Writing The Introductory Chapter

Unit 2

Writing the Introductory Chapter

Learning Points: • What are the functions of an introductory chapter? • How is the introduction structured? • Strategies to accentuate the importance of a research field • Language points Task 1 Recall the introduction to Rorhbach & Stewart’s research article you read in Unit 1. Based on what you read, try to come up with a major function of the introduction to an academic research report.

What are the functions of an introductory chapter in an academic research report? Most introductions found in research reports serve the following three purposes 1. to justify your research work and hence the report (i.e., to show the value of one’s own work) 2. to orient the reader with the purpose and the structure of the report or the research (i.e., to give the reader a sense of direction of what the report/research is about) 3. to explain some essential technical language. Remember:

JOE

JOEs in Research Articles (RAs) Task 2 1. See if you can identify JOE in Rorhbach & Stewart’s article introduction. Turn to p.21 of W&B’s book where the introduction is reproduced. This time the introduction is staged. Identify the contents and intentions of each of the stages. You may use the following key words to help you express your answers. A. B. C. D. E.

value of own research focus (J) studies done so far; to prepare for the need for some (further) research (usually called a research gap in the published research literature)(J) own research focus; the research gap (O) a research gap (J) widespread use of computers; value of the topic in general (J)

2. Where is the explanation of CAI given? 3. Can you see JOE being realized in the introduction?

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JOEs in FYPR introductions Task 3

1. Recall the Table of Contents of a final year project report in Unit 1? Now, you will identify JOE in the Introductory Chapter of the report, which is printed on next page. Read the chapter and then match the numbered stages with the corresponding descriptions given below. A. B. C. D. E.

Describing one’s own research procedures in order to orient the reader Reviewing (examining, analyzing)a particular situation in Beijing in order to suggest the value of doing some research about the situation Presenting the report structure in order to orient the reader’s reading at a later stage Announcing one’s own research focus(es) which can fill the research gap claimed earlier Showing a research gap about a situation in Beijing in order to prepare the reader for one’s own research

Stage I

____________________

Stage II

____________________

Stage III ____________________ Stage IV

____________________

Stage V

____________________

2. Does the writer explain a term?

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What is it?

A sample introduction from a FYPR (Stage I) China has emerged as a major economic and political power and has attracted many foreign investors to pour money into its construction industry. The development in the property market of China has been particularly rapid over the last decade especially in its coastal cities and special economic zones (SEZs). It is not difficult to see high rises of offices, residential buildings, hotels and even exhibition centers adding to the skyline of many of these cities. Among the many construction projects, office high rises are particularly welcomed by foreign developers as the investments in them can yield high returns while involving the lowest risks among all types. Among the many coastal cities and SEZs, Beijing can be considered the latest and slowest in terms of its construction industry development. However slow the development is, this city is still worth attention because of three reasons: 1) its being the capital city of China, 2) its apparent potential for a high return with a relatively low risk in property investment. (Stage II) Yet, information regarding investment in the property markets in Beijing is hardly available because much of documented information is kept confidential. Further complicating the unavailability are significant changes in economic policies and that most available information is only obtainable in China It was against such background that the research to report in this study was conceived. (Stage III) It aimed to evaluate the investment opportunities in the office property market of Beijing to generate a reference framework for foreign developers. In particular the study was conducted to chart • its economic growth over the past decade in terms of … • its infrastructure development over the past decade … investigate • how local (HK) developers make decisions on investing in office construction Beijing • what difficulties they face and how they solve the problems when ….. (Stage IV) Information to address the objectives was collected by 1.a literature review of existing, available investment reports, … and… 2.a questionnaire survey conducted on …10 leading construction… and …. Firms whose head offices are in Hong Kong 3.an interview with … of XXX company (Stage V) This dissertation is organized into the following chapters: Chapter One provides a brief introduction to the background and objectives of the dissertation. Chapter Two gives an overview of the .. and economic growth in Beijing… Chapter Three presents the existing infrastructures and town planning of Beijing in the coming decade… Chapter Nine summarizes the major findings and discussion of the dissertation, draws conclusions regarding the property market investment opportunities in Beijing, and makes suggestions for ….

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Structuring the introductory chapter Task 4

What do you notice as a possible general structure of an introductory chapter in a student’s FYPR?

Try to use the following framework to guide the writing of your introductory chapter. Stage Ia

Descriptor Describing a topical area Justifying the importance of it

Remarks

Narrowing the area into a workable focus

optional

Problematicizing Ia or Ib (becoming your research focus later) + justifying the focus Announcing one’s research focus + value of it(optional) [to solve the problem in II) Summarizing some major research details (procedures mainly) Announcing the structure of the report

Task 5

1. Refer to the two introductions again. How many sources have the writer of Using Microcomputers in Teaching cited? How many has the student writer cited? Why is there such a big difference? 2. What does the difference tell you about citations in introductory chapters?

Stage I: Describing one’s & justifying it Some justification strategies Note that Stage I in most introductions serve to describe the general field of research and at the same time establish its importance (centrality). You can achieve the latter by any or a combination of the following strategies: 1. highlighting importance of the topic directly 2. suggesting the recency, duration, frequency, and/or widespreadness of an activity, a phenomenon or an issue in focus (e.g., the large number of people involved or options provided, the extensive use of something, the geographical areas one phenomenon can be observed, etc.) 3. relating the vigour of research activities done in the area Task 6

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1. What strategies can be found in Stage 1 of Rorhbach & Stewart’s introduction given on p.21 of W & B’s book? 2. What about the strategies in Stage I of the student’s introduction?

Task 7 Read the four texts given below. They are excerpts taken from 4 different research articles. Identify the various justification strategies (highlighted phrases) used in their Stage 1.

Article 1: (Stage I) Construction managers are always confronted with complex environments. Under such conditions,

managers are required to make the right decisions. Construction management courses in tertiary educational institutions therefore need to equip students with appropriate decision making skills. (Stage II) Yet, problems in classrooms cannot simulate the real world circumstances. Like most universities in the world, universities in Hong Kong are facing reductions in budget appropriations. Teachers must give mass lectures to hundreds of students at a time. Educational theorists speak of the resulting problems. They advocate student interaction, and maintain that different students learn differently. (Stage III) Considering the above two constraints, the authors have developed a construction management game as a multi-media teaching tool. Its purpose is to improve both the teaching and learning processes. It simulates bidding and the operation of a construction firm in Hong Kong. Capable of further development, this game forms part of an ongoing teaching quality enhancement programme which ….

Article 2: (Stage I) Over 300 energy models have been reported to be in use throughout the world, each varying in complexity, function and ease of use. (Stage II) However, broad application in the building heating,

ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) design industry remains yet to be seen. It has been stated by Clarke [a quoted source] that this is largely due to a ‘credibility gap’ which acts in conjunction with financial problems…Also, relatively little attention has been paid to the user of building energy prediction models. …

Article 3: (Stage I) The regulations in Hong Kong for fire safety influence the spatial design of a building. (Stage II)

However, the official concerned with safety, whose field of interest lies outside of design, may fail to appreciate or even to care that design constraints exist. As buildings develop and become more complex and new materials are used, the old fire safety rules may fail to address the problems. In such circumstances, a system approach to the design of fire safety in buildings may be necessary. This paper provides an introductory view in this respect.

Article 4: (Stage I) There has been much research showing that noise has significant influence on human beings both

physically and psychologically. [sources quoted] As a consequence of economic growth, many air-conditioned commercial office buildings have been erected in Asia. … Over the past decade, acousticians and scientists have paid a great deal of attention to establishing acceptable criteria for the design of the indoor aural environment. This has led to the establishment of a number of different noise criteria. [different experts’ criteria were quoted] (Stage II) Despite these efforts, the best criterion for office noise is not yet agreed universally. . Also, the aural environment studied when the criteria were established may have been very different from those of today. In the present study, a noise survey is carried out in modern air-conditioned commercial office buildings in Hong Kong in an attempt to establish a suitable set of noise criterion for aural comfort for Hong Kong offices.

Note that Stage I is usually short and succinctly written in a FYPR introduction though some students prefer to cite various sources of literature to back up the justification claims in this stage. Extensive citations of such are sometimes not necessary especially if you have an 13

extensive literature review chapter that comes after the introductory chapter. Your own FYP topic and justification

Task 8

1. What is your FYP focus? Which field / area does it belong to? 2. Is it the field an important one? If so how important is it? Justify its importance using any or a combination of the above strategies. 3. Has there been research done into the topic? Has there been much attention given to the topic? Which aspects have been studied or paid attention to most? 4. Answer these questions and then write up one to two paragraphs for Stage I of your FYPR introductory chapter.

Language points Accentuating the centrality of your topic Use of tenses and possible phrases to use Recency/long duration of time of a phenomenon A current, widespread phenomenon A specific single, serious incident which has led to the current study Some general problematic phenomena which have been existing and have led to the current study

The present perfect tense, e.g., In recent years, there has been a dramatic… During the past 40 years, the United States has experienced … Progress has been made… The simple present tense, e.g., Most individuals seem to agree that … Many motor skills require action based on rapid change in the environment. The simple past tense, e.g., On November, 19XX a big fire broke out and killed …. The present perfect tense, e.g., The findings of studies examining the use of various forms of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) have been mixed… [implying that this was the reason the current study was conducted]

Study introductions in research articles relating to your field to learn some phrases and expressions associated with Stage 1.

Stage II:

Problematicizing the reviewed field

Problematicizing strategies Stage II is usually the stage where a problem or a specific need for research is highlighted. This problem or specific need grows out of the topical area which you succinctly describe in Stage I. Refer to W & B’s book for the various kinds of problematicizing strategies which academic researchers tend to use for Stage II.

Task 9

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Now, turn to p.67 of W & B’s book to for three possible strategies which you can use to ‘problematicize’ the existing understanding/research of the field. [Note that the numbering of stages in W & B’s book is slightly different from what is used in this manual. Stage II in W & B’s book is treated as part of Stage I in this student manual and Stage III in their book actually means Stage II in this student manual.] Task 10 What about the strategies used by writers of the article introductions you have studied so far in this unit? Using Microcomputers in Teaching (pp.21, W&B’s book) (Stage III) The student’s introduction (Stage II) The four articles you studied in Task 6 of this unit (Stages II) Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: Article 4:

Problematicizing in your own FYPR introduction Task 11 1. Is there any problem (or research gap) regarding the topic you have briefly described in Task 9? What is it? 2. What strategies in general are you going to use to problematicize the topic 3. Will you tackle this problem or gap in your FYP? 4. What is the focus of your research? Does this focus aim at the problem or the research gap you have created in Q.2? 5. Why is this focus important to the field? 6. Who will benefit from your findings? In what way will they benefit? What about the focus that you’re studying? 7. Answer all the questions and then write Stage II of your introductory chapter in one or two paragraphs.

Language points Making a clear transition between Stage I and Stage II As you can see, when a writer moves from Stage 1 to Stage II, he/she is actually moving from describing a field to critiquing a field. This move is sometimes not so obvious to a reader and as such needs to be signaled explicitly . Task 12 What transition signals are given at the outset of the Stages II in the introductions you have studied so far? Jot down the words, phrases or sentences used by the writers to achieve this purpose. Using Microcomputers in Teaching (pp.21, W&B’s book) (Stage III)

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The student’s introduction (Stage II) The four articles you studied in Task 6 of this unit (Stages III) Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: Article 4:

Some useful phrases/expressions to realize ‘problems’ in Stage II Task 13

What words, phrases or sentences have the writers used to express their comments or problematizing strategies? Using Microcomputers in Teaching (pp.21, W&B’s book) (Stage III) The student’s introduction (Stage II) The four articles you studied in Task 6 of this unit (Stage III) Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: Article 4:

Task 14

Refer to pp.186-188 of Swales & Feak, 1994. Academic writing for graduate students for expressions to use to express critique or negative comments. [Copies of the pages will be dealt out in class.]

Stage III: Claiming the research gap and announcing your research aims/objectives When you have generally justified the topic/a field, and identified a problem or a research gap, you should tell your reader what you did in your final year project to tackle the problem or to fill the research gap. This is Stage III of your introduction. The state involves relating one’s own research focuses (aims & objectives). The operational definitions of aims and objectives Aims and objectives are sometimes used interchangeably. course, the two are differentiated.

But in this

An aim is a general description of what to investigate and the area in which the investigation is to be done. Take the example of the aim given in the sample introduction you have studied in Task 2

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The research aims to evaluate the investment opportunities in…

We can see that it is more general than those which are enumerated on the list which specify what ‘evaluating’ involves An objective statement is more specific in the sense that what it claims to achieve are expressed in more concrete terms than those used in an aim statement. The sum of a set of objective statements can be summarized into an aim statement. And this is the difference between the two types intended in this course. Again, take the example of objectives outlined in the sample introduction you have studied in Task 3: The study was conducted to chart the economic growth… and the infrastructure development over the past decade.

When information regarding this and other objective statements are gathered and synthesized, it will generate an overall picture of the investment opportunities in Beijing, and hence answering the overall aim statement. In Assignment 1, you are expected to supply an overall aim statement from which you then develop concrete, achievable objective statements. Components of an aim/objective statement Whether it is an aim or an objective, a statement of the kinds usually requires a research verb (r.v.) and a noun is the object of the research action (r.o.), which is usually in form of a kind of information or data. Sometimes the statement may even specify the object of research by supplying such information of who, where and when (s) e.g.,

to examine (r.v.) the investment opportunities in Beijing (r.o.) to chart (r.v.) the infrastructure development (r.o.)in Beijing (s) over the past decade (s)

Use of reporting verbs Task 15

How many research verbs do you know? Come up with at least 5. Compare your list with that by your classmates’.

Task 16 Now, write the overall aim of your research using one complete sentence. Then derive from it two to three objective statements.

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Task 17 Which of the following are acceptable objective statements for a research project looking into the noise problem in market places around Hong Kong? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

to review literature to determine the noise levels of three popular markets to interview hawkers to identify all sources of noises measurable to identify the sources of noises that can major disturbance to occupants of the markets

Use of tenses Research orientation What tenses do we need when relating the aims of a research done already and the aims of a research report? We use the simple past tense for the aim of a piece of research because it was completed. e.g., The research aimed at …. For the aim of a report, we use the simple present tense or the future tense because we consider that the paper still exists and the reporting will come up next. Report orientation e.g., This paper reports / will report the research conducted …. (See also, pp.69-70 of W&B’s book.) Task 18 Do Exercise 4.2 Analysis on pp.70-71 of W&B’s book.

Stage IV:

Summarizing your own research work

Contents and length The introduction may contain a brief account of the data collection procedures followed in your research, which are to be elaborated further in the methodology chapter. The brief account usually contains some major types of methods and instruments used, types of people involved and the time when the research was done. Summarize all these within several paragraphs. Do not over-describe your methodology in the introductory chapter. Use of tenses Basically the simple past tense, unless you want to describe / explain a method which is generally used in other similar studies, in which case actions should be described in the simple present tense.

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Stage V: Outline/scope This section often includes a statement of the general scope of the dissertation followed by a brief outline of what the various sections of chapters of the dissertation contain. The simple present tense is commonly used, although the will-future is occasionally seen, e.g., This study considered the cost, effectiveness and general feasibility of using lemonade as an ingredient in concrete. It did not look into ….. Chapter one describes… Chapter two analyses… Chapter three evaluates… The final chapter makes recommendations concerning the use of lemonade by the Hong Kong construction industry.

Watch your parallelism. Note that in the example given above, all sentences begin with chapter numbers. Also the active voice is used throughout to introduce the contents of each of the chapters. Below is an example which violates parallelism: Chapter one describes… X will be discussed in Chapter 3, which is then followed by a chapter on … which is Chapter 4. I will then present in Chapter 6.

Task 19 Work on Exercise 2.13 Guided Writing on p.38-39 of W & B’s book.

Task 20 (Assignment 1) 1. Write the introductory chapter of your FYPR by incorporating what you have learned in this unit. 2. Use the following grid to guide the planning of your introductory chapter. 3. Assume that you have already completed your research and thus use the past tense to describe your research actions.

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Assessment criteria for Assignment #1 Content & Organization: • Inclusion of the necessary Stages • Effective and natural use of justification strategies in Stages I & II • Clarity • Cogency & coherence (there is natural, or obvious connection among all parts) in Parts I & II • Accuracy in reflecting the current situation (state of the art) of the research focus you are pursuing Language use • Accurate use of tenses in all parts • Effective use of transition markers between Stages I & II • Parallelism in the outline of the report • Grammar accuracy in general (sentence structure and other aspects) • Diction (choice of words) • Spelling • Paragraphing • Punctuation

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My Introductory Chapter Stage I:

Stage II:

Stage III:

Stage IV:

Stage V:

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