examine the rationale for introduction chapter in a research project

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How to Write the Rationale of the Study in Research (Examples)

What is the Rationale of the Study?

The rationale of the study is the justification for taking on a given study. It explains the reason the study was conducted or should be conducted. This means the study rationale should explain to the reader or examiner why the study is/was necessary. It is also sometimes called the “purpose” or “justification” of a study. While this is not difficult to grasp in itself, you might wonder how the rationale of the study is different from your research question or from the statement of the problem of your study, and how it fits into the rest of your thesis or research paper. 

The rationale of the study links the background of the study to your specific research question and justifies the need for the latter on the basis of the former. In brief, you first provide and discuss existing data on the topic, and then you tell the reader, based on the background evidence you just presented, where you identified gaps or issues and why you think it is important to address those. The problem statement, lastly, is the formulation of the specific research question you choose to investigate, following logically from your rationale, and the approach you are planning to use to do that.

Table of Contents:

How to write a rationale for a research paper , how do you justify the need for a research study.

• Study Rationale Example: Where Does It Go In Your Paper?

The basis for writing a research rationale is preliminary data or a clear description of an observation. If you are doing basic/theoretical research, then a literature review will help you identify gaps in current knowledge. In applied/practical research, you base your rationale on an existing issue with a certain process (e.g., vaccine proof registration) or practice (e.g., patient treatment) that is well documented and needs to be addressed. By presenting the reader with earlier evidence or observations, you can (and have to) convince them that you are not just repeating what other people have already done or said and that your ideas are not coming out of thin air. 

Once you have explained where you are coming from, you should justify the need for doing additional research–this is essentially the rationale of your study. Finally, when you have convinced the reader of the purpose of your work, you can end your introduction section with the statement of the problem of your research that contains clear aims and objectives and also briefly describes (and justifies) your methodological approach. 

When is the Rationale for Research Written?

The author can present the study rationale both before and after the research is conducted. 

• Before conducting research : The study rationale is a central component of the research proposal . It represents the plan of your work, constructed before the study is actually executed.
• Once research has been conducted : After the study is completed, the rationale is presented in a research article or  PhD dissertation  to explain why you focused on this specific research question. When writing the study rationale for this purpose, the author should link the rationale of the research to the aims and outcomes of the study.

What to Include in the Study Rationale

Although every study rationale is different and discusses different specific elements of a study’s method or approach, there are some elements that should be included to write a good rationale. Make sure to touch on the following:

• A summary of conclusions from your review of the relevant literature
• What is currently unknown (gaps in knowledge)
• Inconclusive or contested results  from previous studies on the same or similar topic
• The necessity to improve or build on previous research, such as to improve methodology or utilize newer techniques and/or technologies

There are different types of limitations that you can use to justify the need for your study. In applied/practical research, the justification for investigating something is always that an existing process/practice has a problem or is not satisfactory. Let’s say, for example, that people in a certain country/city/community commonly complain about hospital care on weekends (not enough staff, not enough attention, no decisions being made), but you looked into it and realized that nobody ever investigated whether these perceived problems are actually based on objective shortages/non-availabilities of care or whether the lower numbers of patients who are treated during weekends are commensurate with the provided services.

In this case, “lack of data” is your justification for digging deeper into the problem. Or, if it is obvious that there is a shortage of staff and provided services on weekends, you could decide to investigate which of the usual procedures are skipped during weekends as a result and what the negative consequences are. 

In basic/theoretical research, lack of knowledge is of course a common and accepted justification for additional research—but make sure that it is not your only motivation. “Nobody has ever done this” is only a convincing reason for a study if you explain to the reader why you think we should know more about this specific phenomenon. If there is earlier research but you think it has limitations, then those can usually be classified into “methodological”, “contextual”, and “conceptual” limitations. To identify such limitations, you can ask specific questions and let those questions guide you when you explain to the reader why your study was necessary:

Methodological limitations

• Did earlier studies try but failed to measure/identify a specific phenomenon?
• Was earlier research based on incorrect conceptualizations of variables?
• Were earlier studies based on questionable operationalizations of key concepts?
• Did earlier studies use questionable or inappropriate research designs?

Contextual limitations

• Have recent changes in the studied problem made previous studies irrelevant?
• Are you studying a new/particular context that previous findings do not apply to?

Conceptual limitations

• Do previous findings only make sense within a specific framework or ideology?

Study Rationale Examples

Let’s look at an example from one of our earlier articles on the statement of the problem to clarify how your rationale fits into your introduction section. This is a very short introduction for a practical research study on the challenges of online learning. Your introduction might be much longer (especially the context/background section), and this example does not contain any sources (which you will have to provide for all claims you make and all earlier studies you cite)—but please pay attention to how the background presentation , rationale, and problem statement blend into each other in a logical way so that the reader can follow and has no reason to question your motivation or the foundation of your research.

Background presentation

Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, most educational institutions around the world have transitioned to a fully online study model, at least during peak times of infections and social distancing measures. This transition has not been easy and even two years into the pandemic, problems with online teaching and studying persist (reference needed) . 

While the increasing gap between those with access to technology and equipment and those without access has been determined to be one of the main challenges (reference needed) , others claim that online learning offers more opportunities for many students by breaking down barriers of location and distance (reference needed) .  

Rationale of the study

Since teachers and students cannot wait for circumstances to go back to normal, the measures that schools and universities have implemented during the last two years, their advantages and disadvantages, and the impact of those measures on students’ progress, satisfaction, and well-being need to be understood so that improvements can be made and demographics that have been left behind can receive the support they need as soon as possible.

Statement of the problem

To identify what changes in the learning environment were considered the most challenging and how those changes relate to a variety of student outcome measures, we conducted surveys and interviews among teachers and students at ten institutions of higher education in four different major cities, two in the US (New York and Chicago), one in South Korea (Seoul), and one in the UK (London). Responses were analyzed with a focus on different student demographics and how they might have been affected differently by the current situation.

How long is a study rationale?

In a research article bound for journal publication, your rationale should not be longer than a few sentences (no longer than one brief paragraph). A  dissertation or thesis  usually allows for a longer description; depending on the length and nature of your document, this could be up to a couple of paragraphs in length. A completely novel or unconventional approach might warrant a longer and more detailed justification than an approach that slightly deviates from well-established methods and approaches.

Consider Using Professional Academic Editing Services

Now that you know how to write the rationale of the study for a research proposal or paper, you should make use of our free AI grammar checker , Wordvice AI, or receive professional academic proofreading services from Wordvice, including research paper editing services and manuscript editing services to polish your submitted research documents.

You can also find many more articles, for example on writing the other parts of your research paper , on choosing a title , or on making sure you understand and adhere to the author instructions before you submit to a journal, on the Wordvice academic resources pages.

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How to write an introduction chapter for a thesis

Louisa Hill is a Senior Teaching Fellow and delivers workshops for Postgraduate Researchers who want to teach.

When writing a thesis, you will need to write an introductory chapter. This chapter is critical as it is the first thing that the examiner will read and it is therefore important to make a good first impression. 

A good introduction chapter should incite the reader to read the rest of the thesis by establishing the context of your topic, the motivation for undertaking your work and the importance of your research.

As a lecturer and supervisor, I have read many introductory chapters for research projects such as theses. Here is my advice to those undertaking a research project and writing a thesis.

Capture the reader’s interest

Initially you need to capture the reader’s attention with a discussion of a broader theme relating to your research. To add impact draw on research, data and quotations from international or national professional bodies, governmental organisations or key authors on the topic of study.

Give an overview of your research topic

Your discussion should then begin by detailing the broader aspects of the topic more, before focussing on the specific topic of your research. It is a good idea when you do this to assume that the reader knows nothing about your topic. Therefore definitions, drawing on key research, need to be clarified and explained. Alternatively, if having read key literature for the literature review chapter, you are not satisfied with existing definitions, then draw on these, to devise your own (but make it clear you have done this).

Detail how your research is going to make a contribution

You must then sell your idea for undertaking the research topic, demonstrating the main reasons why the research will make a significant contribution to the current body of research. This can be achieved by demonstrating a gap or limitation with existing research, then showing how your research will resolve this. There are different types of contribution (see  Constructing Research Questions: Doing Interesting Research ).

Explain what your interest is in the topic

Next you need to demonstrate your personal reasons for choosing the topic. These could relate to your previous research, work or experiences.

List your research objectives

You need to include your three or four overarching research objectives. Also include corresponding research questions if it is a qualitative piece of research or hypotheses if it is quantitative-based. The former are usually derivatives of the research objectives. Note though that these objectives and questions or hypotheses are fluid in nature and can be tweaked as you undertake the research.

Give a forthcoming chapter overview

The final part of the introduction is an overview of the rest of the chapters in the thesis. The other sections can go in any order, providing it is a logical sequence.

Learn from others

Look at other theses for example from  White Rose etheses  or your university library’s website. The majority of journal articles that you will read in the content of your topic will also provide useful insights.

Speak with your supervisor

Remember to always speak with your supervisor and have regular catch-ups. They will be able to offer guidance and encouragement, and steer you in the right direction.

Related content

• Writing a research PhD proposal
• Presenting with impact
• The benefits of undertaking a placement alongside your PhD

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The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organization of the paper.

Key Elements of the Research Proposal. Prepared under the direction of the Superintendent and by the 2010 Curriculum Design and Writing Team. Baltimore County Public Schools.

Importance of a Good Introduction

Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer for the reader these four questions:

• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding?

According to Reyes, there are three overarching goals of a good introduction: 1) ensure that you summarize prior studies about the topic in a manner that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem; 2) explain how your study specifically addresses gaps in the literature, insufficient consideration of the topic, or other deficiency in the literature; and, 3) note the broader theoretical, empirical, and/or policy contributions and implications of your research.

A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraphs of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will lead your readers to think highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research approach. All introductions should conclude with a brief paragraph that describes the organization of the rest of the paper.

Hirano, Eliana. “Research Article Introductions in English for Specific Purposes: A Comparison between Brazilian, Portuguese, and English.” English for Specific Purposes 28 (October 2009): 240-250; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide. Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Reyes, Victoria. Demystifying the Journal Article. Inside Higher Education.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Structure and Approach

The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the reader:

• What is this?
• Why should I read it?
• What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?

Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow your analysis to more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your research problem and the rationale for studying it [often written as a series of key questions to be addressed or framed as a hypothesis or set of assumptions to be tested] and, whenever possible, a description of the potential outcomes your study can reveal.

These are general phases associated with writing an introduction: 1.  Establish an area to research by:

• Highlighting the importance of the topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current research on the subject.

2.  Identify a research niche by:

• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research, and/or
• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3.  Place your research within the research niche by:

• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

NOTE:   It is often useful to review the introduction late in the writing process. This is appropriate because outcomes are unknown until you've completed the study. After you complete writing the body of the paper, go back and review introductory descriptions of the structure of the paper, the method of data gathering, the reporting and analysis of results, and the conclusion. Reviewing and, if necessary, rewriting the introduction ensures that it correctly matches the overall structure of your final paper.

II.  Delimitations of the Study

Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the conceptual boundaries of your research . This is determined by the conscious exclusionary and inclusionary decisions you make about how to investigate the research problem. In other words, not only should you tell the reader what it is you are studying and why, but you must also acknowledge why you rejected alternative approaches that could have been used to examine the topic.

Obviously, the first limiting step was the choice of research problem itself. However, implicit are other, related problems that could have been chosen but were rejected. These should be noted in the conclusion of your introduction. For example, a delimitating statement could read, "Although many factors can be understood to impact the likelihood young people will vote, this study will focus on socioeconomic factors related to the need to work full-time while in school." The point is not to document every possible delimiting factor, but to highlight why previously researched issues related to the topic were not addressed.

Examples of delimitating choices would be:

• The key aims and objectives of your study,
• The research questions that you address,
• The variables of interest [i.e., the various factors and features of the phenomenon being studied],
• The method(s) of investigation,
• The time period your study covers, and
• Any relevant alternative theoretical frameworks that could have been adopted.

Review each of these decisions. Not only do you clearly establish what you intend to accomplish in your research, but you should also include a declaration of what the study does not intend to cover. In the latter case, your exclusionary decisions should be based upon criteria understood as, "not interesting"; "not directly relevant"; “too problematic because..."; "not feasible," and the like. Make this reasoning explicit!

NOTE:   Delimitations refer to the initial choices made about the broader, overall design of your study and should not be confused with documenting the limitations of your study discovered after the research has been completed.

ANOTHER NOTE : Do not view delimitating statements as admitting to an inherent failing or shortcoming in your research. They are an accepted element of academic writing intended to keep the reader focused on the research problem by explicitly defining the conceptual boundaries and scope of your study. It addresses any critical questions in the reader's mind of, "Why the hell didn't the author examine this?"

III.  The Narrative Flow

Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your introduction :

• Your introduction should clearly identify the subject area of interest . A simple strategy to follow is to use key words from your title in the first few sentences of the introduction. This will help focus the introduction on the topic at the appropriate level and ensures that you get to the subject matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too general.
• Establish context by providing a brief and balanced review of the pertinent published literature that is available on the subject. The key is to summarize for the reader what is known about the specific research problem before you did your analysis. This part of your introduction should not represent a comprehensive literature review--that comes next. It consists of a general review of the important, foundational research literature [with citations] that establishes a foundation for understanding key elements of the research problem. See the drop-down menu under this tab for " Background Information " regarding types of contexts.
• Clearly state the hypothesis that you investigated . When you are first learning to write in this format it is okay, and actually preferable, to use a past statement like, "The purpose of this study was to...." or "We investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the...."
• Why did you choose this kind of research study or design? Provide a clear statement of the rationale for your approach to the problem studied. This will usually follow your statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the introduction.

IV.  Engaging the Reader

A research problem in the social sciences can come across as dry and uninteresting to anyone unfamiliar with the topic . Therefore, one of the goals of your introduction is to make readers want to read your paper. Here are several strategies you can use to grab the reader's attention:

• Open with a compelling story . Almost all research problems in the social sciences, no matter how obscure or esoteric , are really about the lives of people. Telling a story that humanizes an issue can help illuminate the significance of the problem and help the reader empathize with those affected by the condition being studied.
• Include a strong quotation or a vivid, perhaps unexpected, anecdote . During your review of the literature, make note of any quotes or anecdotes that grab your attention because they can used in your introduction to highlight the research problem in a captivating way.
• Pose a provocative or thought-provoking question . Your research problem should be framed by a set of questions to be addressed or hypotheses to be tested. However, a provocative question can be presented in the beginning of your introduction that challenges an existing assumption or compels the reader to consider an alternative viewpoint that helps establish the significance of your study. 
• Describe a puzzling scenario or incongruity . This involves highlighting an interesting quandary concerning the research problem or describing contradictory findings from prior studies about a topic. Posing what is essentially an unresolved intellectual riddle about the problem can engage the reader's interest in the study.
• Cite a stirring example or case study that illustrates why the research problem is important . Draw upon the findings of others to demonstrate the significance of the problem and to describe how your study builds upon or offers alternatives ways of investigating this prior research.

NOTE:   It is important that you choose only one of the suggested strategies for engaging your readers. This avoids giving an impression that your paper is more flash than substance and does not distract from the substance of your study.

Freedman, Leora  and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Introduction. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Introductions. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Resources for Writers: Introduction Strategies. Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sharpling, Gerald. Writing an Introduction. Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Swales, John and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Skills and Tasks . 2nd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004 ; Writing Your Introduction. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University.

Writing Tip

Avoid the "Dictionary" Introduction

Giving the dictionary definition of words related to the research problem may appear appropriate because it is important to define specific terminology that readers may be unfamiliar with. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and a general dictionary is not a particularly authoritative source because it doesn't take into account the context of your topic and doesn't offer particularly detailed information. Also, placed in the context of a particular discipline, a term or concept may have a different meaning than what is found in a general dictionary. If you feel that you must seek out an authoritative definition, use a subject specific dictionary or encyclopedia [e.g., if you are a sociology student, search for dictionaries of sociology]. A good database for obtaining definitive definitions of concepts or terms is Credo Reference .

Saba, Robert. The College Research Paper. Florida International University; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

Another Writing Tip

When Do I Begin?

A common question asked at the start of any paper is, "Where should I begin?" An equally important question to ask yourself is, "When do I begin?" Research problems in the social sciences rarely rest in isolation from history. Therefore, it is important to lay a foundation for understanding the historical context underpinning the research problem. However, this information should be brief and succinct and begin at a point in time that illustrates the study's overall importance. For example, a study that investigates coffee cultivation and export in West Africa as a key stimulus for local economic growth needs to describe the beginning of exporting coffee in the region and establishing why economic growth is important. You do not need to give a long historical explanation about coffee exports in Africa. If a research problem requires a substantial exploration of the historical context, do this in the literature review section. In your introduction, make note of this as part of the "roadmap" [see below] that you use to describe the organization of your paper.

Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Always End with a Roadmap

The final paragraph or sentences of your introduction should forecast your main arguments and conclusions and provide a brief description of the rest of the paper [the "roadmap"] that let's the reader know where you are going and what to expect. A roadmap is important because it helps the reader place the research problem within the context of their own perspectives about the topic. In addition, concluding your introduction with an explicit roadmap tells the reader that you have a clear understanding of the structural purpose of your paper. In this way, the roadmap acts as a type of promise to yourself and to your readers that you will follow a consistent and coherent approach to addressing the topic of inquiry. Refer to it often to help keep your writing focused and organized.

Cassuto, Leonard. “On the Dissertation: How to Write the Introduction.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , May 28, 2018; Radich, Michael. A Student's Guide to Writing in East Asian Studies . (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Writing n. d.), pp. 35-37.

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How to Write a Research Paper Introduction (with Examples)

The research paper introduction section, along with the Title and Abstract, can be considered the face of any research paper. The following article is intended to guide you in organizing and writing the research paper introduction for a quality academic article or dissertation.

The research paper introduction aims to present the topic to the reader. A study will only be accepted for publishing if you can ascertain that the available literature cannot answer your research question. So it is important to ensure that you have read important studies on that particular topic, especially those within the last five to ten years, and that they are properly referenced in this section. 1 What should be included in the research paper introduction is decided by what you want to tell readers about the reason behind the research and how you plan to fill the knowledge gap. The best research paper introduction provides a systemic review of existing work and demonstrates additional work that needs to be done. It needs to be brief, captivating, and well-referenced; a well-drafted research paper introduction will help the researcher win half the battle.

The introduction for a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your research topic
• Capture reader interest
• Summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Define your specific research problem and problem statement
• Highlight the novelty and contributions of the study
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The research paper introduction can vary in size and structure depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or is a review paper. Some research paper introduction examples are only half a page while others are a few pages long. In many cases, the introduction will be shorter than all of the other sections of your paper; its length depends on the size of your paper as a whole.

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Table of Contents

What is the introduction for a research paper, why is the introduction important in a research paper, craft a compelling introduction section with paperpal. try now, 1. introduce the research topic:, 2. determine a research niche:, 3. place your research within the research niche:, craft accurate research paper introductions with paperpal. start writing now, frequently asked questions on research paper introduction, key points to remember.

The introduction in a research paper is placed at the beginning to guide the reader from a broad subject area to the specific topic that your research addresses. They present the following information to the reader

• Scope: The topic covered in the research paper
• Context: Background of your topic
• Importance: Why your research matters in that particular area of research and the industry problem that can be targeted

The research paper introduction conveys a lot of information and can be considered an essential roadmap for the rest of your paper. A good introduction for a research paper is important for the following reasons:

• It stimulates your reader’s interest: A good introduction section can make your readers want to read your paper by capturing their interest. It informs the reader what they are going to learn and helps determine if the topic is of interest to them.
• It helps the reader understand the research background: Without a clear introduction, your readers may feel confused and even struggle when reading your paper. A good research paper introduction will prepare them for the in-depth research to come. It provides you the opportunity to engage with the readers and demonstrate your knowledge and authority on the specific topic.
• It explains why your research paper is worth reading: Your introduction can convey a lot of information to your readers. It introduces the topic, why the topic is important, and how you plan to proceed with your research.
• It helps guide the reader through the rest of the paper: The research paper introduction gives the reader a sense of the nature of the information that will support your arguments and the general organization of the paragraphs that will follow. It offers an overview of what to expect when reading the main body of your paper.

What are the parts of introduction in the research?

A good research paper introduction section should comprise three main elements: 2

• What is known: This sets the stage for your research. It informs the readers of what is known on the subject.
• What is lacking: This is aimed at justifying the reason for carrying out your research. This could involve investigating a new concept or method or building upon previous research.
• What you aim to do: This part briefly states the objectives of your research and its major contributions. Your detailed hypothesis will also form a part of this section.

How to write a research paper introduction?

The first step in writing the research paper introduction is to inform the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening statement. The second step involves establishing the kinds of research that have been done and ending with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to address. Finally, the research paper introduction clarifies how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses. If your research involved testing hypotheses, these should be stated along with your research question. The hypothesis should be presented in the past tense since it will have been tested by the time you are writing the research paper introduction.

The following key points, with examples, can guide you when writing the research paper introduction section:

• Highlight the importance of the research field or topic
• Describe the background of the topic
• Present an overview of current research on the topic

Example: The inclusion of experiential and competency-based learning has benefitted electronics engineering education. Industry partnerships provide an excellent alternative for students wanting to engage in solving real-world challenges. Industry-academia participation has grown in recent years due to the need for skilled engineers with practical training and specialized expertise. However, from the educational perspective, many activities are needed to incorporate sustainable development goals into the university curricula and consolidate learning innovation in universities.

• Reveal a gap in existing research or oppose an existing assumption
• Formulate the research question

Example: There have been plausible efforts to integrate educational activities in higher education electronics engineering programs. However, very few studies have considered using educational research methods for performance evaluation of competency-based higher engineering education, with a focus on technical and or transversal skills. To remedy the current need for evaluating competencies in STEM fields and providing sustainable development goals in engineering education, in this study, a comparison was drawn between study groups without and with industry partners.

• State the purpose of your study
• Highlight the key characteristics of your study
• Describe important results
• Highlight the novelty of the study.
• Offer a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

Example: The study evaluates the main competency needed in the applied electronics course, which is a fundamental core subject for many electronics engineering undergraduate programs. We compared two groups, without and with an industrial partner, that offered real-world projects to solve during the semester. This comparison can help determine significant differences in both groups in terms of developing subject competency and achieving sustainable development goals.

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The purpose of the research paper introduction is to introduce the reader to the problem definition, justify the need for the study, and describe the main theme of the study. The aim is to gain the reader’s attention by providing them with necessary background information and establishing the main purpose and direction of the research.

The length of the research paper introduction can vary across journals and disciplines. While there are no strict word limits for writing the research paper introduction, an ideal length would be one page, with a maximum of 400 words over 1-4 paragraphs. Generally, it is one of the shorter sections of the paper as the reader is assumed to have at least a reasonable knowledge about the topic. 2 For example, for a study evaluating the role of building design in ensuring fire safety, there is no need to discuss definitions and nature of fire in the introduction; you could start by commenting upon the existing practices for fire safety and how your study will add to the existing knowledge and practice.

When deciding what to include in the research paper introduction, the rest of the paper should also be considered. The aim is to introduce the reader smoothly to the topic and facilitate an easy read without much dependency on external sources. 3 Below is a list of elements you can include to prepare a research paper introduction outline and follow it when you are writing the research paper introduction. Topic introduction: This can include key definitions and a brief history of the topic. Research context and background: Offer the readers some general information and then narrow it down to specific aspects. Details of the research you conducted: A brief literature review can be included to support your arguments or line of thought. Rationale for the study: This establishes the relevance of your study and establishes its importance. Importance of your research: The main contributions are highlighted to help establish the novelty of your study Research hypothesis: Introduce your research question and propose an expected outcome. Organization of the paper: Include a short paragraph of 3-4 sentences that highlights your plan for the entire paper

Cite only works that are most relevant to your topic; as a general rule, you can include one to three. Note that readers want to see evidence of original thinking. So it is better to avoid using too many references as it does not leave much room for your personal standpoint to shine through. Citations in your research paper introduction support the key points, and the number of citations depend on the subject matter and the point discussed. If the research paper introduction is too long or overflowing with citations, it is better to cite a few review articles rather than the individual articles summarized in the review. A good point to remember when citing research papers in the introduction section is to include at least one-third of the references in the introduction.

The literature review plays a significant role in the research paper introduction section. A good literature review accomplishes the following: Introduces the topic – Establishes the study’s significance – Provides an overview of the relevant literature – Provides context for the study using literature – Identifies knowledge gaps However, remember to avoid making the following mistakes when writing a research paper introduction: Do not use studies from the literature review to aggressively support your research Avoid direct quoting Do not allow literature review to be the focus of this section. Instead, the literature review should only aid in setting a foundation for the manuscript.

Remember the following key points for writing a good research paper introduction: 4

• Avoid stuffing too much general information: Avoid including what an average reader would know and include only that information related to the problem being addressed in the research paper introduction. For example, when describing a comparative study of non-traditional methods for mechanical design optimization, information related to the traditional methods and differences between traditional and non-traditional methods would not be relevant. In this case, the introduction for the research paper should begin with the state-of-the-art non-traditional methods and methods to evaluate the efficiency of newly developed algorithms.
• Avoid packing too many references: Cite only the required works in your research paper introduction. The other works can be included in the discussion section to strengthen your findings.
• Avoid extensive criticism of previous studies: Avoid being overly critical of earlier studies while setting the rationale for your study. A better place for this would be the Discussion section, where you can highlight the advantages of your method.
• Avoid describing conclusions of the study: When writing a research paper introduction remember not to include the findings of your study. The aim is to let the readers know what question is being answered. The actual answer should only be given in the Results and Discussion section.

To summarize, the research paper introduction section should be brief yet informative. It should convince the reader the need to conduct the study and motivate him to read further. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure, choose trusted AI academic writing assistants like Paperpal to effortlessly craft your research paper introduction and other sections of your research article.

1. Jawaid, S. A., & Jawaid, M. (2019). How to write introduction and discussion. Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, 13(Suppl 1), S18.

2. Dewan, P., & Gupta, P. (2016). Writing the title, abstract and introduction: Looks matter!. Indian pediatrics, 53, 235-241.

3. Cetin, S., & Hackam, D. J. (2005). An approach to the writing of a scientific Manuscript1. Journal of Surgical Research, 128(2), 165-167.

4. Bavdekar, S. B. (2015). Writing introduction: Laying the foundations of a research paper. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, 63(7), 44-6.

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Writing a scientific paper.

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What is a "good" introduction?

Citing sources in the introduction, "introduction checklist" from: how to write a good scientific paper. chris a. mack. spie. 2018..

• LITERATURE CITED
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This is where you describe briefly and clearly why you are writing the paper. The introduction supplies sufficient background information for the reader to understand and evaluate the experiment you did. It also supplies a rationale for the study.

• Present the problem and the proposed solution
• Presents nature and scope of the problem investigated
• Reviews the pertinent literature to orient the reader
• States the method of the experiment
• State the principle results of the experiment

It is important to cite sources in the introduction section of your paper as evidence of the claims you are making. There are ways of citing sources in the text so that the reader can find the full reference in the literature cited section at the end of the paper, yet the flow of the reading is not badly interrupted. Below are some example of how this can be done:     "Smith (1983) found that N-fixing plants could be infected by several different species of Rhizobium."     "Walnut trees are known to be allelopathic (Smith 1949,  Bond et al. 1955, Jones and Green 1963)."     "Although the presence of Rhizobium normally increases the growth of legumes (Nguyen 1987), the opposite effect has been observed (Washington 1999)." Note that articles by one or two authors are always cited in the text using their last names. However, if there are more than two authors, the last name of the 1st author is given followed by the abbreviation et al. which is Latin for "and others". 

From:  https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/imrad-reports-introductions

• Indicate the field of the work, why this field is important, and what has already been done (with proper citations).
• Indicate a gap, raise a research question, or challenge prior work in this territory.
• Outline the purpose and announce the present research, clearly indicating what is novel and why it is significant.
• Avoid: repeating the abstract; providing unnecessary background information; exaggerating the importance of the work; claiming novelty without a proper literature search. 
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Table of Contents

Developing the research idea.

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“The idea of finishing my project within 1 year initially seemed overwhelming. While each individual step seemed manageable, the totality of the project made me cringe and even lose sleep occasionally (honestly, quite often). Despite the valuable guidance I received from my mentors, they didn’t seem to share my level of anxiety about the project. After all, it was my residency certificate that was hanging in the balance! Overall, I’m grateful for the experience because it taught me so much and really prepared me for future projects.” —Former PGY2 Ambulatory Care Resident

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Identify how to write a scientific research question that meets PICOTS ( P opulation, I ntervention, C omparison group, O utcomes, T imeline, and S etting) or FINER ( F easibility, I nteresting, N ovel, E thical, and R elevant) criteria.

Formulate primary and secondary study objectives.

Formulate study hypotheses and select related outcome measures.

Develop a research proposal and timeline.

INTRODUCTION

As you embark on your research journey, you are probably asking yourself, Where do I begin? What needs to go into the research question? If so, this chapter will lay out a step-wise process for building the foundation of your project:

Identifying a research question.

Searching and appraising background scientific literature.

Writing study objectives.

Specifying and defining outcomes.

Compiling these elements into a study protocol.

This chapter will equip you with the tools to accomplish these steps ( Figure 1-1 ).

CONCEIVING THE RESEARCH IDEA

Where do good research ideas come from? Creating a focused, relevant research idea may be one of the biggest challenges for a new researcher. A great place to identify research ideas is from your own clinical practice, such as when you encounter problems but cannot find solutions in the scientific literature. You may also want to evaluate the way evidence-based care has been implemented at your institution. 1 , 2 Problems may relate to a patient-specific clinical question (e.g., “What is the relationship between benzodiazepine use and emergency department utilization in the elderly?”), institutional concerns related to quality measures defined by The Joint Commission or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (e.g., “How can we increase bisphosphonate use in women who have experienced an osteoporosis-related fracture?”), resource justification (e.g., “What is the value of a clinical pharmacist as part of a diabetes-management team?”), or process improvement (e.g., “Is there a more efficient way to conduct double-checks of intravenously prepared products?”).

As a resident, your clinical experience is typically limited to rotations from pharmacy school or a previous residency; you may not have been in your practice site long enough to recognize a relevant research question. Engaging in dialogue with preceptors and mentors about possible research ideas can be the first step in building your own skills in idea development. By asking research questions, you can help to build skills in identifying relevant questions. If you have to formulate your own idea, a good place to start is by reviewing the literature about a general topic that interests you. Many studies end with recommendations for future research. Another tactic is to attend poster sessions or lectures at professional meetings where you can talk with investigators to get their ideas for needed research. 1 , 2

The Research Process

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Regardless of where your research idea originates, the research question developed from the idea should address an unmet need or a gap in current understanding. Its answer should also contribute to improved patient care. For example, a medication adherence tool with demonstrated utility improving adherence in patients with asthma could be investigated as a strategy to increase insulin adherence in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Once you have an idea that meets a need and interests you, the next step is to formulate it into a well-written research question. There are three general types of research questions:

Descriptive questions seek to describe a current situation or what now exists. These ­questions may be answered by qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.

Relational questions examine a relationship between different phenomena and utilize quantitative research methods.

Causal questions evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship between one or more variables and an outcome of interest; these, too, employ quantitative methods. 1 - 3

Developing a Research Question Using PICOTS Criteria

Research question, example 1.

Do patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have better outcomes when they take a statin?

This is a good start, but the question needs to be more focused before study design efforts can begin. The PICOTS ( P opulation, I ntervention, C omparison group, O utcomes, T imeline, and S etting) criteria are useful for ensuring that your research question contains the necessary elements, while the FINER ( F easibility, I nteresting, N ovel, E thical, and R elevant) criteria help to ensure that a study is feasible and worth doing ( Table 1-1 ). 4 - 6 The PICOTS criteria are applied first to example 1 below.

PICOTS and FINER Criteria 4 – 6

Your target patient population is patients with HIV, but you need to be more specific. Examining all patients with HIV is too broad and, obviously, impossible. For example, you may include any of the following variations:

Where is your population of interest from? A managed care organization in California? Medicaid patients in the state of Ohio? Hospitalized patients?

What are the characteristics of your population of interest? All adults? A specific age range? A specific viral load range? A specific CD4 count range? Patients with cardiovascular risk factors?

Is the population limited to those on antiretroviral therapy and any particular kind of therapy, or to newly diagnosed patients not taking antiretrovirals?

The point is to be specific . You will need precise inclusion and exclusion criteria in your protocol to define the study population.

Intervention

Next, consider the intervention. Interventions may include a new strategy, drug exposure, service exposure, or application of a tool (e.g., pharmacist delivery of medication management services, text message reminders). A prospective trial for the example question could randomize the patient population to receive either a statin or a placebo. For an observational study to address this ­question, you could study an historical exposure instead of a prospective intervention:

Taking a specific statin (e.g., atorvastatin) or statin intensity.

Taking any statin but for a certain period of time.

Comparison Group

Do not underestimate the importance of a good control group.

Is there an appropriate comparison group available?

What kind of comparison (e.g., placebo, active, historical) will be used?

The value of pharmacist interventions has not been adequately demonstrated due to failure to identify a control group or a selection of one that is biased. Ideally, this group should look as much like your intervention or exposure group as possible, but it should not have received the intervention. Historical controls can be used, if necessary, but be aware they often differ from the intervention group in significant ways. If using a parallel control group (i.e., one whose exposure and outcomes occur within the same timeframe as the intervention group), you can make them more comparable by matching them on characteristics that might affect the outcome such as exposure date, age, sex, or an indicator of disease severity.

Make sure the outcomes you choose are meaningful, measurable, and occur frequently enough to be observable in your study.

Specifically, what type of outcome(s) should be examined?

Ideally, you should examine outcomes that matter. Examples include morbidity, mortality, hospitalizations, or events such as fractures or heart attacks. In reality, these types of outcomes may occur so infrequently that very large sample sizes would be required to detect true differences between groups, which may limit feasibility. Sample size limitations usually require surrogate outcomes, such as low-density lipoprotein levels, CD4 counts, bone mineral density, and ­adherence. Keep in mind that many other types of outcomes are relevant, including economic, humanistic, quality, or educational outcomes. In addition, not all outcomes have to be purely clinical in nature. For example, identifying if a particular intervention leads to a certain outcome can be an important question to answer.

The duration of the follow-up period to evaluate outcomes is important.

Is the duration 2 weeks?

Is the duration 6 months?

Is the duration 1 year or more?

The length of the follow-up period must be specifically stated.

The setting refers to where the study will take place, such as an outpatient physician practice, an inpatient hospital setting, or a classroom setting with pharmacy students. The revised question could be as follows:

Do Ohio Medicaid outpatients, aged 18 to 75 years, diagnosed with HIV within the past 2 years and with a CD4 T-cell count >350 cells/mm 3 who initiated statin therapy within 1 year of diagnosis have improved CD4 counts 1 year after statin initiation as compared to similar patients with HIV, matched by diagnosis month, not taking a statin?

Research Question, Example 2

Does a home blood pressure (BP) monitoring program improve hypertension control?

First, apply the PICOTS criteria. Consider the questions noted below.

Are you interested in patients with a diagnosis of hypertension and uncontrolled BP versus controlled BP? How will you define “uncontrolled”?

How will home BP monitoring be conducted? Will patients be asked to monitor BP using an automated home BP cuff and take measurements 3 times per week? What else is involved with the program? Will patients enter data into a database or a patient portal linked to an electronic medical record? Who will receive the data?

Will you compare patients enrolled versus those who are not enrolled in the program in the same clinic or in a separate clinic? Would a historical comparator group be comparable (e.g., guidelines change)?

Is the outcome of interest a change in systolic and diastolic BP or achieving a specific BP goal?

Will you measure the outcome at 6 months, 12 months, or both? Are you able to bring study participants in for a specific follow-up visit and measurement, or are you relying on self-reported measures?

In what setting will these patients receive care (e.g., ambulatory clinic, community pharmacy)? The revised question could be as follows:

Does enrollment in a pharmacist-managed home BP monitoring program increase the proportion of hypertensive patients with uncontrolled BP at baseline who achieve their target BP after 6 months, compared to similar patients at an ambulatory care clinic not participating in the program?

Additional examples of research questions that have been revised using PICOTS criteria are included in Table 1-2 .

Example Research Questions Revised Using PICOTS and FINER Criteria 4 – 6

Developing a research question using finer criteria, feasibility.

Is your study feasible?

Questions to consider include the following:

Can the study population be clearly identified?

Can you identify a large enough sample size?

Do you have, or will you be able to obtain, appropriate data to examine the study question?

Do you have the technical expertise? Will you need additional help (e.g., biostatistician, content expert, someone with regulatory experience)?

What is the cost of the study? Is internal/external funding needed? If so, can you obtain it?

Can the study be conducted in the necessary time period?

As a pharmacy resident, this is the amount of time available for the actual study once you factor in any required Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (see Chapter 3 ), data requests, and preparation of a presentation and a manuscript (see Chapters 10 and 11). Look again at your research objective(s)—did you confine yourself to one to three objectives? Having too many research objectives or collecting too much data reduces the likelihood of completing the primary focus of your project. The key to completing your project by the end of your residency is keeping it tightly focused.

If the answer to many of these feasibility questions is no , then reconsider the idea. Consult with your research team to identify how this idea could become feasible or if a different research project should be undertaken.

Interesting

Does the research question interest you?

Working on a research project can be a tedious process; if you begin the project feeling that your question is mundane or uninteresting, finishing your project will be a challenge. Your research question also needs to be interesting to a journal editor if you want to publish your work. Your residency program should provide a structure for identifying an idea that allows you flexibility in meeting this criterion. To illustrate, some residency programs may have a model in which the previous year’s resident hands over a project for the next resident to continue in the following year. Alternatively, you may complete a small project that is part of a larger project—understanding the project’s role in the big picture can allow you to recognize its significance. If a project does not seem interesting or ambitious, consider building the case for a larger one that the initial project could help to support.

Does the research question confirm or refute previous findings? Does it seek new conclusions? Does it fill a gap in the literature?

Confirm this with your literature search. Skimping on this step will have negative consequences when you try to publish. It may be acceptable to use a published idea and apply it with a more local focus. Is the question important to your department or hospital or important to improving the quality of patient care at your practice site?

Can the study be conducted in an ethical manner?

For example, a retrospective study that investigates the effect of co-pay increases on adherence would be ethical, whereas a prospective study that randomly raised co-pays on some Medicare beneficiaries would place an unethical financial burden on patients. A study examining the effect of not providing counseling to patients for new medications would be unethical and unlawful. Investigative studies inherently carry more ethical risk than observational study designs. The IRB will scrutinize potential ethical issues carefully as they are charged with protecting patients.

Is the study question relevant to clinical practice and patients?

Some questions are interesting to study, but they may not be relevant given current guideline recommendations or patient needs. For example, studying the impact of an intervention to improve patient adherence in an outpatient practice may not be as pressing when providers are prescribing evidence-based therapies at a low rate in that practice setting.

CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review should be completed in the early stages of a research project and serves three purposes:

Increase your scientific understanding of the area of focus.

Ensure that your research question is novel or clarifies ambiguity around previous research.

Provide ideas on how to best fill in the gaps in the current understanding of your focus area. 4 , 6

Ensuring that your work builds on existing literature and does not duplicate other research is vital to future publication. A well-written literature review helps to build a compelling case for why your project needs to be done, and serves as background for your protocol and eventual manuscript once the project is completed. To fulfill these purposes, you need to build a comprehensive search strategy.

Key Tips: General Literature Search Strategy

• ✓ Use at least two databases (e.g., PubMed, GoogleScholar, EMBASE).
• ✓ Check references of the “key” studies that address your research topic.
• ✓ Use the Cited By feature in PubMed to identify additional studies published on similar topics.
• ✓ Check with content experts to ensure relevant studies are not missed.
• ✓ Search for gray literature —literature that falls outside of the mainstream domains for publication. Some examples include publications that have not been indexed in PubMed or Embase, government organizations’ annual reports, and proceedings of professional meetings that align with your topic. Gray literature can be located using an internet search or Google Scholar or by searching abstracts from relevant professional meetings.
• ✓ To be as inclusive as possible in your literature search, avoid limiting searches by date.
• ✓ Develop a process for reference management up front (see the Managing References section).
• ✓ Save the search strategy and repeat the search periodically to ensure the most recent literature on the topic has been identified, especially prior to presenting the project and/or writing the manuscript.

Organizing and Evaluating Literature Search Results

Finding a method to organize and synthesize the findings of your literature search helps you organize your ideas and find key facts that you may need to reference later. This will help others understand the scope of evidence about the topic and the different types of published studies. You also need to provide a critique about the relevance and quality of the published evidence. Consider how the study findings can be compared and contrasted and then identify strengths and weaknesses of each study. Categorize papers into different topics or headings using an Excel spreadsheet with headings for study design, methods, key findings, and critiques (see the example in Table 1-3 ). 7 A second option is to create an annotated bibliography (see the Recommended Readings section for resources on annotated bibliographies).

Sample Excel Spreadsheet with Study Description 7

Managing references.

Managing references can be a cumbersome process. Online reference managing programs to aid in this process are plentiful; use one of them to keep track of your references ( Table 1-4 ). These programs facilitate the numbering of references, especially when multiple authors provide edits, and ease the process of incorporating reviewer feedback.

Reference Management Resource

APA = American Psychological Association; DOI = digital object identifier; MLA = Modern Language Association; PDF = portable document format

DEVELOPING A STUDY PROTOCOL

The study protocol is the document that will guide the conduct of your research. This includes the study’s background, research question, objectives, methods, and statistical analysis that will be used as well as outcomes to be measured. 4 If the protocol is given to another researcher, he or she should be able to understand and replicate your study. The study protocol includes two main ­components—the introduction or background and the methods .

Writing the Background

Your literature review will guide and simplify writing the background section of your protocol. This portion of the protocol provides the background and rationale for the research project. The quantity of information needed in your background will vary based on the existing information on the topic. Usually, one to two pages in length is appropriate; however, your institution may prefer less material (e.g., one paragraph) for the IRB protocol (see Chapter 3 ). Writing a longer background will help you synthesize the current literature and provide a foundation for your manuscript once the study has been conducted. The background section should identify how your study will fill a gap in the literature and build on existing knowledge. The following information is a general overview to writing a background section. 8

Answer three questions:

What is known about your topic? Describe relevant published literature (i.e., standard of care, guidelines) and provide enough information and context for the reader to become familiar with the topic without getting too broad. For example, a project on primary non-adherence to bisphosphonates should not go into an extensive background on diagnosis and epidemiology of osteoporosis, but should quickly get to the actual problem at hand.

What is not known? Outline gaps in the literature, focusing on the gap(s) your study hopes to address.

Why is your study important? Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier to progress in the field that your project addresses and what contribution is expected to be made to close the gaps.

End with the research question/purpose statement for your study.

Determining the Methods

The next section of the protocol focuses on how you will conduct the project or the methodological approach and study design. This section includes a description of the study site, inclusion and exclusion criteria, participant recruitment process, data collection methods, research instruments, study variables and outcomes, and data analysis approach. These topics will be addressed in the following chapters. Refer to the outline in Exhibit 1-1 for more information about specific details to include in your study protocol.

WRITING OBJECTIVES, HYPOTHESES, AND OUTCOME MEASURES

Writing objectives.

After you have written your research question and conducted a literature review, you can write research objectives. The objectives form the backbone of the protocol. 4 The objective(s) or aim(s) identify knowledge gaps that the study will fill; identify what the study will achieve; and guide the study design, analysis, and reporting of results. A study can have multiple objectives, but one should be designated as the primary objective. The primary objective is the axis around which the study is designed and is key to determining the necessary sample size. Developing tightly focused study objectives is essential to conducting a successful project. Make sure you have one clear primary objective and no more than two or three secondary objectives . As a clinician, you have been trained to consider myriad factors in caring for your patients, but as a researcher, you must avoid diverting efforts in too many directions and subsequently losing focus on your primary ­objective. 4 , 6 , 10

Refer back to the example study questions stated earlier in the chapter. Example study objectives for those research questions are listed below.

Primary objective: Compare 6-month and 1-year changes in CD4 T-cell counts between patients who are receiving a statin compared with those who are not.

Secondary objective: Compare 6-month and 1-year changes in plasma HIV ribonucleic acid counts between the study groups.

Primary objective: Compare BP control rates at 6 months in patients enrolled in a pharmacist-managed home BP program to rates in patients receiving usual care (i.e., not enrolled in a program).

Secondary objective: Compare absolute change in systolic and diastolic BP between the two study groups.

Secondary objective: Compare the number of visits required to achieve BP control between the two groups.

Formulating a Hypothesis

A study hypothesis is the prediction of the relationship between one or more factors and the problem under study. 3 , 4 , 11 A hypothesis is appropriate for an intervention or evaluative study, but it is generally not applicable for a descriptive study. Hypotheses should be identified prior to the research, and state the specific relationship between the variables you plan to collect and the study outcome variables. You should have at least one hypothesis for each study objective/aim; more than one hypothesis statement can be written, but it is not required.

Hypothesis statements have many different characteristics ( Table 1-5 ). First, hypotheses may be stated as a null or alternative hypothesis. A null hypothesis posits no difference between two or more groups under examination, whereas an alternative hypothesis indicates that you expect to observe a difference between groups. The null hypothesis is commonly used during statistical analysis (see Chapter 5 ). Second, a hypothesis statement may be nondirectional or directional. A ­ nondirectional hypothesis indicates that a relationship between variables is predicted, but the direction of the outcome—higher versus lower, better versus worse, increased versus decreased—is uncertain. A directional hypothesis indicates the anticipated direction of the relationship between ­variables. Lastly, a hypothesis may be associative or causal. Associative hypotheses make no judgment regarding causality and suggest the only thing that can be stated with certainty is a change in one variable is associated with a change in the other. In contrast, a causal hypothesis is used to infer that a change in one variable (e.g., pharmacist intervention) directly causes a change in an outcome variable. 3 , 4 , 11

The following hypothesis statements are based on the example research questions in the previous section.

Examples of Hypothesis Statements 11

HIV = human immunodeficiency virus

Hypothesis: Patients with HIV who receive a statin will have improved CD4 T-cell counts compared to patients with HIV who are not taking a statin.

Hypothesis: Patients randomized to a pharmacist-managed home BP program will achieve greater BP control compared to patients who are randomized to receive usual care (i.e., no program).

Specifying Study Outcomes (Endpoints)

A study outcome is the specific phenomenon you are going to measure to represent your objective. 3 , 4 In other words, the primary endpoint should be representative of the primary objective. For a quantitative study, it should be measurable and represented as a number or proportion. Also, the numerator and denominator for how the outcome will be calculated should be determined. A study outcome, for example, could be the proportion of patients in each group who express that they are adherent to their antiretroviral regimen.

The following are examples of study outcome measures using the example research questions.

The proportion of patients with HIV with a CD4 count >350 cells/mm 3 . (The numerator is the number of patients with a CD4 count >350 cells/mm 3 , and the denominator is the total number of patients with HIV and a CD4 count measured in the past N number of days.)

The mean change in systolic BP from baseline to 6 months follow-up.

COLLABORATING WITH YOUR RESEARCH TEAM

Research is a collaborative, interdisciplinary process; therefore, you will likely require others’ cooperation to complete your project successfully. As a pharmacy resident, you may have been assigned an individual mentor or team of collaborators to work with on your project. In future research endeavors, the need for a team and members to be included on the team will vary. When working with a team, it is helpful to define the roles and responsibilities of each team member at the ­beginning of the project. For some projects, the level of involvement for each person will vary with some people taking responsibility for certain tasks or contributing expertise at specific phases of the project (e.g., data analyst extracting data from medical records during data collection phase). In other projects, it may be expected that all team members share the responsibilities throughout the course of the study. Working in a team setting can be rewarding; however, team dynamics can be challenging to manage. It is necessary to maintain open communication and flexibility to prevent potential misunderstandings and ensure that everyone is engaged, as needed. The initial team meeting should include a discussion of the following items:

Establishment of ground rules for respectful team dynamics

Identification of who needs to be on the team and their respective roles on the project

Communication preferences

Frequency of team meetings

Authorship and authorship order

Goal journal submissions

Key Tips: Successful Collaborations

• ✓ Schedule meetings proactively at regular time intervals, especially while developing the protocol. You can always cancel if meetings are not needed.
• ✓ Create an agenda for each meeting.
• ✓ Take minutes to record decisions made and work to share; send minutes to participants after the meeting, including action items, who is responsible, and by what deadline.
• ✓ Create a central place to store study-related documents (e.g., literature, protocol) so that all team members have access to all documents (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, Box).

DEVELOPING A STUDY TIMELINE

To keep your research project on track and check feasibility, it is important to create a timeline. Most residency research projects occur over 1 year, so it is helpful to work backward from the residency completion date to ensure that you allocate time appropriately to complete your study and draft the manuscript or final study report. Allot extra time for IRB approval and data collection in case of unanticipated setbacks. Ask about the IRB meeting dates before starting the research process and target the date you plan to submit your project for review. It is important to know those dates so you can allot time for the approval process or revise your proposal, if needed. Revise the timeline, as required, if setbacks occur, and ensure that all research team members agree about project expectations. Additionally, allow sufficient time (e.g., 1−2 weeks) for mentors to provide feedback about your study implementation plan and documents. Better yet, ask how much notice they need to review documents so that you can accommodate their schedules. Incorporating a plan for publication into the timeline is beneficial, and expectations for publication should be discussed with your research team. 5 A sample timeline is provided in Table 1-6 .

Sample Study Timeline 10

* It is not unusual for revisions to extend beyond the completion of your residency. Consider building this extra work into your timeline.

IRB = Institutional Review Board

A Gantt chart is another tool to aid project planning ( Table 1-7 ). A Gantt chart includes all research activities in the order they are expected to occur and plots how much time will be allocated for each activity. Consider including additional columns for who is responsible for completing each milestone or additional rows with greater detail for activities that support accomplishing each milestone. 12

Implementing a research project begins with writing a well-crafted research question. The PICOTS and FINER criteria are useful tools to guide the development and refinement of your question. Once the question is finalized, formulating a search strategy to uncover relevant literature will guide further refinement of your research question and writing of the study protocol. Regular meetings with your study team to draft and finalize the study protocol, especially the background and methods, will ensure that your project has a strong foundation.

Key Takeaways

• ■ Identify the knowledge gap your study will address by critically evaluating the literature and consulting with colleagues.
• ■ Write the research question using PICOTS and/or FINER criteria.
• ■ Search for existing information on the topic and refine the research question.
• ■ Identify a strategy for referencing the relevant literature.
• ■ Develop a study protocol and outcome measurement strategy.
• ■ Create and implement a study timeline.

Lipowski EE . Developing great research questions . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 : 1667 – 1670 .

• Search Google Scholar
• Export Citation

Haynes RB . Forming research questions . J Clin Epidemiol. 2006 ; 59 : 881 – 886 .

Smith KM . Building upon existing evidence to shape future research endeavors . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 : 1767 – 1774 .

Aparasu RR . Research Methods for Pharmaceutical Practice and Policy . London, UK : Pharmaceutical Press ; 2011 .

Aparasu RR , Bentley JP . Principles of Research Design and Drug Literature Evaluation . Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning ; 2015 .

Hulley S , Cummings S , Browner W , et al. et al. Designing Clinical Research . 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA : Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins ; 2007 .

Smolen JS , Kay J , Doyle MK , et al. et al. Golimumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis after treatment with tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitors (GO-AFTER study): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III trial . Lancet. 2009 Jul 18 ; 374 ( 9685 ): 210 – 221 .

Welch HG . Preparing manuscripts for submission to medical journals: the paper trail . Eff Clin Pract . 1999 ; 2 : 131 – 137 .

NEJM Resident 360 Website . Sample research protocol template . https://resident360.nejm.org/content_items/1839 . Accessed July 15 , 2019 .

Weber RJ , Cobaugh DJ . Developing and executing an effective research plan . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 ( 21 ): 2058 – 2065 .

Farrugia P , Petrisor BA , Farrokhyar F , et al. et al. Research questions, hypotheses, and objectives . Can J Surg. 2010 Aug ; 53 ( 4 ): 278 – 281 .

Wilson JM . Gantt charts: a centenary appreciation . Eur J Oper Res. 2003 ; 149 : 430 – 437 .

RECOMMENDED READINGS

The references listed below outline how to develop research ideas and a plan as well as write research questions.

Research Planning

Al-Ryami A . How to prepare a research proposal . Oman Med J . 2008 ; 23 ( 2 ): 66 66−69 69 .

Weber RJ , Cobaugh DJ . Developing and executing an effective research plan . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 ( 21 ): 2058 2058−2065 2065 .

Planas LG . Intervention design, implementation, and evaluation . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 : 1854 1854−1863 1863 .

Smith FJ . Conducting Your Pharmacy Practice Research: A Step-by-Step Guide . 2nd ed. London, UK : Pharmaceutical Press ; 2010 .

Research Questions

Lipowski EE . Developing great research questions . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 : 1667 1667−1670 1670 .

Smith KM . Building upon existing evidence to shape future research endeavors . Am J Health-Syst Pharm . 2008 ; 65 : 1767 1767−1774 1774 .

Raich AL , Skelly AC . Asking the right question: specifying your study question . Evid Based Spine Care J . 2013 ; 4 ( 2 ): 68 68−71 71 .

PubMed (Medline) . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Google Scholar . https://scholar.google.com . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

EMBASE . https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/embase-biomedical-research . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

International Pharmaceutical Abstracts . https://www.ovid.com/product-details.109.html . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Cochrane Collaboration . http://www.cochrane.org/ . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

ClinicalTrials.gov . https://clinicaltrials.gov/ . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Web Resources

ASHP Foundation . Essentials of a Practice-Based Research for Pharmacists . https://www.ashpfoundation.org/research . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Gantt Charts . https://www.teamgantt.com . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Annotated Bibliography Guide . http://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Annotated Bibliography Example . http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/pharmacy/AcademicPrograms/clinical-pharmacy-toolkit/Documents/annotatedbibliography_clinical-pharmacy-integration-into-pcmh.pdf . Accessed March 31 , 2020 .

Study Protocol Outline 9

I. Title Page

A. Protocol title, principal investigator, co-investigators, date

B. Affiliations for all investigators

II. Abstract (optional)

A. Brief one-page summary of proposed research; this section may be shorter depending on institution requirements

III. Background and Rationale

A. Significance of research question

B. Last sentence should be the study purpose/main research question

IV. Study Objectives (Aims)/Hypothesis

A. Primary objective

B. Secondary objective(s)

A. Study design (e.g., prospective, retrospective, randomized, cohort); include statement that IRB approval will be obtained

B. Study setting and population

i. Brief description of study setting

ii. Inclusion/exclusion criteria

C. Study procedures

i. Describe subject identification and/or recruitment

ii. Describe informed consent process (written or verbal) (if applicable)

iii. Describe subject enrollment process (if applicable)

iv. Describe procedures for intervention, methods for blinding, randomizing, detailed description of what will occur once subject is deemed eligible for study (if applicable)

v. Describe criteria for assignment to study versus control group (exposure)

vi. Describe data collection, including all required data elements, sources, date ranges, and storage

D. Outcome measures

i. Primary outcome

ii. Secondary/tertiary outcomes

VI. Analytical Plan

VII. Study Timeline

VIII. References

IX. Appendixes (separate documents)

A. Data collection tools, consent forms, patient information letters, surveys, etc.

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How To Write A Solid Assignment Introduction

By: Derek Jansen | December 2017

I’ll kick off this post by making a bold assertion:

The introduction chapter of your assignment is the single most important section in your entire assignment.

Yip. Not the analysis chapter. Not the recommendations chapter. The introduction chapter. Yip, that short 200/300/400-word chapter that so many students rush through to get to the meatier chapters.  Why do I say this? There are a few reasons:

It creates the first impression.

Apart from the executive summary (which some assignments don’t have), the introduction creates the very first impression on your marker. It sets the tone in terms of the quality of the assignment.

It introduces your industry.

You might have decades of experience in your industry – but your marker won’t. This means that the simplest concepts can be misunderstood (and thereby cost you marks) if not explained right at the beginning of your assignment. A good introduction lays the foundation so that the marker can understand your upcoming arguments.

It defines and justifies your topic.

The introduction, if developed correctly, clearly outlines what the assignment will be about (and what it won’t) and why that’s important (i.e. a justification). In other words, it makes it clear what the focus of the assignment will be about, and why that is worth investigating. This clarity and justification of the topic are essential to earning good marks and keeping you focused on the purpose of the assignment.

It clarifies your approach.

Beyond the what and why, a good introduction also briefly explains how you’ll approach the research, both from a theoretical and practical perspective. This lays a clear roadmap both for the marker and for yourself. For the marker, this improves the readability and digestibility of the document (which is essential for earning marks). And for you, this big-picture view of the approach keeps you from digressing into a useless analysis.

In short, a good introduction lays a solid foundation and a clear direction for the rest of your assignment. Hopefully, you’re convinced…

The 5 essential ingredients.

In this post, I’ll outline the key components of a strong introduction chapter/section. But first, I want to discuss the structure.

Some assignment briefs will provide a proposed structure which combines the introduction and analysis chapters. I always encourage my clients to split this up into two chapters, as it provides a clearer, more logical structure. You’ll see why once I discuss the core components.

#1 – The Four Ws

A logical starting point is to assume the marker knows nothing about your business . Make sure you cover the basics:

• Who – what is the name of the business? If its multiple words, you should take the opportunity to introduce an acronym here. Then, stick to the acronym throughout the rest of the assignment. It’s also good practice to provide a list of acronyms in the appendix.
• What – explain what the business does, in simple English. Avoid industry jargon and explain the basic operating model of the business.
• Where – explain where the business operates from and where its customers operate. If you have multiple offices and serve multiple markets, a visual representation can save you some words.
• When – mention the age of the business, and how many staff it employs. You can also note the ownership structure (private company, listed entity, JV, etc).

If you’re only going to focus on one country/branch/department, make mention of this now. Also, be sure to justify why you’re focusing on that (for example, due to limited access to data).

If done right, you will have now painted a very clear (but concise) picture of the organisation for the marker. The next step is to discuss the context that the business operates in.

#2 – A brief discussion of the context.

Now that you’ve introduced the business, you need to move towards identifying the key issue(s) that will form the focus of the assignment. To do this, you need to lay a context, which will then lead to the issue(s). This will vary between assignments, and could be something like:

• The entry of new competitors resulting in reduced market share (STR, SM)
• A merger leading to a culture clash and poor performance (MP)
• A corporate scandal resulting in reputation damage (R&R)
• Changing regulation leading to the opening of a new potential country market (IB)

In other words, you need to present a (brief) story of how the key issue(s) or opportunity has arisen – X has lead to Y, which caused Z.

#3 – Identification of the key issue and research question(s).

With the context set, you need to clearly state what the key issue(s) or opportunity is, and why this is worth investigating (for example, due to the financial impact if left unresolved). This is pretty straightforward, but it is a critical step often missed by students, and results in the marker questioning the quality of the entire assignment.

With the key issue identified, its time to lay out your research question(s). In other words, state in question format, what question(s) your assignment will seek to answer.

For example:

• “What has changed in Organisation X’s competitive context, and how should it best respond to ensure sustainable competitive advantage?”
• “Should Organisation X internationalise to Country Y?”
• “What segments exist within Industry X and which segment should Organisation Y target?”
• “Which digital business model should Organisation X adopt?”

By stating your research question(s) up front, you are providing a very clear, focused direction for your assignment, thereby reducing your risk of getting distracted by the shiny objects that will invariably pop up along the way. You are stating clearly what you will and won’t focus on, and ring-fencing the assignment to a manageable breadth. This is critically important for earning marks, as it allows you to go deep into a highly relevant set of theories and develop meaningful insights, rather than superficially fluttering with numerous less-relevant ones.

What’s critically important is that you achieve alignment between the context, the issue(s) and the research question(s). They should all flow in a logical fashion, as shown below. 

If you achieve this alignment, you have a rock-solid foundation for your assignment, and your marker will be crystal clear regarding your direction, and why you chose that direction.

#4 – A brief outline of your theoretical approach.

Now that you’ve made it clear what your assignment is aiming to achieve (i.e. what research question(s) it wants to answer), it is very good practice to briefly mention:

• How you will approach the analysis.
• What key theory you will draw on.

In other words, you should give the marker an indication of how you approached the analysis, and on what theoretical basis. For example:

“The report begins by briefly looking at the organisation’s broader strategy, as well as values using Schwartz’s model (1994). It then reviews stakeholders using Mitchell et al.’s framework (1997) and identifies a key group with which reputation needs to be managed to achieve strategic alignment. It then analyses antecedents, reputation, and outcomes of the said group using Money et al.’s (2012) RELATE framework. This is followed by proposed strategic actions.”

As you can see, this excerpt clearly outlines how the analysis was approached, and what key theory was used in the relevant sections. This gives the marker a big-picture view of the assignment, which aids the digestibility of the document.

#5 – A brief outline of your fieldwork.

Now that you’ve communicated the approach, structure and underpinning theory, it’s best practice to make a quick mention of your fieldwork. Yes, you’re typically supposed to collect some primary data (for example, undertake some semi-structured interviews or a survey), as well as secondary data (for example, review industry reports, company data, etc), for your assignments – especially in Stage 2 and 3 of the program. 

In this final section, you should very briefly outline what you did in this respect so that the marker can rest assured that your assignment is not an opinion piece. A quality assignment draws on multiple data sources to make well-informed, data-backed arguments. Show that you’ve done this, and be sure to refer the reader to the appendices for evidence of this work (for example, interview transcripts, survey results, etc.).

Lastly, make mention of your relationship with the business, and your broad responsibilities. Remember to keep this in third-person language. For example:

“The author is employed as the [INSERT YOUR TITLE] and is responsible for X, Y and Z.”

Let’s recap.

In this article, I’ve hopefully convinced you of the critical importance of writing a strong introduction chapter. I’ve also presented 5 essential ingredients that you should bake into your intro in every assignment. By incorporating these ingredients (ideally, in this order), you will set the foundation for a strong assignment.

To recap the 5 essentials:

• A (plain language) explanation of the organisation.
• A brief discussion of the context.
• Identification of the key issue and research question(s).
• A brief outline of your theoretical approach.
• A brief outline of your fieldwork and your professional position.

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Informative and easy to apply advice…tx D

You’re welcome, Rishen 🙂

It is a very useful and understandable explanation of writing a research paper. Thank you so much for the sharing free such a useful example.

Yours sincerely Tara

This is really good, thank you.

Thanks for the feedback, Paul. Best of luck with your Henley MBA.

Very useful guide for the MBA. You mention that it’s good practice to use a range of sources to support arguments. If an assignment task isn’t that strategic (e.g. reviewing a process for a particular team within the business), can the assignment be supported purely by ‘fieldwork’ and models/theory? Thank you.

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• How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on October 12, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

• Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Table of contents

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research proposals.

Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal as part of a grad school application , or prior to starting your thesis or dissertation .

In addition to helping you figure out what your research can look like, a proposal can also serve to demonstrate why your project is worth pursuing to a funder, educational institution, or supervisor.

Research proposal length

The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

• Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”
• Example research proposal #2: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

• The proposed title of your project
• Your supervisor’s name
• Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

• Introduce your topic
• Give necessary background and context
• Outline your  problem statement  and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

• Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
• How much is already known about the topic
• What is missing from this current knowledge
• What new insights your research will contribute
• Why you believe this research is worth doing

As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review  shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

• Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
• Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesize prior scholarship

Following the literature review, restate your main  objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

• Improving best practices
• Informing policymaking decisions
• Strengthening a theory or model
• Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
• Creating a basis for future research

Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .

Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

• Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
• Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
• Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

• Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
• Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
• Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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Chapter 17. Content Analysis

Introduction.

Content analysis is a term that is used to mean both a method of data collection and a method of data analysis. Archival and historical works can be the source of content analysis, but so too can the contemporary media coverage of a story, blogs, comment posts, films, cartoons, advertisements, brand packaging, and photographs posted on Instagram or Facebook. Really, almost anything can be the “content” to be analyzed. This is a qualitative research method because the focus is on the meanings and interpretations of that content rather than strictly numerical counts or variables-based causal modeling. [1] Qualitative content analysis (sometimes referred to as QCA) is particularly useful when attempting to define and understand prevalent stories or communication about a topic of interest—in other words, when we are less interested in what particular people (our defined sample) are doing or believing and more interested in what general narratives exist about a particular topic or issue. This chapter will explore different approaches to content analysis and provide helpful tips on how to collect data, how to turn that data into codes for analysis, and how to go about presenting what is found through analysis. It is also a nice segue between our data collection methods (e.g., interviewing, observation) chapters and chapters 18 and 19, whose focus is on coding, the primary means of data analysis for most qualitative data. In many ways, the methods of content analysis are quite similar to the method of coding.

Although the body of material (“content”) to be collected and analyzed can be nearly anything, most qualitative content analysis is applied to forms of human communication (e.g., media posts, news stories, campaign speeches, advertising jingles). The point of the analysis is to understand this communication, to systematically and rigorously explore its meanings, assumptions, themes, and patterns. Historical and archival sources may be the subject of content analysis, but there are other ways to analyze (“code”) this data when not overly concerned with the communicative aspect (see chapters 18 and 19). This is why we tend to consider content analysis its own method of data collection as well as a method of data analysis. Still, many of the techniques you learn in this chapter will be helpful to any “coding” scheme you develop for other kinds of qualitative data. Just remember that content analysis is a particular form with distinct aims and goals and traditions.

An Overview of the Content Analysis Process

The first step: selecting content.

Figure 17.2 is a display of possible content for content analysis. The first step in content analysis is making smart decisions about what content you will want to analyze and to clearly connect this content to your research question or general focus of research. Why are you interested in the messages conveyed in this particular content? What will the identification of patterns here help you understand? Content analysis can be fun to do, but in order to make it research, you need to fit it into a research plan.

Figure 17.1. A Non-exhaustive List of "Content" for Content Analysis

To take one example, let us imagine you are interested in gender presentations in society and how presentations of gender have changed over time. There are various forms of content out there that might help you document changes. You could, for example, begin by creating a list of magazines that are coded as being for “women” (e.g., Women’s Daily Journal ) and magazines that are coded as being for “men” (e.g., Men’s Health ). You could then select a date range that is relevant to your research question (e.g., 1950s–1970s) and collect magazines from that era. You might create a “sample” by deciding to look at three issues for each year in the date range and a systematic plan for what to look at in those issues (e.g., advertisements? Cartoons? Titles of articles? Whole articles?). You are not just going to look at some magazines willy-nilly. That would not be systematic enough to allow anyone to replicate or check your findings later on. Once you have a clear plan of what content is of interest to you and what you will be looking at, you can begin, creating a record of everything you are including as your content. This might mean a list of each advertisement you look at or each title of stories in those magazines along with its publication date. You may decide to have multiple “content” in your research plan. For each content, you want a clear plan for collecting, sampling, and documenting.

The Second Step: Collecting and Storing

Once you have a plan, you are ready to collect your data. This may entail downloading from the internet, creating a Word document or PDF of each article or picture, and storing these in a folder designated by the source and date (e.g., “ Men’s Health advertisements, 1950s”). Sølvberg ( 2021 ), for example, collected posted job advertisements for three kinds of elite jobs (economic, cultural, professional) in Sweden. But collecting might also mean going out and taking photographs yourself, as in the case of graffiti, street signs, or even what people are wearing. Chaise LaDousa, an anthropologist and linguist, took photos of “house signs,” which are signs, often creative and sometimes offensive, hung by college students living in communal off-campus houses. These signs were a focal point of college culture, sending messages about the values of the students living in them. Some of the names will give you an idea: “Boot ’n Rally,” “The Plantation,” “Crib of the Rib.” The students might find these signs funny and benign, but LaDousa ( 2011 ) argued convincingly that they also reproduced racial and gender inequalities. The data here already existed—they were big signs on houses—but the researcher had to collect the data by taking photographs.

In some cases, your content will be in physical form but not amenable to photographing, as in the case of films or unwieldy physical artifacts you find in the archives (e.g., undigitized meeting minutes or scrapbooks). In this case, you need to create some kind of detailed log (fieldnotes even) of the content that you can reference. In the case of films, this might mean watching the film and writing down details for key scenes that become your data. [2] For scrapbooks, it might mean taking notes on what you are seeing, quoting key passages, describing colors or presentation style. As you might imagine, this can take a lot of time. Be sure you budget this time into your research plan.

Researcher Note

A note on data scraping : Data scraping, sometimes known as screen scraping or frame grabbing, is a way of extracting data generated by another program, as when a scraping tool grabs information from a website. This may help you collect data that is on the internet, but you need to be ethical in how to employ the scraper. A student once helped me scrape thousands of stories from the Time magazine archives at once (although it took several hours for the scraping process to complete). These stories were freely available, so the scraping process simply sped up the laborious process of copying each article of interest and saving it to my research folder. Scraping tools can sometimes be used to circumvent paywalls. Be careful here!

The Third Step: Analysis

There is often an assumption among novice researchers that once you have collected your data, you are ready to write about what you have found. Actually, you haven’t yet found anything, and if you try to write up your results, you will probably be staring sadly at a blank page. Between the collection and the writing comes the difficult task of systematically and repeatedly reviewing the data in search of patterns and themes that will help you interpret the data, particularly its communicative aspect (e.g., What is it that is being communicated here, with these “house signs” or in the pages of Men’s Health ?).

The first time you go through the data, keep an open mind on what you are seeing (or hearing), and take notes about your observations that link up to your research question. In the beginning, it can be difficult to know what is relevant and what is extraneous. Sometimes, your research question changes based on what emerges from the data. Use the first round of review to consider this possibility, but then commit yourself to following a particular focus or path. If you are looking at how gender gets made or re-created, don’t follow the white rabbit down a hole about environmental injustice unless you decide that this really should be the focus of your study or that issues of environmental injustice are linked to gender presentation. In the second round of review, be very clear about emerging themes and patterns. Create codes (more on these in chapters 18 and 19) that will help you simplify what you are noticing. For example, “men as outdoorsy” might be a common trope you see in advertisements. Whenever you see this, mark the passage or picture. In your third (or fourth or fifth) round of review, begin to link up the tropes you’ve identified, looking for particular patterns and assumptions. You’ve drilled down to the details, and now you are building back up to figure out what they all mean. Start thinking about theory—either theories you have read about and are using as a frame of your study (e.g., gender as performance theory) or theories you are building yourself, as in the Grounded Theory tradition. Once you have a good idea of what is being communicated and how, go back to the data at least one more time to look for disconfirming evidence. Maybe you thought “men as outdoorsy” was of importance, but when you look hard, you note that women are presented as outdoorsy just as often. You just hadn’t paid attention. It is very important, as any kind of researcher but particularly as a qualitative researcher, to test yourself and your emerging interpretations in this way.

The Fourth and Final Step: The Write-Up

Only after you have fully completed analysis, with its many rounds of review and analysis, will you be able to write about what you found. The interpretation exists not in the data but in your analysis of the data. Before writing your results, you will want to very clearly describe how you chose the data here and all the possible limitations of this data (e.g., historical-trace problem or power problem; see chapter 16). Acknowledge any limitations of your sample. Describe the audience for the content, and discuss the implications of this. Once you have done all of this, you can put forth your interpretation of the communication of the content, linking to theory where doing so would help your readers understand your findings and what they mean more generally for our understanding of how the social world works. [3]

Analyzing Content: Helpful Hints and Pointers

Although every data set is unique and each researcher will have a different and unique research question to address with that data set, there are some common practices and conventions. When reviewing your data, what do you look at exactly? How will you know if you have seen a pattern? How do you note or mark your data?

Let’s start with the last question first. If your data is stored digitally, there are various ways you can highlight or mark up passages. You can, of course, do this with literal highlighters, pens, and pencils if you have print copies. But there are also qualitative software programs to help you store the data, retrieve the data, and mark the data. This can simplify the process, although it cannot do the work of analysis for you.

Qualitative software can be very expensive, so the first thing to do is to find out if your institution (or program) has a universal license its students can use. If they do not, most programs have special student licenses that are less expensive. The two most used programs at this moment are probably ATLAS.ti and NVivo. Both can cost more than $500 [4] but provide everything you could possibly need for storing data, content analysis, and coding. They also have a lot of customer support, and you can find many official and unofficial tutorials on how to use the programs’ features on the web. Dedoose, created by academic researchers at UCLA, is a decent program that lacks many of the bells and whistles of the two big programs. Instead of paying all at once, you pay monthly, as you use the program. The monthly fee is relatively affordable (less than $15), so this might be a good option for a small project. HyperRESEARCH is another basic program created by academic researchers, and it is free for small projects (those that have limited cases and material to import). You can pay a monthly fee if your project expands past the free limits. I have personally used all four of these programs, and they each have their pluses and minuses.

Regardless of which program you choose, you should know that none of them will actually do the hard work of analysis for you. They are incredibly useful for helping you store and organize your data, and they provide abundant tools for marking, comparing, and coding your data so you can make sense of it. But making sense of it will always be your job alone.

So let’s say you have some software, and you have uploaded all of your content into the program: video clips, photographs, transcripts of news stories, articles from magazines, even digital copies of college scrapbooks. Now what do you do? What are you looking for? How do you see a pattern? The answers to these questions will depend partially on the particular research question you have, or at least the motivation behind your research. Let’s go back to the idea of looking at gender presentations in magazines from the 1950s to the 1970s. Here are some things you can look at and code in the content: (1) actions and behaviors, (2) events or conditions, (3) activities, (4) strategies and tactics, (5) states or general conditions, (6) meanings or symbols, (7) relationships/interactions, (8) consequences, and (9) settings. Table 17.1 lists these with examples from our gender presentation study.

Table 17.1. Examples of What to Note During Content Analysis

One thing to note about the examples in table 17.1: sometimes we note (mark, record, code) a single example, while other times, as in “settings,” we are recording a recurrent pattern. To help you spot patterns, it is useful to mark every setting, including a notation on gender. Using software can help you do this efficiently. You can then call up “setting by gender” and note this emerging pattern. There’s an element of counting here, which we normally think of as quantitative data analysis, but we are using the count to identify a pattern that will be used to help us interpret the communication. Content analyses often include counting as part of the interpretive (qualitative) process.

In your own study, you may not need or want to look at all of the elements listed in table 17.1. Even in our imagined example, some are more useful than others. For example, “strategies and tactics” is a bit of a stretch here. In studies that are looking specifically at, say, policy implementation or social movements, this category will prove much more salient.

Another way to think about “what to look at” is to consider aspects of your content in terms of units of analysis. You can drill down to the specific words used (e.g., the adjectives commonly used to describe “men” and “women” in your magazine sample) or move up to the more abstract level of concepts used (e.g., the idea that men are more rational than women). Counting for the purpose of identifying patterns is particularly useful here. How many times is that idea of women’s irrationality communicated? How is it is communicated (in comic strips, fictional stories, editorials, etc.)? Does the incidence of the concept change over time? Perhaps the “irrational woman” was everywhere in the 1950s, but by the 1970s, it is no longer showing up in stories and comics. By tracing its usage and prevalence over time, you might come up with a theory or story about gender presentation during the period. Table 17.2 provides more examples of using different units of analysis for this work along with suggestions for effective use.

Table 17.2. Examples of Unit of Analysis in Content Analysis

Every qualitative content analysis is unique in its particular focus and particular data used, so there is no single correct way to approach analysis. You should have a better idea, however, of what kinds of things to look for and what to look for. The next two chapters will take you further into the coding process, the primary analytical tool for qualitative research in general.

Further Readings

Cidell, Julie. 2010. “Content Clouds as Exploratory Qualitative Data Analysis.” Area 42(4):514–523. A demonstration of using visual “content clouds” as a form of exploratory qualitative data analysis using transcripts of public meetings and content of newspaper articles.

Hsieh, Hsiu-Fang, and Sarah E. Shannon. 2005. “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis.” Qualitative Health Research 15(9):1277–1288. Distinguishes three distinct approaches to QCA: conventional, directed, and summative. Uses hypothetical examples from end-of-life care research.

Jackson, Romeo, Alex C. Lange, and Antonio Duran. 2021. “A Whitened Rainbow: The In/Visibility of Race and Racism in LGBTQ Higher Education Scholarship.” Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity (JCSCORE) 7(2):174–206.* Using a “critical summative content analysis” approach, examines research published on LGBTQ people between 2009 and 2019.

Krippendorff, Klaus. 2018. Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology . 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. A very comprehensive textbook on both quantitative and qualitative forms of content analysis.

Mayring, Philipp. 2022. Qualitative Content Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Formulates an eight-step approach to QCA.

Messinger, Adam M. 2012. “Teaching Content Analysis through ‘Harry Potter.’” Teaching Sociology 40(4):360–367. This is a fun example of a relatively brief foray into content analysis using the music found in Harry Potter films.

Neuendorft, Kimberly A. 2002. The Content Analysis Guidebook . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Although a helpful guide to content analysis in general, be warned that this textbook definitely favors quantitative over qualitative approaches to content analysis.

Schrier, Margrit. 2012. Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice . Thousand Okas, CA: SAGE. Arguably the most accessible guidebook for QCA, written by a professor based in Germany.

Weber, Matthew A., Shannon Caplan, Paul Ringold, and Karen Blocksom. 2017. “Rivers and Streams in the Media: A Content Analysis of Ecosystem Services.” Ecology and Society 22(3).* Examines the content of a blog hosted by National Geographic and articles published in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for stories on rivers and streams (e.g., water-quality flooding).

• There are ways of handling content analysis quantitatively, however. Some practitioners therefore specify qualitative content analysis (QCA). In this chapter, all content analysis is QCA unless otherwise noted. ↵
• Note that some qualitative software allows you to upload whole films or film clips for coding. You will still have to get access to the film, of course. ↵
• See chapter 20 for more on the final presentation of research. ↵
• . Actually, ATLAS.ti is an annual license, while NVivo is a perpetual license, but both are going to cost you at least $500 to use. Student rates may be lower. And don’t forget to ask your institution or program if they already have a software license you can use. ↵

A method of both data collection and data analysis in which a given content (textual, visual, graphic) is examined systematically and rigorously to identify meanings, themes, patterns and assumptions.  Qualitative content analysis (QCA) is concerned with gathering and interpreting an existing body of material.    

Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods Copyright © 2023 by Allison Hurst is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Introduction and Research Rationale

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The division of translation studies into pure and applied branch was first put forward by Holmes ( 1988 ). In this framework, pure branch consists of theoretical and descriptive sub-branches.

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Liu, K. (2020). Introduction and Research Rationale. In: Corpus-Assisted Translation Teaching. Corpora and Intercultural Studies, vol 7. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8995-9_1

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