How To Write A Research Introduction
How To Write A Research Introduction
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1. 1
Begin the opening paragraph with a few sentences containing supporting information
about your topic. Give the reader an idea of what issue you will be discussing, such as, "Just a
few years ago, the term "virtual reference" had little meaning to many librarians." Immediately
opening with your main argument can be too abrupt.
Begin with supporting information about your topic
● For a scientific research paper, you can begin with a discussion of the significance of your study,
and then lead into the rationale behind your experimental model and how it met your objectives.
● A Humanities based paper is best suited by the "funnel" or "inverted pyramid" technique. To use
this approach, start with some general background information on your subject, becoming more
narrow and specific in focus as you work toward a description of your hypothesis.
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2. 2
Place the thesis statement or hypothesis in the final sentence of your introduction's first
paragraph. An example of such a closing sentence is, "A librarian can add the warmth and
personal touch to an online interaction that an automated search engine cannot." You may need
to write multiple sentences to explain your thesis.
Throughout the 20th century, our views of life on other planets has drastically changed.
● You want to make the objective of your paper clear in the first paragraph, because while an
introduction can run several paragraphs in length, it will confuse readers if you introduce your
topic in subsequent paragraphs.
3. 3
Continue your introduction by acquainting your audience with the major points of your
paper, and your objectives and results in a scientific paper, in the order they will
appear. This lets the reader know what to expect.
Throughout the 20th century, our views of life on other planets has drastically changed.
4. 4
Consider other "starters" for your introduction if your initial approach doesn't fit well
with your topic.
Throughout the 20th century, our views of life on other planets has drastically changed.It was once thought to be an
impossibility, as all we had seen of space showed us a barren landscape unfit for anything we would recognize as life.
But, in the 21st century, our telescopes continue to discover planets in what we deem “habitable
zones,” the small bands in solar systems in wh
Consider other "starters"
● Anecdotes, quotations, recent debates, or timely news stories can also be compelling ways to
begin a research paper.
● You can also introduce certain topics by comparing or contrasting 2 people, events, or ideas.
How to Write Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, and
Significance of the Study
How to Write Thesis Complete Reference click here to download
The backgroundinformation provides sufficient content to the reader so they can understand the purpose of the
experiment, the design and the interpretation of the results. The writer must research the background information
and properly cite (APA documentation) all sources used. A brief summary of the purpose and the experimental
deign should be included at the end.
1. provides a general overview of the topic of study in the first paragraph to introduce the main idea(s)
2. includes clear, focused, accurate and detailed information to understand the science investigated during the
study in the middle paragraph(s)
3. provides cited support from external resources
4. previews the experiment in the last paragraph by summarizing the purpose and method for data collection.
Typically 3 paragraphs, the first paragraph is a very broad and general look at your subject, then getting increasingly
more specific to your own experiment in the second, third or fourth paragraph.
Remember not to use “I, our, we” use “The experiment”, not “My experiment”!!!!
The statement of the problem is the focal point of your research. It is just one sentence (with several paragraphs of
elaboration).
"The frequency of job layoffs is creating fear, anxiety, and a loss of productivity in middle management workers."
While the problem statement itself is just one sentence, it is always accompanied by several paragraphs that
elaborate on the problem. Present persuasive arguments why the problem is important enough to study. Include the
opinions of others (politicians, futurists, other professionals). Explain how the problem relates to business, social or
political trends by presenting data that demonstrates the scope and depth of the problem. Try to give dramatic and
concrete illustrations of the problem. After writing this section, make sure you can easily identify the single sentence
that is the problem statement.
This section creates a perspective for looking at the problem. It points out how your study relates to the larger issues
and uses a persuasive rationale to justify the reason for your study. It makes the purpose worth pursuing. The
significance of the study answers the questions:
Why is your study important?
To whom is it important?
What benefit(s) will occur if your study is done?
Your study should have a value not only to yourself but also to the management of your company, the community
wherein you live, the respondents themselves, furthermore, it should have an impact on your field of specialization
and you should mention the sectors that will be benefited by your studies.
The importance of the whole study must contain explanation of discussions of any of the following:
The Scope and Limitation includes the specific variables of study, the locate of the study, the samples, the
respondents and weaknesses of the study which are beyond the control of the researcher.
It is also the important section of a thesis which includes: coverage of the study, area, the subject, the research
instruments, the research issues and concerns, the duration of the study and the constraints that have direct bearing
on the result of the study.
The scope of the study defines where and when the study is conducted and who the subjects are.
Delimitation of the study is a phase or aspect of the investigation which may affect the result adversely but over
which you have no control. It includes the weaknesses of the study beyond the control of the researcher.
Guidelines in writing the scope and delimitation of the study, includes the following:
References:
A theoretical framework consists of concepts, together with their definitions, and existing theory/theories
that are used for your particular study. The theoretical framework must demonstrate an understanding of theories
and concepts that are relevant to the topic of your research paper and that will relate it to the broader fields of
knowledge in the class you are taking.
The theoretical framework is not something that is found readily available in the literature. You must review
course readings and pertinent research literature for theories and analytic models that are relevant to the research
problem you are investigating. The selection of a theory should depend on its appropriateness, ease of application,
and explanatory power.
1. An explicit statement of theoretical assumptions permits the reader to evaluate them critically.
2. The theoretical framework connects the researcher to existing knowledge. Guided by a relevant theory, you
are given a basis for your hypotheses and choice of research methods.
3. Articulating the theoretical assumptions of a research study forces you to address questions of why and
how. It permits you to move from simply describing a phenomenon observed to generalizing about various
aspects of that phenomenon.
4. Having a theory helps you to identify the limits to those generalizations. A theoretical framework specifies
which key variables influence a phenomenon of interest. It alerts you to examine how those key variables
might differ and under what circumstances.
By virtue of its application nature, good theory in the social sciences is of value precisely because it fulfills one
primary purpose: to explain the meaning, nature, and challenges of a phenomenon, often experienced but
unexplained in the world in which we live, so that we may use that knowledge and understanding to act in more
informed and effective ways.
TOPIC:
Learning difficulties of fourth year students section one in Tinajeros
National High School with their tle classes
INTRODUCTION:
The study of Technology and Livelihood Education is very important especially
in high school students it will provide all the learners to develop values,
attitudes, and practical skills. It also contributes a great impact that can
help student to cope up in great demands of modern living.
In 1991, Mr. Claudio P. Rojo joined the Technology and Home Economics. The
Technology area of the subject was handed to Mr. Rojo. The subject was
composed of the Industrial Arts (IA), Agricultural Arts (AA), Business
Distributive Arts (BDA) now called Entrepreneurship. The subject was soon
renamed as Technology and Livelihood Education. The department became one
again in 2000 Fronda under the headship of Mr. Claudio P. Rojo with the
retirement of Mrs. Rosalina C.. Mrs. Teodora F. Besana was elected and
designated as the Home Economics subject Coordinator. With the promotion of
Mr. Wilmore Moredo, the Division TLE Supervisor, Mr. Claudio P. Rojo with his
outstanding accomplishments filled the vacuum position and assigned as
Division TLE Coordinator in 2004.Mrs. Lilybeth D. Sagmaquen, Master Teacher
II, was designated by the Division of City Schools ofMakati as the Officer in
Charge of the TLE department. She was the proponent and webmaster of theschool
website who is at the same time the present Information and Communication
TechnologyCoordinator of the school. Some innovations have been introduced
into the department that marks some changes including the conduct of
evaluation of teachers by the students which was also adapted by other
department.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:
Instructional theory, design of computer-based learning, instructional effects
of illustrations, theories of visual perception applied to instructional
materials design, computer interfaces, and the roles and effectiveness of
virtual environments in education and training. This work extended cognitive
theories of learning into systems dynamics models of cognition and cognitive
neuroscience.
CHAPTER I
The Problem and Its Background
Background and Rationale
Universities as an institution for higher education have vision and mission to fullfill three pillars of
universities namely education and teaching, researches and extention to communities. In order to
realize this, then the function are to give qualified education and it interconnection with the
requirement of the communities and development of sciences and technologies with dedication
and responsibilities of communities, country and state.
At the moment the level of poor people in Indonesia estimated 40% of the population. This had
shown that economics downfall followed by monetery crisis had cause the communities loosed
their jobs in productive and non productive sectors. Productive sectors including agriculture in
general and especially animal husbandries sub sectors had potential for development as source
of income of the communities in hinterlands.
Government of South Sulawesi Province have development programs which are based on
agricultural business and industries development of animal as part of agricultural business have
quite significant contribution in improvement of regional economics. However the method
conducted by communities were traditional and had not been touch by sciences and technologies
with the effects that the result were not maximum.
One of the sector which is good for development in this region is Bali cattle husbandries by using
marginal lands and make it productive. There are several supporting this programs. Firstly South
Sulawesi province is one of the centre for development of Bali cattle in Indonesia, secondly,
geographically, this is conform and conducive to local environment for development, thirdly,
marginal lands could give economic advantage as this marginal lands spread in several areas
and could be connected into animal paddocks potentially productive for Bali cattle husbandries.
According to data 1992, in South Sulawesi there there were 986,000 hectares marginal lands,
543,000 hectares outside forest area (Anonymous, 1992). Hasan and Wempie (1993) proposed
that downfull of the land due to agriculture within the marginal lands didn't take care conservation
recycling, moving agriculture, burning and husbandaries which were not considering carrying
capacities.
On the other hand human requirements on animal protein tend to increase in relation to daily
nutrition, the increament of population and their income. According to Animal Husbandry Services
of South Sulawesi Province Report (Anonymous, 1997) the total meat consumption in Indonesia
were 1,371,500 tons each year. While up to 1997 meat consumption of South Sulawesi
communities were 28,132 tons each year. This gave an indication that animal husbandaries could
be trigger and developed continuously through application sciences and technologies with
suitable management.
Definitions of Terms
1 TSFS (Three Strata Forage System) is a way of planting and harvesting grass, legume,
. shrubs and fodder trees so that the supply of forages becomes available all the year round.
Strata 1 : Planted with setaria and centro
Strata 2 : Planted with bush legumes, siratro, and setaria
Strata 3 : Planted with Gliricidia maculata and Leucaena leucochepala
2 Marginal Lands were critical lands, dry with wild grasses and very low in fertility.
.
3 Animal performance were performances of the animal based on the growth, intake feeding,
. and carcass quality.
4 Water infiltration was the ability of soil to absorb water and preventing it to the lower level.
.
5 Plant varieties were various plants within the research location.
.
6 Water run off was the ability of plants to absorb water and preventing it to the lower level.
.
7 ADF was acid detergent fiber.
.
8 NDF was neutral detergent fiber.
.
9 ADL was acid detergent lignin.
.
1 Rate of gain hours is the amount of body weight gain divided by unit of time.
0
.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:
Technology and Livelihood Education enhance the ability and skills of every
student, each component teaches the skills that can help the students to
become knowledgeable and competitive in every aspects of life.
Chapter 1, with a highly focused review of the literature, and is normally the “prospectus” that a
committee approves before the “proposal” to start research is approved. After the prospectus is
approved, some of the review of literature may be moved into Chapter 2, which then becomes part of
the proposal to do research.
Chapter 1 is the engine that drives the rest of the document, and it must be a complete empirical
argument as is found in courts of law. It should be filled with proofs throughout. It is not a creative
writing project in a creative writing class; hence, once a word or phrase is established in Chapter 1,
use the same word or phrase throughout the dissertation. The content is normally stylized into five
chapters, repetitive in some sections from dissertation to dissertation. A lengthy dissertation may
have more than five chapters, but regardless, most universities limit the total number of pages to 350
due to microfilming and binding considerations in libraries in those institutions requiring hard copies.
Use plenty of transitional words and sentences from one section to another, as well as subheadings,
which allow the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought. Following is an outline of the content of
the empirical argument of Chapter 1. Universities often arrange the content in a different order, but
the subject matter is the same in all dissertations because it is an empirical “opening statement” as
might be found in a court of law. (Note that a dissertation could also be five pages of text and 50
pages of pictures of dragonfly wings and qualify for a Doctor’s degree in entomology.)
Introductory Paragraph
State the general field of interest in one or two paragraphs, and end with a sentence that states what
study will accomplish. Do not keep the reader waiting to find out the precise subject of the
dissertation.
This section is critically important as it must contain some mention of all the subject matter in the
following Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 2 and the methodology in Chapter 3. Key words should
abound that will subsequently be used again in Chapter 2. The section is a brief two to four page
summary of the major findings in the field of interest that cites the most current finding in the subject
area. A minimum of two to three citations to the literature per paragraph is advisable. The paragraphs
must be a summary of unresolved issues, conflicting findings, social concerns, or educational,
national, or international issues, and lead to the next section, the statement of the problem. The
problem is the gap in the knowledge. The focus of the Background of the Problem is where a gap in
the knowledge is found in the current body of empirical (research) literature.
Arising from the background statement is this statement of the exact gap in the knowledge discussed
in previous paragraphs that reviewed the most current literature found. A gap in the knowledge is the
entire reason for the study, so state it specifically and exactly. Use the words “gap in the knowledge.”
The problem statement will contain a definition of the general need for the study, and the specific
problem that will be addressed.
The Purpose of the Study is a statement contained within one or two paragraphs that identifies the
research design, such as qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, ethnographic, or another design.
The research variables, if a quantitative study, are identified, for instance, independent, dependent,
comparisons, relationships, or other variables. The population that will be used is identified, whether it
will be randomly or purposively chosen, and the location of the study is summarized. Most of these
factors will be discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
The significance is a statement of why it is important to determine the answer to the gap in the
knowledge, and is related to improving the human condition. The contribution to the body of
knowledge is described, and summarizes who will be able to use the knowledge to make better
decisions, improve policy, advance science, or other uses of the new information. The “new” data is
the information used to fill the gap in the knowledge.
The primary research question is the basis for data collection and arises from the Purpose of the
Study. There may be one, or there may be several. When the research is finished, the contribution to
the knowledge will be the answer to these questions. Do not confuse the primary research questions
with interview questions in a qualitative study, or survey questions in a quantitative study. The
research questions in a qualitative study are followed by both a null and an alternate hypothesis.
Hypotheses
A hypothesis is a testable prediction for an observed phenomenon, namely, the gap in the knowledge.
Each research question will have both a null and an alternative hypothesis in a quantitative study.
Qualitative studies do not have hypotheses. The two hypotheses should follow the research question
upon which they are based. Hypotheses are testable predictions to the gap in the knowledge. In a
qualitative study the hypotheses are replaced with the primary research questions.
Research Design
In Chapter 1 this is a summary of the methodology and contains a brief outline of three things: (a)
theparticipants in a qualitative study or thesubjects of a quantitative study (human participants are
referred tyo as participants, non-human subjects are referred to as subjects), (b)
the instrumentation used to collect data, and (c) the procedure that will be followed. All of these
elements will be reported in detail in Chapter 3. In a quantitative study, the instrumentation will be
validated in Chapter 3 in detail. In a qualitative study, if it is a researcher-created questionnaire,
validating the correctness of the interview protocol is usually accomplished with a pilot study. For
either a quantitative or a qualitative study, using an already validated survey instrument is easier to
defend and does not require a pilot study; however, Chapter 3 must contain a careful review of the
instrument and how it was validated by the creator.
In a qualitative study, which usually involves interviews, the instrumentation is an interview protocol –
a pre-determined set of questions that every participant is asked that are based on the primary
research questions. A qualitative interview should contain no less than 10 open-ended questions and
take no less than 1 hour to administer to qualify as “robust” research.
In the humanities, a demographic survey should be circulated with most quantitative and qualitative
studies to establish the parameters of the participant pool. Demographic surveys are nearly identical
in most dissertations. In the sciences, a demographic survey is rarely needed.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework is the foundational theory that is used to provide a perspective upon which
the study is based. There are hundreds of theories in the literature. For instance, if a study in the
social sciences is about stress that may be causing teachers to quit, Apple’s Intensification Theory
could be cited as the theory was that stress is cumulative and the result of continuing overlapping,
progressively stringent responsibilities for teachers that eventually leads to the desire to quit. In the
sciences, research about new species that may have evolved from older, extinct species would be
based on the theory of evolution pioneered by Darwin.
Some departments put the theoretical framework explanation in Chapter 1; some put it in Chapter 2.
Assumptions are self-evident truths. In a qualitative study, it may be assumed that participants be
highly qualified in the study is about administrators. It can be assumed that participants will answer
truthfully and accurately to the interview questions based on their personal experience, and that
participants will respond honestly and to the best of their individual abilities.
Limitations of a study are those things over which the research has no control. Evident limitations are
potential weaknesses of a study. Researcher biases and perceptual misrepresentations are potential
limitations in a qualitative study; in a quantitative study, a limitation may be the capability of an
instrument to accurately record data.
Scope is the extent of the study and contains measurements. In a qualitative study this would include
the number of participants, the geographical location, and other pertinent numerical data. In a
quantitative study the size of the elements of the experiment are cited. The generalizability of the
study may be cited. The word generalizability, which is not in the Word 2007 dictionary, means the
extent to which the data are applicable in places other than where the study took place, or under what
conditions the study took place.
Delimitations are limitations on the research design imposed deliberately by the researcher.
Delimitations in a social sciences study would be such things as the specific school district where a
study took place, or in a scientific study, the number of repetitions.
Definition of Terms
The definition of terms is written for knowledgeable peers, not people from other disciplines As such, it
is not the place to fill pages with definitions that knowledgeable peers would know at a glance.
Instead, define terms that may have more than one meaning among knowledgeable peers.
Summary