How to write an outstanding introduction?

TheDifference Between

Normal & Outstanding…

Dr. E. Alana James,Director of Student Advancement DoctoralNet.com

Chat Please… thinking about any book, textbook, magazine article, dissertation or thesis you have read = what information do you expect in the

introduction?

• What is going to give your work a good start?

• What does your reader need to understand right at the beginning?

OverviewFrom the new book:

James, E. A., & Slater, T. (2014). Write Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster: A Proven Map to Success. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage Publications.

Three goals….

1. Make your reader feel comfortable

2. Help them understand the context

3. Convince them they want to read the rest

HOW MANY OF YOUR UNIVERSITIES REQUIRE A CERTAIN SCOPE AND SEQUENCE TO THE HEADINGS IN YOUR INTRODUCTION?

Chat Please…

1st question you have to answer:What information does your reader need?How to organize that information?

Let’s look at some intros

C. Hinnerichs (2011) Dr Public Health – Walden university

Mey

Dr Marine Photography

Meyer, E. T. (2007) PhD in Information Science Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Dr EducationBroomes, O. (2010) Dept of Sociology and Equity Studies, University of Toronto

Dr Aeronautical EngineeringDulac, N. (2007) PhD Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, MIT

Great first paragraphs

Much has been written about the challenges children face when moving between countries, including changes in culture, school organization and curriculum, and, often, language. Few studies, however, have quantified the effects on academic performance; none, to my knowledge, has investigated the effects of immigration, home language, and school mobility on academic performance at more than one point in time. This study seeks to fill that gap.

• Points to the Gap Right Away

Elegant second paragraphs

Digital photography is a recent, novel information technology that has been widely and rapidly adopted across a variety of domains. To understand the role of digital photography as a technology used in scientific work, this study will examine marine mammal researchers who use photo-identification as a tool for gathering, organizing and analyzing data about whales, dolphins, otters, seals, manatees, and other marine animals. Many marine mammal researchers have recently switched from film to digital photography, and we will see that this seemingly minor change has contributed to a number of fundamental alterations to the ways in which they do their scientific work.

•Gets the reader involved with the topic, creates intrigue

Engages the Reader

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the later 18th century, the cause of many serious accidents has shifted from natural causes to human and technology-related causes. While natural disasters still account for a significant amount of human and material losses, man-made disasters are responsible for an increasingly large portion of the toll. Natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina that was responsible for over 1400 human casualties and over 75 billion dollars of damage in the New Orleans area in 2005 cannot be entirely prevented. However, the man made systems created to mitigate their effect may exacerbate the problem by provided a false sense of security. During hurricane Katrina, the levees protecting the city of New Orleans arguable hindered evacuation procedures because citizens and authorities believed they had ample time on their hands before the surge caused that levees to topple off (Davis, 2006). When the poorly designed and implemented levees breached, the water level increase so rapidly that emergency response became overwhelmed and ineffective.

• Creates link from what they know to the topic

Illustrates the methodological set up

•Makes the complex accessible

Sets up Your Golden Thread

•Ropes us in, gets us interested and lets us know where we will be going as we travel with you through your work.

Time to chat:What is YOUR golden thread?

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