How to write an Introduction for Master dissertation
Tagged: Dissertation Writing
The introduction is the next section your audience will read after the title and abstract, so it's critical to get off to a solid start for a Master Dissertation. You have the chance to persuade readers and reviewers that your study topic is interesting and that they should give your paper their time in the introduction. The introduction accomplishes summary of the article, introduces the topic and goals of your study, and provides background information. A strong opening will lay the groundwork for your paper's key sections—the methods, findings, and discussion—and entice readers to read on.
In this study guide, we'll provide you 6 guidelines for developing a professional introduction.
1. Start out broad, then go specific
Briefly outline the overall research area in the first paragraph before focusing on one aspect of it. This will make it easier to situate your research issue within the larger field and make the work accessible to non-specialists in your field as well.
2. Describe the goals and significance.
Most papers that are rejected for "not demonstrating the significance of the topic" or "lacking obvious motivation" ignore this point. Describe your goals and why your reader should be interested in learning whether you achieve them.
3. Complete your citations without going overboard
The most contemporary and pertinent literature connected to your study should be covered in detail once you have restricted your emphasis to the particular issue of your investigation. Remember that you're not writing a review article, so your literature review should be thorough yet concise. Cite review articles rather than all the individual articles that have already been condensed in the review if you discover that your introduction is excessively lengthy or overloaded with citations.
4. Consider summarising the research paper
Compared to other fields, some have a higher prevalence of an organisational overview. Though less frequent in medicine, it is especially prevalent in technology. If it is acceptable for your field, you can think about summarising your dissertation in the final paragraph of your introduction.
5. Make it concise
Avoid making your introduction too lengthy. Make it clear and crisp, 1000 to 1500 words is a wonderful benchmark.
6. Avoid boring your readers with unnecessary details
Avoid mentioning too many specific results in the introduction if your research is in an area where it is customary to summarise the study's key findings before moving on to the methodology since these results require the progress in the other sections of your dissertation to be effectively understood.
Final remarks
The opening should be one of the first things you plan while writing a paper. The paper's introduction acts as a comprehensive strategy by succinctly explaining the background, objectives, and hypothesis or research question of the study. This will help you while you compose the body of the paper. Since it sets the stage for everything that comes after, many authors write the Research methodology, results, and discussion sections in their entirety before finishing the introduction.