Research Introduction and Background Info

1. How to Write a
Research Introduction
& Background
WEEK 6
RUSSELL RODRIGO
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2. Lesson Outcomes
By the end of this lesson you should
be able to
1. Identify components of an effective
Research Introduction and background
2. Write an outline of research introduction
and background
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3. What is an Introduction?
 An introduction may be many different
things, depending on the type of
writing you are doing
 In a research paper—an introduction
does three things:
 Introduces your topic
 Reviews the brief background of your topic
 States your hypotheses or research
questions
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4. What is an Introduction?
 Students often ask: What is the difference
between an introduction and a literature
review?
 Answer: The literature review is part of
your introduction
 It is likely to be the largest, most important
part
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5. How do you write an
introduction?
 Introductions to research papers have many
formats
 In this lesson, you will learn one format
 As you go on in research writing, you may
modify, change, or completely ignore this
format
 The purpose of presenting this one format is to
give you a general starting point
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6. The Outline of an Introduction
Here is a very broad outline. The slides that follow
show how to write the opening paragraph. The
other sections are covered in a different tutorial
 I. Opening paragraph
 II. Brief Background
 III. Statement of research question or thesis
statement
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7. The Opening Paragraph
 This is a key paragraph
 It lets the reader know what to expect
 It gives the reader a general roadmap for your
paper
 It may mention papers you will review in more
detail later
 For a very long paper it may be more than one
paragraph
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8. Exercise: Opening Paragraph
A. Read the three sample introductory
paragraphs and identify 5 basic pieces of
information that should be considered in
writing a research introduction.
B. Underline or label what each sentence
says (e.g. hook, thesis statement, research
method, previous studies/background,
missing piece or gap, etc.).
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9. Sample Introduction 1
 For a study about child development, parenting and
culture
Parenting style is a well established influence on
child development (Bornstein, 2003). Research indicates
that different parenting styles are generally predictive of
academic and emotional adaptation in children
(Steinberg, Elmen & Mounts, 1989) . However, some
research has suggested that the influence of parenting
style may vary across cultures and by immigration status
(Frankel & Roer-Bornstein, 1982). The aim of the
current study was to examine how parenting style
among first-generation immigrants from the African
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10. Sample Introduction 2
The musical marketing turns to be digital
according to demands of current online epoch. Such
underground, but worldwide famous bands like
Radiohead and IAMX gain profit from the internet
and use it as a primary source to show the audience
their creation. On the other hand, many artists find
digital era harmful and destructive for their creativity
because there are many sites that offer their product
for free, giving no profit to the creator. Currently,
there are more and more studies that reveal the
business side of music industry far from a positive
side. This research paper will define whether the
culture of digital music consumption must be
changed because the creations of musicians become
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11. Sample Introduction 3
ATTACK AD EFFECTIVENESS
Attack ads were a major part of the 2012 presidential
election campaign in the U.S. In fact, the Washington Post
reports that of the $404 million that was spent on TV ads in
favour of Barack Obama, 85% ($343.4 million) was spent on
negative ads, while of the $492 million spent on TV ads in
favour of Mitt Romney, 91% ($447.72 million) was spent on
negative ads (Andrews, Keating, & Yourish, 2012). The
attack ad strategies of both candidates were very similar. In
fact, the top ten U.S. states in which the candidates spent
campaign funds on negative TV ads were exactly the same,
with Florida, Virginia, and Ohio being the top three
respectively (Andrews, Keating, & Yourish, 2012). Given that
the vast majority of money spent on TV ads was spent on
negative ads, it is reasonable to believe that there must be
some efficacy to such ads. In this project, scholarly research
on the effectiveness of attack ads in the 2012 U.S.
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12. The opening paragraph
Includes 5 basic pieces of information, usually in this
order:
1. A statement of the general topic or a hook
2. A general statement about what previous studies
have found
3. A statement about what the literature is missing or
where there is an unanswered question
4. The aim of the study
5. A general statement of the study’s approach
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13. Sample 1 Opening paragraph:
First Sentence
 A statement of the general topic or a hook:
 Parenting style is a well established influence on child development
(Bornstein, 2003).
 The musical marketing turns to be digital according to demands of
current online epoch.
 Attack ads were a major part of the 2012 presidential election
campaign in the U.S.
 Note
 The statement is general, but not too general
 it is not a sweeping statement
 The statement is empirical—it is a statement of research findings
 Not an opinion
 The statement includes a citation
 This citation may be reviewed in more detail later in the paper
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14. Opening paragraph:
Second Sentence
 A statement about what the literature has found
Research indicates that different parenting styles
are generally predictive of academic and emotional
adaptation in children (Steinberg, Elmen & Mounts,
1989) .
 This is more specific than your first statement
 It introduces the reader to the specific area you
are interested in
 Parenting style and academic and emotional outcomes
in children
 It includes a citation
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15. Opening Paragraph:
Third Sentence
 A statement about what the literature is missing or
where there is an unanswered question
However, some research has suggested that the
influence of parenting style may vary across cultures
and by immigration status (Frankel & Roer-Bornstein,
1982).
 Note
 This statement is a contrast with the previous statement
 It says not all parenting styles lead to the same outcome
 It introduces the idea that there is a an unanswered question
to be explored
 It includes a citation
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16. Review previous studies of your
topic.
 Every person can study the same topic in a
different way. Before you start your own
research, you must become aware of the
discoveries other scholars made on this issue.
 Any result will be a reliable background for the
future work. Note that it is better to indicate
recent developments in the primary research
rather than a lengthy report.
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17. Opening Paragraph:
Fourth Sentence
 The aim of the study based on the research
question/Thesis statement
The aim of the current study was to examine how
parenting style among first-generation immigrants
from the African diaspora influenced child
development.
 This tells the reader generally what your study is
about
 It should be a study that responds to the question
you identified in the previous sentence
 Because the study is completed, it is a statement in
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18. Opening Paragraph:
Fifth Sentence
 A general statement of the study’s approach
The study examined parenting style and child
outcomes within a community of Somalian
immigrants in the Northeastern United States.
 This tells the reader just a little about your
sample and method
 Not too much
 Enough so that the reader understands why you
review certain types of articles
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19. Summary
 This lesson presented the definition and
purpose of an introduction for an empirical
paper or proposal
 It presented one format for writing an
introduction
 It focused on writing the very first
paragraph of an introduction
 It gave a detailed step by step account of
how to write the first paragraph of an
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20. Writing the background
information
1. Providing background information in the
Introduction of a research paper serves as
a bridge that links the reader to the topic
of your study.
2. Providing pertinent background
information can be an effective way to
demonstrate that you have a clear grasp of
key issues and concepts underpinning
your overall study.

21. Discussion
Background Information can be based on what is the focus of
the research paper (e.g. If the paper focuses on EFFECTS, then
the background should discuss the problem).
A. What do you think should be written in the background
information in the following research? You can annotate
your answers here through Zoom and save its image for
submission.
a. Causes
b. Comparison & Contrast
c. Problem-Solution
d. Definition
e. Process
f. Classification
B. Read the sample background information and decide what
type of information is provided and what do you think is
the focus of this research paper?
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22. Sample Background Information
Recent trends in media and campaign ad funding may contribute to
the high number of attack ads in the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign,
as well as the campaign's high ratio of negative-to-positive ads. While
the percentage of negative ads coming directly from the campaigns of
the candidates increased significantly from 2008 to 2012, the majority
of the increase in negative ads is attributable to the rise in campaign ads
that were not funded by the candidates' campaigns (Fowler, 2012). In
fact, 60% of presidential campaign ads in 2012 were funded by groups
other than presidential campaign groups (Fowler, 2012). This is a huge
increase from 2008 in which 97% of ads were funded by presidential
candidate campaigns (Fowler, 2012). The number of ads from interest
groups increased by 1,100% from 2008 to 2012, while the number of TV
ads from political parties increased from zero in 2008 to almost 10,000
in 2012 (Fowler, 2012). Moreover, in 2008, ads from presidential
candidates were only 9% negative, while those from interest groups were
25% negative (Fowler, 2012). These numbers quickly changed by 2012,
in which 53% of ads from the presidential candidates themselves were
negative and 86% from interest groups were negative (Fowler, 2012).
The increase in the involvement of special interest groups in
advertisement campaigns only partially explains the increase in attack
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23. Some questions to consider while
writing the background information:
1. Describe the issue(s) in details. Provide evidence (facts
/ statistics)
2. Define essential concepts
3. Also refer briefly to previous research. What theories
have been offered?
4. Are there concepts, terms, theories, or ideas that may
be unfamiliar to the reader and, thus, require
additional explanation?
5. Are there historical elements that need to be explored
in order to provide needed context, to highlight
specific people, issues, or events, or to lay a

24. Production
 Write an outline of your introduction
 Write the background of your research topic
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