Summary of Chapter 5: The Introductory Chapter 71
does it still describe what you are doing? I suggest that you have a good look at
your introductory chapter at regular intervals, say every few months, and certainly
whenever you complete another chapter.
In thesis writing seminars, I’ve also been giving another bit of advice: on the day
you start your introductory chapter, start a conclusion chapter too. I advise students
to work on the introduction and the conclusion throughout their research. Use the
two chapters to provide banks to the flow of your growing argument. Students are
often surprised when I offer this advice. How can I begin to finish when I’m just
starting? I then remind them of the old advice on travelling: If you don’t know
where you are going, you will end up somewhere else. Exploration and meandering
are fine for the casual tourist seeking to explore a new country, but not for a deter-
mined research student. Start with the end in mind, know where you are going, and
work backwards with an eye on the clock, a list of resources, and a compass in hand.
Be aware that you will vary your purpose, change direction, and reconsider the
scope of your study (it will happen!). Each time this occurs, use revisions to your in-
troductory chapter to document and acknowledge those changes. At the same time,
go to the conclusion chapter and revise the aim. Keep the beginning and the end in
alignment. By doing this, you won’t wake up one day to discover your thesis has
‘gone off track’ and no longer meets its stated purpose. Best of all, however, you
will prevent the possible distortion of your own structure. Remember, although you
wrote the thesis over as long as a period of years, your examiners read it over a pe-
riod of days, and any structural problems will be very obvious to them.
Summary of Chapter 5: The Introductory Chapter
Your introductory chapter should consist of five brief elements:
- Context of the Study
- Provide a brief history of the issues to date.
- Situate your particular topic within the broad area of research.
- Note that the field is changing, and more research is required on your topic.
- Problem Statement (or Motivation for the Study)
- Identify a key point of concern (for example, increasing use or prominence,
lack of research to date, response to an agenda, a new discovery, or perhaps
one not yet applied to this context). - Refer to the literature only to the extent needed to demonstrate why your
project is worth doing. Reserve your full review of existing theory or practice
for later chapters. - Be sure that the motivation, or problem, suggests a need for further
investigation.
- Identify a key point of concern (for example, increasing use or prominence,