ARTS3101.kand - Bachelor's Thesis and Seminar, Bachelor's thesis, 11.1.2024-19.4.2024

Writing your introduction

In academic writing, the introduction, whether the first section of a research article or a chapter in a thesis, is extremely important. It serves to orient the reader by setting the scene, specifying the focus and relevance of the research and outlining what is to come.

Nonetheless, no single correct format exists for writing an introduction, and the exact components that are present within it often vary according to the discipline and the nature of the text. Writing experts also differ somewhat in their advice. For example, Biggam (2011) recommends an introduction should 1) contextualize the study by providing background information, 2) define the study’s focus, 3) present the main goal of the research and 4) explain its value (p. 52). By contrast, Holliday (2007) states that an introduction should include 1) a ‘statement of topic and focus’, 2) an explanation of the ‘vision and motivation’ for the work and how it is positioned within the wider literature, 3) a description of the choice of research setting and strategy for collecting data and 4) an explanation of the way the text will unfold (p. 43).

One useful means of conceptualizing introductions is Swales’ CARS model (creating a research space) (Swales, 1990). As a result of extensive text analysis, Swales proposed that introductions generally consist of three moves: ‘establishing a territory’, ‘establishing a niche’ and ‘occupying the niche’ (p. 141). According to Swales, each move is achieved by performing certain steps. For example, a territory is established by ‘claiming centrality and/or . . . making topic generalizations [and] reviewing items of previous research (p. 141). Figure 1 presents Swales’ CARS model.

Figure 1. The CARS model (adapted from Swales 1990, p.141)

Swales’ original CARS model was developed to describe research articles, but, as Swales and Feak observe, the three moves are also commonly followed in theses and dissertations (Swales and Feak, 2011, p. 111). The second move, establishing a niche, is considered a central feature of introductions in English-language research traditions, which place a particular emphasis on novelty and originality (Monreal et al, 2011, p. 7).

Thesis introduction chapter for ARTS.

When writing the introduction chapter of your thesis, it is important to ask your supervisor exactly what elements it should contain. Below are some examples of the structure used by previous ARTS master’s students.

Figure 2: Structure of a sample of introduction chapters from ARTS Master’s theses available at https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/23/recent-submissions

 As you can see from Figure 2, all the examples except Example 3, which is rather unorthodox, follow a rather similar pattern of moving from general to specific. Thus, many of the introductions begin with a background section where, in the terminology of Swales, the territory is established. The section headings do not show where the second move, establishing a niche, occurs, but many clearly indicate the third move, occupying the niche. More specifically, Step 1A and B, ‘outlining purposes’ and ‘announcing present research’, are clearly visible in headings such as ‘Objectives & Research Questions’, ‘Research goals’ ‘Goals and objectives’  and ‘Objectives and scope of the thesis’. Moreover, Step 3, ‘indicating structure’, is also present in many examples, as evidenced by headings such as ‘Thesis Structure’, ‘Structure of the thesis’ and ‘Outline’.

References

Biggam J. (2011) Succeeding with Your Master’s Dissertation. Maidenhead: Open University Press

Feak, C. B., & Swales, J. M. (2011). Creating contexts: Writing introductions across genres. University of Michigan Press

Holliday, A. (2007). Doing & writing qualitative research. Sage.

Soler-Monreal, C., Carbonell-Olivares, M., & Gil-Salom, L. (2011). A contrastive study of the rhetorical organisation of English and Spanish PhD thesis introductions. English for Specific Purposes, 30(1), 4-17.

Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge