Bangaaan handicraft center, Ifugao province, Philippines

The Introduction of a thesis outline is like the prelude to a piece of music. Here you present your research question to the reader. Experts have suggested some practical guidelines  on how to frame research questions:

1. Try to place your research question in the context of either a current “hot” area, or an older area that remains viable.
2. Provide a brief but appropriate historical backdrop.
3. Provide the contemporary context in which your proposed research question occupies the central stage.
4. Identify “key players” and refer to the most relevant and representative publications.

Following the inverted pyramid style of presenting information, start the introduction with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus on a specific research problem, followed by the rationale or justification for the proposed study. In the website, scholarshipNet.info, Wong  (n.d.) lists the following general elements of an Introduction:

1. State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study.
2. Provide the context for your research question and justify why the study is needed or important.
3. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.
4. Briefly describe the major issues to be addressed by your research.
5. Set the boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus.

Justify the research problem

Also referred to as the “rationale” , this is the part of the proposal in which you try to convince your adviser and research committee members why your proposed research needs to be done. You can do this by describing how the results may be used, such as, your research may:

• help design future communication campaigns
• develop better instructional modules in specific areas, say, HIV/AIDS prevention, smoking cessation, newborn screening, etc.
• influence government regulation on cigarette or alcohol advertising
• change the way farmers obtain information from extension technicians
• shape societal norms on environmental protection

Provide details on the above points to produce a convincing argument on the usefulness of the research. Are there other contributions your research will make? If so, describe them in detail.

Emphasize communication elements

In a communication thesis proposal, start with the communication elements of your research problem. This can sufficiently be covered by one or two paragraphs. Remember that you are a communication major and not a biological or physical sciences student so don’t start your Introduction with a treatise on the technical content of your thesis. For instance, in a study on “Fisherfolks’ information needs on mangrove conservation”, don’t write several paragraphs of the importance and results of research on mangroves.

Examine how the short introduction was written in a research proposal on the use of entertainment-education for rice pest management below:

Sample introduction

Title:  Motivating farmers to reduce insecticide use through a radio drama series in Vietnam

Research has shown that a large proportion of rice farmers’ pesticide use can be reduced. Many of the chemicals used are hazardous to human health as well as detrimental to the environment and disrupting natural biological control mechanisms promoting secondary pests, like the brown planthopper. For instance, sprays in the first 40 days of the crop produced 56 million more pests and 14 million less predators per ha than the unsprayed fields.

Since farmers’ spray decisions are due more to loss aversion attitudes, biased beliefs and local peer pressures, mass media can be effective in modifying the cognitive heuristics in decision-making and practice change. The Entertainment-Education strategy to facilitate social change has been successfully used in India, Mexico, UK, Jamaica, Costa Rica and several African countries. EE can effectively be applied to cultivate a new societal norm with regard to pesticide use by communicating IPM principles. In addition it can potentially be extended to other issues, like health education (e.g. HIV/AIDS) and resource and environment management.