How to Write Introductions
This Resource Page will help you:
- Learn the steps in writing an effective Introduction for a research paper.
Introduction
The Introduction of your research paper is important as it should grab the reader’s attention, provide needed background information and context for the paper’s focus, and outline your main arguments and/or research questions.
This resource page will cover five key steps or moves that comprise an effective Introduction:
Step 1: Introduce the General Topic and Grab the Reader’s Attention
Start the paper off by announcing your topic with a catchy ‘hook’ to grab the reader’s attention. The hook can be a vivid quote, a thought-provoking question, an interesting anecdote or scenario, a surprising fact or statistic, a bold statement, etc.
In the example below, the authors provide some historical context to indicate the importance of their topic, as it has been in scholarly discussion for many years.
Research about theory–practice relationships in teacher preparation has been prevalent since the early 1970s.
From: Goodnough, K., Falkenberg, T., & MacDonald, R. (2016). Examining the nature of theory–practice relationships in initial teacher education: A Canadian case study. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 39(1), 1-28.
Step 2: Describe the Situation/Background Information
In the following sentences, explain the background and context to your topic, moving from general to more specific information. This is also a place where you can define or clarify key terms, provide further statistics, and give details that lead into the problem statement in Step 3.
In the example below, the writers provide background information by specifying exactly what they mean by ‘theory’ and ‘practice,’ introducing key considerations in the design or review of teacher education programs, and then announcing their focal context (K-12).
Often, this “real” or “perceived” relationship has been characterized as a “gap” or “divide” between learning in university classrooms (theory) and classroom teaching (practice). In designing or renewing teacher preparation programs, issues such as the nature of theory and practice, how they relate to each other, and how theory–practice relationships are envisioned and enacted as teacher candidates learn to teach must be considered carefully. It is also important to consider teacher educator perspectives about the relationship between theory and practice and how these perspectives are reflected in their thinking and professional practice. K–12 classrooms are becoming increasingly complex (e.g., catering to needs of all children in the regular classroom, staying abreast of emerging technology, etc.), and warrant pedagogy that reflects inclusivity, standards-based curricula, and technology.
From: Goodnough et al., 2016.
Step 3: Identify a Problem and Why it is Important to Solve
Very often (but not always), an essay or research paper will include a problem statement, as we often write about current issues in the field and education before offering recommendations. Beyond just introducing the issue, however, we also need to describe its significance (i.e., address the “so what?”).
In the following excerpt, the researchers first explain the importance of integrating theory-practice for K-12 education and then introduce the problem with traditional approaches to theory-practice relationships in teacher education.
The changing nature of the K–12 learning environment has implications for how teacher education programs are structured, as well as influence the pedagogy adopted that enables teacher candidates to integrate and connect theory and practice in ways that support their learning and development. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation often conceptualize the relationship between theory and practice as “a two-step process of knowledge acquisition and application or transfer” (Feiman-Nemser & Remillard, 1996, p. 79). In other words, teacher educators provide knowledge about teaching and learning in university settings, while teacher candidates are expected to apply this to their practice in classrooms as they learn to teach. However, recent research has shown that adopting a “theory first and practice later” perspective has not been effective in supporting teacher candidates in creating strong theory–practice connections (Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005; Grossman, 2008; Wideen, Mayer-Smith, & Moon, 1998).
From: Goodnough et al., 2016.
Step 4: Look at What Other Researchers Have Found/Done
Introductions also often include a very abbreviated literature review, highlighting some of the major findings on the topic before identifying a gap (what has not been found yet). This gap provides the context for your research questions (Step 5) which are framed to help fill the gap.
In the next section of our example, a brief overview of important studies on the topic is given before introducing the gap, and thus this study’s contribution to the field.
While there is no one “best” approach to program design and structure, emerging literature on the integration of theory and practice in teacher preparation suggests a number of useful practices for offering high-quality teacher education programs, such as ensuring coherence across program components (Beck & Kosnik, 2006), developing strong partnerships with schools (Darling-Hammond, 2006), and offering theory-focused course learning with practice-focused field experiences in an integrated manner (Allen, 2009).
Little research exists on how teacher educators understand and experience theory–practice dynamics, thus this study adds to this body of research.
From: Goodnough et al., 2016.
Step 5: Outline the Focus, Purpose, and Main Argument/Research Questions
Once the gap is established, you can announce the focus and purpose of your paper and the research questions (answers to which will help fill the gap). This can also take the form of a main argument/thesis statement where you outline the importance and uniqueness of your argument (a new perspective which thus fills a gap). For more quantitative papers, a hypothesis is used here, which will be confirmed or refuted in the body of the paper (as opposed to a more qualitative and open research question).
In the example below, the authors describe their data sources (focus) and then introduce the research questions. Finally, they outline the purpose of the study by highlighting contributions to the field and key findings.
In this case study, the authors report on data collected from a Canadian faculty of education in which a new post-degree K–12 teacher preparation program was implemented. The following research questions guided this study: (a) What is the nature of theory– practice relationships in a new teacher preparation program? (b) What tensions will arise as theory–practice relationships are manifested in this new teacher preparation program?
This study contributes to the teacher education literature by reporting on how theory–practice relationships were conceptualized and enacted in practice in a teacher preparation program that underwent reform. The study highlights the issues and tensions that arose and explores how these may be addressed or resolved as diverse personal and theoretical perspectives on theory–practice relationships “come to life” in a teacher preparation program.
From: Goodnough et al., 2016.
Bonus Step: End with a ‘Roadmap’ for your Paper
Much like an outline slide in a presentation, a roadmap at the end of an Introduction helps structure the paper and aids your reader in anticipating the organization and key points/sections. Make sure the points in your roadmap match the main headings/sections in your paper.
Roadmap phrases:
- This paper first focuses on...
- Next, I will look at...
- The paper then explains...
- Finally, I outline...
See our Resource Page on Signposting for more information.
Example of an Introduction
This is a full literature review paper written by an OISE student on the topic of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) and Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Writing Centers (WC). Throughout the paper, you will find several annotations. Yellow annotations refer to the structure of the paper, its content and how ideas are developed. Purple annotations refer to writing elements and language elements (e.g., paragraphs, paraphrases, summaries, quotes, stance and voice, cohesion, etc.).
Our Tips
Writers sometimes write their Introductions during the last stage of their overall writing process (after the body paragraphs). We recommend writing a rough draft Introduction at the beginning, and then returning to it again at the end to see if your overall focus or purpose has shifted.
In Step 1, avoid the ‘long distance opening’ which is much too broad for the focus on your paper. For example, a general statement on the field of education as a whole would too broad. Rather, announce your more specific topic (e.g. theory-practice relationships in teacher education) in the first sentence.
- With any section of a paper, be aware of your audience and how much background knowledge they already have. For course papers, your professor is the audience, so consider the amount of background information they need for a topic in their field vs. a very specific topic that they probably haven’t explored much before.