How to write Introduction of Thesis Dr. Ghizal Fatima Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology ERA’S LUCKNOW MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL LUCKNOW, INDIA [email protected]
Introduction is the first chapter of your thesis. It has two parts : A general introduction to the topic 2. Your Thesis Statement
What should be included in the introduction ? The introductory paragraph should include the thesis statement , a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the thesis is about. The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.
How long is an introduction for a thesis ? There is no rule for exactly how long an introduction should be. You must consider the length of your overall paper when writing your introduction. An appropriate length for a five -page is about half a page, but if you are writing a 40 -page paper, your introduction will span several pages and multiple paragraphs.
Introductions can be tricky. Because the introduction is the first portion of your thesis that the reader encounters. A good introduction presents a broad overview of your topic and your thesis, and should convince the reader that it is worth their time to actually read the rest of your thesis.
Start your introduction broad, but not too broad. Your introduction should provide the reader with a sense of what they should expect out of your essay, not to expound upon every piece of knowledge ever developed by man. Go ahead and start relatively broad, then narrow to your thesis, but make sure you’re still on topic.
The introduction is the first chapter of your thesis and thus is the starting point of your thesis. You describe the topic of your thesis, formulate the problem statement and write an overview of your thesis.
Purpose of Introduction Introduce the topic. What is the purpose of the study and what is the topic? Gain the reader’s interest. Make sure that you get the reader’s attention by using clear examples from recent research. Demonstrate the relevance of the study. Convince the reader of the scientific and practical relevance.
Parts of the Introduction A clear introduction often consists of the following parts Motivation relevance of the research Current scientific situation (Put review of Literature) Objective of the study Brief description of the research design
Motivation (Problem indication) What is the motive for your research? This can be a recent research or something that has always interested you. By choosing an interesting example, the reader is immediately encouraged to read the rest of your introduction.
Relevance of the research Using arguments, state the scientific relevance of your research. You can do this by citing scientific articles and combining them. Also , highlight here the discussion chapters of studies that you are going to use for your own research. Next, explain how your work will benefit the patients, importance of your research .
Scientific validity related to the theme of your research In this element of the introduction, you will specify the most important scientific articles that relate to your topic and you briefly explain them. Thus , you show that many studies have been conducted around the topic, and that you won’t get stuck due to finding too little information on your topic.
Objective, problem statement and research questions In this part, you describe the objective of your study and the problem statement that you have formulated . Pay attention: there is a difference between the objective and the problem statement. To answer the problem statement, you can use research questions. These are sometimes also called sub-questions. If you use hypotheses instead of research questions, you can also note them here.
The basis of the hypotheses is the conceptual framework. However, sometimes you are not yet able to formulate hypotheses, because you are first going to conduct a literature review. In this case you develop the hypotheses and the conceptual framework later, after the literature review.
Brief description of the research design Later in your research, you develop the research design in detail. However, in the introduction you also provide a brief summary of your research design. How, where, when and with whom are you going to conduct your research?
Thesis outline Here , you briefly describe how your thesis is constructed. Summarize each chapter briefly in one paragraph at the most, but preferably in one sentence. Make sure your thesis outline is not repetitively phrased because it does not vary its word choice.
Begin with your thesis Often , the research proposal or the action plan is a good start for writing your introduction . You will notice that you already have written many parts of the introduction in your thesis.
Although the introduction is at the beginning of your thesis, this placement doesn’t mean that you must finish the introduction before you can start the rest of your chapters. The further you get in your research, the easier it will be to write a good introduction that is to the point. Thus, it’s no disaster if you can’t write a perfect introduction right away. Take up the introduction again at a later time and keep writing and editing until you arrive at a nice whole Introduction
Verb tenses To introduce your subject and indicate what you wish to discuss, you should use the simple present tense. Background information is written in the simple past tense or present perfect tense.
Length of the introduction There are no specific requirements with regard to the length of your introduction. Thus, there’s no need to squeeze everything together on just one page, like with the abstract . But you do need to write to the point. Don’t repeat yourself and only write down what’s actually important to introduce your topic and research.
Checklist: Introduction The introduction of the research is written with a stimulating topic. The topic is limited. The scientific relevance is demonstrated (not applicable to all theses). The practical relevance is demonstrated. The most important scientific articles about the topic are summarized (not applicable to all theses). The objective is formulated. The problem statement is formulated. The conceptual framework is determined.* The research questions or hypotheses are formulated.** The research design is described briefly. The thesis overview is added.
Basically, a good introduction provides the reader with a brief overview of your topic and an explanation of your thesis. A good introduction is fresh, engaging, and interesting. Successful introductions don’t rely on irrelevant information to demonstrate their point. Be brief, be concise, be engaging.