How to write an introduction

Goals:
Student is able to write and format an introduction

What is an introduction?

The body of a manuscript opens with an introduction that presents the specific
problem under study and describes the research strategy. Because the introduction is clearly
identified by its position in the manuscript, it does not carry a heading labeling it the
introduction. (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010, p. 27) Instead, the
introduction is labelled with the full title of the paper as it appears on the title page. This title
should be centered. After this title, there is no blank line, but the first paragraph of the
introduction is indented.

You start the introduction by introducing the subject of the paper. You can do that by
using a specific example or an anecdote. Make sure that the example or anecdote is both
completely accurate and absolutely relevant to the subject of the paper. Then explain why the
problem is important. For basic research this might involve the need to resolve any
inconsistency in results of past work (APA, 2010, p. 28). For applied research, this might
involve the need to solve a social problem (APA, 2010, p. 28). You may also need to briefly
clarify some concepts that are central to your research. Conclude the statement of the

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problem in the introduction with a brief but formal statement of the purpose of the research.
(APA, 2010, p. 28)
This purpose of the research, the research question, is the singlemost important part of
the introduction. Do not write my research question is, but this paper studies (it is true
that papers do not study, but that people do, but this is about the only category mistake that is
allowed in your paper). Use the phrase this paper studies only once, to indicate the research
question; repetitive use of the phrase this paper studies leaves the reader confused about the
real research question.
After you have introduced the problem () explain your approach to solving the
problem. (APA, 2010, p. 28) In empirical studies this can be done by indicating briefly the
method used and your hypotheses. In literature reviews and policy papers you indicate how
your research question is broken down in subquestions. Again, as with the research question,
you do not write My subquestions are , but something like: To this end, we first study
, followed by a comparison of , and we end with . Thus you give the reader an
overview of the chapters to come and how they relate to each other. You do not write that you
end with a conclusion, because that is self-evident.

Figure 1 shows a fairly decent introduction. Remark about the style, whereby sentences are
well-connected. Sentences that are well-connected imply that there is no jumping from the
one subject to the other. Not jumping from the one subject to the other makes for better
understanding. Well-connected sentences can be achieved by having the next sentence refer to
the previous sentence, and doing that consistently. In referring to the previous sentence, the
author makes it clear how the current sentence relates to the previous one. Thus the author
does not leave it up to the reader to guess how the current sentence is related to the previous

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one. In a scientific paper you should never leave anything to the readers imagination (unlike
in a novel).
In the first paragraph the author defines one of the concepts in his research, which is
economic growth. The author has asked himself: What is economic growth? Answer: An
increase in real gdp. Question: What is real gdp? Answer: It is gdp corrected for price
increases. Question: What is gdp? Answer: It is the sum of all goods and services in an
economy in a year at current prices. Question: Why is gdp corrected for price increases?
Answer: Because well-being is more served by increases in the amount of goods than by price
increases. If you would measure increases in uncorrected gdp, you would measure both price
increases and increases in the amount of goods. After breaking down the concept of economic
growth, the author has reconstructed it for the reader.

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Assessment criteria introduction:

Content
- Introduces research problem
- Makes clear why the research is important
- Brief and crystal clear statement of purpose of research
- Explain approach to solving the problem
- Coherent
Language
- Sentences are well-connected
- Divided in paragraphs
- Readable
- Spelling mistakes
- Grammar mistakes
- Style mistakes
Layout
- Running head (<50 characters), in capitals
- Page numbers
- Title (cf reference list of Week 3 instruction) in uppercase and lowercase, not bold nor italics
- Centered title
- No label Introduction on top
- Times Roman 12pt
- Double spacing
- Margins of 2.5 cm (or 1 inch) on all sides
- Every first line of a paragraph indented
- Lines not justified