Qualifying a Thesis

A careful writer and researcher needs to be mindful of possible objections to a thesis claim. If it is the case that there are some exceptions to the argument you are making, for the sake of credibility, you need to acknowledge this in your thesis statement. Here is a thesis statement taken from an article entitled “Peacekeeping During the Cold War.” A qualifying phrase and word are underlined.

There are some exceptions, but resolutions calling for enforcement action under UN auspices were politically nearly impossible to pass during the Cold War.

Qualifying words and phrases such as apparently, presumably, seems to, very likely, and nearly in thesis statements are sometimes seen as weakening the impact of a thesis. But it is better to qualify an argument than to make a bold claim that can be readily contested by one or two exceptions. Qualifying terms make a thesis statement more reasonable, and in some cases more respectably scientific.