教你学术论文 毕业论文的写作教程 3

Introduction
Generally speaking, the purpose of an introduction is to introduce the topic of the writing and to create interest on the part of the readers. It can be as short as a sentence or a paragraph and as long as an entire chapter, depending on the length and
complexity of the writing. The introduction chapter of your dissertation or thesis is the
one in which you provide all of the basic information that the reader will need to understand the dissertation which is to follow. Such things as the background of your research, how you came to research your topic, what your topic is and how it relates to the world around it, and what kind of general principles and methodology you will be using to research your topic and evaluate your hypothesis, are all aspects of what you will cover in the introduction chapter.
I General functions of introduction
1. introducing the subject:
The author is here to supply sufficient background information to relieve the readers who are not well informed in this field of troubles in understanding and evaluating the results of the given study without referring to previous publications on the topic. Since the topic in this section is what the paper is going to deal with, the readers, then, can get a preliminary but overall impression before going on with the full text of the paper.
2. limiting the research scope (Establish and Narrow the topic)
Only when an introduction clearly defines the limits of the research scope (the limits within which you treat the subject) can readers retrieve the information efficiently provided that the subject is introduced correctly. Your introduction should direct the readers to a specific focus.
There are a number of expressions used to limit the scope of work:
The problem is within the scope of …
The problem under discussion is within the scope of …
Studies of these effects covered various aspects of …
Our studies with this technique are confined to only one particular aspect …The problem described previously was directed to the example of…, which differsfrom …
The subject is concerned chiefly with the study of …
The author has limited his studies to the related aspects of …
The approach under study is only applied to …
The problem I have referred tofalls within thefield of …
The theory cannot apply to other cases of …
The emphasis of this paper is to survey …
3. stating the general purpose
The task is to inform the reader of the general purpose of the paper and illustrate the primary objectives of his research. To start writing your introduction chapter, come up with a simple one sentence summary of the goal of your research. The reader will come to the first chapter of your thesis expecting a statement of purpose. This statement should tell the reader what the topic of the research paper is and what you hope to achieve.
4. showing the writing arrangement
The logical arrangement of the writing enables the reader to understand the paper more easily when further reading is necessary. The best place for this information can be found at the end of the introduction.
It is supposed to give the reader a sense of how the dissertation will be organized. Provide some kind of chapter by chapter breakdown to tell the reader what can be expected so that the reader will be able to scan the paper at first and have a good sense of what ended up happening. Use solid principles of organization throughout your paper, in addition to hitting all the above topics in your introductory paragraph, to make your dissertation as readable as possible.
Expressions used to indicate the organization of the information include:
This paper is divided intofive major sections asfollows …
Sections one of this paper opens with …
Section three develops the second hypotheses on …
In this paper, data and results are presented under the major heading of …
Sectionfour shows (introduces, reveals, treats, deals with, develops, etc) …
The result of… is given in the last sectio n.
Thefifth section provides an exposition that places the primary emphasis on …
In thefollowing, a wide range of test data are reported …
II. Structural features of introduction and some idiomatic expressions 1. starting with the research background (Literature review)
To orient the reader, the pertinent(related) literature(文献) should be reviewed in writing a professional paper. The research background is usually given in the section of introduction accompanied by the recent development in this field. That is to answer the question“what have been done? ”
You can talk about the background of the project. How did you choose the project? What kind of greater historical context does the research that you are engaged in exist within? You may want to talk about any related experiments or research that specific people have done in the past, including landmark research cases which are related to the topic at hand. This gives the reader a sense of how your research fits into the greater scheme of things, and lets the reader compare what you are about to present to the research which they may or may not already be familiar with from leading figures in the history of the field.
Some expressions used to introduce the background of the subject in an introduction are:
Over the past several decades, …
Somebody reported …
The previous work on … has indicated tha t …
Recent experiments by … have suggeste d …
In most studies of…, … has been emphasized with attention being given to …
Industrial use of… is becoming increasingly common.
There have been afew studies highlighting …
It is well known that …
2. transiting to the existing problem (investigation needed/gap )
Authors usually transit to the main problem to be discussed or weak points remaining in the previous work to be further studied and/or improved. That is to answer the question“what have not been done? ”
The following are expressions often used to present existing problems:
Great progress has been made in thisfield, but (however, nevertheless, etc.) …Also, the consideration of … alone cannot explain the observedfact that …
A part of the explanation could lie in … however, …
The study of… gives rise to two main difficulties: one is …, the other i s …Despite the recent progress reviewed in …, there is no generally accepted theory concerning …
From the above discussion, it appears that at present neither … nor … are known.
Sofar there is not enough convincing evidence showing …
The data available in literaturefailed to prove that …
The theory of… did not explain how much modifications aros e.
No direct outcome was then reported in …
Until now, not any experiment in this area has suggested that …
Until now, nofield experiments of … have been reported.
No clear advancement has sofar been seen in …
The methods we use differs greatlyfrom the one reported ten years ago.
3. focusing on the present research (Purpose /value of your research)
On the basis of reviewing the previous research, especially unfolding or displaying the weak points of the previous work to be overcome or existing problems to be solved, the author may gradually and naturally turn the reader’s attention to the present research, by stating his primary research objectives, novel ideas, advanced methods, new materials, fresh factors, etc. that is to answer the question“what am I going to d o? ”
Now tell the reader what your hypothesis is, as well as your basic reasons for believing in the hypothesis. How does your knowledge of the reality of the field make you lean towards one hypothesis or another? Explain to the reader how you will be able to prove or disprove the hypothesis that you set out with through the course of your research. Talk about any particular relevant issues that could affect the course of the research, or any basic questions or problems that people might have regarding the topic and how you will go about your research process. Try to anticipate how people will react to your hypothesis and make sure that you are able to start your project on a strong heading. It may be best to have the opening paragraph of your thesis reviewed before you embark on the research process, to make sure that you are on the right track (or at least that the track makes sense to others) before you set off and put a lot of effort into collecting data.
Expressions to be used to introduce the present work:
In this paper, … is investigated(studied, discussed, presented, etc.)
The present work deals mainly with …
We repot here … in the presence of…
This paper reports on …
On the basis of existing literature data, we carried out studies in an effort to …
The present study will thereforefocus on …
The primary goal of this research is …
The purpose of this paper is …
In this paper, we aim at …
III. ways to begin an introduction
narrative: to begin with an anecdote or a brief story that somehow illuminates the thesis, effective in catching the reader ’s attentio n descriptive: to provide an effective lead to the discussion of the subject by explaining ,illustrating or giving a bit of background
preparatory: to begin with an explanation or definition of the subject to prepare for a discussion in detail in the body of the essay inquisitive: pose provocative questions to simulate the reader ’s interest
corrective: to put a common belief or show how the subject has been misunderstood
s tating a problem: begin with the statement of the problem and proceed to discuss the solution
giving a surprising fact or statistics: to grab the reader ’s attention
using a striking quote: to use surprising quote from a well-known book or person and lead to the discussion of the topic。