thesis with 3 categories

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource provides tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of different types of thesis statements.

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

The paper that follows should:

Explain the analysis of the college admission process
Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

Knowledge Base
Dissertation
What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

Published on September 14, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis is a type of research paper based on your original research. It is usually submitted as the final step of a master’s program or a capstone to a bachelor’s degree.

Writing a thesis can be a daunting experience. Other than a dissertation , it is one of the longest pieces of writing students typically complete. It relies on your ability to conduct research from start to finish: choosing a relevant topic , crafting a proposal , designing your research , collecting data , developing a robust analysis, drawing strong conclusions , and writing concisely .

Thesis template

You can also download our full thesis template in the format of your choice below. Our template includes a ready-made table of contents , as well as guidance for what each chapter should include. It’s easy to make it your own, and can help you get started.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Thesis vs. thesis statement, how to structure a thesis, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your thesis, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about theses.

You may have heard the word thesis as a standalone term or as a component of academic writing called a thesis statement . Keep in mind that these are two very different things.

A thesis statement is a very common component of an essay, particularly in the humanities. It usually comprises 1 or 2 sentences in the introduction of your essay , and should clearly and concisely summarize the central points of your academic essay .
A thesis is a long-form piece of academic writing, often taking more than a full semester to complete. It is generally a degree requirement for Master’s programs, and is also sometimes required to complete a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts colleges.
In the US, a dissertation is generally written as a final step toward obtaining a PhD.
In other countries (particularly the UK), a dissertation is generally written at the bachelor’s or master’s level.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The final structure of your thesis depends on a variety of components, such as:

Your discipline
Your theoretical approach

Humanities theses are often structured more like a longer-form essay . Just like in an essay, you build an argument to support a central thesis.

In both hard and social sciences, theses typically include an introduction , literature review , methodology section , results section , discussion section , and conclusion section . These are each presented in their own dedicated section or chapter. In some cases, you might want to add an appendix .

Thesis examples

We’ve compiled a short list of thesis examples to help you get started.

Example thesis #1: “Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the ‘Noble Savage’ on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807” by Suchait Kahlon.
Example thesis #2: “’A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man’: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947″ by Julian Saint Reiman.

The very first page of your thesis contains all necessary identifying information, including:

Your full title
Your full name
Your department
Your institution and degree program
Your submission date.

Sometimes the title page also includes your student ID, the name of your supervisor, or the university’s logo. Check out your university’s guidelines if you’re not sure.

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework, but these are not the same thing. A theoretical framework defines and analyzes the concepts and theories that your research hinges on.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/thesis/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, dissertation & thesis outline | example & free templates, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, 10 research question examples to guide your research project, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

How To Write 3 Types Of Thesis Statements

A thesis statement is “a short summary of the main idea, purpose, or argument of an essay that usually appears in the first paragraph.” It’s generally only one or two sentences in length.

A strong thesis statement is the backbone of a well-organized paper, and helps you decide what information is most important to include and how it should be presented.

What is a good thesis statement?

This thesis statement, for example, could open a paper on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s importance as a civil rights leader: “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential figures of the American civil rights movement. His moving speeches and nonviolent protests helped unite a nation divided by race.”

This example lays out the writer’s basic argument (King was an important leader of the American civil rights movement), offers two areas of evidence (his speeches and nonviolent protests), and explains why the argument matters (united a divided nation).

A good thesis statement delivers a clear message about the scope of the topic and the writer’s approach to the subject. In contrast, poor thesis statements fail to take a position, are based solely on personal opinion, or state an obvious truth. For example, “Democracy is a form of government,” is a weak thesis statement because it’s too general, doesn’t adopt a stance, and states a well-known fact that doesn’t need further explanation.

What are the different types of thesis statements?

Thesis statements can be explanatory , argumentative , or analytical . The type of paper determines the form of the thesis statement.

1. Explanatory thesis statement

An explanatory thesis statement is based solely on factual information. It doesn’t contain personal opinions or make claims that are unsupported by evidence. Instead, it tells the reader precisely what the topic will be and touches on the major points that will be explored in the essay. An explanatory thesis statement is sometimes also called an expository thesis statement .

For example: The core components of a healthy lifestyle include a nutritious diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep.

2. Argumentative thesis statement

In an argumentative essay, the writer takes a stance on a debatable topic. This stance, and the claims to back it up, is the argument . Unlike an explanatory thesis statement, an argumentative thesis statement allows the writer to take a position about a subject (e.g., the deeper meaning of a literary text, the best policy towards a social problem) and to convince readers of their stance. The body of the argumentative essay uses examples and other evidence to support the writer’s opinion.

For example: Shakespeares’s Taming of the Shrew uses humor, disguise, and social roles to criticize the lack of power women had in Elizabethan England.

3. Analytical thesis statement

An analytical thesis statement analyzes, or breaks down, an issue or idea into its different parts. Then, it evaluates the topic and clearly presents the order of the analysis to the reader.

For example: The school’s policy to start its school day an hour later revealed three related benefits: students were more alert and attentive in class, had a more positive about school, and performed better in their coursework.

How to write a thesis statement

Writing a thesis statement requires time and careful thought. The thesis statement should flow naturally from research and set out the writer’s discoveries. When composing a thesis statement, make sure it focuses on one main idea that can be reasonably covered within your desired page length. Try not to write about the entire history of America, for example, in a three-page paper.

Although deciding upon a thesis statement can be challenging and time-consuming, a strong thesis statement can make the paper both easier to write and more enjoyable to read. Don’t worry: we’re not going to leave you hanging! We’ve got a whole article to help you write an effective thesis statement here .

Ways To Say

Synonym of the day

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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

Make a Gift

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

Writing a Thesis Statement — Definition, Types, and Examples

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement is a single sentence that identifies the topic and purpose of a scholarly research paper or academic writing. A thesis statement directly or indirectly presents the main points of the paper. Information presented in the essay should tie directly back to the thesis.

Overall, a good thesis statement accomplishes the following:

Identifies the purpose of the essay

Expresses the writer's position/opinion

Lists the main supports (optional)

Briefly summarizes the writer's conclusion(s)

Establish if the essay is explanatory, argumentative, or analytical

People often confuse thesis statements with topic sentences , which start each body paragraph. Typically, the thesis statement is the final sentence in the introductory paragraph and acts as a “road map” for the rest of the paper.

Types of thesis statements

The three main types of thesis statements are explanatory, argumentative, and analytical.

Explanatory thesis statements are used in expository essays that focus solely on informing the reader. Papers with this type of thesis do not contain the writer's opinion, nor do they try to persuade the reader.

The three main branches of science taught in public schools include biology, chemistry, and physics.

Argumentative thesis statements identify the writer's position or point of view on a given topic. Argumentative essays persuade the reader to agree with the writer's stance. If the reader cannot agree or disagree with the claim in the thesis, then it is not argumentative.

Public schools should place more emphasis on the arts because they encourage creativity, help improve academic development, and provide a beneficial emotional outlet.

Analytical thesis statements are used in papers that analyze how or why something does what it does. These thesis statements identify what the writer is analyzing, the parts of the analysis, and the order of those parts.

An analysis of course requirements in public schools suggests access to more electives can increase graduation rates.

How to write a thesis statement

When writing a thesis, the following guidelines apply:

Step 1: Determine the type of paper (explanatory, argumentative, or analytical).

Step 2: Identify the topic, position/claim, and supports of the essay.

Step 3: Determine if the supports should be included within the thesis. Although they are considered optional, they might be required depending on the audience and purpose of the essay.

Step 4: Compose a sentence that includes the topic, position, and supports (optional). While a thesis statement can be more than one sentence, it should not exceed two.

Step 5: Place the thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph(s). Placing it at the end of the introduction and before the supports allows the reader to focus on the paper’s main purpose.

Thesis statement examples

The following examples highlight each type of thesis statement.

Topic: Alternative Energy Sources

Explanatory Thesis: Alternative energy sources that can supplement the use of fossil fuels include solar, wind, and geothermal.

Argumentative Thesis: To combat reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels, the United States would benefit from focusing on alternative energy options.

Analytical Thesis: Analysis suggests that replacing fossil fuels with alternative energy sources could negatively impact the economy.

Topic: Social Media

Explanatory Thesis: Three of the first platforms that influenced the world of social media include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Argumentative Thesis: Social media negatively influences society as it increases opportunities for cyberbullying, limits face-to-face interactions, and creates unrealistic expectations.

Analytical Thesis: An analysis of the use of social media suggests itis irrevocably harming the development of teenagers.

Topic: Standardized Testing

Explanatory Thesis: Standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT play a limited role in influencing college acceptance.

Argumentative Thesis: Standardized testing should not be required because it increases anxiety, does not measure progress, and cannot predict future success.

Analytical Thesis: Analysis suggests that standardized testing in elementary and high school negatively impacts students' academic success.

Buy Me a Coffee

Home » Thesis – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

Thesis – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

Table of contents.

Definition:

Thesis is a scholarly document that presents a student’s original research and findings on a particular topic or question. It is usually written as a requirement for a graduate degree program and is intended to demonstrate the student’s mastery of the subject matter and their ability to conduct independent research.

History of Thesis

The concept of a thesis can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular subject. However, the modern form of the thesis as a scholarly document used to earn a degree is a relatively recent development.

The origin of the modern thesis can be traced back to medieval universities in Europe. During this time, students were required to present a “disputation” in which they would defend a particular thesis in front of their peers and faculty members. These disputations served as a way to demonstrate the student’s mastery of the subject matter and were often the final requirement for earning a degree.

In the 17th century, the concept of the thesis was formalized further with the creation of the modern research university. Students were now required to complete a research project and present their findings in a written document, which would serve as the basis for their degree.

The modern thesis as we know it today has evolved over time, with different disciplines and institutions adopting their own standards and formats. However, the basic elements of a thesis – original research, a clear research question, a thorough review of the literature, and a well-argued conclusion – remain the same.

Structure of Thesis

The structure of a thesis may vary slightly depending on the specific requirements of the institution, department, or field of study, but generally, it follows a specific format.

Here’s a breakdown of the structure of a thesis:

This is the first page of the thesis that includes the title of the thesis, the name of the author, the name of the institution, the department, the date, and any other relevant information required by the institution.

This is a brief summary of the thesis that provides an overview of the research question, methodology, findings, and conclusions.

This page provides a list of all the chapters and sections in the thesis and their page numbers.

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the research question, the context of the research, and the purpose of the study. The introduction should also outline the methodology and the scope of the research.

Literature Review

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the relevant literature on the research topic. It should demonstrate the gap in the existing knowledge and justify the need for the research.

Methodology

This chapter provides a detailed description of the research methods used to gather and analyze data. It should explain the research design, the sampling method, data collection techniques, and data analysis procedures.

This chapter presents the findings of the research. It should include tables, graphs, and charts to illustrate the results.

This chapter interprets the results and relates them to the research question. It should explain the significance of the findings and their implications for the research topic.

This chapter summarizes the key findings and the main conclusions of the research. It should also provide recommendations for future research.

This section provides a list of all the sources cited in the thesis. The citation style may vary depending on the requirements of the institution or the field of study.

This section includes any additional material that supports the research, such as raw data, survey questionnaires, or other relevant documents.

How to write Thesis

Here are some steps to help you write a thesis:

Choose a Topic: The first step in writing a thesis is to choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. You should also consider the scope of the topic and the availability of resources for research.
Develop a Research Question: Once you have chosen a topic, you need to develop a research question that you will answer in your thesis. The research question should be specific, clear, and feasible.
Conduct a Literature Review: Before you start your research, you need to conduct a literature review to identify the existing knowledge and gaps in the field. This will help you refine your research question and develop a research methodology.
Develop a Research Methodology: Once you have refined your research question, you need to develop a research methodology that includes the research design, data collection methods, and data analysis procedures.
Collect and Analyze Data: After developing your research methodology, you need to collect and analyze data. This may involve conducting surveys, interviews, experiments, or analyzing existing data.
Write the Thesis: Once you have analyzed the data, you need to write the thesis. The thesis should follow a specific structure that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references.
Edit and Proofread: After completing the thesis, you need to edit and proofread it carefully. You should also have someone else review it to ensure that it is clear, concise, and free of errors.
Submit the Thesis: Finally, you need to submit the thesis to your academic advisor or committee for review and evaluation.

Example of Thesis

Example of Thesis template for Students:

Title of Thesis

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Chapter 4: Results

Chapter 5: Discussion

Chapter 6: Conclusion

References:

Appendices:

Note: That’s just a basic template, but it should give you an idea of the structure and content that a typical thesis might include. Be sure to consult with your department or supervisor for any specific formatting requirements they may have. Good luck with your thesis!

Application of Thesis

Thesis is an important academic document that serves several purposes. Here are some of the applications of thesis:

Academic Requirement: A thesis is a requirement for many academic programs, especially at the graduate level. It is an essential component of the evaluation process and demonstrates the student’s ability to conduct original research and contribute to the knowledge in their field.
Career Advancement: A thesis can also help in career advancement. Employers often value candidates who have completed a thesis as it demonstrates their research skills, critical thinking abilities, and their dedication to their field of study.
Publication : A thesis can serve as a basis for future publications in academic journals, books, or conference proceedings. It provides the researcher with an opportunity to present their research to a wider audience and contribute to the body of knowledge in their field.
Personal Development: Writing a thesis is a challenging task that requires time, dedication, and perseverance. It provides the student with an opportunity to develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills that are essential for their personal and professional development.
Impact on Society: The findings of a thesis can have an impact on society by addressing important issues, providing insights into complex problems, and contributing to the development of policies and practices.

Purpose of Thesis

The purpose of a thesis is to present original research findings in a clear and organized manner. It is a formal document that demonstrates a student’s ability to conduct independent research and contribute to the knowledge in their field of study. The primary purposes of a thesis are:

To Contribute to Knowledge: The main purpose of a thesis is to contribute to the knowledge in a particular field of study. By conducting original research and presenting their findings, the student adds new insights and perspectives to the existing body of knowledge.
To Demonstrate Research Skills: A thesis is an opportunity for the student to demonstrate their research skills. This includes the ability to formulate a research question, design a research methodology, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
To Develop Critical Thinking: Writing a thesis requires critical thinking and analysis. The student must evaluate existing literature and identify gaps in the field, as well as develop and defend their own ideas.
To Provide Evidence of Competence : A thesis provides evidence of the student’s competence in their field of study. It demonstrates their ability to apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems, and their ability to communicate their ideas effectively.
To Facilitate Career Advancement : Completing a thesis can help the student advance their career by demonstrating their research skills and dedication to their field of study. It can also provide a basis for future publications, presentations, or research projects.

When to Write Thesis

The timing for writing a thesis depends on the specific requirements of the academic program or institution. In most cases, the opportunity to write a thesis is typically offered at the graduate level, but there may be exceptions.

Generally, students should plan to write their thesis during the final year of their graduate program. This allows sufficient time for conducting research, analyzing data, and writing the thesis. It is important to start planning the thesis early and to identify a research topic and research advisor as soon as possible.

In some cases, students may be able to write a thesis as part of an undergraduate program or as an independent research project outside of an academic program. In such cases, it is important to consult with faculty advisors or mentors to ensure that the research is appropriately designed and executed.

It is important to note that the process of writing a thesis can be time-consuming and requires a significant amount of effort and dedication. It is important to plan accordingly and to allocate sufficient time for conducting research, analyzing data, and writing the thesis.

Characteristics of Thesis

The characteristics of a thesis vary depending on the specific academic program or institution. However, some general characteristics of a thesis include:

Originality : A thesis should present original research findings or insights. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to conduct independent research and contribute to the knowledge in their field of study.
Clarity : A thesis should be clear and concise. It should present the research question, methodology, findings, and conclusions in a logical and organized manner. It should also be well-written, with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Research-Based: A thesis should be based on rigorous research, which involves collecting and analyzing data from various sources. The research should be well-designed, with appropriate research methods and techniques.
Evidence-Based : A thesis should be based on evidence, which means that all claims made in the thesis should be supported by data or literature. The evidence should be properly cited using appropriate citation styles.
Critical Thinking: A thesis should demonstrate the student’s ability to critically analyze and evaluate information. It should present the student’s own ideas and arguments, and engage with existing literature in the field.
Academic Style : A thesis should adhere to the conventions of academic writing. It should be well-structured, with clear headings and subheadings, and should use appropriate academic language.

Advantages of Thesis

There are several advantages to writing a thesis, including:

Development of Research Skills: Writing a thesis requires extensive research and analytical skills. It helps to develop the student’s research skills, including the ability to formulate research questions, design and execute research methodologies, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
Contribution to Knowledge: Writing a thesis provides an opportunity for the student to contribute to the knowledge in their field of study. By conducting original research, they can add new insights and perspectives to the existing body of knowledge.
Preparation for Future Research: Completing a thesis prepares the student for future research projects. It provides them with the necessary skills to design and execute research methodologies, analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.
Career Advancement: Writing a thesis can help to advance the student’s career. It demonstrates their research skills and dedication to their field of study, and provides a basis for future publications, presentations, or research projects.
Personal Growth: Completing a thesis can be a challenging and rewarding experience. It requires dedication, hard work, and perseverance. It can help the student to develop self-confidence, independence, and a sense of accomplishment.

Limitations of Thesis

There are also some limitations to writing a thesis, including:

Time and Resources: Writing a thesis requires a significant amount of time and resources. It can be a time-consuming and expensive process, as it may involve conducting original research, analyzing data, and producing a lengthy document.
Narrow Focus: A thesis is typically focused on a specific research question or topic, which may limit the student’s exposure to other areas within their field of study.
Limited Audience: A thesis is usually only read by a small number of people, such as the student’s thesis advisor and committee members. This limits the potential impact of the research findings.
Lack of Real-World Application : Some thesis topics may be highly theoretical or academic in nature, which may limit their practical application in the real world.
Pressure and Stress : Writing a thesis can be a stressful and pressure-filled experience, as it may involve meeting strict deadlines, conducting original research, and producing a high-quality document.
Potential for Isolation: Writing a thesis can be a solitary experience, as the student may spend a significant amount of time working independently on their research and writing.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

Data Collection – Methods Types and Examples

Delimitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Research Process – Steps, Examples and Tips

Research Design – Types, Methods and Examples

Institutional Review Board – Application Sample...

Evaluating Research – Process, Examples and...

Developing Your Thesis

View in pdf format.

[There are] one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors, who have no aim beyond their facts, are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize, using the labor of the fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict; their best illumination comes from above, through the skylight. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “The Poet at the Breakfast Table” 50

The thesis, usually expressed in one or two sentences, is the central, organizing claim of your paper. Holmes’s distinction above between one-, two-, and three-story intellects is a useful way to think about your thesis.

A one-story thesis shows that you have read the material.
A two-story thesis commits to helping your reader better grasp what s/he may have missed.
A three-story thesis challenges your reader’s understanding of the material and promises to broaden and deepen your reader's grasp of implications and significance.

A one-story thesis may be adequate for some situations, but it is limited in scope, and your reader is unlikely to find a one-story-thesis challenging or engaging. Why stay on the ground floor when you can see the view from above?

Know your objectives

To decide whether to develop a one-, two-, or three-story thesis, you need to know your objectives. The level of analysis you pursue depends on the assignment’s goals. At times, a one- or a two-story thesis is an adequate response; for instance, for an assignment asking you to summarize a reading or respond to a specific question. But because a paper driven by a three-story thesis demands that you address a real analytical problem, it will be more challenging for you to write, more engaging for your reader, and will result in a superior paper.

One-story thesis

A one-story thesis demonstrates your ability to collect and report facts . A one-story thesis typically results in an essay that may be adequate, but it is dull because it doesn't have a great deal to say. A paper with a one-story thesis describes and summarizes information, but it does not address a problem worth examining. A one-story thesis offers to “prove” a point that should be apparent to anyone who has read the material.

Example 1: In Shakespeare’s sonnet 18, the speaker compares his lover to a summer’s day in order to praise his lover's superior beauty.

This thesis leads to description: a summer’s day is like this, the lover is like that. Most readers will make the same observation; it doesn't need to be proven.

Example 2: In Marie de France’s poetry, some characters who indulge in adultery are rewarded for their behavior, while others are punished.

This thesis also leads to description and indicates the shape of the discussion: some things happen to these characters, other things happen to those characters. Most readers will have already noticed this fact.

A one-story thesis will leave the good reader with a lingering question: “So what? Tell me more.”

Two-story thesis

A two-story thesis goes beyond the obvious. Rather than being a collection and reporting of facts, a two-story thesis examines how the facts work in relation to one another and thus allows for interpretation, inference, and complication. A two-story thesis generally points to a genuine problem raised by the evidence, although it may not go all the way towards explaining a solution.

Example 1: Comparing his lover to a summer’s day in sonnet 18, Shakespeare’s speaker argues that his verse will confer immortality on his lover, while even the most gorgeous day will quickly fade into night.

Unlike the one-story thesis, this thesis is not immediately obvious . But while the two-story thesis is more complicated and thoughtful than the one-story variety, it is still a kind of reporting of the facts: the lover’s beauty will survive, while the beautiful day will perish.

Example 2: Marie de France treats adultery very inconsistently: some adulterous characters are rewarded, while others are punished. Typically, the author rewards those characters who enter into adulterous relationships to escape from an unhappy marriage, and she punishes those who commit adultery simply for lust or profit.

Similar to example one, this two-story thesis is not obvious; the writer must use reasoning and evidence to prove the thesis to the reader. But while the two-story thesis is certainly preferable, it is still a reporting of the facts: the “good” adulterers are like this, the “bad” are like that. A good reader will be left with the question, “What are the implications of your observations?”

Missing in both one- and two- story theses: analysis .

Why does it matter that Shakespeare distinguishes between eternal and transitory beauty? How does knowing this advance your understanding of the poem? Why does it matter that some adulterers are rewarded and others are punished? Why is it significant that Marie de France distinguishes between motives?

Three-story thesis

A three-story thesis (the one with Holmes’s skylight) answers the question, “Why is this idea important?” It addresses and resolves some of the complexities of a real analytical problem.

The three-story thesis, clearly the most ambitious of the three types, can be enormously satisfying…. Holmes remarks that illumination…comes from “above the skylight.” The skylight metaphor suggests a mind that lets light in, that is open to a world outside itself and is ready to learn and question. The very best papers are built on three-story theses. (Rosen and Behrens 86)

In the following examples of introductory paragraphs with three-story theses, note that every idea in the introduction builds to the thesis. Due to the complexity of three-story theses, three-story theses often are not restricted to a single sentence. Also note the use of conjunctive adverbs to signify the relationship between ideas (Common conjunctive adverbs: although , despite , however , nevertheless , and yet ).

Example 1: When Shakespeare’s speaker compares his lover to a summer’s day in sonnet 18, he privileges his lover’s eternal beauty over the transitory pleasures of a summer’s day. Yet although it initially seems that the lover's beauty will last forever, the speaker eventually reveals that only his own writing will stand the test of time. Acknowledging that only those stylized aspects of his lover’s beauty that can be captured in verse will survive, and not the natural beauty suggested by the summer’s day, the speaker suggests that he values his own poetic powers more than the actual beauties of his lover.

Example 2: The fact that in Marie de France’s poetry some adulterous characters are rewarded for their behavior, while others are punished, seems to imply the lack of a moral standard; it appears contradictory for Marie de France to condone in one poem the same behavior that she condemns in the next. However, these apparent discrepancies actually reveal the presence of a profound moral system, one that looks beyond the basic fact of adultery and takes into account the motivations behind it and the means by which it is carried out. Ultimately, Marie de France places a higher value on individual generosity and goodwill than on adherence to the Church's official rules of conduct.

A three-story thesis is not necessarily intuitive. It seems to say, “Yes, it appears this way, but it is also like that. This is what it means and/or why it is significant.” The three-story thesis is something that reasonable readers could disagree with—it takes some risks and conceivably could be disproven. Your challenge as writer is to construct an argument based on a close analysis of sources and evidence in order to persuade readers that your argument is valid. If you are successful, readers will have learned something new.

Getting from a one-story to a three-story thesis

Ask yourself questions. What is interesting about an idea? What is it related to? Why does it matter? Do the sources or other evidence endorse a particular viewpoint? What are the ramifications of this viewpoint? So what? Think about relationships between ideas.

Be specific. Pin down the parameters of the argument. If you are interested in how different authors view a particular issue, for example, which authors or works will you examine? How exactly do the authors’ views differ, and why ? And, most importantly, why does it matter that their views are different?

Be guided by evidence. Read source materials multiple times. Look for patterns, connections, and themes. Is your topic more complex than you first thought? You are not trying to create a tidy argument; your goal is to develop insight into how a text actually works, how authors think, how evidence connects, what limitations exist in other writers' ideas, and, finally, how to convey your insights to your readers.

Consider nuances. Make clear the nuances of your thinking. Show the specific logic of the relationships between ideas. Words commonly used to link related ideas include after, although, because, despite, if, in order to, once, since, unless, until, when, and while . Common qualifiers include frequently, likely, many, most, recent, some, usually, and probably.

Use readers: a classmate, writing tutor, trusted friend, or your professor. Find someone else to help you develop your thinking. Ask others to play devil's advocate. What are the limitations of your thinking? What are possible counter-arguments? Do you need more evidence to be convincing?

Additional examples of introductions with three-story theses

For classics 350.

In The Republic , Plato argues that poetry often corrupts both the individual and the city. Poetry that lies or imitates seems especially pernicious to the creation and preservation of the ideal state. Consequently, poetry should relate only truth and poets should compose only narrative poetry. For Plato, only true content and narrative form can encourage the construction and preservation of the polis . These restrictions assume, however, that poetry remains incapable of illuminating existence in a novel manner, that only philosophy can deepen our understanding of life. Plato, in this sense, establishes a hierarchy where philosophy becomes the highest vocation and poetry becomes a lowly and subservient art. This formulation however, seems misguided and detrimentally narrow. Wallace Stevens, in “homunculus et la Belle Etoile,” argues against Platonic restrictions on poetry. Indeed, Stevens suggests that the aesthetic nature of poetry offers an existential perspective absent in philosophy. Poetry, in this respect, illuminates rather than corrupts, and complements rather than challenges philosophical logic.

For History 390

The main theological, social, and political aspects of the early Christian church and society rested on the idea and value of the individual. While this ideal of individuality and equality seems at first liberal in essence, the early Christian church never progressed the idea past valuing the individual to valuing the individual above the common good. Where liberal individualism posits the superiority of the individual over the collective, early Christian individualism envisioned a world of individuals working towards God's common good. The early Christian church was, therefore, individualistic without being liberal, focused on the individual only as a means of glorifying God and advancing the kingdom of heaven on earth.

For Government 285

Claims that the American environmental movement undermines traditional democratic values are wrong. In fact, the movement emphasizes a commitment to compromise and a concern for the greater good that characterize the American democratic tradition. Critics argue that supporters of the environmental movement threaten fundamental constitutional rights. Critics also question environmentalists’ use of lobbying, arguing that these tactics result in disproportionate attention given to environmental concerns. While it is true that environmentalists often advocate the adoption of policies that may restrict individual behavior, they do so within legally sanctioned bounds, recognizing that they are but one player in the formulation of public policy. By advocating for more stringent environmental standards, supporters of the environmental movement seek to persuade the American population to look beyond individual desires and to consider the broader impact of individual decisions. In so doing, environmentalists exhibit values consistent with the American tradition of civic mindedness, in which collective interests, rather than individual desires, represent the highest priority.

Special thanks to Professor Katherine Terrell of the Hamilton College English Department for generously providing her class handout “Creating a Three-Story Thesis,” which forms the basis for this handout. Thanks also to Professor Doran Larson and the following spring 2009 writing tutors: Michael Harwick, Tom Lewek, Andrew Peart, and Rachel McReynolds.

Additional Sources:

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. The Poet At The Breakfast-Table . Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1872.

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook . Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1992.

Williams, Joseph, and Gregory Colomb. The Craft of Argument, Concise Edition. New York: Longman Press, 2002.

Tutor Appointments

Peer tutor and consultant appointments are managed through TracCloud (login required). Find resources and more information about the ALEX centers using the following links.

Office / Department Name

Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center

Contact Name

Jennifer Ambrose

Writing Center Director

Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration.

What is a thesis | A Complete Guide with Examples

A thesis is a comprehensive academic paper based on your original research that presents new findings, arguments, and ideas of your study. It’s typically submitted at the end of your master’s degree or as a capstone of your bachelor’s degree.

However, writing a thesis can be laborious, especially for beginners. From the initial challenge of pinpointing a compelling research topic to organizing and presenting findings, the process is filled with potential pitfalls.

Therefore, to help you, this guide talks about what is a thesis. Additionally, it offers revelations and methodologies to transform it from an overwhelming task to a manageable and rewarding academic milestone.

What is a thesis?

A thesis is an in-depth research study that identifies a particular topic of inquiry and presents a clear argument or perspective about that topic using evidence and logic.

Writing a thesis showcases your ability of critical thinking, gathering evidence, and making a compelling argument. Integral to these competencies is thorough research, which not only fortifies your propositions but also confers credibility to your entire study.

Furthermore, there's another phenomenon you might often confuse with the thesis: the ' working thesis .' However, they aren't similar and shouldn't be used interchangeably.

A working thesis, often referred to as a preliminary or tentative thesis, is an initial version of your thesis statement. It serves as a draft or a starting point that guides your research in its early stages.

As you research more and gather more evidence, your initial thesis (aka working thesis) might change. It's like a starting point that can be adjusted as you learn more. It's normal for your main topic to change a few times before you finalize it.

While a thesis identifies and provides an overarching argument, the key to clearly communicating the central point of that argument lies in writing a strong thesis statement.

What is a thesis statement?

A strong thesis statement (aka thesis sentence) is a concise summary of the main argument or claim of the paper. It serves as a critical anchor in any academic work, succinctly encapsulating the primary argument or main idea of the entire paper.

Typically found within the introductory section, a strong thesis statement acts as a roadmap of your thesis, directing readers through your arguments and findings. By delineating the core focus of your investigation, it offers readers an immediate understanding of the context and the gravity of your study.

Furthermore, an effectively crafted thesis statement can set forth the boundaries of your research, helping readers anticipate the specific areas of inquiry you are addressing.

Different types of thesis statements

A good thesis statement is clear, specific, and arguable. Therefore, it is necessary for you to choose the right type of thesis statement for your academic papers.

Thesis statements can be classified based on their purpose and structure. Here are the primary types of thesis statements:

Argumentative (or Persuasive) thesis statement

Purpose : To convince the reader of a particular stance or point of view by presenting evidence and formulating a compelling argument.

Example : Reducing plastic use in daily life is essential for environmental health.

Analytical thesis statement

Purpose : To break down an idea or issue into its components and evaluate it.

Example : By examining the long-term effects, social implications, and economic impact of climate change, it becomes evident that immediate global action is necessary.

Expository (or Descriptive) thesis statement

Purpose : To explain a topic or subject to the reader.

Example : The Great Depression, spanning the 1930s, was a severe worldwide economic downturn triggered by a stock market crash, bank failures, and reduced consumer spending.

Cause and effect thesis statement

Purpose : To demonstrate a cause and its resulting effect.

Example : Overuse of smartphones can lead to impaired sleep patterns, reduced face-to-face social interactions, and increased levels of anxiety.

Compare and contrast thesis statement

Purpose : To highlight similarities and differences between two subjects.

Example : "While both novels '1984' and 'Brave New World' delve into dystopian futures, they differ in their portrayal of individual freedom, societal control, and the role of technology."

When you write a thesis statement , it's important to ensure clarity and precision, so the reader immediately understands the central focus of your work.

What is the difference between a thesis and a thesis statement?

While both terms are frequently used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings.

A thesis refers to the entire research document, encompassing all its chapters and sections. In contrast, a thesis statement is a brief assertion that encapsulates the central argument of the research.

Here’s an in-depth differentiation table of a thesis and a thesis statement.

Now, to craft a compelling thesis, it's crucial to adhere to a specific structure. Let’s break down these essential components that make up a thesis structure

15 components of a thesis structure

Navigating a thesis can be daunting. However, understanding its structure can make the process more manageable.

Here are the key components or different sections of a thesis structure:

Your thesis begins with the title page. It's not just a formality but the gateway to your research.

Here, you'll prominently display the necessary information about you (the author) and your institutional details.

Title of your thesis
Your full name
Your department
Your institution and degree program
Your submission date
Your Supervisor's name (in some cases)
Your Department or faculty (in some cases)
Your University's logo (in some cases)
Your Student ID (in some cases)

In a concise manner, you'll have to summarize the critical aspects of your research in typically no more than 200-300 words.

This includes the problem statement, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. For many, the abstract will determine if they delve deeper into your work, so ensure it's clear and compelling.

Acknowledgments

Research is rarely a solitary endeavor. In the acknowledgments section, you have the chance to express gratitude to those who've supported your journey.

This might include advisors, peers, institutions, or even personal sources of inspiration and support. It's a personal touch, reflecting the humanity behind the academic rigor.

A roadmap for your readers, the table of contents lists the chapters, sections, and subsections of your thesis.

By providing page numbers, you allow readers to navigate your work easily, jumping to sections that pique their interest.

List of figures and tables

Research often involves data, and presenting this data visually can enhance understanding. This section provides an organized listing of all figures and tables in your thesis.

It's a visual index, ensuring that readers can quickly locate and reference your graphical data.

Introduction

Here's where you introduce your research topic, articulate the research question or objective, and outline the significance of your study.

Present the research topic : Clearly articulate the central theme or subject of your research.
Background information : Ground your research topic, providing any necessary context or background information your readers might need to understand the significance of your study.
Define the scope : Clearly delineate the boundaries of your research, indicating what will and won't be covered.
Literature review : Introduce any relevant existing research on your topic, situating your work within the broader academic conversation and highlighting where your research fits in.
State the research Question(s) or objective(s) : Clearly articulate the primary questions or objectives your research aims to address.
Outline the study's structure : Give a brief overview of how the subsequent sections of your work will unfold, guiding your readers through the journey ahead.

The introduction should captivate your readers, making them eager to delve deeper into your research journey.

Literature review section

Your study correlates with existing research. Therefore, in the literature review section, you'll engage in a dialogue with existing knowledge, highlighting relevant studies, theories, and findings.

It's here that you identify gaps in the current knowledge, positioning your research as a bridge to new insights.

To streamline this process, consider leveraging AI tools. For example, the SciSpace literature review tool enables you to efficiently explore and delve into research papers, simplifying your literature review journey.

Methodology

In the research methodology section, you’ll detail the tools, techniques, and processes you employed to gather and analyze data. This section will inform the readers about how you approached your research questions and ensures the reproducibility of your study.

Here's a breakdown of what it should encompass:

Research Design : Describe the overall structure and approach of your research. Are you conducting a qualitative study with in-depth interviews? Or is it a quantitative study using statistical analysis? Perhaps it's a mixed-methods approach?
Data Collection : Detail the methods you used to gather data. This could include surveys, experiments, observations, interviews, archival research, etc. Mention where you sourced your data, the duration of data collection, and any tools or instruments used.
Sampling : If applicable, explain how you selected participants or data sources for your study. Discuss the size of your sample and the rationale behind choosing it.
Data Analysis : Describe the techniques and tools you used to process and analyze the data. This could range from statistical tests in quantitative research to thematic analysis in qualitative research.
Validity and Reliability : Address the steps you took to ensure the validity and reliability of your findings to ensure that your results are both accurate and consistent.
Ethical Considerations : Highlight any ethical issues related to your research and the measures you took to address them, including — informed consent, confidentiality, and data storage and protection measures.

Moreover, different research questions necessitate different types of methodologies. For instance:

Experimental methodology : Often used in sciences, this involves a controlled experiment to discern causality.
Qualitative methodology : Employed when exploring patterns or phenomena without numerical data. Methods can include interviews, focus groups, or content analysis.
Quantitative methodology : Concerned with measurable data and often involves statistical analysis. Surveys and structured observations are common tools here.
Mixed methods : As the name implies, this combines both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The Methodology section isn’t just about detailing the methods but also justifying why they were chosen. The appropriateness of the methods in addressing your research question can significantly impact the credibility of your findings.

Results (or Findings)

This section presents the outcomes of your research. It's crucial to note that the nature of your results may vary; they could be quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both.

Quantitative results often present statistical data, showcasing measurable outcomes, and they benefit from tables, graphs, and figures to depict these data points.

Qualitative results , on the other hand, might delve into patterns, themes, or narratives derived from non-numerical data, such as interviews or observations.

Regardless of the nature of your results, clarity is essential. This section is purely about presenting the data without offering interpretations — that comes later in the discussion.

In the discussion section, the raw data transforms into valuable insights.

Start by revisiting your research question and contrast it with the findings. How do your results expand, constrict, or challenge current academic conversations?

Dive into the intricacies of the data, guiding the reader through its implications. Detail potential limitations transparently, signaling your awareness of the research's boundaries. This is where your academic voice should be resonant and confident.

Practical implications (Recommendation) section

Based on the insights derived from your research, this section provides actionable suggestions or proposed solutions.

Whether aimed at industry professionals or the general public, recommendations translate your academic findings into potential real-world actions. They help readers understand the practical implications of your work and how it can be applied to effect change or improvement in a given field.

When crafting recommendations, it's essential to ensure they're feasible and rooted in the evidence provided by your research. They shouldn't merely be aspirational but should offer a clear path forward, grounded in your findings.

The conclusion provides closure to your research narrative.

It's not merely a recap but a synthesis of your main findings and their broader implications. Reconnect with the research questions or hypotheses posited at the beginning, offering clear answers based on your findings.

Reflect on the broader contributions of your study, considering its impact on the academic community and potential real-world applications.

Lastly, the conclusion should leave your readers with a clear understanding of the value and impact of your study.

References (or Bibliography)

Every theory you've expounded upon, every data point you've cited, and every methodological precedent you've followed finds its acknowledgment here.

In references, it's crucial to ensure meticulous consistency in formatting, mirroring the specific guidelines of the chosen citation style .

Proper referencing helps to avoid plagiarism , gives credit to original ideas, and allows readers to explore topics of interest. Moreover, it situates your work within the continuum of academic knowledge.

To properly cite the sources used in the study, you can rely on online citation generator tools to generate accurate citations!

Here’s more on how you can cite your sources.

Often, the depth of research produces a wealth of material that, while crucial, can make the core content of the thesis cumbersome. The appendix is where you mention extra information that supports your research but isn't central to the main text.

Whether it's raw datasets, detailed procedural methodologies, extended case studies, or any other ancillary material, the appendices ensure that these elements are archived for reference without breaking the main narrative's flow.

For thorough researchers and readers keen on meticulous details, the appendices provide a treasure trove of insights.

Glossary (optional)

In academics, specialized terminologies, and jargon are inevitable. However, not every reader is versed in every term.

The glossary, while optional, is a critical tool for accessibility. It's a bridge ensuring that even readers from outside the discipline can access, understand, and appreciate your work.

By defining complex terms and providing context, you're inviting a wider audience to engage with your research, enhancing its reach and impact.

Remember, while these components provide a structured framework, the essence of your thesis lies in the originality of your ideas, the rigor of your research, and the clarity of your presentation.

As you craft each section, keep your readers in mind, ensuring that your passion and dedication shine through every page.

Thesis examples

To further elucidate the concept of a thesis, here are illustrative examples from various fields:

Example 1 (History): Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the ‘Noble Savage’ on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807 by Suchait Kahlon.

Example 2 (Climate Dynamics): Influence of external forcings on abrupt millennial-scale climate changes: a statistical modelling study by Takahito Mitsui · Michel Crucifix

Checklist for your thesis evaluation

Evaluating your thesis ensures that your research meets the standards of academia. Here's an elaborate checklist to guide you through this critical process.

Content and structure

Is the thesis statement clear, concise, and debatable?
Does the introduction provide sufficient background and context?
Is the literature review comprehensive, relevant, and well-organized?
Does the methodology section clearly describe and justify the research methods?
Are the results/findings presented clearly and logically?
Does the discussion interpret the results in light of the research question and existing literature?
Is the conclusion summarizing the research and suggesting future directions or implications?

Clarity and coherence

Is the writing clear and free of jargon?
Are ideas and sections logically connected and flowing?
Is there a clear narrative or argument throughout the thesis?

Research quality

Is the research question significant and relevant?
Are the research methods appropriate for the question?
Is the sample size (if applicable) adequate?
Are the data analysis techniques appropriate and correctly applied?
Are potential biases or limitations addressed?

Originality and significance

Does the thesis contribute new knowledge or insights to the field?
Is the research grounded in existing literature while offering fresh perspectives?

Formatting and presentation

Is the thesis formatted according to institutional guidelines?
Are figures, tables, and charts clear, labeled, and referenced in the text?
Is the bibliography or reference list complete and consistently formatted?
Are appendices relevant and appropriately referenced in the main text?

Grammar and language

Is the thesis free of grammatical and spelling errors?
Is the language professional, consistent, and appropriate for an academic audience?
Are quotations and paraphrased material correctly cited?

Feedback and revision

Have you sought feedback from peers, advisors, or experts in the field?
Have you addressed the feedback and made the necessary revisions?

Overall assessment

Does the thesis as a whole feel cohesive and comprehensive?
Would the thesis be understandable and valuable to someone in your field?

Ensure to use this checklist to leave no ground for doubt or missed information in your thesis.

After writing your thesis, the next step is to discuss and defend your findings verbally in front of a knowledgeable panel. You’ve to be well prepared as your professors may grade your presentation abilities.

Preparing your thesis defense

A thesis defense, also known as "defending the thesis," is the culmination of a scholar's research journey. It's the final frontier, where you’ll present their findings and face scrutiny from a panel of experts.

Typically, the defense involves a public presentation where you’ll have to outline your study, followed by a question-and-answer session with a committee of experts. This committee assesses the validity, originality, and significance of the research.

The defense serves as a rite of passage for scholars. It's an opportunity to showcase expertise, address criticisms, and refine arguments. A successful defense not only validates the research but also establishes your authority as a researcher in your field.

Here’s how you can effectively prepare for your thesis defense .

Now, having touched upon the process of defending a thesis, it's worth noting that scholarly work can take various forms, depending on academic and regional practices.

One such form, often paralleled with the thesis, is the 'dissertation.' But what differentiates the two?

Dissertation vs. Thesis

Often used interchangeably in casual discourse, they refer to distinct research projects undertaken at different levels of higher education.

To the uninitiated, understanding their meaning might be elusive. So, let's demystify these terms and delve into their core differences.

Here's a table differentiating between the two.

Wrapping up

From understanding the foundational concept of a thesis to navigating its various components, differentiating it from a dissertation, and recognizing the importance of proper citation — this guide covers it all.

As scholars and readers, understanding these nuances not only aids in academic pursuits but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the relentless quest for knowledge that drives academia.

It’s important to remember that every thesis is a testament to curiosity, dedication, and the indomitable spirit of discovery.

Good luck with your thesis writing!

Frequently Asked Questions

A thesis typically ranges between 40-80 pages, but its length can vary based on the research topic, institution guidelines, and level of study.

A PhD thesis usually spans 200-300 pages, though this can vary based on the discipline, complexity of the research, and institutional requirements.

To identify a thesis topic, consider current trends in your field, gaps in existing literature, personal interests, and discussions with advisors or mentors. Additionally, reviewing related journals and conference proceedings can provide insights into potential areas of exploration.

The conceptual framework is often situated in the literature review or theoretical framework section of a thesis. It helps set the stage by providing the context, defining key concepts, and explaining the relationships between variables.

A thesis statement should be concise, clear, and specific. It should state the main argument or point of your research. Start by pinpointing the central question or issue your research addresses, then condense that into a single statement, ensuring it reflects the essence of your paper.

AI for Meta-Analysis — A Comprehensive Guide

Cybersecurity in Higher Education: Safeguarding Students and Faculty Data

How To Write An Argumentative Essay

school Campus Bookshelves
menu_book Bookshelves
perm_media Learning Objects
login Login
how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
hub Instructor Commons
Download Page (PDF)
Download Full Book (PDF)
Periodic Table
Physics Constants
Scientific Calculator
Reference & Cite
Tools expand_more
Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

16.4: The Three-Story Thesis

Last updated
Save as PDF
Page ID 175854

You have no doubt been drilled on the need for a thesis statement and its proper location at the end of the introduction. And you also know that all of the key points of the paper should clearly support the central driving thesis. Indeed, the whole model of the five-paragraph theme hinges on a clearly stated and consistent thesis. However, some students are surprised—and dismayed—when some of their early college papers are criticized for not having a good thesis. Their professor might even claim that the paper doesn’t have a thesis when, in the author’s view it clearly does. So, what makes a good thesis in college?

A good thesis is non-obvious . High school teachers needed to make sure that you and all your classmates mastered the basic form of the academic essay. Thus, they were mostly concerned that you had a clear and consistent thesis, even if it was something obvious like “sustainability is important.” A thesis statement like that has a wide-enough scope to incorporate several supporting points and concurring evidence, enabling the writer to demonstrate his or her mastery of the five-paragraph form. Good enough! When they can, high school teachers nudge students to develop arguments that are less obvious and more engaging. College instructors, though, fully expect you to produce something more developed.
A good thesis is arguable . In everyday life, “arguable” is often used as a synonym for “doubtful.” For a thesis, though, “arguable” means that it’s worth arguing: it’s something with which a reasonable person might disagree. This arguability criterion dovetails with the non-obvious one: it shows that the author has deeply explored a problem and arrived at an argument that legitimately needs 3, 5, 10, or 20 pages to explain and justify. In that way, a good thesis sets an ambitious agenda for a paper. A thesis like “sustainability is important” isn’t at all difficult to argue for, and the reader would have little intrinsic motivation to read the rest of the paper. However, an arguable thesis like “sustainability policies will inevitably fail if they do not incorporate social justice,” brings up some healthy skepticism. Thus, the arguable thesis makes the reader want to keep reading.
A good thesis is well specified . Some student writers fear that they’re giving away the game if they specify their thesis up front; they think that a purposefully vague thesis might be more intriguing to the reader. However, consider movie trailers: they always include the most exciting and poignant moments from the film to attract an audience. In academic papers, too, a well specified thesis indicates that the author has thought rigorously about an issue and done thorough research, which makes the reader want to keep reading. Don’t just say that a particular policy is effective or fair; say what makes it is so. If you want to argue that a particular claim is dubious or incomplete, say why in your thesis.
A good thesis includes implications . Suppose your assignment is to write a paper about some aspect of the history of linen production and trade, a topic that may seem exceedingly arcane. And suppose you have constructed a well supported and creative argument that linen was so widely traded in the ancient Mediterranean that it actually served as a kind of currency. [1] That’s a strong, insightful, arguable, well specified thesis. But which of these thesis statements do you find more engaging?

Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade.

Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade. The economic role of linen raises important questions about how shifting environmental conditions can influence economic relationships and, by extension, political conflicts.

Putting your claims in their broader context makes them more interesting to your reader and more impressive to your professors who, after all, assign topics that they think have enduring significance. Finding that significance for yourself makes the most of both your paper and your learning.

How do you produce a good, strong thesis? And how do you know when you’ve gotten there? Many instructors and writers find useful a metaphor based on this passage by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. [2] :

There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight.

Looking up from below the corner of a Japanese temple, so that three levels of red eaves, capped by black gutters, are arranged in a strong vertical point

The biggest benefit of the three-story metaphor is that it describes a process for building a thesis. To build the first story, you first have to get familiar with the complex, relevant facts surrounding the problem or question. You have to be able to describe the situation thoroughly and accurately. Then, with that first story built, you can layer on the second story by formulating the insightful, arguable point that animates the analysis. That’s often the most effortful part: brainstorming, elaborating and comparing alternative ideas, finalizing your point. With that specified, you can frame up the third story by articulating why the point you make matters beyond its particular topic or case.

For example, imagine you have been assigned a paper about the impact of online learning in higher education. You would first construct an account of the origins and multiple forms of online learning and assess research findings about its use and effectiveness. If you’ve done that well, you’ll probably come up with a well considered opinion that wouldn’t be obvious to readers who haven’t looked at the issue in depth. Maybe you’ll want to argue that online learning is a threat to the academic community. Or perhaps you’ll want to make the case that online learning opens up pathways to college degrees that traditional campus-based learning does not. In the course of developing your central, argumentative point, you’ll come to recognize its larger context; in this example, you may claim that online learning can serve to better integrate higher education with the rest of society, as online learners bring their educational and career experiences together.

To outline this example:

First story : Online learning is becoming more prevalent and takes many different forms.
Second story : While most observers see it as a transformation of higher education, online learning is better thought of an extension of higher education in that it reaches learners who aren’t disposed to participate in traditional campus-based education.
Third story : Online learning appears to be a promising way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society, as online learners integrate their educational experiences with the other realms of their life, promoting the freer flow of ideas between the academy and the rest of society.

Here’s another example of a three-story thesis: [4]

First story : Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she didn’t write like her modernist contemporaries.
Second story : However, in her work we can see her grappling with both the questions and literary forms that fascinated modernist writers of her era. While not an avowed modernist, she did engage with modernist themes and questions.
Third story : Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.

Here’s one more example:

First story : Scientists disagree about the likely impact in the U.S. of the light brown apple moth (LBAM) , an agricultural pest native to Australia.
Second story : Research findings to date suggest that the decision to spray pheromones over the skies of several southern Californian counties to combat the LBAM was poorly thought out.
Third story : Together, the scientific ambiguities and the controversial response strengthen the claim that industrial-style approaches to pest management are inherently unsustainable.

A thesis statement that stops at the first story isn’t usually considered a thesis. A two-story thesis is usually considered competent, though some two-story theses are more intriguing and ambitious than others. A thoughtfully crafted and well informed three-story thesis puts the author on a smooth path toward an excellent paper.

For more see Fabio Lopez-Lazaro “Linen.” In Encyclopedia of World Trade from Ancient Times to the Present . Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2005. ↵
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast Table (New York: Houghton & Mifflin, 1892) ↵
The metaphor is extraordinarily useful even though the passage is annoying. Beyond the sexist language of the time, it displays condescension toward “fact-collectors” which reflects a general modernist tendency to elevate the abstract and denigrate the concrete. In reality, data-collection is a creative and demanding craft, arguably more important than theorizing. ↵
Drawn from Jennifer Haytock, Edith Wharton and the Conversations of Literary Modernism (New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2008). ↵
Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
The three-story thesis: from the ground up. Authored by : Amy Guptill. Provided by : The College at Brockport, SUNY. Located at : http://textbooks.opensuny.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/ . Project : Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Image of pagoda corner. Authored by : Takashi Hososhima. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/gGhtya . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Types of Theses

Three types of gallatin ma theses.

Each graduate student in the Gallatin School completes a final thesis as the culmination of their work toward a Master of Arts degree. The thesis may take one of three forms: a research thesis, an artistic thesis, or a project thesis. In each case, the thesis represents a synthesis of the student’s accumulated knowledge and skill and an opportunity to display the ideas, practices and skills learned through the program. While the master’s thesis, unlike a doctoral dissertation, does not have to create new knowledge or break new ground, it does display the student’s ability to go beyond the mere collection of information into synthesis, analysis, judgment and interpretation. Moreover, it should demonstrate the student’s familiarity with a substantial body of thought and literature and illustrate mastery of some self-chosen field of study.

Below you will find descriptions of the three types of theses:

Research Thesis

Artistic thesis, project thesis.

Current MA students who are interested in seeing sample theses should consult the Gallatin Master's Thesis Archive , which is accessible with an NYU Net ID.

Students pursuing the research option produce and defend a substantial research essay, the thesis of which is demonstrably related to the student’s course of study and ongoing conversations with the primary adviser. The adviser and defense panelists are the ultimate arbiters of whether the thesis satisfies a reasonable understanding of a project worthy of the master’s degree. However, in general and at minimum, a successful Gallatin MA research thesis demonstrates sufficient mastery of relevant academic fields as well as a critical grasp of the scholarship and methods that currently define those fields. The thesis essay is a logically-constructed argument that presents its central points on the basis of research and critical interpretation. The sources and objects of study may cover the spectrum from archival materials to critical theory to statistical surveys and personal interviews, but the student should carefully choose sources in consultation with the primary adviser, and with reference to questions about what constitutes legitimate source within the student’s field(s). The research thesis essay must be more than a "review of the literature" but the demand for original findings is lower than that faced by doctoral candidates. Significantly original contributions are of course highly commendable, but the excellence of an MA research thesis essay may lie in its critical and creative synthesis, articulation of a fresh perspective on the work of others, or identification of new, research-based questions that themselves shed light on existing problems within fields. Generally speaking, the final research thesis essay should be at least 50 pages and not exceed 80 pages (not including appendices and bibliographic material). Students and advisers are encouraged to talk with the program's academic directors about these expectations whenever necessary.

The artistic thesis is appropriate for those students who wish to display the creative process in the performing, visual or literary arts. A student might make a film or video; choreograph an evening of dance; act in a play; mount an exhibit of paintings; write a screenplay, novel, play or collection of short stories; or choose another artistic endeavor. The artistic thesis represents the culmination of a Gallatin arts concentration in which the student has studied the genre under consideration.

The artistic thesis comprises both the artistic project and three accompanying essays. Therefore, you should conceive of the artistic thesis as a unified piece composed of the creative work and the essays which enhance it. Members of the faculty committee will assess both the artistic work and the essays. The essays include:

an academic research paper related to the field of artistic work;
an essay on artistic aims and process;
a technical essay.

Please note: The technical essay does not apply to those students who are submitting a literary work.

Some General Advice

Be careful to keep records and a log of the artistic project as it evolves. This information can be used in the Technical Essay.

If a student is writing a work of fiction, poems, a play, etc., for the thesis, the student will submit this work to their adviser and other readers along with the essays. However, if the student is presenting a performance, they will need to arrange to have their adviser and other members of their committee see the performance. The student is responsible for coordinating schedules and for notifying committee members so that everyone can view the piece. The student should notify the thesis reviewer of the date of the performance at least one month in advance. In the event that one or more of the committee cannot attend the scheduled event, the student should arrange to have the performance videotaped so people can see it later. Except in unusual circumstances, the student must submit the first draft of the thesis to their adviser no more than three months after the performance.

Essays for the Artistic Thesis

Background Research Essay

As stated above, this essay follows the description for the standard research essay. It is a scholarly endeavor and differs from the standard essay in terms of length and focus. The length is approximately 25 to 40 pages. The focus of the essay is related to the artistic work and explores some aspect of that work that the student wishes to study and develop through outside research. The essay might take the form of an analysis of a performance or literary genre; a history of an art form or phenomenon; a philosophical study of an aesthetic concept; or a critical/biographical analysis of the work of an influential artistic figure.

Artistic Aims Essay

In this essay, the student is required to articulate their goals in mounting their particular artistic project. For example, what was the student trying to accomplish in writing short stories, a screenplay, a novel, presenting an evening of dances or songs, making a film or mounting an art exhibit? What were the aesthetic choices made and why? The student should also explain their approach to the artistic work (their style, genre, or school), any relevant influences on the work, how the student's training influenced their artistic choices, and the student's intentions for particular elements of the creative work. After the student has carefully and clearly articulated these goals, they need to explain how their actual artistic work meets the stated goals. The student should use examples from their artistic project to illustrate these ideas. This essay should be approximately 10-15 pages in length.

Technical Essay

This essay is a description of the steps the student actually took to physically mount their production. The student will need to include such technical details as arranging for rehearsal and performance space; choosing the performers; finding/creating, costumes, materials, lights; raising funds and getting institutional support. This essay should be approximately 10 pages in length.

Students may submit a portfolio, if appropriate. This would consist of any material, such as photos, slides, fliers, programs, videotapes, audiotapes etc. which might constitute an appendix and which might be helpful to a fuller understanding of the thesis.

The project thesis consists of two elements: (1) the project, a professional activity designed and executed primarily by the student as a way of solving a problem, and (2) an accompanying essay about the project. This thesis is especially appropriate for students in such fields as business, education, social work or public administration. The project thesis may appeal to those students who are active in their profession and who take responsibility for the creation of some kind of program or practice.

Students should understand that the project cannot simply propose a professional activity; the design for such an activity must actually be carried out (at least in a pilot version) and evaluated. Some examples of projects: a student in education may develop and apply a new strategy for teaching reading to recent immigrants; a person working in a corporation may construct new methods for managing financial information; or a community worker in a settlement house may organize a group of local residents to combat drug abuse.

At each step, the student should be careful to keep in touch with their adviser and with any other expert who can help them in their process. The student should keep careful records of the process by taking detailed notes of conversations, meetings, interviews, etc. If at all possible, the student should arrange to have the members of their committee, especially their adviser, witness the project first-hand: Visit the site, talk with key actors, watch the program in operation. (This direct contact is highly recommended, but not required.)

Essays for the Project Thesis

The project thesis essay may take a number of forms and include a range of information. It ought to discuss at least the following elements:

Consider the institutional or social context within which the project takes place. Describe the organization, the potential clientele or participants, and the larger environment (social, economic and political conditions surrounding the problem and the project).

Describe the particular problem or need that you address in the project. What causes that problem? How extensive is it? Have other attempts to solve the problem been made; if so, what were their shortcomings, and why are you trying another approach? Place the problem in its professional and academic context by referring to the appropriate literature. Program

Describe the goals and objectives of the project and what the student hoped to accomplish. Describe how the program was designed and structured; for example, what kinds of activities did participants engage in, and in what sequence? What kinds of resources and techniques were used? Justify the strategies and tactics used by citing appropriate professional and academic literatures.

Implementation

Describe how the plan was carried out. Use as much detail as needed to give the reader a sense of what actually happened, and to indicate the extent to which the reality matched the plan.

Describe the criteria for assessing the project and evaluation methods used. Justify the criteria and methods by referring to appropriate literatures. To what extent did the project accomplish the goals and objectives identified earlier?

Citing relevant literature and the practical contingencies of the project, explain why the project did or did not achieve its stated purposes. Describe the factors (political, social, organizational, financial, psychological, etc.) that contributed to the process and to the outcomes. What changes--either conceptual or practical--would the student make if they were to repeat or extend the project? What would the student leave in place? Describe what was learned from the project about the original problem and about the student's strategy and tactics. Also consider the professional and theoretical implications of the project.

If necessary, put relevant documentary materials (flyers, important correspondence, budgets, etc.) in appendices.

4.4 COMPOSITION: The Three-Story Thesis

Another way to improve your academic writing is to write a better thesis statement. You already know that a strong thesis statement is more than just naming the topic. It includes some sort of claim, or what the author (in this case, you!) wants to say about the topic. If you can do that, then you are ready to take it a step further by exploring the ideas below.

What makes a good thesis in college?

A good thesis is arguable. This means that it’s worth questioning or debating: it’s something with which a reasonable person might disagree. A thesis like “sustainability is important” isn’t at all difficult to argue for, and the reader would have little motivation to read the rest of the paper. However, an arguable thesis like “sustainability policies will fail if they do not include social justice,” brings up some interesting questions. Thus, the arguable thesis makes the reader want to keep reading.
A good thesis is specific. Don’t just say that a particular policy is effective or fair; say what makes it so.
A good thesis includes implications. In other words, why does it matter? What are the consequences? Why do you care? And why should the reader care?

There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. One way to strengthen your thesis statement is to write it as a three-story thesis. Here, when we talk about “story,” we mean “level” or “floor” (like a three-story building). Each “story” builds upon the previous one to make a strong structure. You can think of it this way:

One-story theses state inarguable facts. What’s the background?
Two-story theses bring in an arguable (interpretive or analytical) point. What’s your main idea?
Three-story theses place that point within its larger, compelling implications. Why does it matter?

For example, imagine you have been assigned a paper about the impact of online learning in higher education. To outline this example:

First story: Online learning is becoming more common and takes many different forms.
Second story: While most people see it as a transformation of higher education, it is better to think of online learning as an extension of higher education because it reaches learners who do not want to participate — or cannot participate — in traditional campus-based education.
Third story: Online learning appears to be one way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society since online learners integrate their educational experiences with other parts of their life, promoting a better flow of ideas between college and the rest of society.
Final thesis (all three stories combined): Online learning is becoming more common and takes many different forms. While most people see it as a transformation of higher education, it is better to think of online learning as an extension of higher education because it reaches learners who do not want to participate — or cannot participate — in traditional campus-based education. Online learning appears to be one way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society since online learners integrate their educational experiences with other parts of their life, promoting a better flow of ideas between college and the rest of society.

Here’s another example of a three-story thesis:

First story: Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she did not write like her peers.
Second story: However, in her work we can see her thinking about both the questions and forms that fascinated modernist writers of her time. While not a modernist herself, she did engage with modernist themes and questions.
Third story: Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.
Final thesis (all three stories combined): Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she did not write like her peers. However, in her work we can see her thinking about both the questions and forms that fascinated modernist writers of her time. While not a modernist herself, she did engage with modernist themes and questions. Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.

Use the following exercise to review what you’ve learned. You can complete this exercise as many times as you want; it is not graded.

Let’s try writing a three-story thesis. Here is a list of one-story theses. Choose one to rewrite. Make it a full three-story thesis (in other words, it should have three sentences).

Television programming includes content that some find objectionable.
The percent of children and youth who are overweight or obese has risen in recent decades.
First-year college students must learn how to independently manage their time.
The things we surround ourselves with symbolize who we are.

Text adapted from: Guptill, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence . 2022. Open SUNY Textbooks, 2016, milneopentextbooks.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/ . Accessed 16 Jan. 2022. CC BY-NC-SA

Image adapted from Tampa, Florida Code of Ordinances .

College Writing: Parts of the Essay

The three-story thesis.

A good thesis is non-obvious . High school teachers needed to make sure that you and all your classmates mastered the basic form of the academic essay. Thus, they were mostly concerned that you had a clear and consistent thesis, even if it was something obvious like “sustainability is important.” A thesis statement like that has a wide-enough scope to incorporate several supporting points and concurring evidence, enabling the writer to demonstrate his or her mastery of the five-paragraph form. Good enough! When they can, high school teachers nudge students to develop arguments that are less obvious and more engaging. College instructors, though, fully expect you to produce something more developed.
A good thesis is arguable . In everyday life, “arguable” is often used as a synonym for “doubtful.” For a thesis, though, “arguable” means that it’s worth arguing: it’s something with which a reasonable person might disagree. This arguability criterion dovetails with the non-obvious one: it shows that the author has deeply explored a problem and arrived at an argument that legitimately needs 3, 5, 10, or 20 pages to explain and justify. In that way, a good thesis sets an ambitious agenda for a paper. A thesis like “sustainability is important” isn’t at all difficult to argue for, and the reader would have little intrinsic motivation to read the rest of the paper. However, an arguable thesis like “sustainability policies will inevitably fail if they do not incorporate social justice,” brings up some healthy skepticism. Thus, the arguable thesis makes the reader want to keep reading.
A good thesis is well specified . Some student writers fear that they’re giving away the game if they specify their thesis up front; they think that a purposefully vague thesis might be more intriguing to the reader. However, consider movie trailers: they always include the most exciting and poignant moments from the film to attract an audience. In academic papers, too, a well specified thesis indicates that the author has thought rigorously about an issue and done thorough research, which makes the reader want to keep reading. Don’t just say that a particular policy is effective or fair; say what makes it is so. If you want to argue that a particular claim is dubious or incomplete, say why in your thesis.
A good thesis includes implications . Suppose your assignment is to write a paper about some aspect of the history of linen production and trade, a topic that may seem exceedingly arcane. And suppose you have constructed a well supported and creative argument that linen was so widely traded in the ancient Mediterranean that it actually served as a kind of currency. [1] That’s a strong, insightful, arguable, well specified thesis. But which of these thesis statements do you find more engaging?

Version A: Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade. Version B: Linen served as a form of currency in the ancient Mediterranean world, connecting rival empires through circuits of trade. The economic role of linen raises important questions about how shifting environmental conditions can influence economic relationships and, by extension, political conflicts.

How do you produce a good, strong thesis? And how do you know when you’ve gotten there? Many instructors and writers find useful a metaphor based on this passage by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. [2] :

There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare, reason, generalize using the labor of fact collectors as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight.

To outline this example:

First story : Online learning is becoming more prevalent and takes many different forms.
Second story : While most observers see it as a transformation of higher education, online learning is better thought of an extension of higher education in that it reaches learners who aren’t disposed to participate in traditional campus-based education.
Third story : Online learning appears to be a promising way to better integrate higher education with other institutions in society, as online learners integrate their educational experiences with the other realms of their life, promoting the freer flow of ideas between the academy and the rest of society.

Here’s another example of a three-story thesis: [4]

First story : Edith Wharton did not consider herself a modernist writer, and she didn’t write like her modernist contemporaries.
Second story : However, in her work we can see her grappling with both the questions and literary forms that fascinated modernist writers of her era. While not an avowed modernist, she did engage with modernist themes and questions.
Third story : Thus, it is more revealing to think of modernism as a conversation rather than a category or practice.

Here’s one more example:

First story : Scientists disagree about the likely impact in the U.S. of the light brown apple moth (LBAM) , an agricultural pest native to Australia.
Second story : Research findings to date suggest that the decision to spray pheromones over the skies of several southern Californian counties to combat the LBAM was poorly thought out.
Third story : Together, the scientific ambiguities and the controversial response strengthen the claim that industrial-style approaches to pest management are inherently unsustainable.

The Organizational Statement

Sometimes, an organization statement will be used in conjunction with a thesis. An organizational statement is a map that tells readers what they should expect to read in an essay. It introduces the two or three main pieces of evidence that the author will use to support the essay’s position. While not required in a thesis, organizational statements can make for stronger thesis statements.

An organizational statement can take the form of a separate sentence or can be attached to a thesis in a single sentence, as seen in the examples below. The organizational elements appear in bold text:

Movies produced in the mid-1950s used obsessive behavior to depict teenage romance as something dangerous that should be avoided. Obsessive behavior was viewed as rebellious, uncontrollable, and harmful , both to the teenagers and to the people who loved them.

Since obsessive behavior was viewed as rebellious, uncontrollable, and dangerous , movies produced in the mid-1950s used it to depict teenage romance as something that should be avoided for the sake of young adults and the people who loved them.

Notice how the second version, above, strengthens the original thesis by appearing as part of the same sentence.

Evidence in the body of an essay should be presented in the same order in which it appears in an organizational statement. In the example above, it means the paper would have to discuss rebelliousness, an uncontrollable nature, and danger (as they relate to obsessive teenage romance in film) in that order .

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people , everything , society , or life , with more precise words in order to reduce any vagueness. Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life. Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents. The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By replacing those general words like people and work hard , the writer can better focus his or her research and gain more direction in his or her writing.
Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis. Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke. Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring members of that class with unearned income, instead of programs to improve their education and skill sets. A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke . The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. (See Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” for more information on the 5WH questions.) By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.
Who is not paying the teachers enough?
What is considered “enough”?
What is the problem?
What are the results
Which teenage girls?
What constitutes “too” sexualized?
Why are they behaving that way?
Where does this behavior show up?
What are the repercussions?
For more see Fabio Lopez-Lazaro “Linen.” In Encyclopedia of World Trade from Ancient Times to the Present . Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2005. ( http://corp.credoreference.com/component/booktracker/edition/9668.html ) ↵
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast Table (New York: Houghton & Mifflin, 1892) ↵
The metaphor is extraordinarily useful even though the passage is annoying. Beyond the sexist language of the time, it displays condescension toward “fact-collectors” which reflects a general modernist tendency to elevate the abstract and denigrate the concrete. In reality, data-collection is a creative and demanding craft, arguably more important than theorizing. ↵
Drawn from Jennifer Haytock, Edith Wharton and the Conversations of Literary Modernism (New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2008). ↵
The three-story thesis: from the ground up. Authored by : Amy Guptill. Provided by : The College at Brockport, SUNY. Located at : http://textbooks.opensuny.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/ . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright
Image of pagoda corner. Authored by : Takashi Hososhima. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/gGhtya . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
What are thesis and organizational statements?. Authored by : Angela Francis. Provided by : CUNY Academic Commons. Located at : https://bacwritingfellows.commons.gc.cuny.edu/for-students/what-are-thesis-and-organizational-statements/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Successful Writing Section 9.1: Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement. Authored by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s13-01-developing-a-strong-clear-thes.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Wall Street is souring on Tesla's pivot away from low-cost vehicles towards autonomous driving

Tesla is losing the confidence of Wall Street amid reports it's pivoting from a low-cost Model 2 to robotaxis.
Deutsche Bank just downgraded Tesla's stock and Barclays cut its price target. Both see double-digit declines over the next year.
"We view Tesla's shift as thesis-changing, and worry the stock will need to undergo a potentially painful transition in ownership base," Deutsche Bank said.

Another day, another negative Tesla note from Wall Street.

Tesla has come under intense scrutiny from sell-side analysts after a Reuters report from earlier this month said that the EV maker was shifting away from its low-cost Model 2 vehicle to instead focus on building a fully-autonomous robotaxi.

Deutsche Bank downgrades Tesla

Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner is not impressed with the potential pivot, calling it "thesis-changing" for investors in a note on Thursday.

Rosner downgraded Tesla stock to "Hold" from "Buy" and cut its price target to $123 from $189, suggesting potential downside of about 19% from current levels.

"Pushing out Model 2 will create significant earnings and FCF pressure on 2026+ estimates, and make the future of the company tied to Tesla cracking the code on full driverless autonomy, which represents a significant technological, regulatory and operational challenge," Rosner said.

Rosner slashed his 2027 earnings per share estimate for Tesla to $2.40 from a prior estimate of $4.25, and added that there could be further downside to the company's earnings power if they completely abandon the development of a low-cost vehicle.

"The delay of Model 2 efforts creates the risk of no new vehicle in Tesla's consumer lineup for the foreseeable future, which would put continued downward pressure on its volume and pricing for many more years, requiring downward earnings estimate revisions for 2026+," Rosner said.

Tesla stock fell 2% in early Thursday trading, and is down nearly 40% year-to-date.

Perhaps the biggest risk to Tesla, aside from lower earnings, is the idea that a pivot to robotaxis could cause a complete recalibration of its underlying shareholder base.

"We view Tesla's shift as thesis-changing, and worry the stock will need to undergo a potentially painful transition in ownership base, with investors previously focused on Tesla's EV volume and cost advantage potentially throwing in the towel, and eventually replaced by AI/tech investors with considerably longer time horizons," Rosen said.

Barclays cuts Tesla price target

It's not just Deutsche Bank that has soured on Tesla.

Barclays slashed its Tesla price target on Wednesday by 20%, and said it expects the company's first-quarter earnings call next week to be a negative catalyst.

Calling it "one of the most widely anticipated calls ever," Barclays analyst Dan Levy said the company is facing challenging near-term fundamentals in combination with a longer-term "investment thesis pivot" as it considers moving away from the Model 2.

According to Levy, if Tesla is indeed moving away from the Model 2, that would be bad news for the stock valuation going forward, calling it a "clear net negative for the Tesla investment thesis."

"It casts significant uncertainty on the path ahead for Tesla, making success of the stock dependent on bets with seemingly binary outcomes," Levy said. "Indeed, we are hard pressed to think of any other precedent of a company of Tesla's size basing its path of success on such binary bets."

Wedbush also concerned about Model 2 pivot

Even long-time Tesla bull Dan Ives is worried about Tesla's potential pivot away from a low-cost Model 2.

In a note from last week, Ives said Tesla needs to commit to its Model 2 development plans if it wants to have any chance in reversing this year's painful stock price decline.

"If robotaxis is viewed as the 'magic model' to replace Model 2 we would view this as a debacle negative for the Tesla story. It would be a risky gamble if Tesla moved away from the Model 2 and went straight to robotaxis," Ives said.

Ives said Wall Street's criticism of Tesla is warranted, especially given the fact that the EV maker has seen declining profit margins and its first year-over-year sales decline since 2020.

"For Musk, this is a fork in the road time to get Tesla through this turbulent period otherwise dark days could be ahead," Ives said.

Main content

Henry Cavill Is Asked If He's Heard Anything About James Bond Casting - See His Response

Dua Lipa Addresses Being Dubbed the 'Vacanza Queen,' Shares Brief Comments About Her Love Life

Mariska Hargitay Mistaken for Real-Life Cop While Filming 'Law & Order: SVU,' Helps Reunite Lost Child with Mom

Every Taylor Swift Studio Album Since Her Debut, Ranked From Lowest to Highest Reviews

Former 'Jeopardy' Champ Reveals the 3 Categories You Should Master

Former Jeopardy champ Brad Rutter is spilling some trade secrets about the long-running game show.

During an interview with Tyler Boronski , the past champion opened up about what you need to win the show, and you may be surprised that it all comes down to just mastering three categories.

Keep reading to find out more…

Which three categories? Presidents, World Capitals and Shakespeare.

“There is a lot of stuff that comes up all the time… there are some things you can memorize and be pretty confident that at least one of them is going to come up in some way. And that is Presidents, World Capitals, and Shakespeare,” he said.

Brad says that knowing all the U.S. Presidents by number in order, every capital on the planet, and trying to get a basic knowledge of all the Shakespeare play titles with characters will give you a “big advantage going in.”

He then noted that intellectual knowledge won’t necessarily help with another competitive aspect: the Jeopardy buzzer.

There is “nothing else quite like the Jeopardy! buzzer,” he says, and added that “the returning champion has a big advantage every show just because they have played at least one full game with that buzzer, and the other two people haven’t.”

Just recently, another Jeopardy! champ, Buzzy Cohen , also shared a few more secrets from the show.

Here’s five fun facts about Jeopardy you probably didn’t know!

15 Stars with Crazy Hidden Talents (One Star is a Fire-Eater & Another Can Sing With Their Mouth Closed!)

JJ: Latest Posts

'The Witcher' Renewed for Fifth &...
Mariska Hargitay Mistaken for...
'Miss Scarlet & the Duke' Season 5...
Every Taylor Swift Studio Album Since...
Henry Cavill Is Asked If He's Heard...
Dua Lipa Addresses Being Dubbed the...
Leonardo DiCaprio Met with Zack Snyder...
Dr. Jennifer Ashton Exiting 'GMA,'...
Prince William Returns to Royal Duties...
There's a Reason Why 'Chicago PD'...
Justin Bieber Enjoys Dinner with...
Devon Sawa Reveals the Iconic Role He...
15 Stars with Crazy Hidden Talents...
Pregnant Rooney Mara Heads to Morning...

Just Jared Jr.

Iain Armitage Reflects On First Day of...
Ariana Greenblatt Joins the Cast of...
Kit Connor to Make Broadway Debut in...
Meg Donnelly Talks 'Zombies' Future,...
Sabrina Carpenter Reveals Why...
Ariana Greenblatt Honored With Rising...
'Zombies 4' Star Freya Skye Debuts...
© 2005-2024 Just Jared, Inc. ||
Accessibility
Privacy Policy
Manage Cookies
Return to Mobile

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Graduate School Updates>

The latest COVID-19 news and information is available at Penn State's Coronavirus Information website .

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

On March 11 th the University announced that beginning March 16 th instruction for all students will be moving to a remote delivery format. Graduate students enrolled in resident courses should plan on participating remotely, and not coming to campus specifically for face-to-face instruction. Learn more at gradschool.psu.edu/covid19 .

Internet Explorer Detected

The Penn State Graduate School website is best experienced in Firefox or Google Chrome. It is highly recommended that you use an alternative browser.

Three Minute Thesis

/ Career and Professional Development
/ Three Minute Thesis

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Through the competition, graduate and professional students can hone their academic and research presentation skills and their ability to effectively explain their research to a general audience. Each competitor has three minutes to speak and can use only one presentation slide.

The Graduate School will be hosting the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition in partnership with the Graduate and Professional Student Association and the Graduate School Alumni Society .

Watch the Final Round

3MT at Penn State in 2024

Penn State’s first University-wide 3MT Competition will take place over two rounds. To compete, graduate students must upload a video presentation during the submission period (January 8–February 9) and be available for the final, in-person round on Saturday, March 23, on the University Park campus.

Competitor Information

Learn more about eligibility requirements, the upcoming timeline, prize money, and more.

Judge Information

Learn about remote judging for the opening round, who can be a judge, judging criteria, and more.

Prizes

First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500
People's Choice: $500

Competition Format

Opening Round — Video Format expand_more

Open call to any Penn State graduate or professional student conducting research to submit three-minute videos. Submissions will be judged by alumni, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, staff, and others. The top 10 students get invited to the final round as well as a free lunch at Penn State’s annual Doctoral Alumni Recognition Luncheon hosted by the Dean of the Graduate School.

Final Round — In-Person Format expand_more

Saturday, March 23 10:00-11:15 a.m. Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center

The final round will be live streamed from the University Park campus and will include a people’s choice prize selected by virtual and in-person audience ballots. Winners will be announced shortly after the competition.

Regional and National Competitions expand_more

The top-scoring Ph.D. student from Penn State’s final round will be invited to the regional 3MT competition hosted by the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools in April 2024 (exact date to be determined). Winners of the regional competition are invited to the national competition hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools. Students in master's and professional degree programs are eligible to participate in Penn State's competition but are not eligible for the regional or national competitions.

Why participate?

Megan Rossi, past 3MT winner at the University of Queensland, discusses how the 3MT competition helped her career.

Contact

Direct all questions about Three Minute Thesis at Penn State to: [email protected] .

Three Minute Thesis, Graduate Exhibition, or Both?

In spring 2024, Penn State graduate students can participate in two major research and scholarship communication events, the Three Minute Thesis and the Graduate Exhibition . Students are welcome to participate in both but should be aware that each event has its own application process and deadlines.

Open access
Published: 24 August 2023

Predictors of long-term care use - informal home care recipients versus private and public facilities residents in Poland

Małgorzata Wrotek ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1450-3509 1 &
Małgorzata Kalbarczyk ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9431-1947 1

BMC Geriatrics volume 23 , Article number: 512 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

743 Accesses

Metrics details

The population aging, together with the shrinking caring potential of families, is a major challenge for social policy in the coming years. The aim of the study is to identify the factors that determine not only the use of long-term care (LTC) but also the selection of individual types of such care in Poland.

Using unique data collected from inpatient LTC facilities in Poland and the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) database, we estimate logistic regressions explaining the choice of LTC solution.

Our results suggest that social inequalities play a role in choosing the type of LTC. Better educated people choose private institutions, while people without support network use more often social residential homes. The impact of multimorbidity on choosing different types of inpatient facilities is limited, thus the number of ADL limitations remains a better indicator of long term care utilization.

Conclusions

The study confirms that social inequalities influence decisions about the choice of LTC. However, multi-morbidity is a predictor of using LTC to a limited extent. The differences in LTC selection determinants between women and men are noticeable.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

In the last 20 years, the percentage of people aged 65 and over increased in the EU-27 by 5.4 pp. reaching 24.6% in 2021 Footnote 1 . In Poland, despite the fact that this indicator was lower than the average for the EU countries – 21.4%, it grew at an even greater rate of 6.5 pp [ 1 ]. The EUROPOP-19 Footnote 2 forecasts also show that in 2060 the increase in the percentage of people aged 65 + in Poland, as compared to 2021, will be more than twice as high as the average increase for the EU-27 (12.5 pp. vs. 5.7 pp.), and in 2070 Poland will see the highest growth of this indicator among all the EU countries [ 2 ]. In turn, the percentage of people aged 80 and over living in Poland in 2021 was 4.4% [ 1 ]. And although this value was lower than the EU-27 average (6%), Poland was among the 12 countries where the fastest growth of this indicator was noted over the last 20 years. By 2030, the increase in the percentage of people aged 80 and over for Poland will be higher than the average for the EU-27 countries. In 2070, the share of this age bracket in the total population will reach 15.6%, which means that Poland will experience the highest growth (11.2 pp.) in comparison with all EU countries [ 2 ].

The aging of the population increases the demand for LTC services. According OECD [ 3 ], LTC is defined as the services provided to persons dependent on activities of daily living (ADL) [ 4 ] and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) [ 5 ] for an extended period of time and it may be provided in nursing homes, in assisted living facilities, in the community or at home [ 6 ]. As the number of older adults dramatically increases, it becomes a challenge for public policy in both the delivery of LTC services and expenditure on LTC. Thus, the progressive aging of the population makes us reflect on the factors leading to the choice of specific forms of LTC. In our study we use Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (1968) [ 7 ] to investigate how particular characteristics of the older adults correlate with using different forms of inpatient and informal care.

The aim of our study is to identify factors influencing the use of LTC and the selection of specific forms of residential care in relation to informal care in Poland. According to our knowledge, this is the first study of this type, presenting a quantitative approach based on data from Poland, as well as the first study involving three different types of inpatient LTC facilities, especially still poorly researched private inpatient sector.

In post-communist countries such as Poland, there is high supply of informal care and low supply of formal care [ 8 , 9 ]. The tendency to use residential care remains low [ 10 ] and the caring functions are mainly performed by the family [ 11 ], which suggests that cultural factors shape caring patterns. However, with declining caring potential of families, there is increasing pressure to develop formal forms of LTC. LTC in Poland includes cash and in-kind benefits and is provided by the health care, social assistance and private sectors. Two levels can be distinguished [ 12 , 13 ]: formal (institutional) care provided at home or in inpatient facilities and informal care (informal caregivers, most often family members). In terms of inpatient care in Poland, as of December 31, 2020, there were 30,638 people in long term care health sector facilities Footnote 3 [ 14 ], 18,176 people in officially registered private rest homes and 75,133 people in social residential homes [ 15 ]. At the same time, the total population of Poland was 38.1 million, of which 7.1 million were aged 65+ [ 16 ].

The criteria for admission to care facilities and the way in which they work are regulated by the relevant legal acts in Poland [ 17 , 18 ]. Both residential social homes and private rest homes are intended for persons who require 24/7 care due to age, illness or disability, who are unable to function independently in daily life and for whom the necessary care cannot be provided at home. Where these people also require enhanced medical care, they are referred to nursing homes. During admission to LTC facilities, documents are required to prove the health status and income situation of the potential resident/patient. In the case of residential social homes and private rest homes, a medical certificate of the health status of the person applying for admission is required, while in the case of nursing homes, Barthel scale scores and health insurance are additional criteria. The amount of fees varies regionally. In the case of private rest homes, the cost of the stay is paid in full by the residents (and/or their family). The stay in residential social homes and nursing homes is also chargeable, but the residents pay no more than 70% of their income. In the case of residential social homes, if the resident is not able to pay the fee himself, the spouse and children are obliged to do so, and if this is not enough, the municipality then contributes to the costs. In nursing homes, the fees paid by the patients (and/or their families if they have previously agreed to contribute to the costs) cover the costs of accommodation and meals, with the remaining amount being covered by the National Health Fund [ 17 , 18 ].

In Poland, LTC remains underfunded compared to the countries of Western and Northern Europe, as the expenditures on LTC (as % of GDP) remain relatively low. In the coming years, with the progressive aging of the population, the pressure on their growth is expected to increase. Additionally, solutions used in Poland, based on universal and wealth-related systems [ 19 ], mean that access to various forms of residential care is not equal and socio-economic factors seem to play an important role in both decisions related to the choice of LTC form, and in health inequalities.

In our study, the following research hypotheses will be verified:

Social inequalities play a role in long-term care decision-making.

Multi-morbidity (number of chronic diseases) is not a good predictor of LTC use.

There are different patterns of long-term care utilization between females and males.

Theoretical and empirical issues

Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, although originally used to predict the use of healthcare services, is now also used extensively in research focusing on actual LTC use. The original version of the model from 1968 focused on the family as the unit of analysis [ 7 ] and listed 3 groups of factors: predisposing, enabling and need as individual and contextual determinants of the use of healthcare services [ 20 ]. However, difficulties in developing measures at the family level led to the evolution of this model towards the patient as a sole decision-making entity [ 21 ]. In the following years, extensions were introduced to the original model, taking into account e.g. variability of individual factors over time, factors related to the health care system, measures of use of health services or consumer satisfaction as well as additional variables related to the external environment, making the model a useful tool for health policy or health reforms [ 21 ].

The explanation of the importance of the main factors (in relation to healthcare for which the original model was developed) was extensively described by Andersen and Davidson [ 22 ], where: (1) the term predisposing factors at the individual level refers to demographic characteristics of age and gender, social, i.e. education, profession, ethnicity or social relations, e.g. related to family status, mental factors, i.e. health values, attitudes towards health or knowledge related to health. In terms of the contextual dimension, predisposing factors are, inter alia , demographic and social composition of the population, cultural norms, organizational and collective values, political factors; (2) the term enabling factors refers to the group of factors enabling the use of services, i.e. financial factors (e.g. income, assets, price of healthcare services) and organizational factors (e.g. having a regular source of care and its nature, waiting time for care). From the contextual perspective, enabling factors of a financial nature will therefore refer to e.g. income per capita, the relative price of goods and services, expenditure on health care, and in terms of organization to e.g. the type, structure, location, number and distribution of health facilities and personnel, education and information programs, or health policies; (3) the term need factors refers to health status, functional status and disease symptoms at the individual level, and to environmental needs or population health indicators at the contextual level.

The determinants of LTC utilization based on the original version of the Andersen’s model or its extension was widely studied [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. These models were used in the context of utilization [ 31 , 33 , 36 ] or transition [ 27 , 34 ] and both in terms of actual data [ 24 , 33 ] or intended data [ 24 , 31 ]. Some of the studies focused on applying the model to informal care [ 27 ] or home and community LTC [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 ], while others focused also on institutional inpatient care [ 29 , 31 ]. Many of these studies built on the original division into predisposing, enabling and need factors. However, there are also numerous other studies focused on the determinants of LTC utilization, even though they were not formally based on the Andersen’s model. In many studies, the need factors were classified in the same way, but there were differences in the classification of the predisposing and enabling factors, as the caring potential of families (e.g. number of children or family contact frequency) was mentioned most often among enabling factors.

Predisposing factors

Many studies confirm the positive relationship between age and LTC demand [ 27 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. However, the relationship between age and the demand for LTC is not obvious, as some studies showing a positive correlation between age and institutional LTC do not include variables relating to the level of dependency. In studies of the American population over 70 years of age, variable time to death (TTD) proves to be a significant factor in increasing the use of institutional LTC. However, the availability of informal caregivers, especially spouses, significantly reduces this effect [ 39 ]. Wren et al. [ 40 ] show that the convergence between female and male life expectancy, caused by faster male life extension, significantly contributes to falling demand for both health care and LTC.

Gender remains an important factor influencing the propensity for and use of LTC, but the results are inconsistent. Some findings show a higher probability of using LTC services among females than males [ 27 , 30 ], mostly explained by their longer average life expectancy compared to males [ 41 , 42 , 43 ], as well as chronic diseases (which cause a decline in functional abilities) occurring more severely in this group [ 44 ], or a higher probability of experiencing loneliness at the end of life [ 45 ]. However, in the literature opposite results can also be found, i.e. a greater risk of institutionalization of males than females, which is most often explained by the greater difficulties with daily chores among males [ 34 ].

The relationship between the level of education and morbidity [ 46 ] and mortality [ 47 , 48 , 49 ] has been addressed in numerous studies. Among better educated people, there is a higher probability of staying in good health [ 50 ] and less interest in inpatient LTC [ 37 ]. Although there is also evidence in support of an alternative concept [ 51 , 52 ]. Better education is associated with greater knowledge about the availability and possible types of formal care [ 51 ], which leads to increased use of formal home care and reduced informal care [ 52 ], or the choice of private care and reduced public care at the same time [ 53 ] by better educated people.

Enabling factors

Taking into account the structure of households, it is indicated that the risk of using formal LTC increases when living alone [ 54 , 55 ]. Living with a spouse or daughter reduces the demand for institutional LTC to a greater extent than living with other relatives [ 56 , 57 ]. However, when medical needs increase, the fact of having a spouse does not translate so clearly into a reduced need for inpatient care [ 58 ]. A Canadian study comparing the patient profile of LTC nursing homes with retirement homes shows that people with a spouse predominate in the first type of facilities, while single people in the second type [ 58 ]. Not only having children but also close relationships (frequency of visits etc.) with children play an important role in the LTC utilization patterns. According to some findings, when community care is compared with, respectively, home and institutional care, it turns out that older people who have a closer relationship with children are more likely to stay at home, and people who had less frequent of contacts are more likely to opt for institutional care [ 26 ].

Older people with higher incomes less frequently use institutional LTC [ 54 , 55 , 59 , 60 , 61 ] because they are able to pay more for additional home care [ 62 ]. Inpatient care remains a relatively inferior option when home care is affordable [ 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ]. However, when comparing the informal to the formal, higher income increases the odds for utilization of formal LTC care [ 27 ], but also the first time LTC services utilization risk has been found to be lower among households with higher gross income [ 30 ]. There is also evidence of fairly limited impact of the income level on LTC utilization patterns [ 26 ]. Among the wealthy older adults, especially those with real estate, the lower risk of using institutional LTC may be explained by the increased efforts of relatives to inherit their property [ 66 ].

The place of residence is also relevant. People living in rural areas have a lower risk of being beneficiaries of institutional LTC than those living in urban areas [ 31 , 67 ]. It might be explained by different patterns of care between urban-rural areas, especially when seniors living in the village receive more help from family members than inhabitants of large cities [ 68 ].

Need factors

The morbidity and dependence that accompany the progressive aging processes are mentioned as the main determinants of the demand for formal LTC. The patterns of dependence and morbidity may, however, be different in particular countries, which is explained in the hypotheses existing in the literature: expansion of morbidity [ 69 , 70 , 71 ], compression of morbidity or disability [ 72 ], dynamic equilibrium, which combines the elements of both the expansion and compression hypotheses [ 73 ], or the concept of healthy aging [ 74 ]. Environmental changes and medical progress may make living with a disease less burdensome [ 75 , 76 , 77 ], while greater care for one’s own health may contribute to a decline in disability among the older adults [ 78 ].

The presence of an additional chronic disease increases the probability of utilizing any kind of LTC services [ 30 ] or institutional LTC [ 26 ] but there is also evidence of the insignificance of this variable for the risk of either home or institutional care [ 29 ]. The coexistence of several chronic diseases (multi-morbidity), especially dementia, Parkinson’s disease, urinary incontinence, and fractures as a result of falls, shows a positive correlation with ADL limitations and the demand for institutional LTC [ 38 , 45 , 59 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ]. However, some studies [ 37 ] distinguish between dependency which is measured with ADL limitations (related to the demand for residential care) and IADL limitations (which determines the use of formal home care mainly), where the first indicator (named ADL limitations or disability or dependency levels) is recognized as one of the most important predictors of LTC use [ 31 ], especially nursing facilities [ 35 ].

Data and methods

In the presented study, we combined two databases: data from LTC facilities collected by us and available data from SHARE. We decided to combine the data from both databases in order to be able to differentiate the choice of specific forms of care: residential (formal) and informal. The SHARE data for Poland did not contain information on people using residential care, therefore, in order to achieve the purpose of the study, it was necessary to provide comparable information obtained directly from long-term care facilities. As no similar study was performed in Poland and there is no data available at the individual level on long-term care residents, we decided to collect unique data. At the stage of designing the research, we took care of the comparability of variables between the two databases. First, we used data collected by us in the years 2021–2022 on residents of inpatient LTC facilities (private rest homes, residential social homes and nursing homes). We sent out a questionnaire to the managers of institutions selected randomly from official registers kept by voivodeship offices and the Ministry of Health. Each type of facility is represented in all of the 16 voivodeships in Poland, and they vary in terms of the size of the place of their location. In the self-completion questionnaire, we asked for the data concerning selected socio-demographic information regarding health and independence, as well as family networks of all the residents. As a result, a unique database was created including 745 observations from the private rest homes, 2,258 observations from the residential social homes and 872 observations from the nursing homes. Another group of data was related to the people receiving informal care at home and those who do not receive any kind of care (no LTC). The data came from the SHARE, which is a biennial panel study conducted by using probability-based sampling on people aged 50 or older and their partners across European countries, including Poland [ 84 , 85 ]. The data contains socio-demographic information about respondents as well as information on physical and mental health and functional capacity and received informal care. The presented analysis used data from wave eight, which was conducted in 2019/2020 [ 86 , 87 ] and was limited to Poland (307 observations regarding informal care at home and 1,754 observations regarding no LTC). We used the information provided in the main questionnaire. As a result, the sample size of combined data from both databases was 5,936 observations in total.

Due to the necessity to make comparisons to SHARE, we decided to limit the sample to the age of 50+. From the SHARE database, regarding informal home care, we selected those who receive personal or domestic help (or both) at home, provided by members of the household or people outside the household. Regarding no LTC, we selected people who do not receive any kind of care Footnote 4 (informal or formal). In our cross-sectional analysis we based on Andersen’s Behavioral Model [ 7 ] which allow us distinguish three group of factors classified into predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression was used as an appropriate statistical model for categorical dependent variables.

We divided our econometric analysis into 3 stages. In the first stage we used logistic regression to compare the factors differentiating the people receiving some kind of LTC (informal care at home; or in private rest homes; or in social residential homes; or in nursing homes) from those who do not receive any kind of care. In the second stage, we used the multinomial logit to compare the recipients of informal care with those using in-patient care. This time, a dependent variable on four levels was used: inpatient care in private rest homes, social residential homes and in nursing homes. Informal care at home was used as the reference category for the comparison. In the third stage, the previously used multinomial logit was applied again, but this time separately among females and males.

Due to collinearity problem between the number of ADL limitations and particular ADL limitations, and also between the number of chronic diseases and particular chronic diseases, two versions of the model have been developed. In model 1, the number of ADL limitations and the number of chronic diseases were used, while in model 2 the type of ADL limitations and the type of chronic diseases were used.

In our models, we use the following three groups of factors considered at an individual level (see Table 1 ): predisposing factors (age, sex, education level), enabling factors (having a living partner, having living children, frequency of family’s members visits as a proxy for close relationships with family members or the involvement of family members in care, type of residence), need factors (functional health status – number of ADL limitations, type of ADL limitations, number of chronic diseases, type of diseases).

We are aware that among the variables it would be worth taking into account the income of the residents, or preferably the income of the family members (not only resident’s household) involved in the organization of care. As this data was not available for residents of long-term care facilities, the level of education in our study remains a proxy for the economic situation.

Differences between the two databases we used were noticeable in the case of 3 variables: frequency of visits by family members, ADL limitations, and chronic diseases. For the frequency of visits variable, we wanted to assess the degree of family involvement in care, so in the case of LTC facilities residents the proxy for this variable was the frequency of visits by family members, and in the case of informal care (SHARE database) the frequency of domestic and personal care received by family members.

In our questionnaire, we asked about the 6 ADLs using the Katz Index [ 4 ] (bathing, dressing, transferring, feeding, toileting, continence), while the SHARE questionnaire additionally listed getting into and out of bed but omitted continence. Hence, we decided to omit getting into and out of bed from the analysis and to combine toileting and continence, which took the value of 1 if any of these limitations occurred. The final number of ADL is therefore 5.

In addition, for chronic diseases, we did not use any available tool, which was dictated by the need to simplify our questionnaire as much as possible so that it could be easily completed by LTC staff. As a result of combining the databases, we did not use the original longer list of diseases, but only those that were the same or similar or that could be combined into specific, larger categories. As a result, we combined Alzheimer’s and dementia, as they occurred separately in our questionnaire and together in SHARE. In particular, it is worth mentioning how we combine the precise names of the diseases found in SHARE to the general categories we used in our questionnaire: lung disease such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema were categorized as respiratory system diseases; heart attack or myocardial infarction, coronary artery thrombosis or any other heart disease including congestive heart failure as heart diseases; other emotional disorders including fear, anxiety, nervous or psychiatric problems as other mental health problems; cataracts as vision impairment; having a hearing aid as hearing impairment. The cases of cancer might be underestimated regarding LTC facilities as we excluded hospice and palliative care facilities (in Poland hospice and palliative care is often reported separately from long-term care, however there are nursing homes dedicated to people suffering from cancer).

We did not follow any specific reporting tool as the questionnaire we designed had to be simplified as much as possible to encourage LTC staff to respond. However, regarding SHARE dataset, information about questionnaires, variable definitions and codes can be found in the SHARE Wave 8 methodology book [ 87 ]. All analyses were conducted using STATA 12.0.

Descriptive statistics

Regarding the predisposing factors, the statistics Footnote 5 of variables used in the explanatory analysis (see Table 2 ) show that females dominate in our sample for any type of LTC we studied, with the largest share of 74.42% observed in private rest homes, and the smallest in social residential homes – 54%). The informal care recipients are the youngest group of the older adults (mean of age is 74.65 years), while the oldest groups are observed in inpatient facilities (mean of age is respectively: 76.43 years in social residential homes, 79.92 years in nursing homes and 83.03 years in private rest homes). Among people staying in residential LTC facilities, those in private rest homes declare the highest level of education (53.33% – secondary education; 23% – tertiary education). In case of other types of care, the level of education is lower (the lowest number of people with secondary education is found in nursing homes – 34.32%, and with tertiary education in social residential homes – 5.12%). In terms of enabling factors, the highest proportion of people with a living partner (52.12%) and a child (92.25%) is observed among those who receive informal care at home, while for the residents of social residential homes these figures are the lowest (6.09% and 48.98% respectively). The residents of private rest homes and social residential homes are dominated by inhabitants of large cities (44.67% and 37.18% respectively), while people coming from rural areas prevail among the older adults in nursing homes and those who receive informal care (44.02% and 55.77% respectively). In terms of need factors, the highest level of dependency is observed among the residents of nursing homes (mean of number of ADL limitations is 3.66), while among informal care recipients it is at its lowest (mean of number of ADL limitations is 1.35). Regarding number of chronic diseases, the distribution is not obvious. Residents of social residential homes and informal care recipients suffer, on average, from 3.12 to 2.99 chronic diseases, while patients in nursing homes and private rest homes, respectively, from 2.28 to 1.71. Meanwhile, people who do not use any care have, on average, 1.72 chronic diseases (similar value as for private rest homes). This shows that the number of chronic diseases does not translate into the intensity of care, and that the type of disease is more important.

Given that, as mentioned earlier, the literature suggests that there is a close relationship between the level of education and health, and health inequalities caused by social factors are observed among older people in Poland [ 88 ], we decided to check our sample regarding the statistics of education level and place of living both for the presence of two or more chronic diseases (according to the full list) and limited to selected diseases Footnote 6 and the number of ADL limitations (Additional file 1 ).

The results of our analysis show that differences in the percentage of the older adults who suffer from chronic diseases between care recipients and no LTC group are smaller than in case of ADL limitations between the same two groups. The statistics presented in Additional file 1 confirm the existence of health inequalities related to social status among people using LTC, but only regarding the number of chronic diseases. Among the older adults with higher education levels, the percentage suffering from two or more chronic diseases (in both variants) is, on average, lower than among those with primary and secondary education. The number of chronic diseases decreases as the level of education increases, both among the recipients of any form of care and among the people who do not use any care. As far as the place of residence is concerned, in the group of care recipients with primary and secondary education, the percentage of the older adults who suffer from two or more chronic diseases increases along with the increase in the size of the city. On the other hand, among people with higher education, this tendency is not observed. Regarding ADL limitations, in our sample we do not observe any correlation between level of education (share of care recipients with primary education is smaller than of those with tertiary education – 65.8% vs. 66.3%) and the size of place of living.

Any kind of LTC vs. no LTC

Results of logistic regression regarding the first stage of our econometric analysis – the comparison between the older adults receiving any LTC with those who do not receive any kind of care – are presented in Table 3 .

In terms of the factors belonging to the predisposing group, we see that age is a factor that positively correlates with using any form of LTC (all age groups remain statistically significant, with the values of the coefficients increasing as we move from younger to older age groups), which is consistent with other studies [ 27 , 30 , 31 ]. Being a woman negatively correlates with receiving LTC (which is surprising as LTC recipients are dominated by females due to their longer life on average). This result is in line with some studies [ 34 ], but opposite to other studies [ 27 , 30 ]. The level of education is insignificant, although it would be expected that people with higher education experience better health for longer [ 50 ] and therefore are less likely to receive LTC.

As for the enabling factors, both having a living partner and a child negatively correlates with receiving LTC and this result is in line with a previous study [ 56 , 57 ]. Most likely, this result can be explained by the fact that some people stay in LTC facilities due to loneliness [ 54 , 55 ]. Place of residence also turned out to be statistically significant, although the results remain somewhat non-obvious. Compared to rural inhabitants, the older adults living in small towns and large cities are both much more likely to use any form of LTC, while living in a medium-sized city is insignificant. These results can be explained by the uneven distribution of LTC facilities in Poland, as well as the diversity of care patterns, depending on the size of the place of living. Seniors living in villages receive more help from family members than inhabitants of large cities [ 68 ]. Perhaps, therefore, the residents of smaller locations can more often count on support from informal care, and residents of larger cities from inpatient care.

In terms of need factors, it is observed that both the increase in number of ADL limitations and the number of chronic diseases goes hand in hand with using any care, consistent with appropriately previous studies [ 30 , 31 ]. However, not all of the diseases we studied cause dependency. We can see that most of the chronic diseases remained insignificant (Parkinson’s disease, heart diseases, respiratory system diseases, vision impairment, hearing impairment), or even their impact was statistically significant but negative (hypertension, diabetes). On average, those who do not receive any care are more likely to suffer from hypertension and diabetes. The results show that diseases that make it impossible to function at home and are the main indication for care (apart from ADL limitations) are: chronic renal failure, Alzheimer or dementia diseases [ 31 , 35 ], mental health problems, cancer, group of other diseases including stroke.

Informal care vs. inpatient LTC

Table 4 presents the results of multinomial regression in case of informal care vs. inpatient LTC. In the group of predisposing factors, age turned out to be a strong predictor of using all three forms of inpatient care in relation to informal care. The influence remains statistically significant for the age group 70 + and grows for each subsequent age group. Thus, the results remained consistent with the previous research, where age was a strong predictor of institutionalization [ 30 , 31 ]. Although the inpatient LTC sector is dominated by female residents, in relation to informal care, being a female negatively correlates with using inpatient forms of care [consistent with 34; but opposite to 30], which might be explained by the fact that informal care is dominated by females even more than institutional care. Having secondary and higher education, as opposed to primary education, positively correlates with the probability of using private rest homes only. This means that people with a better social (and presumably economic) status, whenever they have a choice, prefer to use private care rather than public care [ 53 ], as expected within the first hypothesis. However, it is worth noting here that educated people have higher incomes and they usually don’t qualify to stay in public facilities. Of course, it should be taken into consideration that the preferences of older people are mainly focused on home care, although it was not possible to include formal (paid) home care in this study.

As for the enabling factors, support networks are a significant factor, which correlates negatively with using all three forms of inpatient care as compared to informal care. Having a living partner shows the strongest negative impact in the case of social residential homes, which suggests that people staying there most often experience loneliness comparing to the residents of other inpatient care. In the presented model, having children also negatively correlates with using residential care, but when it comes to choosing private nursing homes, this effect was the weakest or statistically insignificant. These results suggest that having more children correlates with using social residential homes and nursing homes, but does not affect the choice in the case of private institutions. The more frequent (at least once a week) are the visits by family members (more frequent help with personal and domestic activities at home), the lower is the choice of using inpatient care rather than informal care [ 26 ]. The involvement of family members in care is therefore one of the most important factors limiting the use of formal residential care. On the one hand, this result could suggest that people with better-developed support networks (caring patterns focused on family care) less often become residents of inpatient LTC. This effect could also be caused by a positive relationship between networks and health. It is again noted that loneliness is conductive to institutionalization [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ] .

In the case of the size of the place of residence, the results are inconclusive. Inhabitants of small towns up to 20,000 people are more likely to benefit from all forms of inpatient care compared to rural residents using informal care. Most likely, this is due to the differences in the possibilities of providing care between urban and rural residents, and perhaps the greater availability of residential care facilities in larger centers. In the case of medium-sized cities between 20 and 100 thousand, positive and statistically significant influence is observed only in the social welfare sector. The fact of living in a big city with over 100,000 inhabitants compared to people living in rural areas and receiving informal care, positively correlates with using both private and social residential homes, while it is statistically insignificant for nursing homes. Perhaps these results indicate the uneven distribution of residential LTC facilities depending on the size of the city, i.e. not all have equal access to the full offer of institutional care. Nevertheless, rural residents are less likely to become residents of inpatient LTC and use informal care most often [ 31 , 67 , 68 ].

In the case of the group of factors classified as need factors, undoubtedly the level of dependence (measured by the number of ADL limitations) is the strongest positive predictor of using inpatient care (for all three types) as compared to informal care [ 31 , 35 ]. This means that people using informal care often remain more independent (and therefore do not require the involvement of informal caregivers so often). In model 2, where the impact of individual constraints was verified, the results also turn out to be inconclusive. Additional analyzes of placing particular ADL limitations individually in the model suggest that each limitation positively correlates with the use of inpatient care compared to informal care. However, when these variables are put together in the model, the correlation becomes negative in case of dressing and feeding, which may indicate that when the whole range of ADL limitations is considered, these specific activities do not require the use of inpatient care (informal caregivers are better at providing assistance in this type of activities and they are not an indication for placement in a inpatient facility). The positive impact of ADL-bathing or ADL-toileting or continence may be related to the fact that people staying in inpatient care facilities, regardless of the degree of independence in performing these activities, receive help on a routine basis.

Among the chronic diseases, only Alzheimer’s and dementia appear to positively correlate with using all three forms of inpatient care in a statistically significant way, as compared to informal care [ 35 ]. Other mental disorders positively correlate with going to social residential homes, while a chronic renal failure to nursing homes. The other diseases used in the study turned out to be either statistically insignificant or their influence on the use of inpatient LTC was negative. This means that mental disorders and diseases that seriously limit independent existence and have a direct impact on mental abilities, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, are the most difficult types of diseases for informal caregivers (other diseases are not an indication for using institutional LTC).

The variable numbers of chronic diseases turn out to negatively correlate with the choice of each of the three analyzed types of inpatient care in relation to informal care. This means that Polish residents with a greater number of chronic diseases more often use care provided by family members or friends, as expected in the second hypothesis. In a way, this is a surprising result, as some literature [ 26 ] indicates a positive relationship between multimorbidity and the use of institutional LTC. But we can also find opposite results which show insignificance of multimorbidity on institutionalization [ 29 ]. The fact of a negative impact of multimorbidity on using inpatient care as compared to informal care may suggest the failure of the LTC system (for example problem with availability of inpatient LTC). On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, people with a lower socio-economic status (especially poorly educated) suffer from more number of chronic diseases and in a situation of limited access to public institutional care often opt for family care [ 52 ]. However, it is worth emphasizing that in our sample we have not found any relationship between the number of chronic diseases and the number of ADL limitations, which is consistent with another study [ 89 ] where showed that chronic diseases do not necessarily cause significant limitations in daily life.

Informal care vs. inpatient LTC – differences between males and females

As gender may be a factor not only differentiating patterns of care but also the occurrence of chronic diseases and ADL limitations, additional models were conducted separately for females (Table 5 ) and males (Table 6 ). The results show differences between males and females in all three factor groups: predisposing, enabling and need. This gives support to the third hypothesis.

In the group of models where informal care at home is the reference category, in terms of predisposing factors, the first significant difference between the sexes can be seen in terms of age – the threshold among females is 70 + as opposed to 90 + among males. When it comes to education, there are also differences observed. The fact of having secondary education significantly positively correlates with using private rest homes only among females. Males with the same level of education are more likely to stay in social residential homes. As for females, higher education positively correlates with using private care only. In the case of males, higher education increases using both private forms of care and nursing homes.

For the enabling factors, having a living partner negatively correlates with utilization of all three forms of inpatient care only among females, while it is insignificant in case of nursing homes among males. Significant differences are also observed with regard to having a living child. This variable negatively correlates with receiving any type of residential care among females, while among males it is significant only in the case of social residential homes. The frequency of visits/help remains a variable that negatively correlates with receiving any kind of care. Hence, having a family, matters only if the family members are in close contact with the person who needs care. Living children are more likely to provide informal care for mothers than for fathers but it might be explained by the fact that females (especially spouses) most often play the role of informal caregivers [ 90 , 91 ], hence males are more likely to receive informal care from their wives, but widowed females need to receive more support from their children. When it comes to the size of the place of residence, the greatest differences between the sexes occur in case of small towns, up to 20,000 inhabitants. Among females, living in small towns positively correlates with using inpatient care as compared to females in rural areas who are provided with informal care. Among males, this variable also positively correlates but only with private care and social residential homes and is insignificant for nursing homes. Inpatient care use patterns were similar for females and males living in large cities. This variable positively correlates with being residents of private rest homes and social residential homes but was insignificant for nursing homes.

In terms of the need factors, the direction of the impact of the variables, i.e.: number of ADL limitations (positive effect) and number of chronic diseases (negative effect) remains consistent among females and males. There are gender differences in the case of chronic diseases affecting the risk of using inpatient care compared to informal care. Heart diseases negatively correlate with using all three forms of inpatient care in the case of females compared to females receiving informal care (therefore, on average, females using informal care suffer from cardiovascular problems more often than females in inpatient care). When it comes to males, heart diseases negatively correlate with utilization of private rest homes and nursing homes. Among females, problems with the respiratory system also negatively correlates with using private care, while among males this variable remains insignificant. As for diabetes, on average, females receiving informal care at home suffer from this condition more often than females in all three types of inpatient care (the sign for this variable remains negative and statistically significant). Among males, this variable is insignificant. In the case of depression among females, this variable remains insignificant (depression is as common among females receiving informal care as among females in LTC facilities). Among males, depression negatively correlates with using inpatient care in all three analyzed types of inpatient care. This means that, on average, depression occurs more often among males staying at home than in LTC facilities (or this might be due to a different method of collecting data – data about no LTC and informal care groups came from direct interviews, and the data on residents were provided by the facilities’ staff). Alzheimer’s disease goes hand in hand with using residential care among both sexes, but the effect is statistically significant among females only for private care and social residential homes, and among males only for social residential homes and nursing homes. Regarding Alzheimer’s disease, there is therefore a gender differentiation according to the type of LTC facility. Other mental illnesses are statistically significant and positively correlate with using social residential homes only among males, while among females this variable is insignificant. There are also differences between males and females when it comes to hearing problems. Among males, it is a factor positively correlated with using private care, and among females, a factor that is insignificant or negatively correlated with using social residential homes. It therefore seems that informal care is more often provided to females despite of hearing problems, and in the case of males, hearing loss is a factor that increases the risk of institutionalization (still private rather than public).

In our study, based on the Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (1968) [ 7 ] we identified characteristics of people over the age of 50 that influence the probability of using different types of LTC in Poland compared to people who do not use any kind of LTC. We point out the factors that differentiate the choice between inpatient facilities as compared to informal care, and show the differences between sexes. All three hypotheses were confirmed.

We are aware that the level of income of all family members involved in providing care correlates with the choice of the form of care, however due to unavailability of this variable, we used an education level as a proxy for economic situation of older adults. The study confirms the first hypothesis that social inequalities influence decisions about the choice of LTC. Better educated people more often choose private care than people with a lower social status. Among the latter, the phenomenon of multi-morbidity (more than two chronic diseases) is more common, so social inequalities translate into inequalities in health. Therefore, it is important to both invest in education and develop the healthcare sector earlier in life. Such actions on the part of the government should mitigate the existing inequalities in health among the older adults.

However multi-morbidity is a predictor of using LTC to a limited extent. The influence of the number of chronic diseases depends on the variable used for comparisons. When we consider informal care vs. inpatient care the sign for multi-morbidity is negative, but when no LTC is used for the comparison with any kind of LTC, the sign is positive. This means that informal care beneficiaries suffer from more chronic diseases that residents of LTC facilities and no multi-morbidity itself, but particular diseases (especially Alzheimer’s, dementia and other mental diseases) should be taken into account when considering institutionalization, which confirms the second hypothesis. The number of ADL limitations is a much more relevant indicator, as it positively correlates with using LTC in each of the analyzed models.

We confirm existence of different patterns of LTC utilization between females and males with respect to all three groups of factors. Differences are observed regarding correlation between having a living partner and a child and institutionalization. Also we confirm the third hypothesis that there are differences between females and males in diseases that predisposed them to use LTC. Thus gender differences should be taken into account when planning future LTC arrangements.

Our results show that loneliness itself might be a strong predictor of social residential homes utilization. This observation is supported by two other results. Firstly, multi-morbidity is a factor with limited impact on shaping the demand for inpatient LTC. Secondly, for the older adults in social residential homes is noticed that number of ADL limitations is lower than for residents of other type of inpatient facilities. Thus, in the context of the public debate about the deinstitutionalization of the social LTC sector, our results suggest that in case of the older adults who stay in social residential homes because of their loneliness but without health reasons, there is a space to offer other type of LTC arrangements for example: housing estates for seniors. On the other hand, we also identified that Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other mental health problems remain strong predictors of using social residential homes. For this group of the older adults it may be difficult or impossible to offer another form of care outside of institutional care. Therefore, it seems that the development of long-term psychiatric care and the promotion of behaviors that may delay the occurrence of Alzheimer’s and dementia from an early age are also the right direction to follow.

Our study has some limitations. Combining databases from two sources was a challenge for several reasons. The period of data collection, which coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions, may have influenced the underestimation of the ‘frequency of visits’ variable, even though in our survey we asked LTC staff to specify the visit frequency ‘usually’. In addition, the statistics presented should not be generalized to the whole population due to the impossibility of weighting the data dictated by different target populations and different way of drawing of the samples. The importance of ensuring maximum possible comparability regarding diseases and ADLs, meant that we were forced to drop some diseases or aggregate them into more general categories. Thus, the list of chronic diseases used in our analysis does not exhaust all possible types of diseases that the older adults suffer from. Therefore, there is a risk that we were not able to identify diseases other than those described, which would significantly increase the probability of institutionalization.

Also, it was not possible to include formal (paid) home care in this study, due to the lack of relevant data. Including this kind of care would allow us to extend the analysis, especially in the context of differences in care preferences depending on social status, as dependent people more often prefer to stay at their homes.

We are aware that, apart from demand factors, the decision-making selection should also take the supply factors (e.g. availability of facilities, price of stay, number of places, etc.) into account, but due to the comparability with SHARE data and objective difficulties in estimating the costs of informal care –at this stage we decided not to include the supply factors in the analysis. Probably the biggest deficit of the presented analysis is the lack of information on the economic situation of households of LTC residents, which was not available.

In addition, further analyzes should also use data from the households of dependent people, especially information on people directly involved in care (informal caregivers), as the decision-making processes related to the choice of the form of care are often collective decisions of households. The data collection methodology forced a specific selection of variables used in the model, hence the use of other methods of data collection – interviews with residents (often difficult due to the availability of people staying in inpatient facilities and / or poor health and difficulties in establishing contact) or asking questions about a hypothetical situation (the preferred form of care, if required) would certainly offer a broader perspective on the factors determining the selection of specific forms of care.

In this study, based on the Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, we examined the relationship between predisposing, enabling and need factors on the use of long-term care in Poland. Combining data from SHARE Wave 8 and data collected in the 2021/2022 LTC resident database, we made a comparison between older adults (aged 50+) receiving any LTC with those who do not use any kind of care. We also made a comparison between users of informal care and users of three different types (nursing homes, social residential homes and private rest homes) of inpatient LTC. The results of our study indicated that social inequalities influence LTC choice decisions. However, multimorbidity is a predictor of LTC use to a limited extent. There are also differences among men and women correlating with the use of specific forms of LTC, indicating gender-dictated variation in patterns of care. Limitations of ADLs, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other mental illnesses as factors that increase the risk of institutionalization in particular should be considered in projections of future LTC sector development as well as providing implications for health policy.

Availability of data and materials

The data under analysis has been obtained from the publicly available database SHARE: Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, http://www.share-project.org/data-access/user-registration.html . This paper uses data from SHARE Waves 8. The SHARE data collection has been funded by the European Commission, DG RTD through FP5 (QLK6-CT-2001-00360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812), FP7 (SHARE-PREP: GA N°211,909, SHARE-LEAP: GA N°227,822, SHARE M4: GA N°261,982, DASISH: GA N°283,646) and Horizon 2020 (SHARE-DEV3: GA N°676,536, SHARE-COHESION: GA N°870,628, SERISS: GA N°654,221, SSHOC: GA N°823,782, SHARE-COVID19: GA N°101,015,924) and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion through VS 2015/0195, VS 2016/0135, VS 2018/0285, VS 2019/0332, and VS 2020/0313. Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04–064, HHSN271201300071C, RAG052527A) and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org ). The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available because there is no permission to share data from in-patient LTC facilities but data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request with permission of in-patient LTC facilities. Statistical model syntax is available from one of the authors, Małgorzata Wrotek ([email protected]) on reasonable request.

Authors’ calculations based on data from Eurostat - Population on 1 January by age group and sex [demo_pjangroup] access: July 30, 2022.

Authors’ calculations based on data from Eurostat – EUROPOP-19 - Demographic balances and indicators by type of projection [proj_19ndbi]; Baseline projections; access: July 30, 2022.

Including nursing homes, psychiatric nursing homes and psychiatric chronic medical care homes, hospices as well as palliative care wards.

This group included the people who received help with paper work (but did not receive any personal or domestic help), as we decided that it is not a good predictor of being independent and it concerned only 25 observations (1,4% of no LTC group).

Data was unweighted due to the combination of two databases, so statistics are specified for our sample and should not to be generalized onto whole population of LTC recipients.

Group of selected diseases includes: Parkinson disease, heart diseases (inc. myocardial infarction), respiratory system diseases, chronic renal failure, Alzheimer or dementia diseases, mental health problems – other, other diseases (incl. stroke, somatic problems).

Eurostat. Population on 1 January by age group and sex [DEMO_PJANGROUP]. Retrieved July 30., 2022, from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/DEMO_PJANGROUP?lang=en .

Eurostat. Demographic balances and indicators by type of projection [PROJ_19NDBI]. Retrieved July 30., 2022, from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/PROJ_19NDBI?lang=en .

OECD. Long-term care for older people, the OECD Health Project. Paris: Publishing OECD; 2005. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264015852-en .

Book Google Scholar

Katz S, Ford AB, Moskowitz RW, Jackson BA, Jaffe MW. Studies of illness in the aged. The index of ADL: a standardized measure of biological and psychosocial function. J Am Med Association. 1963;185:914–9. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1963.03060120024016 .

Article CAS Google Scholar

Lawton MP, Brody EM. Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist. 1969;9(3):179–86. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/9.3_Part_1.179 .

Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Stallard E. Long term care for aging populations. In International encyclopedia of public health. 2nd edition. Edited by: Quah S. San Diego: Academic Press; 2017. pp. 447–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803678-5.00256-3 .

Andersen RM. Families’ use of health services: a behavioral model of predisposing, enabling and need components. PhD thesis . Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN; 1968. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI6902884/ .

Lamura G, Mnich E, Bien B, Krevers B, McKee K, Mestheneos L, Döhner H. Dimensions of future social service provision in the ageing societies of Europe. In VI European Congress of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2007. p. 5–8. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Dimensions+of+future+social+service+provision+in+the+ageing+societies+of+Europe&conference=Proceedings+of+the+VI+European+Congress+of+the+International+Association+of+Gerontology .

Nies H, Leichsenring K, Mak S. The Emerging Identity of Long-Term Care Systems in Europe. In Long-Term Care in Europe . Edited by: Leichsenring K, Billings J, Nies H. London. Palgrave Macmillan; 2013. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032348_2 .

European Commission. Health and long-term care in the European Union. Report. Special Eurobarometer. European Commission. ; 2007, 283/ Wave 67.3 – TNS Opinion & Social. https://sid-inico.usal.es/idocs/F8/FDO22761/health_european_union.pdf .

Golinowska S. The system of long term care in Poland. Enepri Research Report no. 83. Contribution to WP 1 of the ANCIEN Project . Eur Netw Economic Policy Res Institutes; 2010 https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/122415/Poland.pdf .

Błędowski P, Maciejasz M. Rozwój opieki długoterminowej w polsce – stan i rekomendacje [Development of long-term care in Poland - state and recommendations]. Nowiny Lekarskie. 2013;82(1):61–9.

Google Scholar

Jurek Ł. Sektory opieki długoterminowej - analiza kosztów. [Long-term care sectors – cost analysis]. Gerontologia Polska [Gerontology Poland. 2007;15(4):111–5.

Statistics Poland. Zdrowie i ochrona zdrowia w 2020 roku. [Health and health care in 2020]. ; 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5513/1/11/1/zdrowie_i_ochrona_zdrowia_w_2020_aneks_tabelaryczny.xlsx .

Ministry of Family and Social Policy. Report MRPiPS-05. ; 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2022 from https://www.gov.pl/attachment/3347bced-2ec1-4063-b5ca-181e3fe79aad .

Local Data Bank (Statistics Poland), Retrieved July 30., 2022 from https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/dane/podgrup/tablica .

Ustawa o pomocy społecznej z dnia. 12 marca 2004 r. – Dz.U. z 2018r., poz. 1508 [The Polish Social Assistance Act of March 12 2004]. https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20040640593/U/D20040593Lj.pdf .

Ustawa o świadczeniach opieki zdrowotnej finansowanych ze środków publicznych z dnia 27. sierpnia 2004 r., Dz. U. z 2021 r. poz. 1285 [The Polish Health Care Services Financed from Public Funds Act of August 27 2004]. https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20042102135/U/D20042135Lj.pdf .

Colombo F, Llena-Nozal A, Mercier J, Tjadens F. Help wanted? Providing and paying for long-term care. OECD Health Policy Studies. OECD Publishing, Paris; 2011. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264097759-en .

Chapter Google Scholar

Babitsch B, Gohl D, von Lengerke T. Re-revisiting Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use: a systematic review of studies from 1998–2011. Psycho-social Med. 2012;9. https://doi.org/10.3205/psm000089 .

Andersen RM. Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: does it matter? J Health Soc Behav. 1995;36(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137284 .

Andersen RM, Davidson PL. Improving access to care in America: Individual and contextual indicators. In Changing the U.S. health care system: Key issues in health care policy and management. 3d edition. Edited by: Andersen RM, Rice TH, Kominski G. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2007. p. 3–31. https://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/44/07879852/0787985244.pdf .

Shih CM, Wang YH, Liu LF, Wu JH. Profile of Long-Term Care recipients receiving home and community-based services and the factors that influence utilization in Taiwan. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(8):2649. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082649 .

Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Travers JL, Hirschman KB, Naylor MD. Adapting Andersen’s expanded behavioral model of health services use to include older adults receiving long-term services and supports. BMC Geriatr. 2020;20(1):58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-019-1405-7 .

Rahman M, Efird JT, Kendig H, Byles JE. Patterns of home and community care use among older participants in the australian longitudinal study of women’s Health. Eur J Ageing: Social Behav Health Perspect. 2019;16(3):293–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-018-0495-y .

Article Google Scholar

Zeng L, Xu X, Zhang C, Chen L. Factors Influencing Long-Term Care Service Needs among the Elderly Based on the Latest Anderson Model: A Case Study from the Middle and Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River. Healthcare 2019, 7(4): 157. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7040157 .

Steinbeisser K, Grill E, Holle R, Peters A, Seidl H. (2018). Determinants for utilization and transitions of long-term care in adults 65 + in Germany: results from the longitudinal KORA-Age study. BMC Geriatrics 2018, 18(1): 172. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-018-0860-x .

Chuang M-J. Home and Community-Based Long-Term Care Services in Taiwan: Factors and Effects Associated with the Utilization by Community Dwelling Dependent Elderly. PhD thesis . The Johns Hopkins University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing; 2017. http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/60227 .

Fu YY, Guo Y, Bai X, Chui EW. Factors associated with older people’s long-term care needs: a case study adopting the expanded version of the Anderson Model in China. BMC Geriatr. 2017;17(1):38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-017-0436-1 .

Slobbe L, Wong A, Verheij RA, van Oers H, Polder JJ. Determinants of first-time utilization of long-term care services in the Netherlands: an observational record linkage study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017;17(1):626. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2570-z .

Wu CY, Hu HY, Huang N, Fang YT, Chou YJ, Li CP. Determinants of long-term care services among the elderly: a population-based study in Taiwan. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(2):e89213. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089213 .

Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Chen YM, Berkowitz B. Older adults’ home-and community based care service use and residential transitions: a longitudinal study. BMC Geriatr. 2012;12:44. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-12-44 .

de Meijer CA, Koopmanschap MA, Koolman XH, van Doorslaer EK. The role of disability in explaining long-term care utilization. Med Care. 2009;47(11):1156–63. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0b013e3181b69fa8 .

Article PubMed Google Scholar

Thygesen E, Saevareid HI, Lindstrom TC, Nygaard HA, Engedal K. Predicting needs for nursing home admission - does sense of coherence delay nursing home admission in care dependent older people? A longitudinal study. Int J Older People Nurs. 2009;4(1):12–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-3743.2008.00132.x .

Borrayo EA, Salmon JR, Polivka L, Dunlop BD. Utilization across the continuum of long-term care services. Gerontologist. 2002;42(5):603–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.5.603 .

Wong A, Elderkamp-de Groot R, Polder J, van Exel J. Predictors of long-term care utilization by dutch hospital patients aged 65+. BMC Health Serv Res. 2010;10:110. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-10-110 .

de Meijer CA. Studies of Health and Long-Term Care Expenditure Growth in Aging Populations. PhD thesis . Netspar Theses. Erasmus University Rotterdam; 2012. https://www.netspar.nl//assets/uploads/001_PhD_Claudine_de_Meijer.pdf .

Bakx P. Determinants of Long-Term Care Use. Master thesis . Netspar Theses Erasmus University Rotterdam; 2010. https://www.netspar.nl/assets/uploads/MA_Pieter_Bakx_2010.pdf .

Weaver FM, Weaver BA. Does availability of informal care within the household impact hospitalisation? Health Econ Policy Law. 2014;9(1):71–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133113000169 .

Wren MA, Normand C, O’Reilly D, Cruise S, Connolly S, Murphy C. Towards the development of a predictive model of long-term care demand for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland. Trinity College Dublin/Queen’s University Belfast; 2012. https://doras.dcu.ie/17967/ .

Mor V, Wilcox V, Rakowski W, Hiris J. Functional transistions among the Elderly: patterns, predictors, and Related Hospital Use. Am J Public Health. 1994;84(8):1274–80. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.84.8.1274 .

Rockwood K, Stolee P, McDowell I. Factors associated with institutionalization of older people in Canada: testing a multifactorial definition of frailty. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996;44(5):578–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01446.x .

Chen YM, Thompson EA. Understanding factors that influence success of home and community-based services in keeping older adults in community settings. J Aging Health. 2010;22(3):267–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264309356593 .

Gruneir A, Bronskill SE, Poss JW, Older Women. A look at gender differences in health system use. In Health System Use by Frail Ontario Seniors: An In-Depth Examination of Four Vulnerable Cohorts . Edited by: Bronskill SE, Camacho X, Gruneir A, Ho MM. Toronto, ON: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences; 2011. https://www.ices.on.ca/~/media/Files/Atlases-Reports/2011/Health-system-use-by-frail-Ontario-seniors/Full-report.ashx .

Hirdes JP, Mitchell L, Maxwell CJ, White N. Beyond the ‘iron lungs of gerontology’: using evidence to shape the future of nursing Homes in Canada. Can J Aging. 2011;30(3):371–90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980811000304 .

Karp A, Kåreholt I, Qiu C, Bellander T, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Relation of education and occupation-based socioeconomic status to incident Alzheimer’s disease. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159(2):175–83. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh018 .

Kitagawa EM, Hauser PM. Differential Mortality in the United States. A study in Socio-Economic Epidemiology. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press; 1973. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674188471 .

Valkonen T. Adult Mortality and Level of Education. A Comparison of Six Countries. In Health Inequalities in European Countries. Edited by: Fox J. Gower Publishing, Aldershot; 1989. pp. 142–62. https://www.scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Adult+mortality+and+level+of+education%3A+a+comparison+of+six+countries&publication_year=1987 .

Mackenbach JP, Kunst AE, Cavelaars AE, Groenhof F, Geurts JJ. Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity and mortality in western Europe. The EU Working Group on socioeconomic inequalities in Health. The Lancet. 1997;349(9066):1655–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(96)07226-1 .

Buckley NJ, Denton FT, Robb AL, Spencer BG. The transition from good to poor health: an econometric study of the older population. J Health Econ. 2004;23(5):1013–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2004.03.001 .

Batljan I. Demographics and Future Needs for Public Long Term Care and Services among the Elderly in Sweden - The Need for Planning. PhD thesis . Stockholm Studies in Social Work, 24, Department of Social Work Stockholm University; 2007. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:197046/FULLTEXT01.pdf .

Portrait F, Lindeboom M, Deeg D. The use of long-term care services by the dutch elderly. Health Econ. 2000;9(6):513–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-1050(200009)9:6<513::AID-HEC534>3.0.CO;2-r.

Bravo G, Dubois M, Dubuc N, Demers L, Blanchette D, Painter K, Lestage C, Corbin C. Comparing the resident populations of private and public long-term care facilities over a 15-year period: a study from Quebec, Canada. Aging Soc. 2015;35(10):2039–52. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X14000725 .

Garber AM, MaCurdy T. Predicting Nursing Home Utilization among the High Risk Elderly. NBER Working Paper Series . Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research; 1989, 2843. https://doi.org/10.3386/w2843 .

Greene VL, Ondrich JI. Risk factors for nursing home admissions and exits: a discrete-time hazard function approach. J Gerontol. 1990;45(6):250–S258. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/45.6.s250 .

Grundy E, Glaser K. Trends in, and transitions to, institutional residence among older people in England and Wales:1971 to 1991. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 1997;51(5):531–40. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.51.5.531 .

Freedman VA. Family structure and the risk of nursing home admission. J Gerontol B. 1996;51(2):61–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/51b.2.s61 .

Reynolds S. A Comparative Analysis of Long-term Care Policies and Placements. Master thesis . Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation University of Toronto; 2013 https://ace.ihpme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/disertations/msc-2013-17.pdf .

de Meijer CA, Koopmanschap M, Bagod’Uva T, van Doorslaer E. Time To Drop – Time-To-Death? – Unravelling The Determinants of LTC Spending In the Netherlands. Health Econometrics and Data Group Working Paper . University of York; 2009, 09/33. https://www.york.ac.uk/media/economics/documents/herc/wp/09_33.pdf .

Headen AE Jr. Economic disability and health determinants of the hazard of nursing home entry. J Hum Resour. 1993;28(1):80–110.

Nihtilä E, Martikainen P. Household income and other socio-economic determinants of long-term institutional care among older adults in Finland. Popul Stud. 2007;61(3):299–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324720701524193 .

Grundy E, Jitlal M. Socio-demographic variations in moves to institutional care 1991–2001: a record linkage study from England Wales. Age Ageing. 2007;36(4):424–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afm067 .

Hancock R, Arthur A, Jagger C, Matthews R. The Effect of Older People’s Economic Resources on Care Home Entry under the United Kingdom’s Long-Term Care Financing System. J Gerontol B. 2002;57(5):285–93. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.5.s285 .

Breeze E, Sloggett A, Fletcher A. Socioeconomic and demographic predictors of mortality and institutional residence among middle aged and older people: results from the Longitudinal Study. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 1999;53:765–74. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.53.12.765 .

Grundy E. Socio-demographic variations in rates of movement into institutions among elderly people in England and Wales: an analysis of linked census and mortality data 1971–1985. Popul Stud. 1992;46(1):65–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000146016 .

Glaser K, Grundy E, Lynch K. Transitions to supported environments in England and Wales among elderly widowed and divorced women: the changing balance between co-residence with family and institutional care. J Women Aging. 2003;15(2–3):107–87. https://doi.org/10.1300/J074v15n02_07 .

McCann M, Grundy E, O’Reilly D. Urban and rural differences in risk of admission to a care home: a census-based follow-up study. Health Place. 2014;30:171–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.09.009 .

Błędowski P. Potrzeby opiekuńcze. [Care needs]. In Badanie poszczególnych obszarów stanu zdrowia osób starszych, w tym jakości życia związanej ze zdrowiem . [ Research on specific areas of the aging adults’ health condition, including health-related quality of life ]. Edited by: Błędowski P, Grodzicki T, Mossakowska M, Zdrojewski T. Medical University of Gdańsk; 2021: 913–929.

Kramer M. The rising pandemic of mental disorders and associated chronic diseases and disabilities. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 1980;62(Suppl. 285):382–97.

Gruenberg EM. The failures of success. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly . Health and Society. 1977;55(1):3–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/3349592 .

Olshansky SJ, Rudberg MA, Carnes BA, Cassel CK, Brody JA. Trading off longer life for worsening health: the expansion of morbidity hypothesis. J Aging Health. 1991;3(2):194–216.

Fries JF. Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. N Engl J Med. 1980;303(3):130–5. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198007173030304 .

Manton KG. Changing Concepts of Morbidity and Mortality in the Elderly Population. Milbank Meml Fund Q Health Soc. 1982;60(2):183–244.

Fries JF. Measuring and monitoring success in compressing morbidity. Ann Intern Med. 2003;139(5 Pt 2):455–9. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-139-5_part_2-200309021-00015 .

Spillman BC. Changes in elderly disability rates and the implications for health care utilization and cost. Milbank Q. 2004;82(1):157–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0887-378x.2004.00305.x .

Freedman VA, Crimmins EM, Schoeni RF, Spillman BC, Aykan H, Kramarow E, Land K, Lubitz J, Manton K, Martin LG, Shinberg D, Waidmann T. Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: report from a technical working group. Demography. 2004;41(3):417–41. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2004.0022 .

Costa DL. Understanding the Twentieth-Century decline in chronic conditions among older men. Demography. 2000;37(1):53–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/2648096 .

Christensen K, Doblhammer G, Rau R, Vaupel JW. Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. The Lancet 2009, 374(9696): 1196 – 208. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61460-4 .

Shugarman LR, Fries BE, James M. A comparison of home care clients and nursing home residents: can community based care keep the elderly and disabled at home? Home Health Care Serv Q. 1999;18(1):25–45. https://doi.org/10.1300/j027v18n01_02 .

Gaugler JE, Duval S, Anderson KA, Kane RL. Predicting nursing home admission in the U.S: a meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr. 2007;7(13). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-7-13 .

Cohen-Mansfield J, Wirtz PW. The reasons for nursing home entry in an adult Day Care Population: Caregiver Reports Versus Regression results. J Geriatr Psychiatr Neurol 2009 , 22(4): 274–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891988709335799 .

Nihtilä EK, Martikainen PT, Koskinen SV, Reunanen AR, Noro AM, Häkkinen UT. Chronic conditions and the risk of long-term institutionalization among older people. Eur J Pub Health. 2008;18(1):77–84. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckm025 .

Connolly S, O’Reilly D. Variation in care home admission across areas of Northern Ireland. Age Ageing. 2009;38(4):461–5. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afp070 .

Börsch-Supan A, Brandt M, Hunkler C, Kneip T, Korbmacher J, Malter F, Schaan B, Stuck S, Zuber S. Data Resource Profile: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Int J Epidemiol. 2013;42(4):992–1001. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt088 .

Börsch-Supan A, Jürges H, editors. The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – Methodology. Mannheim: Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA); 2005.

Börsch-Supan A. Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Wave 8 . Release version: 8.0.0. SHARE-ERIC. Data set; 2022. https://doi.org/10.6103/share.w8.800 .

Bergmann M, Börsch-Supan A, editors. SHARE Wave 8 methodology: collecting cross-national Survey Data in Times of COVID-19. Munich: MEA, Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy; 2021.

Lange A, Zdrojewski T, Zagożdżon P, Błędowski P, Jagiełło K, Wizner B, et al. Nierówności w zdrowiu w zależności od czynników społecznych. [Health inequalities depending on social factors]. In Badanie poszczególnych obszarów stanu zdrowia osób starszych, w tym jakości życia związanej ze zdrowiem. [Research on specific areas of the aging adults’ health condition, including health-related quality of life]. Edited by: Błędowski P, Grodzicki T, Mossakowska M, Zdrojewski T. Gdańsk, Medical University of Gdańsk; 2021. pp. 1035–52. https://polsenior2.gumed.edu.pl/attachment/attachment/82370/Polsenior_2.pdf .

Guralnik JM. Assessing the impact of comorbidity in the older population. Ann Epidemiol. 1996;6(5):376–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1047-2797(96)00060-9 .

Johansson MF, McKee KJ, Dahlberg L, Williams CL, Summer Meranius M, Hanson E, Magnusson L, Ekman B, Marmstål Hammar L. A comparison of spouse and non-spouse carers of people with dementia: a descriptive analysis of swedish national survey data. BMC Geriatr. 2021;21(1):338. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02264-0 .

Sharma N, Chakrabarti S, Grover S. Gender differences in caregiving among family - caregivers of people with mental illnesses. World J Psychiatry. 2016;6(1):7–17. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.7 .

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as a part of research grant funded by University of Warsaw, grant number 01/IDUB/2019/94. We would like to thank Grzegorz Kula and Paweł Kaczmarczyk for their comments. We are also grateful for the insightful comments obtained from the anonymous Reviewers. Special acknowledgments to managers and other staff of LTC facilities for their involvement in the preparation and sharing of the data.

This work was supported by University of Warsaw, grant number 01/IDUB/2019/94. The founding source has no involvement in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Długa 44/50, Warsaw, 00-241, Poland

Małgorzata Wrotek & Małgorzata Kalbarczyk

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Małgorzata Wrotek and Małgorzata Kalbarczyk. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Małgorzata Wrotek and Małgorzata Kalbarczyk commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Małgorzata Wrotek .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The study uses data from publicly available SHARE survey database and unique data collected from in-patient LTC facilities in Poland. The SHARE study is subject to continuous ethics review. During Waves 1 to 4, SHARE was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Mannheim. Wave 4 and the continuation of the project were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Council of the Max Planck Society. In addition, the country implementations of SHARE were reviewed and approved by the respective ethics committees or institutional review boards whenever this was required. The numerous reviews covered all aspects of the SHARE study, including sub-projects and confirmed the project to be compliant with the relevant legal norms and that the project and its procedures agree with international ethical standards. Opinion of the Ethics Council of the Max Planck Society on the “SHARE” Project: http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf.documentation/SHARE_ethics_approvals.pdf

Data collection from in-patient LTC facilities in Poland was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Warsaw Faculty of Economic Sciences (reference no. 4/2021). The need for Informed consent was waived by the Ethics Committee of University of Warsaw. All methods were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Additional file 1: table a1..

Statistics for education level and place of living vs. chronic diseases and ADL limitations

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Wrotek, M., Kalbarczyk, M. Predictors of long-term care use - informal home care recipients versus private and public facilities residents in Poland. BMC Geriatr 23 , 512 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04216-2

Download citation

Received : 24 October 2022

Accepted : 04 August 2023

Published : 24 August 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04216-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Long-term care
Informal care
Andersen's behavioral model

BMC Geriatrics

ISSN: 1471-2318

Submission enquiries: [email protected]
General enquiries: [email protected]

Annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition Provides Research Capsule Talks

Creating an elevator pitch from information gleaned through years of specialized research takes clear thinking, precise wording and a flair for presenting to an audience. Just ask the participants of this year’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Ten graduate and doctoral students took part in the contest’s final round last month.

3MT provides participants with the chance to share details about their research and creative work in a compelling way—within a three-minute time limit. It was first developed by the University of Queensland in Australia and is now held at colleges and universities around the world.

“3MT forces students to come up with ways to describe their research succinctly to non-specialists in a way that is not just comprehensible, but is also interesting and engaging. That’s a skill set that will pay off on the job market, and even beyond, as far as interacting with the media and others who can help disseminate your work and findings more broadly,” says Glenn Wright, executive director of career and professional development for the Graduate School, who runs the competition.

Nimisha Thakur

This year’s top winner is Nim isha Thakur , a Ph.D. student in anthropology, whose topic was “ River Song: Riverine Futures Amidst Climate Change on the Brahmaputra Floodplains .” Thakur, a graduate research associate at the South Asia Center in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs , won a 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 and a year membership in the Anthropological Association of America. Thakur also has the chance to represent Syracuse University in the regional 3MT competition hosted by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

Qingyang Liu

Qingyang Liu , a Ph.D. student in human developm ent and family science, was named the “People’s Choice” winner by audience vote. Liu conducts research in the SELF Regulation Laboratory in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics . Her topic was “ Material Hardship’s Influence on Self-Regulation Across Childhood: Which Hardship Truly Matters ?” The prize was a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

Additional finalists were:

Caroline Barraco , master’s student in history, “Authenticity, Commodity and Empire in the Early Modern Spanish Relic Trade”
Yener Çağla Çimendereli , Ph.D. student in philosophy, “Nonnative Speaking and Linguistic Justice”
Nicholas Croce , Ph.D. student in social science, “America’s Forgotten Labor Colony Experiment”
Nardini Jhawar , Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, “Racial Reflections: Examining ADHD Help-Seeking Among Asian American College Students”
Matthew D. O’Leary , Ph.D. student in anthropology, “Entangled Frontiers: Capitalism and Artifacts of Power at Fort St. Frédéric”
Andrew Ridgeway , Ph.D. student in composition and cultural rhetoric, “Evil We Desire: Akrasia and Conspiracy Rhetoric”
Paul Sagoe , Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering, “From Joint Pain to Joy Gain: Delivering Drugs for Osteoarthritis Cure”’
Julia Zeh , Ph.D. student in biology, “From Baby Babbles to Masterful Melodies: Investigating Vocal Development in Humpback Whales”

Judges were Sarah Hamersma, associate professor and director of doctoral studies in public administration and international affairs, and Chung-Chin Eugene Liu, assistant professor of economics, both of the Maxwell School; and Corey Williams, a Syracuse City School District employee and a Common Councilor for Syracuse’s Third District.

Diane Stirling

Chancellor Syverud Provides Updates to University Senate on Shared Governance Related to Honorary Degrees, Benefits, Sustainability and Athletics Thursday, April 18, 2024, By News Staff
Professor Receives NSF CAREER Award to Research Context Sensitive Fuzzing for Networked Systems Thursday, April 18, 2024, By Kwami Maranga
Department of Public Safety Seeking Community Feedback Thursday, April 18, 2024, By News Staff
5 Students Use Couri Hatchery to Prepare for New York Business Plan Competition Wednesday, April 17, 2024, By Dawn McWilliams
Victory for Veterans: Law Expert Reacts to Supreme Court Decision Wednesday, April 17, 2024, By Vanessa Marquette

More In Campus & Community

Chancellor syverud provides updates to university senate on shared governance related to honorary degrees, benefits, sustainability and athletics.

Thank you, Professor Reed. Can we all clap for the professor? Twenty-five days to Commencement. It’s hard to believe and package it. Today I’m going to be very brief. I do want to note with great sorrow the passing last…

Department of Public Safety Seeking Community Feedback

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, is currently conducting an online survey to learn from campus community members about their experiences with and perspectives on public and campus safety. The…

Campus Dining and Stores to Become Fully Cashless in Fall 2024

Beginning at the start of the Fall 2024 semester, all Syracuse University Campus Dining and Campus Store locations will operate on a fully cashless basis, joining many other campus departments, including the JMA Wireless Dome and Parking and Transportation Services….

University Names 2024-25 Remembrance Scholars

Thirty-five students have been chosen as the 2024-25 Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars. The scholarships, now in their 35th year, were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the students studying in London and Florence through Syracuse University who were killed…

Men’s Soccer Hosting Spring Break Camp for Local Children

Wanting to both give back to the surrounding community and help train the next generation of soccer players, the Syracuse University men’s soccer team is pleased to offer a spring break soccer camp for area children. The half-day camp is…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact [email protected] .

Connect With Us

For the media.

Toward a framework for selecting indicators of measuring sustainability and circular economy in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review

LIFE CYCLE SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
Published: 02 March 2022

Cite this article

Cecilia Silvestri ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2528-601X 1 ,
Luca Silvestri ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6754-899X 2 ,
Michela Piccarozzi ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9717-9462 1 &
Alessandro Ruggieri 1

2878 Accesses

11 Citations

9 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

A Correction to this article was published on 24 March 2022

This article has been updated

The implementation of sustainability and circular economy (CE) models in agri-food production can promote resource efficiency, reduce environmental burdens, and ensure improved and socially responsible systems. In this context, indicators for the measurement of sustainability play a crucial role. Indicators can measure CE strategies aimed to preserve functions, products, components, materials, or embodied energy. Although there is broad literature describing sustainability and CE indicators, no study offers such a comprehensive framework of indicators for measuring sustainability and CE in the agri-food sector.

Starting from this central research gap, a systematic literature review has been developed to measure the sustainability in the agri-food sector and, based on these findings, to understand how indicators are used and for which specific purposes.

The analysis of the results allowed us to classify the sample of articles in three main clusters (“Assessment-LCA,” “Best practice,” and “Decision-making”) and has shown increasing attention to the three pillars of sustainability (triple bottom line). In this context, an integrated approach of indicators (environmental, social, and economic) offers the best solution to ensure an easier transition to sustainability.

Conclusions

The sample analysis facilitated the identification of new categories of impact that deserve attention, such as the cooperation among stakeholders in the supply chain and eco-innovation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the temporal distribution of the articles under analysis

Source: Authors’ elaborations. Notes: The graph shows the time distribution of articles from the three major journals

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the composition of the sample according to the three clusters identified by the analysis

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the distribution of articles over time by cluster

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the network visualization

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the overlay visualization

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the classification of articles by scientific field

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: Article classification based on their cluster to which they belong and scientific field

Source: Authors’ elaboration

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the distribution of items over time based on TBL

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the Pareto diagram highlighting the most used indicators in literature for measuring sustainability in the agri-food sector

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the distribution over time of articles divided into conceptual and empirical

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the classification of articles, divided into conceptual and empirical, in-depth analysis

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the geographical distribution of the authors

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the distribution of authors according to the continent from which they originate

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: The graph shows the time distribution of publication of authors according to the continent from which they originate

Source: Authors’ elaboration. Notes: Sustainability measurement indicators and impact categories of LCA, S-LCA, and LCC tools should be integrated in order to provide stakeholders with best practices as guidelines and tools to support both decision-making and measurement, according to the circular economy approach

Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review

Alexander Wezel, Barbara Gemmill Herren, … Fergus Sinclair

What Is Sustainability? A Review of the Concept and Its Applications

The socio-economic performance of agroecology. A review

Ioanna Mouratiadou, Alexander Wezel, … Paolo Bàrberi

Change history

24 march 2022.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02038-9

Acero AP, Rodriguez C, Ciroth A (2017) LCIA methods: impact assessment methods in life cycle assessment and their impact categories. Version 1.5.6. Green Delta 1–23

Accorsi R, Versari L, Manzini R (2015) Glass vs. plastic: Life cycle assessment of extra-virgin olive oil bottles across global supply chains. Sustain 7:2818–2840. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7032818

Adjei-Bamfo P, Maloreh-Nyamekye T, Ahenkan A (2019) The role of e-government in sustainable public procurement in developing countries: a systematic literature review. Resour Conserv Recycl 142:189–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.12.001

Article Google Scholar

Aivazidou E, Tsolakis N, Vlachos D, Iakovou E (2015) Water footprint management policies for agrifood supply chains: a critical taxonomy and a system dynamics modelling approach. Chem Eng Trans 43:115–120. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1543020

Alhaddi H (2015) Triple bottom line and sustainability: a literature review. Bus Manag Stud 1:6–10

Allaoui H, Guo Y, Sarkis J (2019) Decision support for collaboration planning in sustainable supply chains. J Clean Prod 229:761–774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.367

Alshqaqeeq F, Amin Esmaeili M, Overcash M, Twomey J (2020) Quantifying hospital services by carbon footprint: a systematic literature review of patient care alternatives. Resour Conserv Recycl 154:104560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104560

Anwar F, Chaudhry FN, Nazeer S et al (2016) Causes of ozone layer depletion and its effects on human: review. Atmos Clim Sci 06:129–134. https://doi.org/10.4236/acs.2016.61011

Aquilani B, Silvestri C, Ruggieri A (2016). A Systematic Literature Review on Total Quality Management Critical Success Factors and the Identification of New Avenues of Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-01-2016-0003

Aramyan L, Hoste R, Van Den Broek W et al (2011) Towards sustainable food production: a scenario study of the European pork sector. J Chain Netw Sci 11:177–189. https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2011.Qpork8

Arfini F, Antonioli F, Cozzi E et al (2019) Sustainability, innovation and rural development: the case of Parmigiano-Reggiano PDO. Sustain 11:1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184978

Assembly UG (2005) Resolution adopted by the general assembly. New York, NY

Avilés-Palacios C, Rodríguez-Olalla A (2021) The sustainability of waste management models in circular economies. Sustain 13:1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137105

Azevedo SG, Silva ME, Matias JCO, Dias GP (2018) The influence of collaboration initiatives on the sustainability of the cashew supply chain. Sustain 10:1–29. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10062075

Bajaj S, Garg R, Sethi M (2016) Total quality management: a critical literature review using Pareto analysis. Int J Product Perform Manag 67:128–154

Banasik A, Kanellopoulos A, Bloemhof-Ruwaard JM, Claassen GDH (2019) Accounting for uncertainty in eco-efficient agri-food supply chains: a case study for mushroom production planning. J Clean Prod 216:249–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.153

Barth H, Ulvenblad PO, Ulvenblad P (2017) Towards a conceptual framework of sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review. Sustain 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091620

Bastas A, Liyanage K (2018) Sustainable supply chain quality management: a systematic review

Beckerman W (1992) Economic growth and the environment: whose growth? Whose environment? World Dev 20:481–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(92)90038-W

Belaud JP, Prioux N, Vialle C, Sablayrolles C (2019) Big data for agri-food 4.0: application to sustainability management for by-products supply chain. Comput Ind 111:41–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2019.06.006

Bele B, Norderhaug A, Sickel H (2018) Localized agri-food systems and biodiversity. Agric 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture8020022

Bilali H El, Calabrese G, Iannetta M et al (2020) Environmental sustainability of typical agro-food products: a scientifically sound and user friendly approach. New Medit 19:69–83. https://doi.org/10.30682/nm2002e

Blanc S, Massaglia S, Brun F et al (2019) Use of bio-based plastics in the fruit supply chain: an integrated approach to assess environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Sustain 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092475

Bloemhof JM, van der Vorst JGAJ, Bastl M, Allaoui H (2015) Sustainability assessment of food chain logistics. Int J Logist Res Appl 18:101–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/13675567.2015.1015508

Bonisoli L, Galdeano-Gómez E, Piedra-Muñoz L (2018) Deconstructing criteria and assessment tools to build agri-sustainability indicators and support farmers’ decision-making process. J Clean Prod 182:1080–1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.055

Bonisoli L, Galdeano-Gómez E, Piedra-Muñoz L, Pérez-Mesa JC (2019) Benchmarking agri-food sustainability certifications: evidences from applying SAFA in the Ecuadorian banana agri-system. J Clean Prod 236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.07.054

Bornmann L, Haunschild R, Hug SE (2018) Visualizing the context of citations referencing papers published by Eugene Garfield: a new type of keyword co-occurrence analysis. Scientometrics 114:427–437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2591-8

Boulding KE (1966) The economics of the coming spaceship earth. New York, 1-17

Bracquené E, Dewulf W, Duflou JR (2020) Measuring the performance of more circular complex product supply chains. Resour Conserv Recycl 154:104608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104608

Burck J, Hagen U, Bals C et al (2021) Climate Change Performance Index

Calisto Friant M, Vermeulen WJV, Salomone R (2020) A typology of circular economy discourses: navigating the diverse visions of a contested paradigm. Resour Conserv Recycl 161:104917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104917

Campbell BM, Beare DJ, Bennett EM et al (2017) Agriculture production as a major driver of the earth system exceeding planetary boundaries. Ecol Soc 22. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09595-220408

Capitanio F, Coppola A, Pascucci S (2010) Product and process innovation in the Italian food industry. Agribusiness 26:503–518. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.20239

Caputo P, Zagarella F, Cusenza MA et al (2020) Energy-environmental assessment of the UIA-OpenAgri case study as urban regeneration project through agriculture. Sci Total Environ 729:138819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138819

Article CAS Google Scholar

Chabowski BR, Mena JA, Gonzalez-Padron TL (2011) The structure of sustainability research in marketing, 1958–2008: a basis for future research opportunities. J Acad Mark Sci 39:55–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0212-7

Chadegani AA, Salehi H, Yunus M et al (2017) A comparison between two main academic literature collections : Web of Science and Scopus databases. Asian Soc Sci 9:18–26. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n5p18

Chams N, Guesmi B, Gil JM (2020) Beyond scientific contribution: assessment of the societal impact of research and innovation to build a sustainable agri-food sector. J Environ Manage 264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110455

Chandrakumar C, McLaren SJ, Jayamaha NP, Ramilan T (2019) Absolute sustainability-based life cycle assessment (ASLCA): a benchmarking approach to operate agri-food systems within the 2°C global carbon budget. J Ind Ecol 23:906–917. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12830

Chaparro-Africano AM (2019) Toward generating sustainability indicators for agroecological markets. Agroecol Sustain Food Syst 43:40–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2019.1566192

Colicchia C, Strozzi F (2012) Supply chain risk management: a new methodology for a systematic literature review

Conca L, Manta F, Morrone D, Toma P (2021) The impact of direct environmental, social, and governance reporting: empirical evidence in European-listed companies in the agri-food sector. Bus Strateg Environ 30:1080–1093. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2672

Coppola A, Ianuario S, Romano S, Viccaro M (2020) Corporate social responsibility in agri-food firms: the relationship between CSR actions and firm’s performance. AIMS Environ Sci 7:542–558. https://doi.org/10.3934/environsci.2020034

Corona B, Shen L, Reike D et al (2019) Towards sustainable development through the circular economy—a review and critical assessment on current circularity metrics. Resour Conserv Recycl 151:104498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104498

Correia MS (2019) Sustainability: An overview of the triple bottom line and sustainability implementation. Int J Strateg Eng 2:29–38. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJoSE.2019010103

Coteur I, Marchand F, Debruyne L, Lauwers L (2019) Structuring the myriad of sustainability assessments in agri-food systems: a case in Flanders. J Clean Prod 209:472–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.066

CREA (2020) L’agricoltura italiana conta 2019

Crenna E, Sala S, Polce C, Collina E (2017) Pollinators in life cycle assessment: towards a framework for impact assessment. J Clean Prod 140:525–536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.02.058

D’Eusanio M, Serreli M, Zamagni A, Petti L (2018) Assessment of social dimension of a jar of honey: a methodological outline. J Clean Prod 199:503–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.157

Dania WAP, Xing K, Amer Y (2018) Collaboration behavioural factors for sustainable agri-food supply chains: a systematic review. J Clean Prod 186:851–864

De Pascale A, Arbolino R, Szopik-Depczyńska K et al (2021) A systematic review for measuring circular economy: the 61 indicators. J Clean Prod 281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124942

De Schoenmakere M, Gillabel J (2017) Circular by design: products in the circular economy

Del Borghi A, Gallo M, Strazza C, Del Borghi M (2014) An evaluation of environmental sustainability in the food industry through life cycle assessment: the case study of tomato products supply chain. J Clean Prod 78:121–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.083

Del Borghi A, Strazza C, Magrassi F et al (2018) Life cycle assessment for eco-design of product–package systems in the food industry—the case of legumes. Sustain Prod Consum 13:24–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2017.11.001

Denyer D, Tranfield D (2009) Producing a systematic review. In: Buchanan B (ed) The sage handbook of organization research methods. Sage Publications Ltd, Cornwall, pp 671–689

Google Scholar

Dietz T, Grabs J, Chong AE (2019) Mainstreamed voluntary sustainability standards and their effectiveness: evidence from the Honduran coffee sector. Regul Gov. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12239

Dixon-Woods M (2011) Using framework-based synthesis for conducting reviews of qualitative studies. BMC Med 9:9–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-9-39

do Canto NR, Bossle MB, Marques L, Dutra M, (2020) Supply chain collaboration for sustainability: a qualitative investigation of food supply chains in Brazil. Manag Environ Qual an Int J. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-12-2019-0275

dos Santos RR, Guarnieri P (2020) Social gains for artisanal agroindustrial producers induced by cooperation and collaboration in agri-food supply chain. Soc Responsib J. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-09-2019-0323

Doukidis GI, Matopoulos A, Vlachopoulou M, Manthou V, Manos B (2007) A conceptual framework for supply chain collaboration: empirical evidence from the agri‐food industry. Supply Chain Manag an Int Journal 12:177–186. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598540710742491

Durach CF, Kembro J, Wieland A (2017) A new paradigm for systematic literature reviews in supply chain management. J Supply Chain Manag 53:67–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12145

Durán-Sánchez A, Álvarez-García J, Río-Rama D, De la Cruz M (2018) Sustainable water resources management: a bibliometric overview. Water 10:1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091191

Duru M, Therond O (2015) Livestock system sustainability and resilience in intensive production zones: which form of ecological modernization? Reg Environ Chang 15:1651–1665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-014-0722-9

Edison Fondazione (2019) Le eccellenze agricole italiane. I primati europei e mondiali dell’Italia nei prodotti vegetali. Milan (IT)

Ehrenfeld JR (2005) The roots of sustainability. MIT Sloan Manag Rev 46(2)46:23–25

Elia V, Gnoni MG, Tornese F (2017) Measuring circular economy strategies through index methods: a critical analysis. J Clean Prod 142:2741–2751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.196

Elkington J (1997) Cannibals with forks : the triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone, Oxford

Esposito B, Sessa MR, Sica D, Malandrino O (2020) Towards circular economy in the agri-food sector. A systematic literature review. Sustain 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU12187401

European Commission (2018) Agri-food trade in 2018

European Commission (2019) Monitoring EU agri-food trade: development until September 2019

Eurostat (2018) Small and large farms in the EU - statistics from the farm structure survey

FAO (2011) Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Italy, Rome

FAO (2012) Energy-smart food at FAO: an overview. Italy, Rome

FAO (2014) Food wastage footprint: fool cost-accounting

FAO (2016) The state of food and agriculture climate change, agriculture and food security. Italy, Rome

FAO (2017) The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges. Italy, Rome

FAO (2020) The state of food security and nutrition in the world. Transforming Food Systems for Affordable Healthy Diets. Rome, Italy

Fassio F, Tecco N (2019) Circular economy for food: a systemic interpretation of 40 case histories in the food system in their relationships with SDGs. Systems 7:43. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems7030043

Fathollahi A, Coupe SJ (2021) Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) of road drainage systems for sustainability evaluation: quantifying the contribution of different life cycle phases. Sci Total Environ 776:145937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145937

Ferreira VJ, Arnal ÁJ, Royo P et al (2019) Energy and resource efficiency of electroporation-assisted extraction as an emerging technology towards a sustainable bio-economy in the agri-food sector. J Clean Prod 233:1123–1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.030

Fiksel J (2006) A framework for sustainable remediation. JOM 8:15–22. https://doi.org/10.1021/es202595w

Flick U (2014) An introduction to qualitative research

Franciosi C, Voisin A, Miranda S et al (2020) Measuring maintenance impacts on sustainability of manufacturing industries : from a systematic literature review to a framework proposal. J Clean Prod 260:1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121065

Gaitán-Cremaschi D, Meuwissen MPM, Oude AGJML (2017) Total factor productivity: a framework for measuring agri-food supply chain performance towards sustainability. Appl Econ Perspect Policy 39:259–285. https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppw008

Galdeano-Gómez E, Zepeda-Zepeda JA, Piedra-Muñoz L, Vega-López LL (2017) Family farm’s features influencing socio-economic sustainability: an analysis of the agri-food sector in southeast Spain. New Medit 16:50–61

Gallopín G, Herrero LMJ, Rocuts A (2014) Conceptual frameworks and visual interpretations of sustainability. Int J Sustain Dev 17:298–326. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSD.2014.064183

Gallopín GC (2003) Sostenibilidad y desarrollo sostenible: un enfoque sistémico. Cepal, LATIN AMERICA

Garnett T (2013) Food sustainability: problems, perspectives and solutions. Proc Nutr Soc 72:29–39. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665112002947

Garofalo P, D’Andrea L, Tomaiuolo M et al (2017) Environmental sustainability of agri-food supply chains in Italy: the case of the whole-peeled tomato production under life cycle assessment methodology. J Food Eng 200:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2016.12.007

Gava O, Bartolini F, Venturi F et al (2018) A reflection of the use of the life cycle assessment tool for agri-food sustainability. Sustain 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010071

Gazzola P, Querci E (2017) The connection between the quality of life and sustainable ecological development. Eur Sci J 7881:1857–7431

Geissdoerfer M, Savaget P, Bocken N, Hultink EJ (2017) The circular economy – a new sustainability paradigm ? The circular economy – a new sustainability paradigm ? J Clean Prod 143:757–768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048

Georgescu-Roegen N (1971) The entropy low and the economic process. Harward University Press, Cambridge Mass

Book Google Scholar

Gerbens-Leenes PW, Moll HC, Schoot Uiterkamp AJM (2003) Design and development of a measuring method for environmental sustainability in food production systems. Ecol Econ 46:231–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(03)00140-X

Gésan-Guiziou G, Alaphilippe A, Aubin J et al (2020) Diversity and potentiality of multi-criteria decision analysis methods for agri-food research. Agron Sustain Dev 40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-020-00650-3

Ghisellini P, Cialani C, Ulgiati S (2016) A review on circular economy: the expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. J Clean Prod 114:11–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.007

Godoy-Durán Á, Galdeano- Gómez E, Pérez-Mesa JC, Piedra-Muñoz L (2017) Assessing eco-efficiency and the determinants of horticultural family-farming in southeast Spain. J Environ Manage 204:594–604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.09.037

Gold S, Kunz N, Reiner G (2017) Sustainable global agrifood supply chains: exploring the barriers. J Ind Ecol 21:249–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12440

Goucher L, Bruce R, Cameron DD et al (2017) The environmental impact of fertilizer embodied in a wheat-to-bread supply chain. Nat Plants 3:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2017.12

Green A, Nemecek T, Chaudhary A, Mathys A (2020) Assessing nutritional, health, and environmental sustainability dimensions of agri-food production. Glob Food Sec 26:100406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100406

Guinée JB, Heijungs R, Huppes G et al (2011) Life cycle assessment: past, present, and future †. Environ Sci Technol 45:90–96. https://doi.org/10.1021/es101316v

Guiomar N, Godinho S, Pinto-Correia T et al (2018) Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe: towards a better picture. Land Use Policy 75:784–798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.012

Gunasekaran A, Patel C, McGaughey RE (2004) A framework for supply chain performance measurement. Int J Prod Econ 87:333–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2003.08.003

Gunasekaran A, Patel C, Tirtiroglu E (2001) Performance measures and metrics in a supply chain environment. Int J Oper Prod Manag 21:71–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570110358468

Hamam M, Chinnici G, Di Vita G et al (2021) Circular economy models in agro-food systems: a review. Sustain 13

Harun SN, Hanafiah MM, Aziz NIHA (2021) An LCA-based environmental performance of rice production for developing a sustainable agri-food system in Malaysia. Environ Manage 67:146–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01365-7

Harvey M, Pilgrim S (2011) The new competition for land: food, energy, and climate change. Food Policy 36:S40–S51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.11.009

Hawkes C, Ruel MT (2006) Understanding the links between agriculture and health. DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Washington, USA

Hellweg S, Milà i Canals L (2014) Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment. Science (80)344:1109LP–1113. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1248361

Higgins V, Dibden J, Cocklin C (2015) Private agri-food governance and greenhouse gas abatement: constructing a corporate carbon economy. Geoforum 66:75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.09.012

Hill T (1995) Manufacturing strategy: text and cases., Macmillan

Hjeresen DD, Gonzales R (2020) Green chemistry promote sustainable agriculture?The rewards are higher yields and less environmental contamination. Environemental Sci Techonology 103–107

Horne R, Grant T, Verghese K (2009) Life cycle assessment: principles, practice, and prospects. Csiro Publishing, Collingwood, Australia

Horton P, Koh L, Guang VS (2016) An integrated theoretical framework to enhance resource efficiency, sustainability and human health in agri-food systems. J Clean Prod 120:164–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.08.092

Hospido A, Davis J, Berlin J, Sonesson U (2010) A review of methodological issues affecting LCA of novel food products. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:44–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-009-0130-4

Huffman T, Liu J, Green M et al (2015) Improving and evaluating the soil cover indicator for agricultural land in Canada. Ecol Indic 48:272–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.07.008

Ilbery B, Maye D (2005) Food supply chains and sustainability: evidence from specialist food producers in the Scottish/English borders. Land Use Policy 22:331–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2004.06.002

Ingrao C, Faccilongo N, Valenti F et al (2019) Tomato puree in the Mediterranean region: an environmental life cycle assessment, based upon data surveyed at the supply chain level. J Clean Prod 233:292–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.056

Iocola I, Angevin F, Bockstaller C et al (2020) An actor-oriented multi-criteria assessment framework to support a transition towards sustainable agricultural systems based on crop diversification. Sustain 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135434

Irabien A, Darton RC (2016) Energy–water–food nexus in the Spanish greenhouse tomato production. Clean Technol Environ Policy 18:1307–1316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-1076-9

ISO 14040:2006 (2006) Environmental management — life cycle assessment — principles and framework

ISO 14044:2006 (2006) Environmental management — life cycle assessment — requirements and guidelines

ISO 15392:2008 (2008) Sustainability in building construction–general principles

Istat (2019) Andamento dell’economia agricola

Jaakkola E (2020) Designing conceptual articles : four approaches. AMS Rev 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-020-00161-0

Jin R, Yuan H, Chen Q (2019) Science mapping approach to assisting the review of construction and demolition waste management research published between 2009 and 2018. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:175–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.09.029

Johnston P, Everard M, Santillo D, Robèrt KH (2007) Reclaiming the definition of sustainability. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 14:60–66. https://doi.org/10.1065/espr2007.01.375

Jorgensen SE, Burkhard B, Müller F (2013) Twenty volumes of ecological indicators-an accounting short review. Ecol Indic 28:4–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.12.018

Joshi S, Sharma M, Kler R (2020) Modeling circular economy dimensions in agri-tourism clusters: sustainable performance and future research directions. Int J Math Eng Manag Sci 5:1046–1061. https://doi.org/10.33889/IJMEMS.2020.5.6.080

Kamilaris A, Gao F, Prenafeta-Boldu FX, Ali MI (2017) Agri-IoT: a semantic framework for Internet of Things-enabled smart farming applications. In: 2016 IEEE 3rd World Forum on Internet of Things, WF-IoT 2016. pp 442–447

Karuppusami G, Gandhinathan R (2006) Pareto analysis of critical success factors of total quality management: a literature review and analysis. TQM Mag 18:372–385. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780610671048

Kates RW, Parris TM, Leiserowitz AA (2005) What is sustainable development? Goals, indicators, values, and practice. Environ Sci Policy Sustain Dev 47:8–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2005.10524444

Khounani Z, Hosseinzadeh-Bandbafha H, Moustakas K et al (2021) Environmental life cycle assessment of different biorefinery platforms valorizing olive wastes to biofuel, phosphate salts, natural antioxidant, and an oxygenated fuel additive (triacetin). J Clean Prod 278:123916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123916

Kitchenham B, Charters S (2007) Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering version 2.3. Engineering 45. https://doi.org/10.1145/1134285.1134500

Korhonen J, Nuur C, Feldmann A, Birkie SE (2018) Circular economy as an essentially contested concept. J Clean Prod 175:544–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.111

Kuisma M, Kahiluoto H (2017) Biotic resource loss beyond food waste: agriculture leaks worst. Resour Conserv Recycl 124:129–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.04.008

Laso J, Hoehn D, Margallo M et al (2018) Assessing energy and environmental efficiency of the Spanish agri-food system using the LCA/DEA methodology. Energies 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11123395

Lee KM (2007) So What is the “triple bottom line”? Int J Divers Organ Communities Nations Annu Rev 6:67–72. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9532/cgp/v06i06/39283

Lehmann RJ, Hermansen JE, Fritz M et al (2011) Information services for European pork chains - closing gaps in information infrastructures. Comput Electron Agric 79:125–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2011.09.002

León-Bravo V, Caniato F, Caridi M, Johnsen T (2017) Collaboration for sustainability in the food supply chain: a multi-stage study in Italy. Sustainability 9:1253

Lepage A (2009) The quality of life as attribute of sustainability. TQM J 21:105–115. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542730910938119

Li CZ, Zhao Y, Xiao B et al (2020) Research trend of the application of information technologies in construction and demolition waste management. J Clean Prod 263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121458

Lo Giudice A, Mbohwa C, Clasadonte MT, Ingrao C (2014) Life cycle assessment interpretation and improvement of the Sicilian artichokes production. Int J Environ Res 8:305–316. https://doi.org/10.22059/ijer.2014.721

Lueddeckens S, Saling P, Guenther E (2020) Temporal issues in life cycle assessment—a systematic review. Int J Life Cycle Assess 25:1385–1401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01757-1

Luo J, Ji C, Qiu C, Jia F (2018) Agri-food supply chain management: bibliometric and content analyses. Sustain 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051573

Lynch J, Donnellan T, Finn JA et al (2019) Potential development of Irish agricultural sustainability indicators for current and future policy evaluation needs. J Environ Manage 230:434–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.070

MacArthur E (2013) Towards the circular economy. J Ind Ecol 2:23–44

MacArthur E (2017) Delivering the circular economy a toolkit for policymakers, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

MacInnis DJ (2011) A framework for conceptual. J Mark 75:136–154. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.75.4.136

Mangla SK, Luthra S, Rich N et al (2018) Enablers to implement sustainable initiatives in agri-food supply chains. Int J Prod Econ 203:379–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.07.012

Marotta G, Nazzaro C, Stanco M (2017) How the social responsibility creates value: models of innovation in Italian pasta industry. Int J Glob Small Bus 9:144–167. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGSB.2017.088923

Martucci O, Arcese G, Montauti C, Acampora A (2019) Social aspects in the wine sector: comparison between social life cycle assessment and VIVA sustainable wine project indicators. Resources 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8020069

Mayring P (2004) Forum : Qualitative social research Sozialforschung 2. History of content analysis. A Companion to Qual Res 1:159–176

McKelvey B (2002) Managing coevolutionary dynamics. In: 18th EGOS Conference. Barcelona, Spain, pp 1–21

McMichael AJ, Butler CD, Folke C (2003) New visions for addressing sustainability. Science (80- ) 302:1191–1920

Mehmood A, Ahmed S, Viza E et al (2021) Drivers and barriers towards circular economy in agri-food supply chain: a review. Bus Strateg Dev 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.171

Mella P, Gazzola P (2011) Sustainability and quality of life: the development model. In: Kapounek S (ed) Enterprise and competitive environment. Mendel University: Brno, Czechia. 542–551

Merli R, Preziosi M, Acampora A (2018) How do scholars approach the circular economy ? A systematic literature review. J Clean Prod 178:703–722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.112

Merli R, Preziosi M, Acampora A et al (2020) Recycled fibers in reinforced concrete: a systematic literature review. J Clean Prod 248:119207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119207

Miglietta PP, Morrone D (2018) Managing water sustainability: virtual water flows and economic water productivity assessment of the wine trade between Italy and the Balkans. Sustain 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020543

Mitchell MGE, Chan KMA, Newlands NK, Ramankutty N (2020) Spatial correlations don’t predict changes in agricultural ecosystem services: a Canada-wide case study. Front Sustain Food Syst 4:1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.539892

Moraga G, Huysveld S, Mathieux F et al (2019) Circular economy indicators: what do they measure?. Resour Conserv Recycl 146:452–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.045

Morrissey JE, Dunphy NP (2015) Towards sustainable agri-food systems: the role of integrated sustainability and value assessment across the supply-chain. Int J Soc Ecol Sustain Dev 6:41–58. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJSESD.2015070104

Moser G (2009) Quality of life and sustainability: toward person-environment congruity. J Environ Psychol 29:351–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.02.002

Muijs D (2010) Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. London

Muller MF, Esmanioto F, Huber N, Loures ER (2019) A systematic literature review of interoperability in the green Building Information Modeling lifecycle. J Clean Prod 223:397–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.114

Muradin M, Joachimiak-Lechman K, Foltynowicz Z (2018) Evaluation of eco-efficiency of two alternative agricultural biogas plants. Appl Sci 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/app8112083

Naseer MA, ur R, Ashfaq M, Hassan S, et al (2019) Critical issues at the upstream level in sustainable supply chain management of agri-food industries: evidence from Pakistan’s citrus industry. Sustain 11:1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051326

Nattassha R, Handayati Y, Simatupang TM, Siallagan M (2020) Understanding circular economy implementation in the agri-food supply chain: the case of an Indonesian organic fertiliser producer. Agric Food Secur 9:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-020-00264-8

Nazari-Sharabian M, Ahmad S, Karakouzian M (2018) Climate change and eutrophication: a short review. Eng Technol Appl Sci Res 8:3668–3672. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2532694

Nazir N (2017) Understanding life cycle thinking and its practical application to agri-food system. Int J Adv Sci Eng Inf Technol 7:1861–1870. https://doi.org/10.18517/ijaseit.7.5.3578

Negra C, Remans R, Attwood S et al (2020) Sustainable agri-food investments require multi-sector co-development of decision tools. Ecol Indic 110:105851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105851

Newsham KK, Robinson SA (2009) Responses of plants in polar regions to UVB exposure: a meta-analysis. Glob Chang Biol 15:2574–2589. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01944.x

Niemeijer D, de Groot RS (2008) A conceptual framework for selecting environmental indicator sets. Ecol Indic 8:14–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.11.012

Niero M, Kalbar PP (2019) Coupling material circularity indicators and life cycle based indicators: a proposal to advance the assessment of circular economy strategies at the product level. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:305–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.002

Nikolaou IE, Tsagarakis KP (2021) An introduction to circular economy and sustainability: some existing lessons and future directions. Sustain Prod Consum 28:600–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.017

Notarnicola B, Hayashi K, Curran MA, Huisingh D (2012) Progress in working towards a more sustainable agri-food industry. J Clean Prod 28:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.007

Notarnicola B, Tassielli G, Renzulli PA, Monforti F (2017) Energy flows and greenhouses gases of EU (European Union) national breads using an LCA (life cycle assessment) approach. J Clean Prod 140:455–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.150

Opferkuch K, Caeiro S, Salomone R, Ramos TB (2021) Circular economy in corporate sustainability reporting: a review of organisational approaches. Bus Strateg Environ 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2854

Padilla-Rivera A, do Carmo BBT, Arcese G, Merveille N, (2021) Social circular economy indicators: selection through fuzzy delphi method. Sustain Prod Consum 26:101–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.015

Pagotto M, Halog A (2016) Towards a circular economy in Australian agri-food industry: an application of input-output oriented approaches for analyzing resource efficiency and competitiveness potential. J Ind Ecol 20:1176–1186. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12373

Parent G, Lavallée S (2011) LCA potentials and limits within a sustainable agri-food statutory framework. Global food insecurity. Springer, Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 161–171

Chapter Google Scholar

Pattey E, Qiu G (2012) Trends in primary particulate matter emissions from Canadian agriculture. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 62:737–747. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2012.672058

Pauliuk S (2018) Critical appraisal of the circular economy standard BS 8001:2017 and a dashboard of quantitative system indicators for its implementation in organizations. Resour Conserv Recycl 129:81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.10.019

Peano C, Migliorini P, Sottile F (2014) A methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the slow food presidia project. Ecol Soc 19. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06972-190424

Peano C, Tecco N, Dansero E et al (2015) Evaluating the sustainability in complex agri-food systems: the SAEMETH framework. Sustain 7:6721–6741. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066721

Pearce DW, Turner RK (1990) Economics of natural resources and the environment. Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, Herts

Pelletier N (2018) Social sustainability assessment of Canadian egg production facilities: methods, analysis, and recommendations. Sustain 10:1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051601

Peña C, Civit B, Gallego-Schmid A et al (2021) Using life cycle assessment to achieve a circular economy. Int J Life Cycle Assess 26:215–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01856-z

Perez Neira D (2016) Energy sustainability of Ecuadorian cacao export and its contribution to climate change. A case study through product life cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 112:2560–2568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.003

Pérez-Neira D, Grollmus-Venegas A (2018) Life-cycle energy assessment and carbon footprint of peri-urban horticulture. A comparative case study of local food systems in Spain. Landsc Urban Plan 172:60–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.01.001

Pérez-Pons ME, Plaza-Hernández M, Alonso RS et al (2021) Increasing profitability and monitoring environmental performance: a case study in the agri-food industry through an edge-iot platform. Sustain 13:1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010283

Petti L, Serreli M, Di Cesare S (2018) Systematic literature review in social life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 23:422–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1135-4

Pieroni MPP, McAloone TC, Pigosso DCA (2019) Business model innovation for circular economy and sustainability: a review of approaches. J Clean Prod 215:198–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.036

Polit DF, Beck CT (2004) Nursing research: principles and methods. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA

Porkka M, Gerten D, Schaphoff S et al (2016) Causes and trends of water scarcity in food production. Environ Res Lett 11:015001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/1/015001

Prajapati H, Kant R, Shankar R (2019) Bequeath life to death: state-of-art review on reverse logistics. J Clean Prod 211:503–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.187

Priyadarshini P, Abhilash PC (2020) Policy recommendations for enabling transition towards sustainable agriculture in India. Land Use Policy 96:104718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104718

Pronti A, Coccia M (2020) Multicriteria analysis of the sustainability performance between agroecological and conventional coffee farms in the East Region of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Renew Agric Food Syst. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170520000332

Rabadán A, González-Moreno A, Sáez-Martínez FJ (2019) Improving firms’ performance and sustainability: the case of eco-innovation in the agri-food industry. Sustain 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205590

Raut RD, Luthra S, Narkhede BE et al (2019) Examining the performance oriented indicators for implementing green management practices in the Indian agro sector. J Clean Prod 215:926–943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.139

Recanati F, Marveggio D, Dotelli G (2018) From beans to bar: a life cycle assessment towards sustainable chocolate supply chain. Sci Total Environ 613–614:1013–1023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.187

Redclift M (2005) Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age. Sustain Dev 13:212–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.281

Rezaei M, Soheilifard F, Keshvari A (2021) Impact of agrochemical emission models on the environmental assessment of paddy rice production using life cycle assessment approach. Energy Sources. Part A Recover Util Environ Eff 1–16

Rigamonti L, Mancini E (2021) Life cycle assessment and circularity indicators. Int J Life Cycle Assess. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01966-2

Risku-Norja H, Mäenpää I (2007) MFA model to assess economic and environmental consequences of food production and consumption. Ecol Econ 60:700–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.05.001

Ritzén S, Sandström GÖ (2017) Barriers to the circular economy – integration of perspectives and domains. Procedia CIRP 64:7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.03.005

Rockström J, Steffen W, Noone K et al (2009) A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461:472–475. https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a

Roos Lindgreen E, Mondello G, Salomone R et al (2021) Exploring the effectiveness of grey literature indicators and life cycle assessment in assessing circular economy at the micro level: a comparative analysis. Int J Life Cycle Assess. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01972-4

Roselli L, Casieri A, De Gennaro BC et al (2020) Environmental and economic sustainability of table grape production in Italy. Sustain 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093670

Ross RB, Pandey V, Ross KL (2015) Sustainability and strategy in U.S. agri-food firms: an assessment of current practices. Int Food Agribus Manag Rev 18:17–48

Royo P, Ferreira VJ, López-Sabirón AM, Ferreira G. (2016) Hybrid diagnosis to characterise the energy and environmental enhancement of photovoltaic modules using smart materials. Energy 101:174–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2016.01.101

Ruggerio CA (2021) Sustainability and sustainable development: a review of principles and definitions. Sci Total Environ 786:147481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147481

Ruiz-Almeida A, Rivera-Ferre MG (2019) Internationally-based indicators to measure agri-food systems sustainability using food sovereignty as a conceptual framework. Food Secur 11:1321–1337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00964-5

Ryan M, Hennessy T, Buckley C et al (2016) Developing farm-level sustainability indicators for Ireland using the Teagasc National Farm Survey. Irish J Agric Food Res 55:112–125. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijafr-2016-0011

Saade MRM, Yahia A, Amor B (2020) How has LCA been applied to 3D printing ? A systematic literature review and recommendations for future studies. J Clean Prod 244:118803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118803

Saitone TL, Sexton RJ (2017) Agri-food supply chain: evolution and performance with conflicting consumer and societal demands. Eur Rev Agric Econ 44:634–657. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbx003

Salim N, Ab Rahman MN, Abd Wahab D (2019) A systematic literature review of internal capabilities for enhancing eco-innovation performance of manufacturing firms. J Clean Prod 209:1445–1460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.105

Salimi N (2021) Circular economy in agri-food systems BT - strategic decision making for sustainable management of industrial networks. In: International S (ed) Rezaei J. Publishing, Cham, pp 57–70

Salomone R, Ioppolo G (2012) Environmental impacts of olive oil production: a life cycle assessment case study in the province of Messina (Sicily). J Clean Prod 28:88–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.10.004

Sánchez AD, Río DMDLC, García JÁ (2017) Bibliometric analysis of publications on wine tourism in the databases Scopus and WoS. Eur Res Manag Bus Econ 23:8–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2016.02.001

Saputri VHL, Sutopo W, Hisjam M, Ma’aram A (2019) Sustainable agri-food supply chain performance measurement model for GMO and non-GMO using data envelopment analysis method. Appl Sci 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9061199

Sassanelli C, Rosa P, Rocca R, Terzi S (2019) Circular economy performance assessment methods : a systematic literature review. J Clean Prod 229:440–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.019

Schiefer S, Gonzalez C, Flanigan S (2015) More than just a factor in transition processes? The role of collaboration in agriculture. In: Sutherland LA, Darnhofer I, Wilson GA, Zagata L (eds) Transition pathways towards sustainability in agriculture: case studies from Europe, CPI Group. Croydon, UK, pp. 83

Seuring S, Muller M (2008) From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management. J Clean Prod 16:1699–1710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.04.020

Silvestri C, Silvestri L, Forcina A, et al (2021) Green chemistry contribution towards more equitable global sustainability and greater circular economy: A systematic literature review. J Clean Prod 294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126137

Smetana S, Schmitt E, Mathys A (2019) Sustainable use of Hermetia illucens insect biomass for feed and food: attributional and consequential life cycle assessment. Resour Conserv Recycl 144:285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.01.042

Sonesson U, Berlin J, Ziegler F (2010) Environmental assessment and management in the food industry: life cycle assessment and related approaches. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge

Soussana JF (2014) Research priorities for sustainable agri-food systems and life cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 73:19–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.061

Soylu A, Oruç C, Turkay M et al (2006) Synergy analysis of collaborative supply chain management in energy systems using multi-period MILP. Eur J Oper Res 174:387–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.02.042

Spaiser V, Ranganathan S, Swain RB, Sumpter DJ (2017) The sustainable development oxymoron: quantifying and modelling the incompatibility of sustainable development goals. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 24:457–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2016.1235624

Stewart R, Niero M (2018) Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: a review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. Bus Strateg Environ 27:1005–1022. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2048

Stillitano T, Spada E, Iofrida N et al (2021) Sustainable agri-food processes and circular economy pathways in a life cycle perspective: state of the art of applicative research. Sustain 13:1–29. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052472

Stone J, Rahimifard S (2018) Resilience in agri-food supply chains: a critical analysis of the literature and synthesis of a novel framework. Supply Chain Manag 23:207–238. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-06-2017-0201

Strazza C, Del Borghi A, Gallo M, Del Borghi M (2011) Resource productivity enhancement as means for promoting cleaner production: analysis of co-incineration in cement plants through a life cycle approach. J Clean Prod 19:1615–1621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.05.014

Su B, Heshmati A, Geng Y, Yu X (2013) A review of the circular economy in China: moving from rhetoric to implementation. J Clean Prod 42:215–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.020

Suárez-Eiroa B, Fernández E, Méndez-Martínez G, Soto-Oñate D (2019) Operational principles of circular economy for sustainable development: linking theory and practice. J Clean Prod 214:952–961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.271

Svensson G, Wagner B (2015) Implementing and managing economic, social and environmental efforts of business sustainability. Manag Environ Qual an Int Journal 26:195–213. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-09-2013-0099

Tasca AL, Nessi S, Rigamonti L (2017) Environmental sustainability of agri-food supply chains: an LCA comparison between two alternative forms of production and distribution of endive in northern Italy. J Clean Prod 140:725–741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.170

Tassielli G, Notarnicola B, Renzulli PA, Arcese G (2018) Environmental life cycle assessment of fresh and processed sweet cherries in southern Italy. J Clean Prod 171:184–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.227

Teixeira R, Pax S (2011) A survey of life cycle assessment practitioners with a focus on the agri-food sector. J Ind Ecol 15:817–820. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00421.x

Tobergte DR, Curtis S (2013) ILCD Handbook. J Chem Info Model. https://doi.org/10.278/33030

Tortorella MM, Di Leo S, Cosmi C et al (2020) A methodological integrated approach to analyse climate change effects in agri-food sector: the TIMES water-energy-food module. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217703

Tranfield D, Denyer D, Smart P (2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidenceinformed management knowledge by means of systematic review. Br J Manag 14:207–222

Trivellas P, Malindretos G, Reklitis P (2020) Implications of green logistics management on sustainable business and supply chain performance: evidence from a survey in the greek agri-food sector. Sustain 12:1–29. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410515

Tsangas M, Gavriel I, Doula M et al (2020) Life cycle analysis in the framework of agricultural strategic development planning in the Balkan region. Sustain 12:1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051813

Ülgen VS, Björklund M, Simm N (2019) Inter-organizational supply chain interaction for sustainability : a systematic literature review.

UNEP S (2020) Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products and organizations 2020.

UNEP/SETAC (2009) United Nations Environment Programme-society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products. France

United Nations (2011) Guiding principles on business and human rights. Implementing the United Nations “protect, respect and remedy” framework

United Nations (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. sustainabledevelopment.un.org

Van Asselt ED, Van Bussel LGJ, Van Der Voet H et al (2014) A protocol for evaluating the sustainability of agri-food production systems - a case study on potato production in peri-urban agriculture in the Netherlands. Ecol Indic 43:315–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.02.027

Van der Ploeg JD (2014) Peasant-driven agricultural growth and food sovereignty. J Peasant Stud 41:999–1030. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2013.876997

van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2010) Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics 84:523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3

Van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2019) Manual for VOSviwer version 1.6.10. CWTS Meaningful metrics 1–53

Vasa L, Angeloska A, Trendov NM (2017) Comparative analysis of circular agriculture development in selected Western Balkan countries based on sustainable performance indicators. Econ Ann 168:44–47. https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V168-09

Verdecho MJ, Alarcón-Valero F, Pérez-Perales D et al (2020) A methodology to select suppliers to increase sustainability within supply chains. Cent Eur J Oper Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-019-00668-3

Vergine P, Salerno C, Libutti A et al (2017) Closing the water cycle in the agro-industrial sector by reusing treated wastewater for irrigation. J Clean Prod 164:587–596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.239

WCED (1987) Our common future - call for action

Webster K (2013) What might we say about a circular economy? Some temptations to avoid if possible. World Futures 69:542–554

Wheaton E, Kulshreshtha S (2013) Agriculture and climate change: implications for environmental sustainability indicators. WIT Trans Ecol Environ 175:99–110. https://doi.org/10.2495/ECO130091

Wijewickrama MKCS, Chileshe N, Rameezdeen R, Ochoa JJ (2021) Information sharing in reverse logistics supply chain of demolition waste: a systematic literature review. J Clean Prod 280:124359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124359

Woodhouse A, Davis J, Pénicaud C, Östergren K (2018) Sustainability checklist in support of the design of food processing. Sustain Prod Consum 16:110–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2018.06.008

Wu R, Yang D, Chen J (2014) Social Life Cycle Assessment Revisited Sustain 6:4200–4226. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6074200

Yadav S, Luthra S, Garg D (2021) Modelling Internet of things (IoT)-driven global sustainability in multi-tier agri-food supply chain under natural epidemic outbreaks. Environ Sci Pollut Res 16633–16654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11676-1

Yee FM, Shaharudin MR, Ma G et al (2021) Green purchasing capabilities and practices towards Firm’s triple bottom line in Malaysia. J Clean Prod 307:127268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127268

Yigitcanlar T (2010) Rethinking sustainable development: urban management, engineering, and design. IGI Global

Zamagni A, Amerighi O, Buttol P (2011) Strengths or bias in social LCA? Int J Life Cycle Assess 16:596–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-011-0309-3

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Economy, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of “Tuscia, ” Via del Paradiso 47, 01100, Viterbo, VT, Italy

Cecilia Silvestri, Michela Piccarozzi & Alessandro Ruggieri

Department of Engineering, University of Rome “Niccolò Cusano, ” Via Don Carlo Gnocchi, 3, 00166, Rome, Italy

Luca Silvestri

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cecilia Silvestri .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Communicated by Monia Niero

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The original online version of this article was revised: a number of ill-placed paragraph headings were removed and the source indication "Authors' elaborations" was added to Tables 1-3.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 31 KB)

Rights and permissions.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Silvestri, C., Silvestri, L., Piccarozzi, M. et al. Toward a framework for selecting indicators of measuring sustainability and circular economy in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02032-1

Download citation

Received : 15 June 2021

Accepted : 16 February 2022

Published : 02 March 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02032-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Agri-food sector
Sustainability
Circular economy
Triple bottom line
Life cycle assessment
Find a journal
Publish with us
Track your research

Side Hustles
Power Players
Young Success
Save and Invest
Become Debt-Free
Land the Job
Closing the Gap
Science of Success
Pop Culture and Media
Psychology and Relationships
Health and Wellness
Real Estate
Most Popular

Don't use these 3 types of phrases in your resume, says ex-Google recruiter

Recruiters are busy people. They've got "typically about 20 to 30 positions open, truckloads of resumes they have to wade through and folks they have to meet and interview," says Simon Taylor , former Disney recruiter and author of the leadership book " Build Smart ."

It stands to reason if a resume has any red flags whatsoever, they'll move onto the next one immediately. When you're writing yours, you'll want to make sure it meets their criteria and doesn't give them a reason to pass on your candidacy.

Here are three phrases former Google recruiter and current CEO of salary data company FairComp , Nolan Church, recommends avoiding.

'Coordinated meetings with X'

To begin with, under each job title, avoid writing a list of tasks that you took at the job. "I don't give a s--- about your tasks," Church says.

The day-to-day duties of your job like emailing with your boss or creating your quarterly goals do not give a concrete sense of what you accomplished and how you helped the business move forward. "The one I see all the time that just blows my mind is 'coordinated meetings with X,'" Church says.

"There's literally no business impact for coordinating meetings," he says. Think, instead, of what you did that truly benefitted the business, like booking new clients or exceeding sales goals, and use specific numbers to illustrate it.

A 'word salad' of keywords

Career experts recommend using keywords from the job description to prove you meet the role's criteria. But many jobseekers go too far.

People tend to " have this word salad based off of what the [job description] says," says Church. If a marketing job calls for implementing strategic marketing, refining the company's messaging platforms and engaging stakeholders, for example, a jobseeker might wrongly include every one of those terms in one sentence.

Create a rule for yourself when you're writing the bullets under your job titles: "You're not allowed to use more than one keyword in a sentence," says Church.

Sentences that are more than '25 words'

In a similar vein, avoid run-on sentences.

"All of these sentences should be less than 25 words maximum," says Church. "Probably even shorter than that. Because the goal of a resume is for me to very quickly understand what you've done."

Harkening back to recruiters' time crunch, they'll likely have just "three-to-five seconds" to dedicate to your resume, Taylor previously told Make It . If the sentences describing your accomplishments are too long, they won't necessarily take the time to read them. By writing concise phrases, you're helping recruiters get to the punchline of your impact right away, instead of having to look for it among many words.

"Time is the enemy in life and is the enemy in business," says Church. "The faster that we can move, the faster that we can solve problems."

Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

What you need to know about Arena’s prismatic return.

Copied to clipboard

Hey hey! I’m Eduardo “Riot Cadmus” Cortejoso, Product Lead for Modes. Last week we gave you all a little preview of what the team’s been working on for Arena (and we gave you a sneak peek at our upcoming mode, but we’ll share more about that at a later date). But there’s a lot more in store for Arena’s return, and I’m here to share more details today.

Arena Round Three… FIGHT!

Over the last few runs, we’ve learned a ton about what players like and don’t like in Arena and we’re confident we have a clear path forward to improve this game mode for players in the future. A few examples of some problem areas that we have heard you loud and clear on are:

Builds and team comps become stale the higher up you go. The game state can generally trend to get more repetitive the more games you play.
Certain strategies are too reliable and uninteractive for a broad majority of teams that go against them.
“Emergent gameplay” (that’s you, cameos) can be hit or miss—it feels particularly frustrating when a player has no agency.
Within a specific game of Arena, running into the same team can feel boring, and actively gets worse if it’s a particularly uneven matchup.

We’re continuing to explore how we could make Arena a permanent mode, but that's going to take us some time to experiment. To that end, we’re viewing the current iteration (and the previous ones) of Arena as “early access” builds of the mode—where you play and have fun while we learn what you like and don’t like. Using those learnings, we’ll re-release the mode with new systems and features that we think will move us closer to the healthiest version of the mode. We see Arena’s healthiest version as one that aspires to the following:

Compelling, well-paced gameplay that is very easy to jump into for League players.
Build paths that allow you to experiment in ways you wouldn’t be able to elsewhere.
Foster adaptability to different situations over following a specific script to success.

To that end, we’re making some pretty significant changes to Arena that we believe will get us closer to that healthy version we’re aspiring to. One more thing to note: Arena is going to be live MUCH longer than previous releases. We want to give all of you more time to play. And that way we’ll learn how you like to play over a longer amount of time (or maybe learn about what we’re missing that could cause players to lose interest over time). We’re currently planning for Arena to be live for the entirety of Split 2. This will start a little before with patch 14.9, going live on May 1st, while hitting PBE two weeks earlier. When it goes live, you’ll notice some major changes that we hope will help improve the longevity of the mode. And we feel that a full split will be enough time to see if you all feel like it’s worth your SUSTAINED play time. When we go for shorter run times, the general trend is that modes spike dramatically and drop off as people are “done” with an event, so we’re going to measure Arena’s staying power this time around.

2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2

Our most noticeable change is that we’re doubling the size of Arena, going from four teams of two players to eight teams of two. We believe that by introducing more teams and players, you’ll see a wider diversity of team comps, strategies, and scenarios. That should help each game of Arena feel much more distinct from each other, and it should even make rounds within an individual game feel less repetitive than before.

We’re also introducing a slew of UI changes to better scout the lobby, and your opponents, as well as keep track of everything that’s happening. So get ready to jump in and see if you can be the last team standing!

The most notable of these changes is with the tab scoreboard, as it will now focus on the team you’re up against while highlighting their match history and recent selection and purposes. You can still scout other teams as well by clicking on their team icon in the right-hand team health panel.

We’ve also made some pacing changes to make sure that despite the increased lobby size, games of Arena still feel similar in length compared to what we had before. Expect changes to a variety of areas, including gold rewarded for wins/kills, starting health, health gained(?!)/lost, and more!

Prismatic Items

We’re introducing a new item tier, called “Prismatic” items (original, I know). These are build-defining items that should allow you to achieve build fantasies that you normally wouldn’t be able to. You’ll see some new items… as well as some familiar faces that have made a return as Prismatics in Arena.

You may be wondering, “well… clearly there is always a mathematically best build” and… you’re probably right, but don’t worry, we thought of that. Prismatic items won’t be outright purchasable, instead they’ll be presented to you in a specific round, functionally similar to augments. You (and your enemies) won’t be able to reliably make the same build every game, so Arena is going to be less about following a specific build and more about making the best of what is presented to you! Our hope is that this will go a long way to tackle concerns voiced around the game state getting too stale or repetitive. Even in a scenario where you run into similar teams, they will likely be building different items and choosing different augments each game, so try your best to figure out any specific game’s current conditions to come out ahead. Players who adapt best will come out ahead, as opposed to those that rely too heavily on a specific strategy!

Additionally, due to the power Prismatic items hold, they’ll unlock new build paths that you’re not going to get elsewhere. Wanna run full armor, tank Master Yi? How about on-hit Bard? The possibilities are endless, and we’re excited to see what builds you can cook with Prismatics giving you the foundation to do so.

You’re probably wondering how you get Prismatics (and how they won’t be crazy overpowered). Don’t worry, you don’t buy these outright, instead you’ll get them using our new way of acquiring items in Arena: Anvils.

One of the other changes we’re making to the core experience is a new shopping experience in Arena in the form of Anvils. They’re purchasable consumables that, when used (or automatically consumed), present three randomized selections within a defined category (similar to how augments present themselves to you). You can always re-roll… but this system will share re-rolls with your augment selections, so make sure you do so wisely! There are three main types of Anvils:

Prismatic: Randomized choice between all Prismatic items.
Categories will use the shop classification for classes (fighter, mage, etc).
Stat: Randomized choices between raw stat upgrades.

Legendary Anvils will generally be a good amount cheaper than outright buying items, so if you know what you want, be ready to spend more to buy the item outright! Stat Anvils on the other hand are a way to use some spare cash for a boost that will persist across rounds. If you need a specific win in a round… stick to juices for sure, but maybe also just buy a Stat Anvil to get that missing bit of additional Ability Power the build you’re going for isn’t letting you get otherwise.

By introducing a bit of randomness to the way you approach your item builds, we also expect this to improve the variety of builds you’ll make, and ones you’ll run into. Try to press your luck and save up for a second Prismatic item… or maybe you know what you need and you should spend some spare income on a safe bet. Spend your gold wisely on your way to victory!

With more people, comes a need for more room. To that end, we’re adding a new map we’re dubbing “The Koi Pond” because… well a picture will speak for itself.

This map should feel pretty different than what you’re used to. You can’t always easily access areas of the map, but what we’re calling the “Bloom Bridge '' will open for you to run across throughout a particular round.. You COULD use portals and blast cones… but you might find yourself outnumbered if you play too aggressively.

In addition to a new map, we’ve also added a new shop area…

Not only is the map much larger to fit all the new teams, it’s going heavily themed for our upcoming returning universe: Empyrean! We’re really excited about exploring more map updates in Arena that align with thematics throughout the year and with MSI just around the corner, we knew we just had to make some cool call-outs!

Ranked and Matchmaking Update

We’re going to experiment in this run of Arena with a one-patch “preseason” before we start the Arena Ranked season alongside the Summoners Rift one in patch 14.10. We’re interested in seeing how things play out without the leaderboard system, or Gladiator points for these first two weeks, as we shape the future of what Arena progression and Ranked can look like! Apart from the season reset, there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind with regards to matchmaking:

Players will be able to queue up with party sizes between 1-8 players.
Players CANNOT queue up with party sizes between 9-15 players.
They will not see changes in MMR or Gladiator Rank.

Quality of life updates and more!

In addition to everything laid out above, there are a bunch of QoL changes to look out for, with spectators and replays now enabled as well as being able to surrender in case things aren’t going your way. We’re going to be continuing to revisit polishing up the rougher edges!

You’ll also see some adjustments on a few existing features coming to Arena:

The following cameos will be enabled: Lux, Sett, Thresh, Pyke and Jhin,
Champion-specific balance adjustments,
Legendary item adjustments to reflect changes made on Summoner’s Rift.
Removal of Mythic items.

What’s next after Arena?

We’ve been investing more into Modes and the team is hard at work to make sure we deliver new stuff by the end of the year, including our first bullet heaven PvE game mode this summer. We’ll hold off on details for now, but we’ll be back later this year with a State of Modes update where we’ll talk about things like how Arena went, rotating game modes, future plans, and more.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Rings of Wrath!

IMAGES

how to identify a good thesis statement
How To Write A Thesis Statement (with Useful Steps and Tips) • 7ESL
45 Perfect Thesis Statement Templates (+ Examples) ᐅ TemplateLab
100 Thesis Defense Questions in 3 Categories
What Is a Thesis?
🎉 How to structure a thesis. Tips on designing a perfect thesis

VIDEO

Thesis in 3 Weeks: Day 6
Thesis in 3 Weeks: Day 15
A Three-minute Thesis Presentation by Andi Arsana
Thesis diaries eps. 3
2018 Three Minute Thesis Finalist
Thesis in 3 Weeks: Day 7

COMMENTS

How to Write a Thesis Statement
Step 2: Write your initial answer. After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process. The internet has had more of a positive than a negative effect on education.
What is a Thesis Statement: Writing Guide with Examples
A thesis statement is a sentence in a paper or essay (in the opening paragraph) that introduces the main topic to the reader. As one of the first things your reader sees, your thesis statement is one of the most important sentences in your entire paper—but also one of the hardest to write! In this article, we explain how to write a thesis ...
How To Write A Thesis: 3 Types And Why They Are Powerful
1. Analytical. When you choose to write an analytical thesis statement, your focus centers on a particular idea, belief, problem, etc. Writing your thesis statement in this manner sets you up to discuss the varying aspects of your particular topic in your paper. You can think of an analytical thesis statement as a review of the idea, belief, or ...
Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips
If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader. 2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence. 3.
What Is a Thesis?
A thesis statement is a very common component of an essay, particularly in the humanities. It usually comprises 1 or 2 sentences in the introduction of your essay, and should clearly and concisely summarize the central points of your academic essay. A thesis is a long-form piece of academic writing, often taking more than a full semester to ...
How To Write 3 Types Of Thesis Statements
A strong thesis statement is the backbone of a well-organized paper. Learn how to write an explanatory, argumentative, or analytical thesis statement.
Thesis Statements
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.
PDF Thesis Statement Types & Models
Include in your thesis: Topic (cause OR effect) and statement of the effects OR the causes; or an existing argument and the reasons why it is invalid. Topic (cause) Claim Effect 1. Example thesis: Climate change endangers life on earth because it is leading to an increase in. Effect 2 Effect 3.
Thesis
Thesis. Your thesis is the central claim in your essay—your main insight or idea about your source or topic. Your thesis should appear early in an academic essay, followed by a logically constructed argument that supports this central claim. A strong thesis is arguable, which means a thoughtful reader could disagree with it and therefore ...
Writing a Thesis Statement
People often confuse thesis statements with topic sentences, which start each body paragraph. Typically, the thesis statement is the final sentence in the introductory paragraph and acts as a "road map" for the rest of the paper. Types of thesis statements. The three main types of thesis statements are explanatory, argumentative, and ...
PDF Essay Planning: How to Develop a Working Thesis Statement
In addition to different disciplines, we will look into three common types of papers and how their thesis statements can vary. As mentioned earlier, the topic, claim, and points are still relevant for thesis statements; however, you will see different terminology used to characterize the thesis statement depending on the type of paper.
PDF Different Types of Thesis Statements GENERAL TIPS
A thesis statement should be specific, but not over-simplify your topic or position. Although thesis statements should be as short as possible, two sentence thesis statements are okay. ... The reasons/evidence to support this claim (or categories of analysis) 3. The order in which you'll present your reasons and evidence
Thesis
Thesis is a scholarly document that presents a student's original research and findings on a particular topic or question. It is usually written as a requirement for a graduate degree program and is intended to demonstrate the student's mastery of the subject matter and their ability to conduct independent research.
Writing Resources
The thesis, usually expressed in one or two sentences, is the central, organizing claim of your paper. Holmes's distinction above between one-, two-, and three-story intellects is a useful way to think about your thesis. A one-story thesis shows that you have read the material. A two-story thesis commits to helping your reader better grasp ...
What is a thesis
A thesis is an in-depth research study that identifies a particular topic of inquiry and presents a clear argument or perspective about that topic using evidence and logic. Writing a thesis showcases your ability of critical thinking, gathering evidence, and making a compelling argument. Integral to these competencies is thorough research ...
3 types of thesis statements
Argumentative thesis statement · 3. Analytical thesis... A thesis statement is a sentence that states the topic and purpose of your paper. A good thesis statement will direct the structure of your essay and will allow... There are three main types of thesis statements, which may include; analytical, argumentative, and explanatory.
16.4: The Three-Story Thesis
A thesis statement that stops at the first story isn't usually considered a thesis. A two-story thesis is usually considered competent, though some two-story theses are more intriguing and ambitious than others. A thoughtfully crafted and well informed three-story thesis puts the author on a smooth path toward an excellent paper.
Types of Theses > Master's Thesis > Graduate
Three Types of Gallatin MA Theses. Each graduate student in the Gallatin School completes a final thesis as the culmination of their work toward a Master of Arts degree. The thesis may take one of three forms: a research thesis, an artistic thesis, or a project thesis. In each case, the thesis represents a synthesis of the student's ...
4.4 COMPOSITION: The Three-Story Thesis
Applying a combination of these technologies will ensure a safe water supply for at least the next decade. The three most economical ways of providing it are [technology 1], [technology 2], and [technology 3]. Check. Put the pieces of the three-story thesis in the correct order. Effects or results of your comment or idea.
The Three-Story Thesis
Three-story men idealize, imagine, predict—their best illumination comes from above the skylight. One-story theses state inarguable facts. Two-story theses bring in an arguable (interpretive or analytical) point. Three-story theses nest that point within its larger, compelling implications.[3]
Understanding the 4 Different Types of Theses: A Comprehensive ...
3. Project thesis: This type of thesis applies the student's knowledge and skills to a practical problem or issue. It can include a variety of formats such as software, hardware, or other products .
thesis with 3 categories
A 3-point thesis statement is a coherent statement that integrates the three essential components of a standard thesis statement, which... The categories you are using to organize your explanation. 3.
Wall Street is souring on Tesla's pivot away from low-cost vehicles
According to Levy, if Tesla is indeed moving away from the Model 2, that would be bad news for the stock valuation going forward, calling it a "clear net negative for the Tesla investment thesis."
Former 'Jeopardy' Champ Reveals the 3 Categories You Should Master
Former Jeopardy champ Brad Rutter is spilling some trade secrets about the long-running game show.. During an interview with Tyler Boronski, the past champion opened up about what you need to win ...
Three Minute Thesis
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Through the competition, graduate and professional students can hone their academic and research presentation skills and their ability to effectively explain their research to a general audience.
Predictors of long-term care use
The population aging, together with the shrinking caring potential of families, is a major challenge for social policy in the coming years. The aim of the study is to identify the factors that determine not only the use of long-term care (LTC) but also the selection of individual types of such care in Poland. Using unique data collected from inpatient LTC facilities in Poland and the Survey on ...
Annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition Provides Research Capsule Talks
Just ask the participants of this year's Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Ten graduate and doctoral students took part in the contest's final round last month. 3MT provides participants with the chance to share details about their research and creative work in a compelling way—within a three-minute time limit.
Toward a framework for selecting indicators of measuring ...
Specifically, this approach was used for the cluster dimension, which consisted of three analytical categories, categorized as follows: 1. Assessment-LCA: This cluster includes all articles that used the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to measure the environmental impact of activities carried out in the agri-food system. Many of the articles ...
3 phrases to avoid on your resume according to ex-Google recruiter
To begin with, under each job title, avoid writing a list of tasks that you took at the job. "I don't give a s--- about your tasks," Church says.
/dev: Arena Round Three
There are three main types of Anvils: Prismatic: Randomized choice between all Prismatic items. Legendary: Randomized choice between Legendary items within your desired category. Categories will use the shop classification for classes (fighter, mage, etc). Stat: Randomized choices between raw stat upgrades.

Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement Examples

Have a language expert improve your writing

What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

Thesis template

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Table of contents

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Thesis examples

Theoretical framework

Cite this Scribbr article

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

How To Write 3 Types Of Thesis Statements

What is a good thesis statement?

What are the different types of thesis statements?

1. Explanatory thesis statement

2. Argumentative thesis statement

3. Analytical thesis statement

How to write a thesis statement

Synonym of the day

Thesis Statements

Introduction

What is a thesis statement?

How do I create a thesis?

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

Works consulted

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

Arguable thesis with analytical claim

Arguable thesis with normative claim

Questions to ask about your thesis

Writing a Thesis Statement — Definition, Types, and Examples

What is a thesis statement?

Types of thesis statements

How to write a thesis statement

Thesis statement examples

Thesis – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

History of Thesis

Structure of Thesis

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

How to write Thesis

Example of Thesis

Application of Thesis

Purpose of Thesis

When to Write Thesis

Characteristics of Thesis

Advantages of Thesis

Limitations of Thesis

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

You may also like

Data Collection – Methods Types and Examples

Delimitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Research Process – Steps, Examples and Tips

Research Design – Types, Methods and Examples

Institutional Review Board – Application Sample...

Evaluating Research – Process, Examples and...

Developing Your Thesis

Know your objectives

One-story thesis

Two-story thesis

Missing in both one- and two- story theses: analysis .

Three-story thesis

Getting from a one-story to a three-story thesis

Additional examples of introductions with three-story theses

For History 390

For Government 285

Additional Sources:

Tutor Appointments

Site Search

What is a thesis | A Complete Guide with Examples

Table of Contents

What is a thesis?

What is a thesis statement?

Different types of thesis statements

Argumentative (or Persuasive) thesis statement