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论文写作
WritingtheIntroduction
Warm-up
Considerthefollowingquestions:
Whatisthepurposeofintroduction?
Whatshouldbecoveredinintroduction?
WhatshouldIdoornotdowhenIwriteanintroduction?
Elaboration:
Purposeofintroduction
Anintroductionintroducestheresearchbyplacingitinatheoreticalcontext(bygivingbackground),presentingtheresearchproblemandsayinghowandwhythisproblemwillbe"solved."Withoutthisimportantinformationthereadercannoteasilyunderstandthemoredetailedinformationabouttheresearchthatcomeslaterinthethesis.Italsoexplainswhytheresearchisbeingdone(rationale)whichiscrucialforthereadertounderstandthesignificanceofthestudy.
Afterreadinganintroduction,thereadershouldbeabletoanswermostofthesequestions:
1.Whatisthecontextofthisproblem?
Inwhatsituationorenvironmentcanthisproblembeobserved?
(Background)
2.Whyisthisresearchimportant?
Whowillbenefit?
Whydoweneedtoknowthis?
Whydoesthissituation,method,modelorpieceofequipmentneedtobeimproved?
(Rationale)
3.Whatisitwedon’tknow?
Whatisthegapinourknowledgethisresearchwillfill?
Whatneedstobeimproved?
(ProblemStatement)
4.Whatstepswilltheresearchertaketotryandfillthisgaporimprovethesituation?
(Objectives)
5.Isthereanyaspectoftheproblemtheresearcherwillnotdiscuss?
Isthestudylimitedtoaspecificgeographicalareaortoonlycertainaspectsofthesituation?
(Scope)
6.Isthereanyfactor,conditionorcircumstancethatpreventstheresearcherfromachievingallhis/herobjectives?
(Limitations)
7.Inconsideringhis/hermethod,model,formulationorapproach,doestheresearchertakecertainconditions,states,requirementsforgranted?
Aretherecertainfundamentalconditionsorstatestheresearchertakestobetrue?
(Assumptions)
Lookatthefollowingexample;seehowmanyquestionsaboveyoucananswerafterreadingit.
Example:
Itiswellknownthatwhenanobjectmovesthroughairorwateritexperiencesresistancetothatmotion.Thatresistanceiscausedbyfrictionbetweentheparticlesthatmakeupthefluid.Understandingthissocalleddragforceisessentialinordertopredictthemotionofobjectsthroughafluid.Forexample,knowledgeofthedragforceisneededtopredictthepowerrequiredtopropelacaratagivenspeed.Inthepresentstudy,theparametersthateffectdragforceexperiencedbyanobjectmovingthroughairwillbeexplored.
Commonproblemsinwritinganintroduction
1.Toomuchdetail,andhencetoolong.Remember,thisistheintroduction,akindofoverview.Althoughyouwillcoverimportantpoints,detaileddescriptionsofmethod,studysiteandresultswillbeinlatersections.Lookattheproportionofaresearchpaperanintroductiontakesup.Noticeitiscomparativelyshortbecauseitservesasasummaryofwhatfollows.
2.Repetitionofwords,phrasesorideas.Youwillhavekeywordsthatarecrucialtoyourstudy. However,yourreaderdoesn'twanttoreadthemoverandover!
Ahighlevelofrepetitionmakesyourwritinglookcareless.Toreduceit,highlightrepeatedwordsorphrases-thenyoucaneasilyjudgeifyouareoverusingthemandfindsynonymsorpronounstoreplacethem.
3.Unclearproblemdefinition.Withoutacleardefinitionofyourresearchproblem,yourreaderisleftwithnoclearideaofwhatyouwerestudying.Thismeansthattheycannotjudgeyourwork'srelevancetotheirownwork,oritsusefulness,quality,etc.Asanexercise,youshouldbeabletocompleteasentencethatstarts,"Thepurposeofthisstudyis..."thatencapsulatestheproblemyouareinvestigating. Ofcourseyouwillnotincludethisexactsentenceinyourthesis,butitservesasaneasywaytocheckthatyouhaveaclearlydefinedproblem.Inyourthesisyoushouldbeabletowriteyourresearchprobleminonesentence-youcanadddetailsinthesentencesthatfollow.Youshouldalsoensurethatyourresearchproblemmatchesthetitleofyourthesis(you'dbesurprisedhowmanydon't!
)aswellasitsmethodologyandobjectives.
4.Poororganization.Writinganintroductionthateffectivelyintroducesyourresearchproblemandencapsulatesyourstudyisnotaneasytask.Oftenwhenwewritewediscovergraduallywhatwewanttosayandhowwewanttosayit.Writingisoftenaprocessofdiscovery.Bearthisinmindwhenyouwriteyourintroduction,andbepreparedtogobackandmakebigchangestowhatyouhavewritten,andtheorderinwhichyouhavepresentedyourideasandinformation.Yourintroductionmusthavealogicalsequencethatyourreadercanfolloweasily.Somesuggestionsforhowtoorganizeyourintroductionaregivenbelow(seethenextsectionandthemodifiedSwalesschema).
Howresearchpaperintroductionsareorganized
Thefollowingschemaisapatternthatoccursinamajorityofresearchpapers.Itisnotasetofrulesforhowyoumustwrite -rather,itisausefulguidelineforhowtothinkaboutstructuringyourinformation.
Step1Establishthefieldby:
Firstyouneedtoestablishtheareaofresearchinwhichyourworkbelongs,andtoprovideacontextfortheresearchproblem.Thishasthreemainelements:
A.Claimingcentrality(whythisfieldofstudyisimportant):
Claimingthattheareaofresearchisanimportantone,andthereforeimplyingthattheresearchdoneisalsocrucial.Forexample:
"Minimumsafelowtemperatures(abovefreezing)andhighhumiditycontrolarethemostimportanttoolsforextendingshelflifeinvegetables."Herethewords"themostimportanttools"indicatecentralitybyshowingthatthesetwofactorsarecrucial.
B.Movingfromgeneraltospecific:
Mostwritingstartswithgeneralinformationandthenmovestospecificinformation.Thisistrueofintroductionstoo.Forexample:
Inrecentyears,therehasbeenanincreasedawarenessofthepotentialimpactofpollutantssuchasheavymetals.Moreover,thetraditionalmethodsfortreatingaqueousstreamscontainingmetalcontaminantsareexpensiveandcanhaveinadequatefacilities
(1).Thisisparticularlytrueindevelopingcountries.Thishasledtotheuseofalternativetechnologies.Theuseofbiologicalmaterialsisonesuchtechnologywhichhasreceivedconsiderableattention.
Explanationtotheaboveexample:
Thefirstsentence:
impactofheavymetals(general).Thesecondsentence:
expenseandshortcomingsofmethodsofremovingheavymetals(lessgeneral).
Thethirdsentence:
expenseandshortcomingsofmethodsofremovingheavymetalsindevelopingcountries(morespecific).Thefourthsentence:
alternativetechnologiestoovercomeexpenseandshortcomingsofmethodsofremovingheavymetals(yetmorespecific).Thefifthsentence:
biologicalmaterialsasanexampleofalternativetechnologiestoovercometheexpenseandshortcomingsofmethodsofremovingheavymetals(veryspecific).Noticehoweachsentenceaddsapieceofinformation(showninitalics)tomovetheintroductionfromthegeneraltopicof"heavymetals"tothespecifictopicof"biologicalmaterialsasanalternativemethodofremovingheavymetals."
Donotbeginbybeingtoo general.IfyourworkisexaminingthedeliveryofcashtoATMmachines,donotstartbyahistoryofthebankingsysteminEuropesincetheMiddleAges-it'sprobablynotrelevantandwillmeanyouwilltakeaverylongtimetoreachthespecificareaofyourresearch.Thinkof"general"intermsofinformationwhichwillhelpyourreaderunderstandthecontextofyourresearchproblem(ratherthanyourwholefieldofstudy!
).
C.Reviewingrelevantitemsofpreviousresearch:
Oftentheintroductionwillrefertoworkalreadydoneintheresearchareainordertoprovidebackground(andoftenalsotohelpdefinetheresearchproblem).Forexample:
Numerousstudiesontheutilizationofplantproteinsasapartialorcompletereplacementforfishmealindietshavebeenconductedusingvariousfreshwaterandmarinesfishes(Lovell,1987;Taconetal.,1983;Muraietal.,1989a;Coweyetal.,1974).(Takiietal.,1989)
Step2Definearesearchproblemby:
Yourresearchmustbenewinsomeway. Itmustaddknowledgetoyourfieldsoyouneedtoshowinwhatwayyourworkexploresanarea/issue/questionthathaspreviouslynotbeenexplored,ornotbeenexploredindetail,innotexploredinthewaythatyouaregoingtouse.Inotherwords,youneedtogivearationaleforyourwork(i.e.showthereasonsfordoingit).Therearefourwaystodemonstratethatyouareaddingtotheknowledgeinyourfield:
A.indicatingagap:
Aresearchgapisanareawherenoorlittleresearchhasbeencarriedout.Thisisshownbyoutliningtheworkalreadydonetoshowwherethereisagapintheresearch(whichyouwillthenfillwithyourresearch).Forexample:
Numerousstudiesontheutilizationofplantproteinsasapartialorcompletereplacementforfishmealindietshavebeenconductedusingvariousfreshwaterandmarinesfishes(Lovell,1987;Taconetal.,1983;Muraietal.,1989a;Coweyetal.,1974).However,verylittleisknownaboutthefeasibilityofusingsoybeanmealasadietaryproteinsourceinpracticalfeedsforyellowtailSeriolaquinqueradiata.(Takiietal.,1989)
B.raisingaquestion:
Theresearchproblemisdefinedbyaskingaquestiontowhichtheanswerisunknown,andwhichyouwillexploreinyourresearch.Forexample:
Thequestionweaddresshereishowtechnologicalchangeoccurswhenitistheoverallsystemthatneedstobechanged.Inparticular,howcanwebeginandsustainatechnologicaltransitionawayfromhydrocarbonbasedtechnologies?
C.continuingapreviouslydevelopedlineofinquiry:
Buildingonworkalreadydone,buttakingitfurther(byusinganewsample,extendingtheareastudi