The Introduction
The role of an introduction is to introduce the reader to your general research area and to your research in particular. The introduction places your research within an number of different contexts:
- The historical context: the research is taking place at a particular time and there will be particular events or situations which have preceded it and which are relevant to the fact that you are have done this research at this particular time. These need to be explained in the introduction to your thesis.
- The geographical context: the research has taken place at a particular place and the reason for choosing this site needs to be explained.
- The social context: the research may investigate a particular group of people (consumers, students, teachers, etc) who have been chosen for a particular reason which needs to be described.
- The theoretical context: the reseach may have conformed to a particular theoretical perspective, what this is and why it was chosen needs to be explained in the introduction.
More specifically, the reader may be familiar with the general research area but not with the specific field which you have addressed. - Hence a brief overview of the general area of study, study site and the particular issues that have been of interest to you may be appropriate to orient the reader to your initial motivation for doing the research.
- The reader will want to know the directions you intend to take with regard to the theoretical framework of the thesis and methodological approach.
- The introduction will also provide the reader with an overview to the text of the thesis.
An Introduction therefore describes the processes underlying the research:
- Where did the research take place? A brief description of the research site is in order and the particular issues relating to the particular site.
- What is the purpose of the research?
- What does the research aim to prove?
- Is there a hypothesis?
- What is the particular theoretical framework which underpins the research?
- What does the rest of this thesis contain? A brief outline of each chapter is also appropriate in the Introduction.