Verbs Attribution in Thesis

                  Verbs Attribution in Thesis

                        Written by Ari Julianto    

Below are some verbs and their synonyms for us to draw on when we want to talk about someone else’s ideas or words – a thesaurus of verbs of attribution. This list of verbs is taken from Writing A Thesis In Education by Academic Language and Literacy Development Faculty of Education, Monash University February 2012.

      This booklet suggests us to work out which verbs give a more positive view of the ideas you are reporting others as saying, which verbs are simply very neutral ways of restating what an author says or show that author’s positive or negative attitudes to the ideas, and finally, which verbs express our own slightly negative attitudes towards the author’s ideas.

• Show: demonstrate, establish
• Persuade: assure, convince, satisfy
• Argue: reason, discuss, debate, consider
• Support: uphold, underpin, advocate
• Examine: discuss, explore, investigate, scrutinise
• Propose: advance, propound, proffer, suggest (the view that…)
• Advise: suggest, recommend, advocate, exhort, encourage, urge,
• Believe: hold, profess (the view that…)
• Emphasise: accentuate, stress, underscore
• State: express, comment, remark, declare, articulate, describe, instruct, inform, report
• Evaluate: appraise, assess
• Hypothesise: speculate, postulate
• Disagree: dispute, refute, contradict, differ, object, dissent
• Reject: refute, repudiate, remonstrate (against), disclaim,dismiss
• Claim: allege, assert, affirm, contend, maintain

An argument can be:

• founded on
• based on
• grounded in a theory/view/set of data
• embedded in
• underpinned by

Note that the above words are all value‐laden. Your choice of word will reveal to your reader your stance toward the author you are reporting on. It will show whether or not you consider her claims to be substantiated. Arnaudet and Barrett (1984, p. 153‐5) provide a useful resource on verbs of attribution reproduced i below: 

Neutral verbs of restatement
Add - inform (of, about) - remind (of, about) - clarify - present - report (on) - describe - remark -speak / write of

Verbs of restatement with a positive or negative connotation
apprise (someone of) - explain - indicate - argue (about) - express - observe

Verbs of opinion are used to report the content of another writer’s opinion (or conclusion or suggestions)
Positive opinions:
affirm - agree (with) - applaud- concur (with, in) - praise - support

Reporting opinion (usually neutrally)
assert - believe (in) - claim -determine - expound (on) - maintain - point out - think

Verbs of uncertainty are used to report the content of another writer’s expression of doubt or uncertainty
challenge - dispute - question -disagree (with) - doubt - suspect (of) - dismiss - mistrust  -wonder (at).

(Taken from various sources)