MELJUN CORTES research lectures_thesis_introduction

1. Thesis: Introduction
MELJUN CORTES

2. Title - include all important
concepts studied in 10-12 words
(that is ideally for publication)
but may be up to 15 words;
Author’s name and institutional
affiliation (Department, College, JRU)
Running head –shortened
version of title
Guidelines

3. Abstract
Describe the study in 100-120
words
The abstract provides a brief, general description of
the study.
What was the focus of the study?
What areas were explored?
What are the significant findings?
What conclusions was derived?
Keywords
List of most essential variables/aspects of your study

4. Introduction
Describe what you hoped to achieve
accurately, clearly state the problem being
investigated;
Summarize relevant research to provide
context, with in-text citations;
Explain what findings of others, if any, are
being challenged or extended;
Explain your conceptual framework;
Describe the experiment, hypothesis/es,
research design or method; and
Definition of Terms

5. Introduction
Move 1: Establishing a research territory
Useful Devices in Expressing Centrality:
The increasing interest in…has heightened
the need for…
Of particular interest and complexity are..
A central issue in…is…
The…has been extensively studied in
recent years.
The relationship between…has been
investigated by many researchers.
Many recent studies focused on…
The…has become a favorite topic for
analysis.
The possibility of…has generated wide
interest in..
The development of…has led to the hope
that…
Showing that
the general
research area
is important,
central,
interesting,
problematic, or
relevant in
some way
(optional)

6. Introduction
Move 1: Establishing a research territory
Suggested Patterns for Tense Usage (Reviewing
Literature)
1. Past Tense – researcher activity as agent;
reference to single studies.
Edralin (1998) investigated the causes
of…
The causes of…were investigated by
( ).
Present Perfect Tense – researcher activity
not as agent; reference to areas of inquiry
The causes of…have been widely
investigated (Edralin, 1998; Tullao, 2000).
There have been several investigations
into the causes of . . . ( ).
Several researchers have studied the
Citing /
reviewing
the most
relevant
items of
previous
research in
the area
(a must)

7. Suggested Patterns for Tense Usage
(Reviewing Literature)…cont.
(In nos. 1 and 2, focus is on what
researchers did)
3. Present Tense – no reference to
researcher activity – reference made
to state of current knowledge; focus
is on what has been found
The causes of . . . are complex (
).
Bankruptcy appears to have a
complex set of causes ( ).
Introduction
Move 1: Establishing a research territory
Citing /
reviewing
the most
relevant
items of
previous
research in
the area
(a must)

8. Introduction
Move 2: Establishing a Niche (a Must)
Indicating a Gap in the previous research
Indicating a gap usually through the use of a
“negative” subject:
→ However, little information…little focus…little research…
little work…little attention…
few attempts…few investigations…
few studies…few scholars…
→ No studies have been made on…
→ None of these studies…
→ Cited research has tended to focus on…, rather than on…
→ These investigations have emphasized/focused on…,
as opposed to…

9. Raising a Question about it
However, it remains unclear whether…
It would thus be of interest to learn how…
The results of previous studies suggest that
further investigations are needed in order to…
Introduction
Move 2: Establishing a Niche (a Must)

10. Extending Previous Knowledge or
Continuing a Line of Research
Previous research shows that Rasch
Analysis is a useful technique for validating
multiple choice tests.
This paper uses Rasch analysis to…
These recent developments in computer-
aided design appear to have considerable
potential. In this paper, we show…
Introduction
Move 2: Establishing a Niche (a Must)

11. Introduction
Move 3: Occupying the Niche
Outlining Purposes or stating the nature of the
present research
Suggested Beginning Parts:
This study is aimed at evaluating…
The aim of this paper is to…
The main purpose of the experiment is to…
The present work aims to extend the use of
Coates’(1986) model on…
Indicating the structure of the research paper

12. Use English prose, not jargon in your field.
Open with a statement about people (or animals)
instead of other people’s research.
Gradually lead your readers into the formal or
theoretical statement of the problem, instead of
introducing your problem or theory at the start.
Use examples to simplify the abstractness or
complexity of unfamiliar conceptual or technical terms.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

13. Examples of Opening Statements:
Poor: Recently, Ekman (1972), Izard (1977), Tomkins (1980)
and Zajonc (1980) have pointed to psychology’s neglect of
the affects and their expression. [Fine somewhere in the
introduction, but not in the opening statement.]
Better: Individuals differ radically from one another in the
degree to which they are willing and able to express their
emotions.
Poor: Research in the forced-compliance paradigm has
focussed on the effects of predecisional alternatives and
incentive magnitude.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

14. Poor: Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has
received a great deal of attention during the past 20
years.
Better: The individual who holds two beliefs that are
inconsistent with one another may feel uncomfortable.
For example, the person who knows that he or she
enjoys smoking but believes it to be unhealthy may
experience discomfort arising from the inconsistency or
disharmony between these two thoughts or cognitions.
This feeling of discomfort was called cognitive
dissonance by social psychologist Leon Festinger
(1957), who suggested that individuals will be motivated
to remove this dissonance in whatever way they can.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

15. An example on how one might define a
technical term (ego control) and identify its
conceptual status (a personality variable) more
explicitly:
The need to delay gratification, control impulses,
and modulate emotional expression is the earliest
and most ubiquitous demand that society places
upon the developing child. And because success at
so many of life’s tasks depends critically upon the
individual’s mastery of such ego control, evidence for
life-course continuities in this central personality
domain should be readily obtained.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

16. An example in which the technical terms are
defined only by the context:
In the continuing search for the biological correlates of
psychic disorder, blood platelets are now a prime target of
investigation. On particular, reduced monoamine oxidase
(MAO) activity in the platelets is sometimes correlated with
paranoid symptomatology, auditory hallucinations or
delusions in chronic schizophrenia, and a tendency towards
psychopathology in normal men. Unfortunately, these
observations have not always replicated, casting doubt on
the hypothesis that MAO activity is, in fact, a biological
marker in psychiatric disorder. Even the general utility of
the platelet model as a key to central nervous system
abnormalities in schizophrenia remains controversial. The
present study attempts to clarify the relation of MAO
activity to symptomatology in chronic schizophrenia.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

17. A summary of the current state of the knowledge
in the area of investigation follows.
- Discuss the literature but do not include an
exhaustive historical review—cite only those that
are pertinent to the specific issue and avoid
references with only tangential or general
significance.
- Avoid nonessential details.
- Avoid writing a statement intelligible only to the
specialist.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

18. Citations: Either by enclosing their last names and the year
of publication in parentheses, or by using the names in the
sentence itself:
It was reported that “MAO activity in some patients with
schizophrenia is actually higher than normal” (Tse & Tung,
1949, p. ).
Tse and Tung (1949) report that “MAO activity in some
patients with schizophrenia is actually higher than normal”
(p. ).
Criticizing previous work (Indicating a gap): Criticize the work,
not the investigators or authors.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

19. Ending the introduction
Give a brief overview of your own study, thus providing a
smooth transition into the method section.
Because this sex difference remains elusive, it seems
desirable to test Zanna’s parental-role theory of emotional
expression in a more realistic setting.
Accordingly, in the study being proposed here, we will
expose men and women to filmed scenes designed to evoke
either negative or positive emotions and will assess their
reactions when they think that they are being observed by one
or both of their parents. We also intend to examine the relation
of emotional expression to self-esteem.
Introduction
Other Useful Strategies in Writing the Introduction

20. References:
Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic writing
for graduate students: Course for non-native
speakers of English. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Bem, D. J. (2000). Writing the empirical journal.
http://comp9.psych.cornell.edu/dbem/writing article.
html