Research and critical analysis
Introductory Paragraph
Outline for Introductory Paragraph
• Opening Sentence: Grab the reader’s attention.
• Sentences Between: Each sentence should naturally flow from the
opening sentence into the thesis statement.
• Thesis Statement: One sentence to summarize what is addressed in the
paper with your recommendation: It is your whole paper “squished” into
one sentence!
Color Coding:
Green = Opening sentence meant to grab reader’s attention
Red = Sentences in between that are needed to transition from Green to Purple
Purple = Thesis statement
Opening Sentence
Transition Sentences Between
Thesis
Statement
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Student Sample Introductory Paragraph
African American, American Indian, and Alaska Native women are up to three times more likely to die
from adverse pregnancy related outcomes, a disparity that increases with age (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 2019). Researchers found a program which provided support to African American
women through group trainings, entailing of stress reduction techniques, life skills development, and the
building of social support. This enabled mitigation efforts to be focused and geared around the factors that
influence and contributed to adverse pregnancy outcomes among the minority women within the
community, thus reducing and preventing negative pregnancy outcomes in women of color.
In the United States, maternal mortality and adverse health outcomes persist within the minority
community, and as a result, racial disparities in healthcare among pregnant women is a current
preventable public health concern, therefore it is vital to understand the determinants of health that
influences negative pregnancy related outcomes in minority women, similar to one of California’s
intervention programs, the Black Infant Health Program (Nichols and Cohen, 2019).
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Opening Sentence
Activity: 1st Sentence of the Opening Paragraph
Purpose: To Grab the Reader’s Attention
This ONE Sentence Must include:
1. a surprising, disturbing, little-known, or wonderful fact
2. a statistic
3. an in-text citation
Examples: Find and Number All Three of These Elements Below
Sample 1
Breast cancer is a disease that affected almost 237,000 women in the United States in
2014 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).
Sample 2
Studies estimate that approximately 40 million Americans, or about 20 percent of the
population, are attempting to restrict their intake of food high in carbohydrates (Sanders and
Katz, 2004; Hirsch, 2004).
Write your own here, and number the 3 parts!
1st sample adapted from student paper, anonymous;
2nd sample adapted from on-line textbook, retrieved from http://saylor.org/books, p.455
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The Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement is the driving force of your paper based on research, and containing
no opinions or generic and broad advice, but it should contain your stance on the topic
(based on research). In other words, you need to justify your stance based on research.
General Formula
Topic + your stance on the topic + why this is your stance supported by
research (citation) = your thesis statement
***Important***
Certain things can change in the general formula
based on what your professor asks. This is why it
is so important to read directions very carefully.
KG 604: Steps to the Thesis
Since your directions say you must make a recommendation based on research, that recommendation
becomes your stance. Follow the steps below to help form your thesis statement:
1. Restate the Problem with citation
2. Isolate and name the company/organization/program/policy and state why it works, with
citation
Sample Thesis Statements
Research examples to illustrate the points above.
3. Connect #2 to your population or location and write your recommendation
It is recognized that the most effective means of mitigating information security risks within
an organization is training employees who use these devices (Albrechtsen & Hovden, 2010);
therefore, it is necessary to implement mandatory training and cyber prevention courses,
similar to Bank A’s professional training (Lastname, year), to employees of Bank B to protect
them from the losses caused by the increasing number of scams and e-mail scams.
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Activity: Practice with Parts of the Thesis Statement
Can you color code any words in the sample below that match the above formula in Red, Green, and
Blue?
It is important to keep in check the fraudulent behavior of the medical institutions to
reduce wastage of government funds and the money of the citizens (Briccetti, 2021);
therefore, in any circumstance, public health authorities and health experts of Company A
should rigorously verify all information related to claims and procedures before approving
any of those claims to avoid overbilling or fraudulent medical billing through
implementation of Company’s B’s compliance program (Lastname, year), which has
proven to be successful in management of funds (Lastname, year).
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Activity: Drafting Your Thesis Statement
Answer the following questions in the orange column below and place a check mark next to each
task
Steps Description of Steps Draft Your Notes to Build Your Thesis Statement Check
1 ✓ Restate the Problem
with citation:
2 ✓ Isolate and name the
company/organization/
program/policy and state
why it works, with citation:
3 ✓ Connect #2 to your
population or location and
write your
recommendation
Steps Ensure the Following: Check
4 ✓ My thesis statement is the Last Sentence of the Opening
Paragraph
5 ✓ My recommendation is based ONLY on the Research, with None
of Your generalized or unsupported Opinions
6 ✓ My thesis statement contains in-text citations
