The Introduction
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 1
The importance of the introduction
Provides readers with background information for the research
Its purpose is to establish a framework for the research so that
readers can understand how it is related to other research.
It conveys information about a research problem.
Unfortunately too many authors don’t identify the research
problem, leaving the reader to decide for himself the
importance of the issue that motivate the study.
A research problem can originate from many sources:
It might spring from the experience of researchers in their lives or
workplaces.
It may come from an extensive debate that has appeared in the
literature for several years.
It might develop from policy debates in government or among top
executives.
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 2
Qualitative Introduction
The author describe a research problem that can be best
understood by exploring concept or phenomenon.
Qualitative research is exploratory and research explore a
topic when the variable & theory base is unknown.
Qualitative introduction may begin with a personal
statement of experience from the researcher.
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 3
Quantitative Introduction
In quantitative project, the project is best addressed by
understanding what factors or variables influence an
outcome.
Example: what factors influence business to downsize?
What factors facilitate divorce rates?
Researchers sometimes advance a theory to test & they
will incorporate substantial review of literature to identify
research questions to be answered.
The writing should be done from impersonal point of
view and the past tense to be used to increase the
objectivity in the language of research.
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 4
Parts of the introduction
The research problem
Studies that have addressed the problem
Deficiencies in the studies
The importance of the study for an audience
The purpose statement
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 5
The research problem
When researchers begin their studies, they start with one or more paragraph that
convey the specific research problem or issue.
They also present, in the first sentence, information to create reader’s interest. These
are called lead sentence. Example of lead sentence: there is a large body of literature
that studies the capital structure of firms……..
The lead sentence should be written so that the readers is not taken in detailed
morass of though, but lowered gently in to the topic.
A research problem is the issue that exist in the literature, in theory or in practice
that lead to a need for the study. The research problem becomes clearer when the
researcher asks “what is the need for this study?”
Some additional hints in writing this section:
As a general rule, refrain from using quotations, especially long ones in the lead sentence.
Quotation raise many possibilities for interpretation and thus create unclear beginnings.
However quotations can create readers interest in qualitative studies.
Consider numeric information for impact (example every year an estimated 5 million
Americans experience the death of an immediate family member)
Indicate why the problem is important by citing references that justify the need to study
the problem
Make sure that the research problem is framed in a manner consistent with the approach
research in the study (example exploratory in qualitative, examining relationships or
predictors in quantitative and either approach in mixed design)
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 6
Review studies addressing the problem
The purpose of reviewing studies that have addressed the
problem is to justify the importance of the study & to
create distinctions between past studies & a proposed
study. This is what we call setting the research problem
within the ongoing dialogue in the literature”
When writing this section, write the literature by
summarizing group of studies, not individual studies. The
intent should be to establish broad areas of research at this
juncture in the study. Individual studies will be explained
in the separate literature review chapter.
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Deficiencies in the past literature
The literature may be deficient because
The authors have not studied specific variables
The authors may not have explored the topic with particular group,
shape or population
The literature may need to be replicated or repeated to see if the same
findings hold given new sample of people or new sites for study.
If other authors have also mentioned these deficiencies in their
“suggestion for further research” section, then include references to
these studies as further justification for the proposed study.
Beyond mentioning the deficiencies , proposal writer need to tell
how their planned study will remedy or address these deficiencies
Cite several deficiencies to make the case even stronger for a study.
Some opening sentences to use in writing this section include “what
remains to be explored”; “little empirical research”; “very few
studies”
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Importance of a study for an audience
All good writers have the audience in mind
Authors need to identify the audience that will likely
profit from a study of the research problem. The more
audience that can be mentioned, the greater will be the
importance of the study.
Letenah Ejigu, BDU 9