Before you start, take a moment to reflect on what you might already know about Introduction sections to research articles and proposals.
Think about whether you agree or disagree with the following statements:
- An Introduction to a research proposal normally follows the abstract.
- An Introduction to a research proposal is often the last section to be written.
- An Introduction to a research proposal serves as a mini-overview of the whole work.
- In a typical introduction, it is important for the author to attract the reader’s interest to the topic and explain why the proposed study needs to be carried out.
- One of the main aims of the Introduction section is to show what gaps there are in exploring the topic and how the study will address those gaps.
- An Introduction will in most cases include a detailed review of literature on the topic.
- Just like other sections of a research proposal, an Introduction will often consist of a combination of predictable communicative blocks which convey the authors’ various intentions.
- In some introductions, the authors will devote some of their attention to clarifying definitions for key terms.
- Announcing the purpose of the proposed study is not a typical thing to do in an Introduction.
- Most Introductions to research proposals will end with an outline of subsequent sections of a proposal.
The Introduction module's overview:
In this module, you will learn how to:
- plan and structure the Introduction section based on a suggested plan
- express key communicative functions specific to Introductions in research proposals
- use relevant vocabulary and grammar structures
- decide which tenses to use to convey your intentions in different parts of an Introduction.