How To Write Chapter One
In Seminar/Project Reports
The Format:
• Technical reports typically consist of the
introduction, the body of the report,
conclusions, recommendations and a reference
section.
• If necessary, and only if necessary, appendices
are added.
• The body is further divided into sections under
headings such as theory or background,
literature review, materials and method, results
and discussion.
• The general format is as follows:
• This also applies to a seminar/project report.
• Each part of the research stated above is a
chapter apart from the abstract and conclusion
i.e.
• Introduction is chapter 1
• Literature review is chapter 2
• Materials and Method is chapter 3
• Findings /Results is chapter 4 and
• Discussion and conclusion is chapter 5.
• The abstract stands alone and comes before
chapter 1.
How to write the introduction (chapter 1):
• The introduction is an important and challenging
part of any research project as it establishes your
writing style, the quality of your research, and
your credibility as a scholar.
• It is your first chance to make a good impression
on your reader.
• The introduction gives the reader background and
context to convey the importance of your
research.
• It should begin by broadly introducing your topic,
then narrowing to your focused research question
or hypothesis.
• The introduction should include background
information on related experiments, data sets,
explanations of technical terms, your problem
statement, aims and objectives of the study,
research questions and a statement about the
significance of your study.
What is the Purpose of an Introduction Section?
• The introduction should answer three important
questions:
• 1. What am I writing about?
• 2. Why is it important?
• 3. What do I want the reader to know about it?
• As you reach the end of the introduction, you
should begin to establish what you want the
reader to know about your topic and research.
• This may include your focus and scope, the
specific research question(s), hypotheses, or
justification for the research.
• The information you choose to share here
normally varies depending on your discipline.
Definition of Terms in introduction:
• 1. Statement of the Problem
• 2. Aim
• 3. Research question(s)
• 4. Objectives
• 5. Significance of the Research
• 6. Justification
• 7. Scope
• The Research question(s) is optional and usually
omitted in many research reports.
Statement of the problem
• Is a description of the problem you are solving by
carrying out the research.
• It answers the question – ‘what problem is the
research addressing?’
• E.g. if your research topic is ‘Catalytic pyrolysis of
waste plastics’, the problem your research may
address could be:
– Waste management or
– Wealth creation from trash or
– Sustainable energy etc.
• Discussing /elaborating on the problem is
necessary.
The Aim:
• This is the goal you want to achieve in your research.
It is the purpose of the research or simply put what
you want to achieve by carrying out the research.
• E.g. taking your research topic as ‘Catalytic pyrolysis
of waste plastics’, your aim may be:
• To obtain biofuel from waste plastics.
The Objectives:
• This states how you intend to accomplish your aim,
i.e. how you want to achieve what you want to
achieve.
Research Question(s)
• The research question our example topic –
‘Catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics’ would be
• Can waste plastics give a high yield of biofuel?
• What types of waste plastics would be best
suited to give a good yield of biofuel?
• How good in terms of quality will the biofuel
from waste plastics be when compared to the
international standard?
• Recall that including a research question is
optional and a lot of researchers do not bother
to include it in their reports.
• Referring to the above topic – ‘Catalytic pyrolysis
of waste plastics’ for instance, your objectives
might be:
– Identifying suitable waste plastics for use
– Design of the pyrolysis unit
– Fabrication of the pyrolysis unit
– Preparation of the catalyst
– Transesterification to obtain biofuel
• The objectives are very important in that they are
usually used to judge whether you completed
your research work or not.
• So you need to be careful on what you mention
in your objectives.
Significance of the Research
• This is about the contribution your research will
bring to the scientific community or the society,
or the world as the case may be.
• It’s also about the impact of your research in
your field, and how others will benefit from it.
• It discusses the relevance of the research topic
to a selected group of people.
• Referring to our example topic – Catalytic
pyrolysis of waste plastics for instance, the
significance of the research might go thus:
• Catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics is important
at this time when our society is making
attempts at providing sustainable energy for all.
Moreover, it will cater for a cleaner environment
as waste plastics litter would be converted to a
useful product.
• In writing the significance of a study/research,
ask yourself questions like “How will the
solutions to my research problem be
beneficial?”
• This will give you an idea of how valuable it is to
conduct your research.
Justification of the Study/Research
• This is an explanation of the fundamental reasons
for doing the particular topic of your research.
• It answers the question ‘on what basis are you
performing this research?’
• The justification of the study is also known as the
rationale of the study, and is essential for
communicating to your reader why your research is
necessary.
• It is what inspired you to pick that particular topic as
your research topic.
• It is very important to know that doing research is
not just one of the things we do for leisure,
• research is a vital part of human endeavour, it is
through research done in the past that a lot of
improvements are seen today in the world.
• The justification for our Catalytic pyrolysis of
waste plastics may read as follows:
• As the world veers towards clean and
sustainable energy, there is the need for that
energy to also be affordable. Wastes converted
to biofuel when successful will provide
affordable energy especially for countries with
high energy costs.
Justification (Example 2):
• One of the sustainable development goals by
the United Nations is affordable and clean
energy by the year 2030. A research on catalytic
pyrolysis of waste plastics is appropriate at this
time as it seeks to address the challenge of
clean and affordable energy.
Scope of the Study
• These are the areas you want to cover in your
research.
• It is necessary to limit your research areas to what
you can conveniently finish within the allotted
time for project in the department.
• When your research scope is too wide you may run
into the problem of not having enough time and
funding as well.
• E.g. this research will be limited to performing
transesterification processes to obtain biofuel and
will not carry out optimisation of the process
parameters.