Q: How to write the Introduction and the

background of a research paper?

Detailed Question -
How to write the Introduction and the background? The title for my paper:
Teaching Mathematics in the intermediate phase.

Asked by thokozani biyela on 11 Jul, 2019

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Answer:
The Introduction section sets the context for your research work, explains
the research problem, and indicates the purpose behind the study. The
Introduction also highlights how your research contributes to knowledge in
your field and builds on previous similar studies.

You need to ensure that your Introduction does the following:

 Provides a background of the problem that your research aims to
understand or resolve
 Summarizes what is currently known about the topic through existing
literature and citing studies that are relevant
 Describes why you have undertaken the study
 Explains how the research will make a significant contribution to the
field
 States the research question clearly
Now let us understand how a research background is written. The
background forms the first part of the Introduction section. It provides
context for your study and helps the readers understand why your research
topic is important. It gives a brief overview of the research done on the
topic so far and mentions the gaps that have remained unaddressed as well
as the need to address them. Subsequently, it mentions how your research
will address those gaps and helps establish the significance of your research.

While writing your background, you must:

 Mention the main developments in your research area
 Highlight significant questions that need to be addressed
 Discuss the relevant aspects of your study

Background of the study in research: guide on how to write one Friday, January 13, 2023 at
9:47 AM by Adrianna Simwa The background of the study is one of the key aspects you need
to get right when you are writing a research paper. It is the key to introducing your readers to
the topic of your research, and it is different from the lead part. Here is how to write the
background of the study in research studies. What is background of the study and how to write
it. Photo: pixabay.com (modified by author) Source: Original Here is all you need to know about
the study's science background and how to write one. What is the background of the study?
Background of the study meaning: The background of the study is a part of the research
provided in the introduction section of the paper. It is a compilation of adequate information that
is based on the analysis of the problem or proposed argument, the steps and methods needed
to arrive at the design, the implementation of the results achieved, and feasible solutions. It is
different from the introduction. The introduction only contains preliminary information about your
research question or thesis topic. It is simply an overview of the research question or thesis
topic. But the background of your study is more in-depth - it explains why your research topic or
thesis is worth your readers' time. Read also Exclusive: Former presidential aide reveals why
PDP will dislodge APC, win presidential election in 2023 The background of the study will
provide your readers with context to the information discussed throughout your research paper.
It can include both relevant and essential studies. The background of the study is used to prove
that a thesis question is relevant and also to develop the thesis. In summary, a good
background of the study is the work done to determine that your research question or thesis
topic is a problem and that the method used is the one required to solve the issue or answer the
question. What is the importance of the background of the study? The background of the study
helps your reader determine if you have a basic understanding of the research problem being
investigated and promotes confidence in the overall quality of your analysis and findings. Read
the guide on how to write a background for a research paper. Photo: pexels.com, @RF._.studio
Source: UGC How to write the background of the study in a research paper
Stage 1. At the beginning stages of formulating your thesis, many of the issues are still very
unclear, and you need to solidify your thoughts, so you should conduct preliminary research.
This will help you put forward a research question or thesis statement that will lead to more
relevant and specific research. You can visit a library, check the internet and other electronic
databases to find preliminary sources such as scholarly journals and books about your
background of the study.
Stage 2. Read and gather the info you need to develop - a thesis statement or research
question that will guide your thesis. You should take notes and keep an accurate track of the
sources of information you have used up to this point. Many people use note cards, but it’s
easier and better to use electronic note-taking programs in this electronic age. Just make sure
to use a form that is comfortable and easier for you. Also, make sure you cite the source of
every piece of information you are using on each note so that you won’t forget where you got
the information from, just in case you want to use it in your thesis.
Stage 3. Develop and pen down the research question or thesis statement. Think about the
things you’ve read and searched and the issues or solutions that have been found by other
people, and then formulate your stance or opinion on the issue. Write out your position or
opinion as an authoritative statement. You may conduct more detailed research at this point and
look for more sources that are more relevant to your research question or thesis.
Stage 4. Complete your research using the thesis statement as your guide. Find sources that
are relevant to your specific thesis and provide more insight into your research question using
these sources. Your sources should provide information on your thesis's history and past
research.
Stage 5. As you create your background study, create relevant sections. When you start
writing, create five sections with the key issues, major findings, and controversies surrounding
your thesis, and a section that provides evaluation and a conclusion.
Stage 6. Identify the further studies that need to be done in the conclusion section. Also,
mention possible solutions to the issues that have not been considered in the past.
Stage 7. Revise and edit your background of the study carefully. You can write out several
drafts of your work, revising, editing, and adding more information before coming up with the
final one. Make sure each draft is better than the previous one. You can also ask someone else
to help you go through it. Read also Call of the void: why do we feel the urge to jump off high
places? Define background research. Photo: pexels.com, @Vlada Karpovich Source: UGC The
writing format You can follow this format when writing your background of the study: Start by
giving a general overview of your thesis topic and introduce the key ideas you will use
throughout your thesis. Then, give precise information about all the methodologies used in the
research. This can take up to several paragraphs depending on the individual and research
question or thesis topic. Cite your sources where necessary to avoid plagiarism. Then you can
briefly introduce the experiment by describing your choice of methodology, why you have
decided to use this methodology instead of others, and the objective of the methodology. What
does a good background of the study example contain? A good example of the background of
the study is one that: Contains reviews of the area being researched Has currently available
information about the problem of the study Captures the previous studies on the issue Indicates
the history of the issue of the study from previous research done on the subject Read also
Amazing 5 Forbes Tips for Investors, Entrepreneurs on Building Business, Brand and Ideas in
Nigeria A good background of the study sample has all these qualities. How is the background
of the study different from the literature review? The section of literature review follows the
background of the study section. It is the second section of your thesis. The literature review
supports the study section's background by providing evidence for the proposed hypothesis.
Hopefully, this information on the background of the study has been helpful to you. Read other
useful posts on our website to improve your writing skills. Read
more: https://www.legit.ng/1174941-background-study-research-write.html

The writing format You can follow this format when writing your background of the study: Start
by giving a general overview of your thesis topic and introduce the key ideas you will use
throughout your thesis. Then, give precise information about all the methodologies used in the
research. This can take up to several paragraphs depending on the individual and research
question or thesis topic. Cite your sources where necessary to avoid plagiarism. Then you can
briefly introduce the experiment by describing your choice of methodology, why you have
decided to use this methodology instead of others, and the objective of the methodology. What
does a good background of the study example contain? A good example of the background of
the study is one that: Contains reviews of the area being researched Has currently available
information about the problem of the study Captures the previous studies on the issue Indicates
the history of the issue of the study from previous research done on the subject Read also
Amazing 5 Forbes Tips for Investors, Entrepreneurs on Building Business, Brand and Ideas in
Nigeria A good background of the study sample has all these qualities. How is the background
of the study different from the literature review? The section of literature review follows the
background of the study section. It is the second section of your thesis. The literature review
supports the study section's background by providing evidence for the proposed hypothesis.
Hopefully, this information on the background of the study has been helpful to you. Read other
useful posts on our website to improve your writing skills. READ ALSO: Can you start a
sentence with but: A grammatical explanation Legit.ng reported that one of the most deeply
ingrained grammar rules involves the usage of the word 'but'. For a long time, teachers have
told their students that they cannot use conjunctions at the beginning of sentences. If you asked
your English teacher, "Can you start a sentence with but?" you would be met with a resounding
'No!' Read also Tianjin Binhai: Photos and video show Chinese big library with 1.2 million books
and tall shelves But where did this 'rule' even come from? And does it hold water? Find out by
reading Legit.ng's take on the usage of 'but' at the beginning of a sentence. Read
more: https://www.legit.ng/1174941-background-study-research-write.html
4 Step approach to writing the Introduction
section of a research paper
Popular This article is in

 Study Background & Introduction

Yateendra Joshi
Sep 18, 2018

Reading time

10 mins

If you want others to cite your paper, you should make sure they read it first.
Let us assume that the title and the abstract of your paper have convinced
your peers that they should see your paper. It is then the job of the
Introduction section to ensure that they start reading it and keep reading it,
to pull them in and to show them around as it were, guiding them to the
other parts of the paper (Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion).

This article tells you, with examples, what you should include in the
Introduction and what you should leave out, and what reviewers and
journal editors look for in this section.

What is the function of the Introduction section?

Put simply, the Introduction should answer the question ‘Why:’ why you
choose that topic for research; why it is important; why you adopted a
particular method or approach; and so on. You can also think of the
Introduction as the section that points out the gap in knowledge that the
rest of the paper will fill, or the section in which you define and claim your
territory within the broad area of research.

The other job the Introduction should do is to give some background

information and set the context. You can do this by describing the research
problem you considered or the research question you asked (in the main
body of the paper, you will offer the solution to the problem or the answer
to the question) and by briefly reviewing any other solutions or approaches
that have been tried in the past.

Remember that a thesis or a dissertation usually has a separate chapter

titled ‘Review of literature,’ but a research paper has no such section;
instead, the Introduction includes a review in brief.

Now that you have given the background and set the context, the last part
of the Introduction should specify the objectives of the experiment or
analysis of the study described in the paper. This concluding part of the
Introduction should include specific details or the exact question(s) to be
answered later in the paper.
The 4-step approach to writing the Introduction section

As a rule of thumb, this section accounts for about 10% of the total word
count of the body of a typical research paper, or about 400 words spread
over three paragraphs in a 4000-word paper.1 With that, let us now
understand how to write the Introduction section step-by-step:

1. Provide background information and set the context.

This initial part of the Introduction prepares the readers for more detailed
and specific information that is given later. The first couple of sentences are
typically broad.

Below are some examples:

 A paper on organic matter in soil can begin thus: ‘Sustainable crop production is a function of the
physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, which, in turn, are markedly affected by the
organic matter in soil.’
 A paper that discusses the possible beneficial role of bacteria in treating cancer can begin as follows:
‘The role of bacteria as anticancer agent was recognized almost hundred years back.’
 A paper on lithium batteries can introduce the study with the following sentence: ‘The rapid growth of
lithium ion batteries and their new uses, such as powering electric cars and storing electricity for grid
supply, demands more reliable methods to understand and predict battery performance and life.’

At the same time, the introductory statement should not be too broad: note
that in the examples above, the Introduction did not begin by talking about
agriculture, cancer, or batteries in general, but by mentioning organic
matter in soil, the role of bacteria, and lithium ion batteries.

Once the first sentence has introduced the broad field, the next sentence
can point to the specific area within that broad field. As you may have
noticed, the papers in the examples mentioned above introduced the
subfield by mentioning 1) remission of some types cancer following
accidental infection by Streptococcus pyogenes, 2) organic matter in soil as a
source of nutrients for plants and of energy for microorganisms, and 3)
imaging techniques to visualize the 3-dimensional structure of the
materials and components of batteries on nanoscale.

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2. Introduce the specific topic of your research and explain why it is

important.
As you can see from the above examples, the authors are moving toward
presenting the specific topic of their research. So now in the following part,
you can bring in some statistics to show the importance of the topic or the
seriousness of the problem.

Here are some examples:

 A paper on controlling malaria by preventive measures, can mention the number of people affected,
the number of person-hours lost, or the cost of treating the disease.
 A paper on developing crops that require little water can mention the frequency of severe droughts or
the decrease in crop production because of droughts.
 A paper on more efficient methods of public transport can mention the extent of air pollution due to
exhausts from cars and two-wheelers or the shrinking ratio between the number of automobiles and
road length.

Another way to emphasize the importance of the research topic is to

highlight the possible benefits from solving the problem or from finding an
answer to the question: possible savings, greater production, longer-lasting
devices, and so on. This approach emphasizes the positive.
For example, instead of saying that X dollars are lost because of malaria
every year, say that X dollars can be saved annually if malaria is prevented,
or X millions litres of water can be saved by dispensing with irrigation, or X
person-hours can be saved in the form of avoided illnesses because of
improved air quality or reduced pollution.

3. Mention past attempts to solve the research problem or to answer the

research question.
As mentioned earlier, a formal review of literature is out of place in the
Introduction section of a research paper; however, it is appropriate to
indicate any earlier relevant research and clarify how your research differs
from those attempts. The differences can be simple: you may have repeated
the same set of experiments but with a different organism, or elaborated
(involving perhaps more sophisticated or advanced analytical instruments)
the study with a much larger and diverse sample, or a widely different
geographical setting.

Here are two examples:

 ‘Although these studies were valuable, they were undertaken when the draft genome sequence had
not been available and therefore provide little information on the evolutionary and regulatory
mechanisms.’
 ‘Plant response is altered by insect colonization and behaviour but these aspects have been studied
mostly in sole crops, whereas the present paper examines the relationship between crops and their
pests in an intercropping system.’

4. Conclude the Introduction by mentioning the specific objectives of your

research.
The earlier paragraphs should lead logically to specific objectives of your
study. Note that this part of the Introduction gives specific details: for
instance, the earlier part of the Introduction may mention the importance
of controlling malaria whereas the concluding part will specify what
methods of control were used and how they were evaluated. At the same
time, avoid too much detail because those belong to the Materials and
Methods section of the paper.

If, for example, your research was about finding the right proportions of two
metals in an alloy and you tested ten different proportions, you do not have
to list all the ten proportions: it is enough to say that the proportions varied
from 50:50 to 10:90.

Here are two more examples:

 ‘We aimed to assess the effectiveness of four disinfection strategies on hospital-wide incidence of
multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile’
 ‘We aimed (1) to assess the epidemiological changes before and after the upsurge of scarlet fever in
China in 2011; (2) to explore the reasons for the upsurge and the epidemiological factors that
contributed to it; and (3) to assess how these factors could be managed to prevent future epidemics.’

There are different ways of constructing the objectives. Using questions 2,

hypotheses, and infinitives are the more common constructions (both
examples in the previous paragraph use infinitives), each of which is
illustrated below with some fictitious text:

Questions
 ‘Do some genes in wheat form gene networks? If they do, to what extent as compared to rice?’
 ‘Do the regulatory elements in the promoters of those genes display any conserved motifs?’
 ‘Finally, and more specifically, do those genes in wheat display any tissue- or organ-specific expression
pattern?’

Hypotheses

‘We decided to test the following four hypotheses related to employees of

information-technology companies:
H1: Career stages influence work values.
H2: Career stages influence the level of job satisfaction.
H3: Career stages do not influence organizational commitment.’

Using infinitives

‘To examine the response of Oryza sativa to four different doses of nitrogen
in terms of 1) biomass production, 2) plant height, and 3) crop duration.’

Compared to two other sections of a typical research paper, namely

Methods and Results, Introduction and Discussion are more difficult to
write. However, the 4-step approach described in this article should ease the
task.

A final tip: although the Introduction is the first section of the main text of
your paper, you don’t have to write that section first. You can write it, or at
least revise it, after you have written the rest of the paper: this will make the
Introduction not only easier to write but also more compelling.

To learn in more detail the guidelines to write a great Introduction

section, check out this course: How to write a strong introduction for your
research paper

References:

1. Araújo C G. 2014. Detailing the writing of scientific manuscripts: 25-30

paragraphs. Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia 102 (2): e21–e23
2. Boxman R and Boxman E. 2017. Communicating Science: a practical guide for
engineers and physical scientists, pp. 7–9. Singapore: World Scientific. 276 pp.

Related reading:
 The secret to writing the introduction and methods section of a manuscript
 Tips for writing the perfect IMRAD manuscript
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