Professors should help students consider the written conventions of their fields several weeks before the papers are due. Reports on the process of research, as well as its results, will have an appropriate place in many disciplines. The inexperienced writer can be derailed by the task of stating a thesis or a guiding focus, a strong point to be made or the argument the piece of writing is sustaining. In an effort to be helpful, faculty sometimes ask students to state a thesis at the beginning of the research process. Although this practice may assist some writers, for most writers the demand to state a thesis early on shortcuts the inquiry process the research is supposed to foster.
Theses emerge during research.
Writers don't know what their thesis or focus will be when they start. Furthermore, a thesis is a response to an implied question. When a significant chunk of the research is done, students are ready to answer their major research question with a thesis which reflects their position or argument. At this point, several weeks into the research process, it is helpful to ask students to write emerging thesis statements in class. Some faculty collect these and respond to the statements before more research or writing takes place as a productive and time- effective way of intervening in the research process.