Chapter 1: Problem study is addressing, exigence, and study overview
Chapter 2: Background, Previous Literature, and Theoretical Frameworks
Chapter 3: Methods of inquiry
Chapter 4: Results
Chapter 5: Discussion, Implications, and Future Work
What is an introduction?
While introductions can take many forms, they have the following features in common:
- Establish exigency (so what, who cares?)
- Offer clear definitions of terms as befitting the study
- Firmly rooted in the current literature (think about the “relationship” you want to establish with the literature)
- Builds up to the problem/current study
- Establishes a clear research problem
- Offers a brief overview of the study
- Establishes your authorial voice and ethos
Key Features:
A research problem: The problem or issue that leads to the need for a study. The exigence is tied to the problem.
Definitions: Offering definitions of key terms to help further the argument and make sure there is no confusion for readers.
A research purpose statement: A clear statement that establishes the intent of the entire research study (why are you doing it and what you hope to accomplish; your goals).
One or more research questions: The specific question(s) that the data collection seeks to answer.
Introduction as Argument
Your introduction is a persuasive piece of writing, not an informative piece of writing, you must persuade your readers of the following:
- Why is this worthy of study?
- Why is this a problem? (if you don’t convince them that the work should be done and that it is important, you aren’t convincing them of the value of your study)
- Why does your project help solve this specific problem?
- By the time readers are done with your introduction, they should have a clear sense of the problem you are solving and the work you are doing.
As you write your introduction, remember that you are leading your readers on a journey. Make it clear where they are going, where you plan on taking them, and map out the big ideas ahead. This is done through very specific rhetorical strategies.
Direct and Clear Writing:
An effective intro is a carefully written document that focuses heavily on reader expectations and needs. It is highly organized using signposting, clear headings, and argumentative features.
In crafting your introduction, you want to think about the following questions:
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What do readers already know? What do they need to know?
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What definitions need to be shared?
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What is important to them that I can connect with?
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How can I lead my reader through my argument, carefully and specifically?
Exigence
Exigence is a rhetorical term that comes from the Latin word for “demand”. It is an issue, problem, or situation that prompts someone to write or speak. Kairos is another key term here (right time, right place). You might think about these questions:
- Why now? What has changed? So what/who cares?
- Consider the exigence for your dissertation:
- Why is this study important now? Why do this work?
- There may be multiple exigencies for your study (personal, professional, political, cultural, educational, etc.).
- The key here is to tie any personal exigence to larger/broader problems.
Personal Experience as Exigence:
If you are working in an under-represented/under-researched area, you may draw on your personal experience. You can do this only if you demonstrate how that experience ties to larger issues and the literature. Keep personal experiences brief, focused, and relevant to the larger goals you are pursuing.
Intro example:
In a recent email exchange between several college administrators discussing a student’s need for additional writing support at our institution, one administrator wrote, “She really wants to succeed but I think she came to school with a pretty empty toolbox.” This statement reflects a recognition of the interplay between characteristics that students bring with them into learning settings and their long-term development as writers. Even though the student is a junior English major, her “empty toolbox” still is influencing her success as a writer. Questions and discussions about how to support students with different “toolboxes” are quite common across institutions of higher education, especially as institutions are faced with increasingly diverse student populations. Researchers, likewise, committed to exploring questions of what helps drive, support, or prevent long-term writing development. Some of these developmental factors researchers have considered include the role of writing transfer, or the ability of students to engage and adapt prior knowledge (Wardle; Yancey et al.; Nowaceck) and increased attention to long-term aspects of learning to write (Bazerman et al.). …Additionally, a regular stream of longitudinal studies, such as Donahue and Foster-Johnson, Beaufort, Sternglass, and Herrington and Curtis, have offered more comprehensive understandings of the nuanced aspects of the interaction of writers with their contexts, most often in academic and workplace settings. Thus, a growing discussion is taking place about the complexity of writers’ development and the factors that shape it (Donahue and Foster-Johnson; “Elon Statement”; Anson and Moore).
The Research Problem
An intro typically introduces a specific research problem, tied to the exigence. This problem is why you are conducting the study. You can draw from:
- Your lived experiences as a teacher or learner in a particular context
- New technologies, contexts, laws something that has changed
- Build upon recent literature in terms of questions/issues left unresolved in previous work
- A debate in the previous literature that is ongoing or unresolved
- A gap in the research (something overlooked or given less attention; some fuzzy term)
- An alternative perspective to what is present in the literature
- Each research problem is unique; so will require its own specific approach.
- Each introduction builds an argument.
Sample Research Problem
Numerous studies (Wardle, Beaufort, Driscoll, Nowacek, Reiff and Bawarshi, Bergmann and Zepernick) have demonstrated that writing transfer beyond first-year writing, at best, is constrained and at worst, fails to happen. Further, very limited data exists beyond one or two semesters after FYW, meaning, we don’t currently know the long-term outcomes of FYW on student writing development.
Problem A: Our current research shows students often fail to transfer writing knowledge/skills from writing courses. Does this mean our teaching is ineffective?
Problem B: We don’t have much data beyond 1-2 semesters to know what happens long term with writers, particularly over longer periods of time.
Definitions and Key Terms
As you are exploring the problem and exigence that sets the stage for your study, it is likely that you will have to define key terms as appropriate for your study. You may need to spend some time with definitions in other parts of your first three chapters, but at minimum, you should clearly define the terms you are using.
- Recognize that you have the power to choose the definitions you will use (many terms in the field have varied and/or conflicting definitions)
- If you are offering a new definition, you may have to justify that use
- If you are drawing from someone else’s definition, cite them
- What key terms will you need to define in your introduction? Create a list the definitions you might need.
- What sources might you use to help you define these terms?
The Literature: Chapter One vs. Chapter Two
Both chapters one and two “review the literature” but in different ways.
An Introduction (Chapter 1) establishes exigency, introduces the problem at hand and uses a body of literature to do so.
- Some introductions will draw upon one body of literature in ch 1 and a second in ch 2.
- Some will need to draw upon the same body of literature in both ch 1 and ch 2, so you need to figure out how to do that and not be repetitive
A Literature Review (Chapter 2) tells us what the field knows about the problem, builds the “research space” for where your work fits and makes the argument about the importance of the work. It also draws upon theoretical frames, as appropriate.
References
Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation” (Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1968)
Driscoll, D. L. & Zhang, J. (2022). Mapping long-term writing experiences: Operationalizing the Writing Development Model for the study of persons, processes, contexts, and time. Composition Forum.