How to write your dissertation introduction chapter: top tips for sociology and criminology students
The dissertation introduction chapter. It feels like it should be an easy thing to write, doesn’t it? It’s only an introduction after all. However, a lot of people get stuck on it, so if that’s you, you are not alone!
In this blogpost, I will be covering three key things:
The purpose of an introduction;
The most common introduction mistake, and how to avoid it;
Outline structure for an introduction.
The purpose of an introduction
What is an introduction chapter for? What should it do? Time for an exercise-based analogy here!
Think of yourself as a personal trainer, and think of your examiner as your client. You are guiding them through the workout that is your dissertation. Just as every workout needs a warm up, every dissertation needs an introduction.
They need to read a great introduction to understand what it is that you’re studying and why it’s important. Just as a good personal trainer will say, “This is why we’re doing a HIIT workout, because it’s great for your cardiovascular system, it helps you burn fat whilst also toning your muscles…”, in the Introduction, you are telling the reader, “This is why this research matters…”.
They also need to know any essential things they should understand before they go any further. Just as a personal trainer needs to explain HIIT or drop sets to a client who doesn’t know what those things are, you need to explain the key terms and definitions to your reader.
They need to get an overall grasp of the structure of your dissertation too. Just as a good personal trainer has a plan for what workout they’re going to do with their clients and says something like, “We’ll start with a warm up, then we’ll do some light strength training, then we’ll move onto core work”, you need to tell your reader about the structure of your dissertation, the order in which you’re going to tackle particular things.
When you have a good personal trainer, who takes the time to do all the things I’ve mentioned, their client is going to be super impressed and excited (or at least less reluctant) to get started with your workout. Same for your dissertation, if you take the time to write a good introduction, your examiner is going to be intrigued and keen to read more.
The introduction needs to light them up, spark their curiosity, get them completely on board, and have them thinking, “Mmm, their introduction is fabulous, I can’t wait to see the rest of their dissertation!”.
It is totally possible to do this. It is totally possible to write an introduction that connects with your examiner, that evokes emotion, inquisitiveness and an appetitie for more. I am going to tell you exactly how to do that after we’ve looked at the number one mistake that students make with dissertation introductions.
The most common introduction mistake and how to avoid it
The number one mistake with dissertation introductions: too many students try to write out their entire introduction before they even begin their literature review. They get their sentences and paragraphs perfect, their referencing spot on. They might spend weeks, or even months, twiddling and polishing it before they feel they can start their literature review.
Why is this a mistake?
Because what you know about your topic at the start of your dissertation is going to be a fraction of what you know about it at the end. There will be factors you hadn’t even anticipated when you started out. They will come into focus as you progress in your research, and they can be really valuable for your introduction.
That might be something about the context, the bigger picture, the, ‘Why is this important?’ question. You might discover that something significant has happened in the area you’re studying, that you weren’t aware of before – a new policy, an event, a case – and you’re going to need this in your introduction. Also, the scope of your study can shift and change as you go through the process of your research. You might decide to get a bit more specific, or even broaden out your focus a little.
As such, by the time you’ve done your literature review and methodology chapters, collected and analysed your data, and written up your discussion, the introduction you wrote months or years ago ago isn’t going to accurately reflect the research you ended up doing.
Now, I’m not trying to say, “Don’t do a single thing on your introduction until you’ve finished”, because some of you will want at least something introduction-y under your belt at the start!
However, I am saying please don’t spend ages perfecting it and writing it out in full. That’s a waste of your time. You’re only going to end up dismantling it and redrafting it at the end. The best thing to do is to sketch out your key headings and start adding some brief notes under each of those headings, which you can revisit, add to, or remove as you go through your research. Speaking of headings, that’s exactly what we’re going to look at next.
Outline structure for an introduction
Opener
First up, you need a great opener. This might be a quote from a piece of literature you’ve read or a powerful statistic, something that emphasises how important this topic is. For example, if you were doing your dissertation on Female entrepreneurs who built their own online businesses after a divorce, you might want to include a statistic about the number of female-led businesses that are set up every year.
Explanation of your topic
Next up, you need a detailed explanation of your dissertation topic. Tell the examiner what you’ve explored. Use different wording from the actual dissertation title or question. Paraphrase it, think about different ways to explain it. Use phrases like, “In other words…”, or “Put simply …”. This conveys a sound understanding of what you've been researching. You prove you know what you're writing about when you word it in different ways like this.
Let’s take our example again. How would you put that in other words and explain it a bit more fully? You might say that your dissertation looks at women’s experience of building online businesses following a divorce. That it explores issues of financial independence and risk-taking. That it considers how these women are challenging the traditional gender stereotypes of the male breadwinner and female caregiver. That you’re looking at both the strengths and needs of these women, how their experiences of divorce impact directly and indirectly on building businesses.
Aims and objectives
Make sure you know the difference between them! An aim is what you want to achieve, an objective is something you do to get there. For example, aims in our example dissertation might be to:
Discover common characteristics among successful female entrepreneurs;
Generate insights into how divorce both limits and creates opportunities for budding female entrepreneurs;
Establish a typology of post-divorce female entrepreneurs.
Objectives in our example dissertation might be to:
Identify 20 post-divorce female entrepreneurs;
Formulate a qualitative study to explore their lived experiences;
Compare and contrast different experiences of entrepreneurship;
Synthesise key themes to inform a typology;
Formulate a set of recommendations as to how post-divorce female entrepreneurs can be supported to succeed.
“So, what?”
Next up, you need to answer the ‘So what?’ question. Tell the reader why it is important to look at this topic or ask this question.
You might want to think about what’s generally going on in the world at the moment. Has anything happened to highlight the importance of the topic? This might relate to a recent change in the law or policy, a case that’s been in the news, a key development within your area of expertise - something that justifies a closer look at your topic.
In our example, we might want to consider the contribution of female-led businesses to the economy. We might want to highlight that entrepreneurship offers a path to financial independence for single women, and as such it could help reduce unemployment or dependence upon financial support from the state. We might want to write about the pandemic and the ‘great resignation’ that’s led to many people deciding to start their own businesses. Be really clear about why your topic matters, how it’s important, to whom it’s important, and what the implications of doing this kind of research might be.
Key terms and definitions
Look at the language used around your topic and define any key terms. If there are central concepts or ideas, explain them.
What are they? What do they mean? Are there varying interpretations or ways of thinking about them? Do different people define the same thing in different ways? What understandings of the key terms and definitions have you applied in your dissertation? What are the common misconceptions and misunderstandings of these terms?
In our example, we would want to define what we meant by ‘entrepreneur’. We might encounter other terms like ‘mumpreneur’ or ‘solopreneur’ and we need to explain what they mean. As we’re looking at female entrepreneurs, we might want to think about any gendered stereotypes around entrepreneurship too.
Road Map
Lastly, we need a road map. Provide the examiner with an overview of the structure and content of your dissertation, so they know what’s coming and the order it’s going to be presented in.
You might write something along the lines of, “The literature review considers... Thereafter, the methodology chapter outlines ...". This is one part of the introduction that I think you really do want to leave until the end. It will be much easier to write then, because you will have done your dissertation. Don’t make life hard for yourself by trying to do it before then!
Next steps
If you’re ready to start mapping out your introduction, check out my planner pack below! It also includes lots of helpful planners, cheat sheets and worksheets for your discussion and conclusion chapters too!
