study of that subject.

17. Do you have any questions?

Although your thesis defense feels like an interrogation, and you're the one in the spotlight, it provides an ideal opportunity to gather input from your committee, if you want it. Possible questions you could ask are: What were your impressions when reading my thesis? Do you believe I missed any important steps or details when conducting my work? Where do you see this work going in the future?

Bonus tip: What if you get asked a question to which you don't know the answer? You can spend weeks preparing to defend your thesis, but you might still be caught off guard when you don't know exactly what's coming. You can be ready for this situation by preparing a general strategy. It's okay to admit that your thesis doesn't offer the answers to everything – your committee won't reasonably expect it to do so. What you can do to sound (and feel!) confident and knowledgeable is to refer to a work of literature you have encountered in your research and draw on that work to give an answer. For example, you could respond, "My thesis doesn't directly address your question, but my study of Dr. Leifsen's work provided some interesting insights on that subject…." By preparing a way to address curveball questions, you can maintain your cool and create the impression that you truly are an expert in your field.

After you're done answering the questions your committee presents to you, they will either approve your thesis or suggest changes you should make to your paper. Regardless of the outcome, your confidence in addressing the questions presented to you will communicate to your thesis committee members that you know your stuff. Preparation can ease a lot of anxiety surrounding this event, so use these possible questions to make sure you can present your thesis feeling relaxed, prepared, and confident.

Header image by Kasto .

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Last Updated: Apr 01, 2024 Views: 12

What is a thesis statement.

A thesis statement is a sentence that states the main idea of your paper. It is not just a statement of fact, but a statement of position. What argument are you making about your topic? Your thesis should answer that question.

How long should my thesis statement be?

Thesis statements are often just one sentence. Keep thesis statements concise, without extra words or information. If you are having trouble keeping your thesis statement to one sentence, consider the following:

• Is your thesis is specific enough?
• Does your thesis directly supports your paper?
• Does your thesis accurately describes your purpose or argue your claim?

Can I see some example thesis statements?

The following websites have examples of thesis statements:

• Thesis Statements This link opens in a new window (UNC)
• Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements This link opens in a new window (OWL at Purdue)
• Writing an Effective Thesis Statement This link opens in a new window (Indiana River State College)

These web resources may be helpful if you are looking for examples. However, be sure to evaluate any sources you use! The Shapiro Library cannot vouch for the accuracy of information provided on external websites.

Where can I find more information?

Video tutorials.

• The Persuasive Thesis: How to Write an Argument This link opens in a new window (SNHU Academic Support)
• Research and Citation Playlist This link opens in a new window (SNHU Academic Support)
• Planning a Paper series: Drafting a Thesis Statement This link opens in a new window ( Infobase Learning Cloud - SNHU Login Required)

More Information

• Build a Critical Analysis Thesis This link opens in a new window (SNHU Academic Support)
• Build a Compare & Contrast Thesis This link opens in a new window  (SNHU Academic Support)
• Build a History Thesis This link opens in a new window  (SNHU Academic Support)
• Build a Persuasive Thesis This link opens in a new window  (SNHU Academic Support)

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please speak to your instructor about the appropriate way to craft thesis statements for your class assignments and projects.

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• 10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

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McCombes, S. (2023, October 19). 10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project. Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-question-examples/

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From Topic to Research Question to Thesis

Choosing a topic.

The first step in writing a research paper is to establish the topic. The best topic is one that interests you. You can generate ideas for a topic by prewriting, such as by brainstorming whatever comes to mind, recording in grocery-list fashion your thoughts, or freewriting in complete sentences what you know or think about topics of interest.

Whatever topic you choose, it needs to be:

• Interesting : The topic should appeal both to you and to your intended readers.
• Researchable : A body of knowledge should already exist on the topic.
• Nonfiction : The information about the topic should be factual, not based on personal opinions or conspiracy theories.
• Important : Your reader should think the topic is relevant to them or worthy of being explored and discussed.

Get Started

Open a new Word document. Identify at least two topics that you might consider for your research paper. For each topic, briefly explain how it measures up using the above criteria: interesting, researchable, based on fact and not opinion, and important.

Posing a Research Question

Once you have a topic, the next step is to develop research questions. If you do not know what to ask, start with one of the question words: What? Who? Where? When? Why? and How? Here are some examples:

Topic: Photography Research questions: What ethics should guide photojournalists in war zones? Who are America’s ground-breaking photographers? Should photography be considered an art form?

Topic: Media violence Research Questions: What impact does television violence have on children? Should evening newscasts limit the amount of graphic violence presented to viewers? How does television violence affect ratings?

Topic: College athletics Research Questions: Should college athletes be paid for playing? Should college coaches be held responsible for their players’ behavior off the field or court? How do colleges bend the rules for star athletes?

Topic: Careers Research Questions: What do career counselors do? What jobs are most likely to be underpaid and under-appreciated? Can someone expect to have a successful career without a college education?

Return to your Word document. Using one of the topics you identified in the previous exercise, pose three research questions such as those shown above.

Drafting a Thesis Statement

A thesis is a claim that asserts your main argument about the topic.

The thesis should

• be a complete sentence,
• identify the topic, and
• make a specific claim about that topic.

The claim you make will depend on your purpose for writing. Your assignment instructions will typically indicate the purpose. Commonly, the purpose of a college paper will be informative, expository/explanatory, or persuasive.

• Informative essays  seek to enlighten and educate readers, so an informative thesis is one that claims something or a situation exists or is happening.
• Expository/Explanatory essays  are similar to informative essays but also analyze and explain the components or characteristics of the topic. For example, an expository thesis might claim that something’s characteristics are x, y, and z.
• Persuasive essays  aim to influence readers’ opinions, so they will adopt a particular position or take a certain course of action. For example, a persuasive thesis might claim that something should be done or believed about the topic.

Many research papers combine informative, expository, and persuasive elements. For example, if you are writing a persuasive essay, you will still need to give background on the topic (an informative element) or analyze the causes of a situation (expository).

Additionally, as you conduct your research and draft your paper, you may discover information that changes your initial thoughts about the thesis, so in the early stages of writing, the thesis is tentative. Still, it is an important step in narrowing your focus for research and writing.

Once you have figured out what you are asking (your research question), your thesis is simply the answer.

Here are some examples:

Topic: Photography Research question: What ethics should guide photojournalists in war zones? Answer to question and thesis sentence : Photojournalists should always be embedded with military troops for their own protection. Purpose: Persuasive

Topic: College athletics Research question: Should college athletes be paid for playing? Answer to question and thesis sentence: College athletes perform a valuable service for their schools and should be paid for their performance. Purpose: Persuasive

Topic: Media violence Research question: How does television violence affect ratings? Answer to question and thesis sentence: The effect of television violence on ratings has varied from decade to decade and depends on what society at large views as acceptable in each era. Purpose: Informative

Topic: Careers Research question: What do career counselors do? Answer to question and thesis sentence: Career counselors help people find employment by using aptitude assessments, evaluating background experience, and helping clients learn professional communication skills. Purpose: Expository

Return to your Word document. In complete sentences, answer the questions you posed in the previous exercise to formulate three potential thesis statements. Then, consider what the purpose might be for each of those answers.

Congratulations! You have completed the process and have your thesis statement!

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Hardest Research Proposal Questions and Best Sample Answers

Featured Expert: Dr. Michela Insenga, PhD

Practicing with sample research proposal questions and answers can have great benefits for any major research project such as a dissertation or thesis. This is often the final step before you finally get your doctorate degree. However, before all of that, you must first craft a research proposal. This is a detailed outline that will transform into the thesis that you will eventually have to defend in front of a panel of distinguished academics. It is always important to be aware of what thesis defense questions you will be asked when it is all said and done, but you may have to start justifying your research a little earlier on with the completion of a research proposal.

In this article, we include sample questions and answers you could be faced with when submitting your research proposal, some tips for preparing your responses, as well as the benefits of seeking professional help from a grad school advisor .

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 13 min read

What to expect for your research proposal.

Early on in your PhD process, you may have to submit a research proposal that details the scope of your research and what you plan to for an eventual thesis or dissertation project. You have already learned how to find a PhD topic , so now it is time to put your passion for your field into practice and start to manifest the ideas swimming in your head.

This document should include the specific topic you would like to research, what angle you will be taking for your research, as well as your justification for choosing this subject. Regardless of whether or not your goals are the same as when you wrote your research interest statement sample , you must still provide an update about what your project is going to examine.

Should you go to grad school? Watch this video:

The purpose of the research proposal is to convince your supervisor that you are on the right direction. You are essentially providing a roadmap for your supervisor through your motives in undertaking this project and how you plan to complete it. Your supervisor will have to evaluate whether or not your project is relevant to the degree you are completing and manageable within the time constraints or other limitations you have.

As a result, you may have to undergo a research proposal defense or your supervisor will ask guiding questions about the state of your project. While this is still very early in the process, it is a great way for getting to know how to prepare for a thesis defense , as the questions you will be have a similar intent. Receiving guidance on your research before spending a lot of time on it can be more beneficial to you as you complete coursework or any other responsibilities as a graduate student. Questions from your supervisor can make your think critically about the end result of your result, and will hopefully lead to a better result.

Be Very Familiar With Your Proposal

This sounds like an obvious tip, but PhD research proposals can be 1500-2000 words long and can be a lot of information to remember at once. Once it is complete, try and have as great of a grasp of the material as you can. Before going into any meeting where you will discuss your work, make sure to become reacquainted with the information you have found and the goals you are hoping to achieve. Re-read your proposal several times to both proofread it for typos or other errors, but also to become comfortable with its contents. You want to make sure that your answers line up with the document you are officially submitting as your proposal.

Ask for Advice

If you are having trouble creating your proposal, you can always consult thesis writing services to help you plan out and put your thoughts into words. Professionals can also help with your speaking ability when responding and help you strategize so that you deliver efficient responses that sum up your research faithfully. Either together with an advisor or on your own, you can predict the obvious questions that are coming and prepare yourself to answer them. If your supervisor will be overseeing your proposal, try to anticipate what concerns they will have. Come up with a list of questions yourself, so you can workshop how you answer them.

Use Strategies to Answer Questions

Just like preparing for graduate school interview questions , you can develop strategies for how to answer questions about your research proposal. Keep your answers direct. You can also pose questions about areas you are unsure about. Do not be afraid to not have all the answers. At this point of your research, you are not expected to know everything point. The purpose of your proposal is to see where you are at right now and what you need to adjust on to make the best final product possible. Your supervisor or other academics that will pose questions about your proposal are not out to get you. They have years of experiences with similar projects, and are likely are qualified to give helpful feedback on your work in progress.

1. What is your research project about?

This answer should be a short summary about your research project. This question may seem like this simplest of them all, but you need to have a solid direction on where you want your thesis to go in order for it be effective. It does not need to be as complete as if you were to be summarizing your final product, since your project is still in its development stages. For instance, a sociological study regarding gendered tendencies towards deviant behaviors on the internet might be formatted in this manner:

For this research project, I plan to examine the rise of online deviant sociological behaviour on social media platforms during recent global shutdowns such as the COVID-19 pandemic and how gender identity and sexual orientation amplify these concerns. These acts of deviance can include instances of catfishing, deception, pornography, obscenity, cyber bullying, flaming, among others. I will also relate these findings to psychological impacts of both the perpetrators and victims or other relevant criminal behaviors that do not take place online, pointing out the differences between common trends for men vs. women in these altercations.

2. Why did you select this particular topic?

This question is meant to assess your motivation for choosing the subject of your research proposal. It is possible that you have previously touched on this kind of question during your graduate school interview when answering “Why do you want to do a PhD?” . This answer is one that could get a little more into your personal inclination towards the research you pursue. Focus on your particular interests and shape it to the goals of the project. For example, if you conducted a study called, “Forgotten Minds: Book History and Women’s Lost Contributions in 18th and 19th-century England” then you can frame your answer in this way:

As a scholar of the marriage industrial complex that permeated British society in past centuries, I am interested in the ways that a patriarchal structure can silence the marginalized voices of others, as matrimony often did for women. This is all the more evident in the interdisciplinary field of book history, where women’s contributions to the publishing were often ignored, erased, or overshadowed by their husbands. I wanted to indicate any trends that can be discovered by examining the roles of women in 18th and 19th-century printing houses and potentially unearth the forgotten stories of women who worked in these instances.

3. Does your project have a working title?

Titles are very important for academic articles or formal dissertation projects. If you have already learned how to publish as a graduate student , you will know that the title is how other academics or students will find your work when searching through journals and databases. You need to make sure your title is accurate to the research provided. At this point, your title will likely not be final, but it always important to be thinking about.

Sample Answer: My tentative title is “Take a Chill Pill: Natural and Traditional Methods for College Student Anxiety Levels”. I chose this title because it represents both the holistic self-care methods such as meditation and exercise as well as prescription medication. It also points out the focus group immediately, since the study will examine current college students between the ages of 18-24 and indicate any patterns for how they manage stress among unprecedented times.

4. What scope do you think your project will have?

Your proposal will likely touch on several points related to your topic, but it is not really plausible to have a project that considers every single aspect imaginable. You may need to narrow this down as you further develop your research. Start thinking of the boundaries you may have to set as you progress through your work.

Sample Answer: This study will examine consumption trends related to the snack food industry. To start with, I have chosen over 25 products from different companies will be able to be listed and reviewed in the final thesis submission.

5. What makes your project original?

Being a publishing academic is all about filling the gaps in scholarship. Make sure to point out what makes your project stand out from others in the field.

Sample Answer: The project focuses on how remote working and telemedicine shifts the delivery of family medicine procedures in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It does engage with similar studies on the topic of telemedicine, but will add a new perspective by discussing family doctors practicing in the greater Montreal area, specifically, which is a subset I have not yet found within existing scholarship.

6. How is your research in conversation with existing scholarship?

While your research must add something to the field, it also should be in a dialogue with other published works. Explain your process surrounding the other studies you have used to guide your own thesis.

Sample Answer: As my project is related to how autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis present themselves in young adults, I have included fundamental studies on the topic from Dr. Arthur Golden and Dr. Melina Rizzo, as well as other more current examples of scholarship. My study will utilize their concepts in relation to a focus group that is below the age of 30.

7. What kind of research methodology will you be using?

How you will be accessing this research is just as important as the research itself. Try to have a clear path about the measures you will take to complete your study.

Sample Answer: I aim to use detailed and meticulously written surveys about women’s birth experiences at hospitals or affiliated birthing centers. These results will act as the main foundation for my study on maternity health care and treatment.

8. Have you found there to be any interesting developments so far?

Was there any part of the part of the process that you did not expect? For this response, detail any new directions your research has taken as of writing your proposal.

Sample Answer: While looking for evidence that suggests that gender socialization of children affects their behaviour, I was surprised to find out that there is a discrepancy between the emotional responses in animated characters based on gender. Female or feminine-presenting characters are shown smiling on screen much more than their male counterparts, and the masculine-presenting characters were generally more likely to be shown as upset or even violent. That is a development in my research that I did not initially think of or foresee.

9. What do you think your biggest limitations for this research will be?

Look into the work you will have to do for your eventual full-length research project. What do you see being the most difficult part?

Sample Answer: I am looking into the nutritional benefits of drug store chewable gummy multivitamins. However, based on an individual’s prior health conditions or genetic makeup, the results may vary or be distorted. I am presuming that this will be a major limitation as I write my thesis.

10. What will be the dependent and independent variables of this project?

When researching, there are different variables that can potentially affect your results. An independent variable is not affected by other variables in your study, while dependent variables also change if other variables do.

Sample Answer: My study will investigate the impact of guidance counselling for junior and senior high school students. The independent variable is the type of help they require, such as college applications, social development skills, or academic performance. The dependent variable would be the actual outcomes of said counselling.

11. What is your provisional research timeline?

Even if it is not 100% stuck to, try to have a detailed timeline in mind about when research will be completed and how you will fulfill all of your obligations prior to the respective deadlines.

Sample Answer: The provisional research timeline for my proposal is designed to ensure systematic progress and timely completion of all research objectives. My timeline is divided into five phases:

Preparation Phase (4 weeks): In this initial stage, I will conduct a thorough literature review to familiarize myself with existing research and identify potential gaps. Simultaneously, I will finalize the research questions and establish the overall framework for my study.

Data Collection and Analysis (8 weeks): During this phase, I will gather primary data through surveys and interviews, ensuring data collection aligns with ethical guidelines. Once collected, I will proceed with data analysis, utilizing appropriate statistical methods to extract meaningful insights.

Literature Integration (4 weeks): Building upon the analyzed data, I will integrate my findings with existing literature to provide a comprehensive context for my research.

Drafting and Revision (6 weeks): I will dedicate this phase to writing the research proposal. The initial draft will be critically reviewed and refined through multiple iterations to enhance clarity and coherence.

Finalization and Submission (1 week): In the final phase, I will incorporate feedback from peers and advisors and polish the research paper to its final form. The completed research paper will be submitted by the designated deadline.

This provisional timeline, spanning 23 weeks, allows for flexibility and contingency plans to accommodate unforeseen challenges. Regular progress assessments and adjustments will be made to ensure timely completion and adherence to all obligations.

12. Who are the demographics who will be most interested in your research?

An important aspect of your research to think about will be who will be the most interested in reading it, as well as who it impacts the most.

Sample Answer: The demographics most interested in my research are likely to be professionals and policymakers within the healthcare industry. Given the focus of my research on implementing technology-driven solutions to enhance patient care and improve healthcare outcomes, healthcare practitioners, administrators, and researchers would find the findings particularly relevant.

Additionally, technology enthusiasts, innovators, and entrepreneurs interested in the intersection of healthcare and technology are also expected to show interest in the research. This group may be keen to explore potential commercial applications of the proposed solutions or seek opportunities for collaboration.

Moreover, the research would significantly impact patients and healthcare consumers. As technology increasingly plays a vital role in healthcare delivery, patients would be interested in understanding how these advancements can positively influence their healthcare experiences and overall well-being.

To ensure the research's reach and impact, I will disseminate the findings through academic publications, conferences, and workshops. Additionally, I will aim to engage with relevant professional organizations, healthcare institutions, and technology forums to stimulate interest and foster practical applications of the research outcomes.

By targeting these demographics, the research can make a meaningful contribution to the field of healthcare technology and help drive advancements that benefit both healthcare providers and patients alike.

13. What do you hope to be the significance of your research?

This is the “So what?” of your research. Will your research have lasting impacts? Evaluate which current issues your research could resolve.

Sample Answer:

The significance of my research lies in its potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery through technology-driven solutions. By addressing current issues such as inefficiencies in healthcare systems, lack of patient engagement, and suboptimal outcomes, my research aims to foster lasting impacts. Implementing technology to improve patient care, streamline processes, and enhance healthcare accessibility could lead to better health outcomes, reduced costs, and an overall improvement in the quality of healthcare services.

14. Are there any ethical issues or debates surrounding your research project?

Some projects are directly tied to ethics and moral issues that are currently being debated. It would be important to mention any ties to these issues and how your research is part of a larger conversation.

Sample Answer: While my research primarily focuses on technology-driven solutions to enhance healthcare, there are potential ethical considerations surrounding data privacy and security. As the research involves collecting and analyzing patient data, ensuring the confidentiality and informed consent of participants is paramount. Additionally, discussions about the responsible use of artificial intelligence in healthcare and potential biases in algorithms are relevant to the larger conversation on the ethical implications of technology in healthcare. Addressing these issues will be crucial to maintaining the integrity and societal benefit of the research.

15. Do you have any personal predictions for the outcome of your research?

If you haven’t yet conducted surveys or a thorough literature review, relay what you think will happen and any other concerns to your supervisor.

Sample Answer: As of now, without conducting surveys or an extensive literature review, I anticipate that the research will demonstrate the potential of technology in positively impacting healthcare outcomes and patient experiences. However, I am also aware that challenges related to data security, technology adoption, and ethical considerations may arise during the research. I will keep my supervisor informed about any unexpected findings and concerns throughout the study to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the research outcomes.

Now that you have seen some sample answers, here are some additional questions you can take on:

• What sample groups are you using and why?
• What secondary sources do you plan to use?
• What do you believe is the strongest point in your research?
• Are there any biases that could exist in your research or your secondary sources?
• What are some ways your findings will be put into practice?
• What was the approach you took when starting your project?
• What phenomenon are you trying to understand with this research?
• How has your research project changed from when you started this degree?
• Do you see any foreseeable weaknesses or blind spots in your study?
• What measurement instrument did you use for this research?
• What theoretical framework is your research based on?
• Is the literature you chose up to date?
• What pertinent information have you found so far?
• Does your research have any use for policy makers?
• What do you plan to do with this research project once you have graduated?

When you are wondering, “should you pursue a master’s or a PhD?” , you truly need to consider the importance of research within the discipline you choose. Part of being an academic is the ability to contribute to the field and, by extension, society as a whole. The research proposal and the subsequent dissertation may be the last step to complete your degree, but it is also can be the first real step of your professional career.

Any meeting with your supervisor or instant where you have to defend your work is simply part of the process of being a working academic. This can have lasting implications for the future of your career, as knowing how to conduct and present research effectively is key to learning how to find a job in academia . That being said, the first step is putting yourself in the best position to succeed. Using PhD consultants can make all the difference for your project. If you are currently applying to graduate school, these trained experts can help you get into the school of your dreams or assist with finding programs that suit your skillset. They can also provide pointers on your research, as many of them have been in your shoes before.

A research proposal is a concise and structured document that outlines the key objectives, methodology, and significance of a proposed research project, aiming to convince others about the value and feasibility of the study.

A typical research proposal for a doctoral thesis is usually between 10 to 20 pages, depending on the specific requirements of the academic institution and the complexity of the research project.

To find the right research topic for a doctoral thesis, consider your interests, expertise, and the significance of the topic in your field. Engage with relevant literature, consult with advisors and experts, and identify gaps or unresolved issues to narrow down your focus.

Yes, you can and you should include your research on your grad school CV . 

Most graduate programs will ask you to defend your research proposal. However, if it’s a smaller project, a review of the proposal may be sufficient. 

To prepare for a research proposal or thesis defense, thoroughly review your research work, anticipate potential questions, and practice presenting your findings in a clear and concise manner to effectively communicate your research objectives, methodology, and results.

Some mistakes to avoid when writing a research proposal include: lack of clarity in research objectives, insufficient literature review, neglecting to address potential limitations, and failing to align the proposal with the funding agency's guidelines or the university's requirements.

Yes, you can always reach out to thesis writing services for some guidance. 

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Voters will face two referendum questions regarding outside funding of election administration. How to understand these questions

MADISON — Wisconsin voters will see two referendum questions related to election administration on their April 2 ballots — and in the days leading up to the election, they may also see messaging seeking to steer their vote.

Republicans and conservative groups are encouraging voters to support the measures with a "yes" vote, while Democrats and liberal groups are advocating for "no." The two questions, which all Wisconsin voters will see on their ballots, are written as follows:

QUESTION 1: "Use of private funds in election administration. Shall section 7 (1) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum?"

QUESTION 2: "Election officials. Shall section 7 (2) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums?"

Voting "yes" on the first question means private grants and donations would be banned in election administration going forward, while a "no" vote would continue to allow them. A "yes" vote on the second question would add to the state Constitution that only election officials can perform tasks, while a "no" vote would not add that.

The proposals are rooted in Republicans'  longstanding scrutiny  of millions of dollars in private grants, which they often call "Zuckerbucks." The bulk of the money provided by the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which at the time received funding from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, went to the state's five largest cities to help them run elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clerks who received grants during the 2020 election said it helped them meet the unexpected costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as extra supplies to meet an influx of absentee voting, and have said accepting grants due to inadequate state, federal or local funding would not jeopardize their ability to administer elections fairly.

More: Wisconsin spring election live updates today: Presidential primary, referendums, polling places, ballot, registration info and more

More: Wisconsin's April 2 referendum questions and the 'Zuckerbucks' debate, explained

Here's a look at the messaging surrounding the referendum.

Conservatives encourage 'yes' votes

Republicans and conservative groups have supported voting "yes" on the questions based on concerns that outside groups could influence how elections are run. In one case, the Republican Party of Wisconsin brought in an Ohio congressman to make that point.

"Secure elections require proper election administration. That's why I'm encouraging everyone in Wisconsin to vote 'yes' on constitutional amendments 1 and 2," U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan said in a video Wednesday. He appeared alongside U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents southeastern Wisconsin.

Republican former President Donald Trump's campaign is also backing the proposals with social media posts urging Wisconsin voters to "ban Zuckerbucks."

One conservative group is taking a slightly different tack. MacIver Impact, Inc. — the newly-created 501(c)4 arm of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy — launched a digital advertising campaign in support of the ballot measures earlier this month. Although MacIver itself is a conservative organization, several ads prompt voters to "stop the NRA from buying elections" and "stop right-wing billionaires like Elon Musk from buying elections." Others, however, urge Wisconsinites to "keep Obama & Soros out of Wisconsin elections" and "ban Zuckerbucks." The ads are running on Facebook and Instagram.

"What happened during the 2020 election should never be allowed to happen again in Wisconsin. That means permanently ending organizations with outside interests from having a role in the administration of our elections,” said MacIver Impact CEO Annette Olson in a statement. “These common sense amendments would ban dark money from playing a role in administering elections, and MacIver Impact is proud to lead statewide efforts to encourage citizens to vote ‘yes.'"

Liberals advocate against proposals

Democrats and liberal groups have pushed for a "no" vote, arguing the proposed amendments are confusing and could impede the administration of elections barring the allocation of additional state funding.

An analysis from the Legislature's nonpartisan attorneys said the impact of adding the language to the state Constitution is unclear. State law already says that only appointed election officials can conduct elections, but doesn't say what activities count as conducting an election. The referendum doesn't specify that, either.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin weighed in on the amendments on March 19, endorsing a "no" vote on both questions. In a statement , party chairman Ben Wikler said Republicans were pushing the amendment to "satisfy Donald Trump."

Other liberal-leaning groups have also encouraged voters to reject the questions. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin said the language is too vague and could prevent clerks from using non-public locations or equipment for polls, such as a church or chairs and tables owned by the church. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin also opposes the measures, arguing local clerks don't receive sufficient funding from the state and federal governments.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has also supported voting "no" and told voters not to get "duped." The group noted Republicans are putting forward the constitutional amendments — which do not need Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' approval — during a primary election with typically lower turnout.

Wisconsin voters generally vote in favor of referendum questions

While political and advocacy groups are messaging on the initiatives, Rob Yablon, University of Wisconsin Law School professor and co-director of the  State Democracy Research Initiative , said there doesn't appear to be a significant organized effort on either side of the issue.

"I am not aware of any huge expenditures of funds on either side," Yablon said. "That's not atypical, compared to other recent proposed amendments in Wisconsin — if you look back at the ones that we've had in recent years, most of them have been a little bit below the radar."

Wisconsin voters typically approve referendums. Out of the 200 times lawmakers have proposed changes to the state Constitution since 1854, voters have only rejected the changes about 50 times, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau .

Since 2000, nine of 10 proposed constitutional amendments have succeeded — the exception being an effort to eliminate the state treasurer's office .

The most recent constitutional amendments approved by Wisconsin voters include two questions last year that expanded the criteria for setting cash bail . Another amendment approved in 2020, often called Marsy's Law, brought a flood of television, radio and social media ads .

That high success rate is likely attributable in part to the fact that the Legislature has broad authority to select the wording of ballot initiatives, as well as when they appear on the ballot, Yablon said.

The questions on the April 2 ballot are two of five scheduled to go before voters this year. That's the most Wisconsin voters have seen in one year since 1982, Yablon said.

"It seems to be a function in part of divided government," he said, noting that Evers had previously vetoed legislative efforts to accomplish the same results.

"There does seem to be a little bit of a trend on the part of the Legislature to seek change through constitutional amendments, maybe in part because they can't get it through legislation right now."

More: Wisconsin statewide election results

More: Local election results

I tried the new Google. Its answers are worse.

Google’s ai-‘supercharged’ search generative experience, or sge, sometimes makes up facts, misinterprets questions and picks low-quality sources — even after nearly 11 months of public testing..

Have you heard about the new Google ? They “ supercharged ” it with artificial intelligence. Somehow, that also made it dumber.

With the regular old Google, I can ask, “What’s Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth?” and a reasonable answer pops up: “169.8 billion USD.”

Now let’s ask the same question with the “experimental” new version of Google search. Its AI responds: Zuckerberg’s net worth is “$46.24 per hour, or $96,169 per year. This is equivalent to $8,014 per month, $1,849 per week, and $230.6 million per day.”

Um, none of those numbers add up.

Google acting dumb matters because its AI is headed to your searches sooner or later . The company has already been testing this new Google — dubbed Search Generative Experience, or SGE — with volunteers for nearly 11 months, and recently started showing AI answers in the main Google results even for people who have not opted in to the test .

Should you trust that AI?

The new Google can do some useful things. But as you’ll see, it sometimes also makes up facts, misinterprets questions, delivers out-of-date information and just generally blathers on. Even worse, researchers are finding the AI often elevates lower-quality sites as reliable sources of information.

Normally, I wouldn’t review a product that isn’t finished. But this test of Google’s future has been going on for nearly a year, and the choices being made now will influence how billions of people get information. At stake is also a core idea behind the current AI frenzy: that the tech can replace the need to research things ourselves by just giving us answers. If a company with the money and computing power of Google can’t make it work, who can?

SGE merges the search engine you know with the capabilities of a chatbot. On top of traditional results, SGE writes out direct answers to queries, interspersed with links to dig deeper.

Geoffrey A. Fowler

SGE is a response to the reality that some people, including me, are starting to turn to AI like ChatGPT for more complex questions or when we don’t feel like reading a bunch of different sites. Onely , a search optimization firm, estimates that using SGE can make a user’s overall research journey 10 to 20 times shorter by assembling pros and cons, prices and other information into one place.

An all-knowing answer bot sounds useful given our shrinking attention spans. But Google has a lot to work out. We expect searches to be fast, yet Google’s AI answers take a painful second or two to generate. Google has to balance the already fragile economy of the web, where its AI answers can steal traffic from publishers who do the expensive and hard work of actually researching things.

And most of all, the new Google has to deliver on the promise that it can consistently and correctly answer our questions. That’s where I focused my testing — and kept finding examples where the AI-supercharged Google did worse than its predecessor.

Putting Google’s AI answers to the test

Often when you’re Googling, what you really want is a short bit of information or a link. On a day-to-day basis, the new Google is often annoying because its AI is so darned chatty.

A goofy example: “What do Transformers eat?”

The AI answer told me that fictional robots don’t really need to eat or drink, though they need some kind of fuel. Meanwhile, old Google had the one-word answer I was looking for: Energon. (It’s a kind of magical fuel.) You got that answer from new Google only by scrolling down the page.

This doesn’t just happen with alien robots. When SE Ranking, a firm dedicated to search engine optimization, tested SGE with 100,000 keyword queries, it found the average answer it generated was 3,485 characters — or roughly a third as long as this column. One of Google’s challenges is figuring out when its AI is better off just keeping quiet; sometimes, SGE asks you to press a “generate” button before it will write out an answer.

Most of all, when we search, we expect correct information. Google claims SGE has a leg up on ChatGPT because its knowledge is up-to-date.

Yet I found the new Google still struggled with recent affairs. Three days after the most recent Academy Awards, I searched for “Oscars 2024.” It told me the Oscars were still to come and listed some nominees.

And nothing undermined my trust in Google’s AI answers more than watching it confidently make stuff up.

That includes facts about yours truly. I asked it about an award-winning series I wrote for The Washington Post, and it attributed it to some stranger — and then gave a link to some other website.

Then there was the time SGE all too happily made up information about something that doesn’t even exist. I asked about a San Francisco restaurant called Danny’s Dan Dan Noodles, and it told me it has “crazy wait times” and described its food.

The problem is that this is an imaginary shop I named after my favorite Chinese dish. Google’s AI had no problem inventing information about it.

So-called hallucinations about real and fake topics are a known problem with current AI. A disclaimer above SGE results says, “Generative AI is experimental,” but that doesn’t solve the problem. Google needs to figure out how to say “I don’t know” when it isn’t confident.

Suspect sources

To give us answers to everything, Google’s AI has to decide which sources are reliable. I’m not very confident about its judgment.

Remember our bonkers result on Zuckerberg’s net worth? A professional researcher — and also regular old Google — might suggest checking the billionaires list from Forbes . Google’s AI answer relied on a very weird ZipRecruiter page for “Mark Zuckerberg Jobs,” a thing that does not exist.

In my tests, suspect sources were a pattern. At the suggestion of Onely, I asked the new Google which was more reliable: Apple iPhones or Samsung phones. As a longtime reviewer, I could tell you lots of good sources of information on this, including professional journalists and repair organizations like iFixit.

Instead, the AI cites random views of people pulled from social media. Beyond the limited usefulness of a single Reddit user’s experience, how does Google know that it wasn’t a fake review posted by the phonemaker?

“Google SGE plays by a different set of rules compared to the traditional search engine we know today,” said Tomek Rudzki, Onely’s head of research and development.

SEO firms have been trying to do quantitative studies of SGE’s values, though they’re limited by Google’s requirements on test accounts. But they’ve found a similar pattern in the disconnect between the sites that the old and new Google link to. The SEO software company Authoritas tested searches with a thousand shopping terms in late March, and found that 77 percent of the time, the domain of the No. 1 traditional search result showed up nowhere in the AI-written answer.

And in its study of 100,000 keyword searches, SE Ranking found that the question-and-answer service Quora is the most-linked source by SGE; LinkedIn and Reddit were fifth and sixth. How often would those sources be acceptable on an eighth-grade term paper?

On searches about tech topics — including lots of “how to” questions — SE Ranking found the most-linked domain was simplilearn.com . I’d never heard of it before; the site describes itself as an “online bootcamp.”

“This trend not only diminishes the quality of search results but also reduces traffic and revenue for many small businesses, including affiliate websites,” says SE Ranking’s head of SEO, Anastasia Kotsiubynska.

A work in progress

Google says SGE is an opt-in experiment. But Google already blew past its expected end last December, and it hasn’t offered any update on when it will come to search for everyone. It’s possible that Google doesn’t think SGE is accurate or fast or profitable enough and that it will end up changing it dramatically.

They are wise to go slow, even if it makes Google look as though it’s behind in the AI race. The rival search engine Bing from Microsoft made a similar AI overhaul in February 2023, but its AI is still best known for going off the rails .

In an interview, Elizabeth Reid, a Google vice president leading SGE, characterized it as a work in progress.

“We’re really focused on ensuring we get the experience really right. There are a lot of different factors on this — things like latency, accuracy, helpfulness,” Reid said. “What we’ve been finding as we’re iterating and learning is that it’s pretty nuanced.” In other words, there are times the AI is helpful and other times it’s not — and Google is still trying to figure out where to draw the line.

When I shared the examples in this column, Reid told me that SGE’s hallucination rates are “very low” and have decreased “meaningfully” since SGE’s May launch, though she declined to be specific.

“I don’t want to minimize it — it is a challenge with the technology” and something “we’re really working on,” Reid said. Putting links right next to the AI answers, she added, is important to enable people to check the facts for themselves.

Here’s a proposal: Because Google acknowledges correct facts are a problem, it ought to disclose its own data on accuracy before it brings SGE to a broader audience. With billions of searches daily, even 0.001 percent can add up to a lot of wrong information.

Another area of Google’s focus is “trying to help ensure that we get to the core of the question as quickly as possible, and then give additional elaboration,” Reid said.

As for citing low-quality sources, Google disputed the outside research on SGE, saying it is based on searches that are more limited than what Google sees in practice. But it declined to share data of its own.

Reid said SGE doesn’t have a different standard than old Google. “We do see more diversity of sources that are coming forth. But the aim is really to continue to put high-quality content at the top,” she said.

Choosing who to believe is hard enough for humans. What makes Google think its current AI tech, known as LLMs, or large language models, is up to the task?

“They’re not perfect,” Reid said. “We want to take this thoughtful approach because the brand of trust that people have with Google is really important.”

The future of our information depends on it.

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EB-5 Questions and Answers (updated Mar. 2024)

1. Is there a specific order for filing applications for regional center designation, applications for investment projects, and immigrant petitions for investors in regional center projects?

Yes. Before a regional center can file for approval of an investment project, the regional center must first have an approved application for designation, which includes approved designations before enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.

An entity seeking regional center designation must apply for such designation under the EB-5 Regional Center Program on Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation , with the appropriate fee. The Form I-956 application must include a   Form I-956H, Bona Fides of Persons Involved with Regional Center Program   for each person involved with the regional center. On the form, each person attests, and provides information to confirm, that they are in compliance with section 203(b)(5)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Once we approve the regional center’s designation application, the regional center will need to file a Form I-956F, Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise, for each particular investment offering through a new commercial enterprise that the regional center intends to sponsor. A regional center that was previously designated and that is filing an amendment application to demonstrate the regional center’s eligibility for continued designation under the new statute may file an investment project application before we approve the amendment application. The Form I-956F application must include a Form I-956H for each person involved with the new commercial enterprise or affiliated job-creating entity. On the form, each person attests, and provides information to confirm, that they are in compliance with program requirements. After the regional center has properly filed a Form I-956F (but without it needing to be approved), an investor in that specific investment offering may file an individual Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor .

2. Can pre-RIA investors retain their eligibility if their regional center is terminated?

Given the large volume of investors that could be affected by terminations of previously designated regional centers based solely on noncompliance with certain new administrative requirements added by the RIA, such as paying the annual Integrity Fund fee, we interpret the RIA in a manner we hope permits good faith investors of terminated regional centers to retain their eligibility.

To accommodate these good faith investors as envisioned by RIA, we interpret INA 203(b)(5)(M) to apply to pre-RIA investors associated with a terminated regional center (or debarred new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity). INA 203(b)(5)(m)(v)(II) authorizes the secretary of homeland security to “extend any applicable deadlines under this paragraph.” Therefore, rather than strictly applying the notification timeframes under 8 USC 1153: Allocation of immigrant visas , we will generally extend the deadline for pre-RIA investors to respond to a regional center termination notification until we adjudicate their petition. At the time of adjudication, if we need more information from the investor about eligibility, the officer may issue a request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny, giving the investor an opportunity to establish their eligibility.

To satisfy the eligibility requirements applicable to pre-RIA investors, such investors may rely on the RIA’s grandfathering provisions under Section 105(c) (which requires continued adjudication of pre-RIA petitions even before the effective date of the codification of the reformed program into the INA) for purposes of continued eligibility.

Therefore, pre-RIA investors may, in certain situations, remain eligible based on indirect jobs, as applicable to their petition before the RIA was enacted notwithstanding termination of their associated regional center. Accordingly, where regional center termination is based on purely administrative noncompliance that does not otherwise directly affect or implicate the underlying investment or job creation, officers may generally determine, in their discretion and on a case-by-case basis, that a pre-RIA investor associated with the terminated regional center continues to be eligible for classification as an immigrant investor, notwithstanding the regional center termination.

 However, we do not interpret the grandfathering provision of Section 105(c) of the RIA to apply to post-RIA investors, who are subject to the new requirements added by the RIA, such as the requirement under INA 204(a)(1)(H)(ii) to remain associated with an approved project application under INA 203(b)(5)(F). This interpretation of the grandfathering provision of Sec. 105(c) accords with the statement from Sen. Chuck Grassley, one of the primary authors of the RIA, in explaining the intent of the RIA that “the bill allows petitions filed by immigrant investors under the old pilot program to continue to be adjudicated under the law as it existed when they were filed.” 168 Cong. Rec. S1105 (daily ed. March 10, 2022).

3. Do regional centers that properly filed the Forms I-956 and/or I-956G versions in effect on the filing date need to refile any new form published after the date they filed?

Regional centers will not have to file an updated Form I-956 or Form I-956G due to revisions to the form or the form instructions that were published after the date the regional center filed their Form I-956 or I-956G.

Regional centers should ensure that they are using the most up-to-date version of each form at the time of submission. More information and filing instructions and form editions can be found on our website landing pages for Form I-956 and Form I-956G .

4. Will USCIS allow regional centers to supplement any filed Form I-956G with additional information requested?

Regional centers use Form I-956G to provide required information, certifications, and evidence to support their continued eligibility for regional center designation. The form allows regional centers to amend or supplement a previously filed Form I-956G when we determine or the regional center determines that the previously filed Form I-956G submission is insufficient.

If we determine that the information provided on the Form I-956G is insufficient, we may issue a Request for Information, Request for Evidence, or a Notice of Intent to Terminate.

Regional centers should respond to the Request for Information, the Request for Evidence, or the Notice of Intent to Terminate with the information requested.

5. What is the status of USCIS’s review of initial Form I-956 and amendments?

We began reviewing and adjudicating Forms I-956 after the form was published in May 2022. We continue to review and adjudicate Form I-956 initial applications and amendments.

6. USCIS suggested in response to comments to the Form I-956F that regional centers can interfile any non-material updates to the application while the application is pending adjudication. Before the RIA, any such updates could be incorporated directly into the investors’ Form I-526 petitions. Can USCIS clarify if non-material updates to pending I-956Fs can be interfiled and will not require a new filing?

Nonmaterial updates to pending I-956Fs can be interfiled and do not require a new filing.

7. When must a regional center file a Form I-956 amendment?

According to INA 203(b)(5)(E)(vi), a designated regional center must file a Form I-956 amendment not later than 120 days before the implementation of significant proposed changes to its organizational structure, ownership, or administration, including the sale of such center, or other arrangements which would result in individuals not previously subject to the requirements under INA 203(b)(5) (H) becoming involved with the regional center.

Regional centers must also file a Form I-956 amendment if they are requesting any changes to their approved geographic area or the regional center’s name.

8. Are all regional centers—newly designated as well as previously designated—subject to the new provisions of the INA added by the RIA?

All regional centers—newly designated as well as previously designated—are subject to the new provisions of the INA added by the RIA because the only existing statutory authority under which a regional center may be designated for participation in the regional center program is INA 203(b)(5)(E) following repeal of the former authorizing statute. This is true regardless of whether the designated regional center intends to promote new projects for new investors under the reformed regional center program.

We continue to apply the new provisions of the INA added by the RIA to all regional centers, including those designated before the RIA as contemplated by the Behring preliminary injunction and settlement.

9. When is the annual Integrity Fund Fee due and what amounts should regional centers pay?

Per INA 203(b)(5)(J)(II)(i), on Oct. 1, 2022, and each Oct. 1 thereafter, each regional center must pay into the Integrity Fund. We announced via Federal Register Notice that the first fee payments were due beginning on March 2, 2023. 88 Fed. Reg. 13141. The payment amount required depends on the number of investors under the sponsorship of all the regional center’s new commercial enterprises in the preceding fiscal year.

Regional centers must pay $20,000 if they have 21 or more total investors in the preceding fiscal year in their new commercial enterprises. Regional centers must pay $10,000 if they have 20 or fewer total investors in the preceding fiscal year in their new commercial enterprises.

We will terminate the designation of any regional center that does not pay the fee required within 90 days after the date on which such fee is due.

For more information, visit the following web pages:

USCIS to Start Collecting Fee for EB-5 Integrity Fund | USCIS

Federal Register Notice of EB-5 Regional Center Integrity Fund Fee

EB-5 Integrity Fund | USCIS

10. How do I properly file my Form I-956H, Bona Fides of Person Involved with Regional Center Program?

All Forms I-956H must be properly filed by mailing the forms to the appropriate mailing address that is provided on the USCIS website at uscis.gov/i-956h .

This includes the submission of any Form I-956H accompanying the regional center’s Form I-956 and Form I-956F filing as well as any Form I-956H filed in response to a USCIS notice, such as a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).

If we request additional Forms I-956H, regional centers still should file the additional Forms I-956H according to the proper mailing instructions provided on the form instructions. If you send your Form I-956H to the Investor Program Office in Washington, D.C., as exhibits to your response, we may reject the form. Such rejections may result in the delay of reviewing the response and adjudicating the associated Form I-956 or I-956F application.

With the response, regional centers should indicate in their cover letter the names of all persons for whom a Form I-956H was submitted and that all requested Forms I-956H have been properly submitted according to the form instructions.

11. Why was I scheduled for my biometrics appointment at an application support center far from where I live?

We schedule biometrics appointments at the closest application support center to the address provided in Part 3, Question 15, of Form I-956H.

Therefore, individuals should provide their personal mailing address and not the attorney’s or regional center entity’s address. Providing the correct mailing address will help prevent unnecessary cancellations or rescheduling of the biometrics appointments, which delays the adjudication of the associated Form I-956 or Form I-956F application.

12. What entity name and identification number should I put in the chart in Part 2 of the Form I-956H if I am involved with multiple EB-5 entities?

The name and identification number of the specific entity (regional center, new commercial enterprise (NCE), and job creating entity (JCE)) that the person is involved with for that particular Form I-956H filing that will be filed with an associated Form I-956 (for involvement in a regional center) or Form I-956F (for involvement in a NCE or affiliated JCE). Individuals must submit more than one Form I-956H if they are involved with more than one entity, as explained below.

Specifically, each person involved with a regional center must complete Form I-956H, Bona Fides of Persons Involved with Regional Center Program, to be submitted with the regional center’s Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation.

If you are filing a Form I-956H due to your role in the regional center entity, you must provide the regional center name, any other names the regional center is authorized to use, and regional center identification number. Do NOT provide the names of any new commercial enterprise(s) (NCE) or the job-creating entity(ies) (JCE) on this chart even if you are involved with an associated NCE or JCE in some capacity.

Each person involved with an NCE and/or an affiliated JCE must complete Form I-956H to be submitted with Form I-956F, Application for Approval of Investment in a Commercial Enterprise, for those specific entities. A person involved with the regional center who previously filed Form I-956H with the Form I-956 must also file Form I-956H with the Form I-956F if that person is involved with the NCE or affiliated JCE.

Therefore, persons involved with an NCE or affiliated JCE will provide the NCE and JCE names, any other names used (for example, d/b/a), and any associated identification numbers on the Form I-956H submitted with the Form I-956F. Likewise, persons should not include the name or identification number of the regional center entity on the chart if they are submitting the Form I-956H due to their role in the NCE or JCE.

13. How can an approved regional center that does not wish to continue participation in the Regional Center Program withdraw from the Regional Center Program?  

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) did not change the process for withdrawing from the Regional Center Program and requesting a termination of a regional center designation. When an approved regional center does not want to continue participating in the Regional Center Program for any reason, a regional center may withdraw from the program and request a termination of its regional center designation pursuant to 8 CFR 204.6(m)(6)(vi). The regional center must notify USCIS of its withdrawal in the form of a letter or as otherwise requested by USCIS. Once USCIS receives a termination request is received, we will evaluate the request and notify the regional center of our decision on the termination request in writing.

Regional centers can mail the letter to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  Immigrant Investor Program Office,  131 M Street, NE, 3rd Floor, Mailstop 2235,  Washington, DC 20529

Or the regional center can email the letter to:

[email protected]

14.  Where can I find information about approved or terminated regional centers and the reasons for termination?

We publish a list of approved and terminated regional centers on our website. In addition, USCIS publishes termination notices that are final agency actions in the electronic reading room.

• USCIS approved regional centers
• USCIS terminated regional centers
• USCIS regional center termination notices

15. Do all designated Regional Centers, including those approved prior to March 15, 2022, need to file an I-956G by December 29?

Yes, INA 203(b)(5)(G) requires that each designated regional center shall submit an annual statement, in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The Secretary has designated the Form I-956G, Regional Center Annual Statement, as the manner to collect this information. The instructions for the Form I-956G implement the statutory requirement and provide that each approved regional center must file Form I-956G for each federal fiscal year (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30) on or before Dec. 29 of the calendar year in which the federal fiscal year ended. It’s important to note that these dates relate to regional center designation. If a regional center is designated but has a pending amendment, they still need to file the Form I-956G. Form I-956G and its filing requirements were published in the Federal Register on Sept. 2, 2022, 87 FR 54233.  Following public notice and comment, Form I-956G was approved by OMB on July 24, 2023, and subsequently published for use by USCIS. USCIS has also mentioned the filing requirements previously at stakeholder engagements as well as via alerts on our website, including most recently at the Oct. 30, 2023, joint engagement with the CIS Ombudsman and the Nov. 6, 2023, alert on the USCIS website.

For regional centers that fail to file Form I-956G by the required filing date, INA 203(b)(5)(G)(iii) states that USCIS shall sanction designated regional centers that do not file the required annual statement (which DHS designated as Form I-956G). In accordance with this statutory directive, USCIS will sanction regional centers who fail to comply with the requirement to file their Form I-956G, up to and including termination from the Regional Center Program.  

1. What is the legal basis that invested capital needs to remain invested for at least 2 years only for investors who filed an I-526 or I-526E petitions after enactment of the RIA?

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. This statue reauthorized the Regional Center Program, enacted significant integrity reforms to the EB-5 Program, and, among other things, modified the requirements regarding the timeframe an investor must maintain their investment to establish eligibility for classification under INA 203(b)(5) and to subsequently remove the conditions on their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status under INA 216A. Specifically, INA 203(b)(5)(A)(i) states that, to be eligible for classification, the investment must be “expected to remain invested for not less than 2 years” while INA 216A, as amended by the RIA, no longer requires that the investor sustain their investment throughout their period of conditional residence. Pursuant to Sec. 104(b)(2)(B) of the RIA, however, the removal of the sustainment requirement from INA 216A by the RIA does not apply to investors seeking to remove conditions under INA 216A based on a Form I-526 petition filed prior to enactment of the RIA. Consequently, investors who filed Form I-526 petitions prior to enactment of the RIA must sustain their investment throughout the two-year period of their conditional residence to be eligible for removal of conditions on their permanent resident status.

2. How long must an investment “remain invested” for Form I-526 and I-526E petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022?

An investor filing an EB-5 immigrant visa petition must have invested, or be in the process of investing, the required amount of capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States and expect to maintain that investment for not less than 2 years, provided job creation requirements have been met. Though the statute does not explicitly specify when the 2 year period under INA 203(b)(5)(A)(i) begins, we interpret the start date to be the date that the full amount of qualifying investment is made to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk under applicable requirements, including being made available to the job creating entity, as appropriate. If the investor invested more than 2 years before filing the Form I-526 or Form I-526E petition, the investment should generally still be maintained at the time the Form I-526 or Form I-526E is properly filed, for us to appropriately evaluate eligibility.

3. How long is the required investment timeframe for Form I-829 approval?

Because of the changes made by the RIA, the required investment timeframes for removal of conditions will differ depending on whether the investor filed their underlying petition for classification before or after enactment of the RIA.

Pre-RIA Investors. Sec. 104(b)(2)(B) of the RIA explicitly provides that the amendments made by the RIA to INA 216A, including removal of the sustainment requirement, do not apply to investors seeking to remove conditions under INA 216A based on a Form I-526 petition filed prior to enactment of the RIA. RIA Section 105(c) similarly mandated that the Secretary “continue to adjudicate petitions and benefits under sections 203(b)(5) and 216A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5) and 1186b) during the implementation of this Act and the amendments made by this Act”. Accordingly we will adjudicate Form I-829 petitions associated with Form I-526 petitions filed before March 15, 2022, under the applicable eligibility requirements in place before the enactment of the RIA. Sustainment requirements for this population will remain tied to the 2-year conditional permanent resident period. Pre-RIA investors must sustain their investment “at risk” throughout the 2-year period of conditional permanent resident to be eligible for removal of conditions on their permanent resident status. The conditional permanent resident status begins at the time of adjustment to conditional permanent resident status if the investor is in the United States or at the time of admission to the United States if the investor was abroad. We will review all documentation to establish eligibility.

Post-RIA Investors. Form I-829 petitions based on I-526 and I-526E petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022 will be considered under the new INA 203(b)(5) and 216Arequirements, as amended by the RIA. For purposes of determining the date when the two-year period required by INA 203(b)(5)(A)(i) begins, we will generally use the date that the requisite amount of qualifying investment is made to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk under applicable requirements, including being made available to the job creating entity, as appropriate. If the investor invested more than 2 years before filing the Form I-526 petition, the investment should generally still be maintained at the time the Form I-526 is properly filed, for us to appropriately evaluate eligibility.

4. Can an NCE retain an investor’s capital beyond the required investment timeframe? Does the INA place a limit on how long the capital can be retained before it must be returned to the investor?

The INA establishes only minimum required investment timeframes for purposes of applicable eligibility requirements and does not place any upward limit on how long an investor’s capital may be retained before being returned. Regional centers or their associated new commercial enterprises can negotiate longer periods of investment directly with their investors independently of EB-5 eligibility requirements.

5. For post-RIA investors, if the required 2-year investment period ends after their Form I-526 or I-526E is filed but before it is approved, can their investment capital be returned without affecting their immigrant petition (assuming job creation and all other eligibility requirements have been met)?

Likely yes, as we generally will use the date that the requisite amount of qualifying investment is made to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk under applicable requirements, including being made available to the job creating entity, as appropriate.

6. For post-RIA investors, how long must their investment remain invested if they are actively in the process of creating the requisite employment under INA 216A?

Under INA 216A, as amended by the RIA, investors who have not yet created the requisite employment when filing for removal of conditions on their permanent resident status but who are actively in the process of doing so may be granted a discretionary one-year extension of their conditional permanent resident status. The investor’s capital must remain invested during such time, even if it is beyond the two-year minimum period contemplated by INA 203(b)(5)(A)(i).

7. How do pre-RIA direct/standalone investors sustain their investment if they are in a position to get their funds back but have not yet finished their conditional permanent resident period? On that topic, at what point does USCIS consider job creation requirements to be fulfilled for direct investors?

Pre-RIA investors will continue to be subject to pre-RIA requirements for removal of conditions; their sustainment period under INA 216A is tied to the two-year period of their conditional permanent residence. The investor’s investment capital must remain at risk in the new commercial enterprise throughout the 2-year sustainment period. If the investor’s capital was deployed in a manner such that it will not remain at risk before completing the 2-year sustainment period, the investment capital must be further deployed to remain at risk. The job creation requirement is separate from the sustainment requirement and may be fulfilled by the standalone investor when their new commercial enterprise creates the required 10 full-time qualifying direct jobs in the United States. Those jobs must be permanent and held by qualified employees. The creation or preservation of jobs must occur within 2 years of the investor’s conditional permanent residency and entrance into the United States.

Targeted Employment Areas (TEA) and Infrastructure Projects

8. Where in the adjudications process will designations of high unemployment areas and infrastructure projects take place?

For regional center cases, we will make these designations in adjudicating Form I-956F, Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise .

For standalone cases, we will make these designations in adjudicating Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor . By statute, the lower investment amount and visa set aside resulting from investment in an infrastructure project are limited to regional center-sponsored commercial enterprises. See Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 203(b)(5)(D)(iv)).

Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485)

9. Can I file a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status , and Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor , or Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor , at the same time (“concurrent filing”)?

Yes, you can file Form I-485 and Form I-526 or Form I-526E concurrently if approval of your petition would make a visa immediately available to you. See INA section 245(n). If you have a pending Form I-526, including those filed before March 15, 2022, you may file a Form I-485 if you meet relevant requirements. Please refer to the Form I-485 page for additional information on Form I-485 filing requirements or consult an attorney before filing. Be sure to mail the forms to the address listed on this page: Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur.

1. Is failing to comply with biometrics appointments a ground for denying a Form I-829 and removing conditional permanent resident status?

As part of administering immigration benefits, we may require any applicant, petitioner, sponsor, beneficiary, or individual filing a benefit request, or any group or class of such persons submitting requests, to appear for an interview or biometrics services, or for both. See 8 CFR 103.2(b)(9) . Biometrics services may include fingerprints, photographs, or digital signatures. Biometrics permit us to verify a person’s identity, produce secure documents, and facilitate required background checks to protect national security and public safety and to ensure that the person is eligible for the benefit sought. If we require an individual to submit biometrics or appear for an interview or other in-person process but the person does not appear, we may consider the benefit request abandoned and deny the request unless, by the appointment time, we have received a notice of change of address or a request to reschedule that we believe warrants excusing the failure to appear. See 8 CFR 103.2(b)(13)(ii) .

2. How should industry stakeholders, petitioners, applicants, and seekers of benefits under the immigrant visa program communicate with DHS about specific EB-5 cases or seek information that is not case-specific about the EB-5 program?

Section 107 of the RIA incorporates many of the same restrictions from the 2015 DHS EB-5 Ethics and Integrity Protocols. RIA mandates that DHS employees act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any entity, organization, or individual in connection with any aspect of the EB-5 program. It also mandates specific channels as the only channels or offices by which industry stakeholders, petitioners, applicants, and seekers of benefits under the EB-5 program may communicate with DHS about specific EB-5 cases (except for communication made by applicants and petitioners under regular adjudicatory procedures), or information that is not case-specific about the EB-5 program. In accordance with these requirements, we offer the following modes of communication:

• Email to  [email protected] ;
• Our Contact Center ; and
• Our Office of Public Engagement .

3.    Can EB-5 investors continue to pursue their immigrant visa petitions and receive benefits if their regional center is terminated for failure to pay the EB-5 Integrity Fund Fee, provided all other eligibility requirements are met?

Yes, EB-5 investors associated with a terminated regional center may retain eligibility and receive benefits under certain circumstances as provided by INA 203(b)(5)(M).  However, pre-RIA investors and post-RIA investors may need to take different actions to retain their eligibility because of the different requirements and legal provisions that apply to them.

Pre-RIA investors may, in certain situations, remain eligible based on indirect jobs, as applicable to their petition before the RIA was enacted notwithstanding termination of their associated regional center. Accordingly, where regional center termination is based on failure to pay the EB-5 Integrity Fund fee, which would generally not otherwise directly affect or implicate the underlying investment or job creation, officers may generally determine, in their discretion and on a case-by-case basis, that a pre-RIA investor associated with a terminated regional center continues to be eligible for classification as an immigrant investor, despite the regional center termination and without the need to reassociate with another approved regional center or make an investment in another new commercial enterprise. Such determinations will be made in accordance with applicable USCIS policy regarding deference to prior determinations to ensure consistent adjudication. Also, USCIS will generally not consider such termination a material change that impacts continued eligibility. While regional center termination for failure to pay the required EB-5 Integrity Fund fee may generally not have an effect on pre-RIA investor eligibility in many, or even most, circumstances, it is certainly possible that an investor may invest with a regional center that both fails to pay the required EB-5 Integrity Fund fee and also have project-related eligibility concerns, such that petitioner eligibility is affected separate from the regional center’s termination for failure to pay the required EB-5 Integrity Fund fee. If the pre-RIA investor’s eligibility is affected, they may need to reassociate with another approved regional center or make an investment in another new commercial enterprise to retain eligibility under INA 203(b)(5)(M) since they may not continue to be eligible.

Post-RIA investors, however, are not subject to the same grandfathering provisions of the RIA as pre-RIA investors but are subject to the new requirements added by the RIA, such as the requirement under INA 204(a)(1)(H)(ii) to remain associated with an approved project application under INA 203(b)(5)(F) (Form I-956F). Consequently, post-RIA investors associated with a terminated regional center may retain their eligibility under INA 203(b)(5)(M) if:

• Their new commercial enterprise reassociates with another approved regional center (regardless of the regional center’s designated geographic area); or
• They make a qualifying investment in another new commercial enterprise. In either case, post-RIA investors should generally continue to be associated with an approved Form I-956F (filed by their new regional center for their existing new commercial enterprise or otherwise associated with the different new commercial enterprise into which they have invested) for purposes of remaining eligible under all applicable requirements.

USCIS will notify investors of the termination of their associated regional center, and impacted investors generally have 180 days after USCIS has provided them such notice to amend their petition to meet applicable eligibility requirements.

4.    Is it possible for an immigrant investor who has invested their capital for the requisite time period and created the requisite number of jobs prior to obtaining lawful permanent resident status to become a lawful permanent resident without conditions under INA 216A, effectively skipping the conditional residence period?

No. The RIA did not change the requirement under INA 216A that all EB-5 investors obtain lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis subject to having those conditions removed by satisfying applicable requirements under INA 216A. All EB-5 investors who obtain conditional permanent resident status subject to INA 216A must file a Form I-829 within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of their adjustment of status or their admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident to remove their conditions.

1. Why are these interpretations being announced via the USCIS website and not through notice and comment rulemaking procedures?

These updates interpret the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), and an agency is not required to use the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) notice-and-comment procedures to issue an interpretive rule or one that amends or repeals an existing interpretive rule, or when modifying rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice. See, for example, Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Assoc., 135 S. Ct. 1199 (2015). These updates and interpretations do not add to the substantive regulations, create legally binding rights, obligations, or change the substantive standards by which IPO will evaluate EB-5 petitions and applications. Rather, we have interpreted the investor eligibility investment sustainment as closely as practicable to the plain language of the RIA.

2. Are USCIS officers bound by this guidance?

This website guidance helps our officers in rendering decisions, and should generally be followed by officers in the performance of their duties but it does not remove their discretion in making adjudicatory decisions. This guidance and the interpretations do not create any substantive or procedural right or benefit that is legally enforceable by any party against the United States or its agencies or officers or any other person.

3. How will USCIS apply these provisions and has it considered the reliance interests of, and potential retroactive impacts to, EB-5 entities and petitioners who filed or were approved prior to the RIA?

Required Investment Timeframe. As intended by the RIA, we will apply the provisions of the INA applicable to required investment timeframes and amended by the RIA to EB-5 investors that file their Form I-526 or Form I-526E petitions on or after March 15, 2022. Forms I-829 based on Forms I-526 that were filed prior to March 15, 2022, will generally continue to be adjudicated under the prior statutory framework, as required by Sections 104(b)(2)(B) and 105(c) of the RIA. After a consideration of reliance interests and potential retroactive impacts, we believe the interpretations and guidance explained above provide flexibility and lessen the burdens on EB-5 entities.

Interpreting the start date for the 2-year investment period required under INA 203(b)(5)(A)(i) to be the date that the full amount of qualifying investment is made to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk under applicable requirements, aligns most closely with the plain language of the statute. Additionally, for us to appropriately evaluate eligibility, the investment should generally still be maintained if the investor invested more than 2 years before filing the Form I-526 or Form I-526E petition.

We do not believe that there are reliance or retroactivity impacts with this interpretation, as it aligns closely with the plain language of the statute and applies to petitions filed on or after the effective date of the RIA. To the extent there may be interests at stake, we believe this interpretation lessens the burden on the investor to keep their investment in place for an extended period, due to circumstances beyond the investor’s or the NCE’s control, such as visa backlogs or other such circumstances. Further we believe it provides the greatest level of flexibility for stakeholders to create investment strategies, limits the need for NCEs to redeploy investor capital after sufficient jobs have been created, and provides the investor a significant degree of control.

INA 203(b)(5)(M). Interpreting INA 203(b)(5)(M) to apply to pre-RIA investors associated with a terminated regional center (or debarred new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity) is also in accordance with the plain language of the INA and its intent. Neither the RIA nor the INA differentiates between pre- or post-RIA investors for purposes of the protections afforded to good faith investors under INA 203(b)(5)(M). We recognize that applying a new provision of the INA added by the RIA to those who filed prior to its effective date could appear to be retroactive; however, we believe that this protects petitioner and applicant interests.  Further, the relevant conduct covered by this provision, termination or debarment of an EB-5 entity, from which applicable legal consequences will flow will be applied only to terminations or debarment occurring after enactment of the RIA (in other words, we will apply this provision prospectively based on the conduct—termination or debarment—relevant to its application). More specifically, prior to the RIA, regional center investors had to show that their investment was within an approved regional center in order to demonstrate eligibility for their Forms I-526 petitions and, in line with these requirements, longstanding USCIS policy has considered the termination of a regional center associated with a regional center investor’s Form I-526 petition to constitute a material change that would generally result in ineligibility. Applying this provision for post-RIA terminations or debarments of associated EB-5 entities avoids significant adverse impact to pre-RIA petitioners whose eligibility could be impacted by post-RIA terminations or debarments and provides flexibilities for them to maintain eligibility.

As for notification deadlines, we have authority to extend certain deadlines under INA 203(b)(5)(M)(v)(II). We generally plan to extend the deadline for pre-RIA investors to respond to a regional center termination notification until Uwe adjudicate their petition. We recognize that this interpretation would not generally apply to post-RIA investors, however, we believe this is justifiable because there is a large volume of investors that could be affected by terminations of previously designated regional centers based solely on noncompliance with certain new administrative requirements added by the RIA and that this is unlikely to recur to the same degree and with the same considerations for post-RIA investors in the future. Specifically, before March 15, 2022, there were 632 regional centers and as of June 30, 2023, we have received only 357 Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation, applications or amendments for previously designated regional centers, and only 250 of previously designated regional centers have paid the Integrity Fund Fee. We interpret the RIA in a manner we hope permits good faith investors of terminated regional centers to retain their eligibility, and do not believe post-RIA investors will be under the same immediate constraints such that they would be prejudiced by interpreting and applying this flexibility to pre-RIA investors in this limited circumstance.

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Q: Should I sign a combined declaration and assignment if I have not seen the patent application?

My employer has, on several occasions, had me sign paperwork to assign ownership of patents for products I have worked on to the company. Which is fine, I agreed to as much when I accepted the job. These documents include four declarations, the first three of which involve reviewing and confirming aspects of the application, and the fourth is acknowledgement that I am subject to fines or jail time for making any false statements. The company has declined to provide me with a copy of the application (I don't know if it's even been written . . .). I get that this form is basically superfluous, since they can sign on my behalf based on my employment contract. But I'm disinclined to sign something that is clearly not true even if it's just a technicality. OTOH I'm concerned bout not receiving credit for future work if I make this difficult. Should I just sign, or is there reason to be concerned about consequences -- or about abetting a bad filing if it's being shoddily handled like this?

• Sacramento, CA
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A: Based on the information you've provided, there are a few important considerations: 1. Legal implications: Signing a declaration without having seen the patent application could potentially expose you to legal risks, especially if the declaration includes statements confirming aspects of the application that you cannot verify. The fourth declaration you mentioned, acknowledging potential fines or jail time for false statements, underscores the seriousness of this issue. 2. Ethical concerns: If you are uncomfortable signing a document that you believe contains false statements, even if they seem like technicalities, it's reasonable to hesitate. Signing something you know to be untrue could be considered unethical. 3. Professional credit: Your concern about not receiving credit for future work if you don't sign is understandable. However, if your employment contract already assigns patent rights to your employer, refusing to sign this particular document may not necessarily jeopardize your professional credit. Recommendation: Before signing, it would be prudent to raise your concerns with your employer or the legal department handling the patent application. Explain that you are hesitant to sign declarations confirming aspects of an application you haven't seen. Request a copy of the application to review before signing, or ask if the language in the declarations can be modified to reflect that you are assigning rights but not making specific claims about the application's contents. If your employer is unwilling to provide the application or modify the declarations, you may want to consider seeking independent legal advice to better understand your rights and obligations in this situation. A lawyer specializing in intellectual property and employment law could help you assess the potential risks and advise on how to proceed. Ultimately, while not signing may create some friction with your employer, signing a document you know to contain false statements could expose you to more serious consequences. It's important to balance your professional obligations with your personal integrity and legal protection.

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