Sections of a Formal Structure

THE INTRODUCTION SECTION

Many students will find that writing a structured introduction gets them started and gives
them the focus needed to significantly improve their entire paper.

Introductions usually have three parts:

presentation of the problem statement, the topic, or the research inquiry

purpose and focus of your paper
summary or overview of the writer’s position or arguments

In the first part of the introduction—the presentation of the problem or the research inquiry—
state the problem or express it so that the question is implied. Then, sketch the background
on the problem and review the literature on it to give your readers a context that shows
them how your research inquiry fits into the conversation currently ongoing in your subject
area.

In the second part of the introduction, state your purpose and focus. Here, you may even
present your actual thesis. Sometimes your purpose statement can take the place of the
thesis by letting your reader know your intentions.

The third part of the introduction, the summary or overview of the paper, briefly leads
readers through the discussion, forecasting the main ideas and giving readers a blueprint
for the paper.

The following example provides a blueprint for a well-organized introduction.

Example of an Introduction

Entrepreneurial Marketing: The Critical Difference

In an article in the Harvard Business Review, John A. Welsh and Jerry F. White remind us that
“a small business is not a little big business.” An entrepreneur is not a multinational
conglomerate but a profit-seeking individual. To survive, he must have a different outlook and
must apply different principles to his endeavors than does the president of a large or even
medium-sized corporation. Not only does the scale of small and big businesses differ, but
small businesses also suffer from what the Harvard Business Review article calls “resource
poverty.” This is a problem and opportunity that requires an entirely different approach to
marketing. Where large ad budgets are not necessary or feasible, where expensive ad
production squanders limited capital, where every marketing dollar must do the work of two
dollars, if not five dollars or even ten, where a person’s company, capital, and material well-
being are all on the line—that is, where guerrilla marketing can save the day and secure the
bottom line (Levinson, 1984, p. 9).

By reviewing the introductions to research articles in the discipline in which you are writing
your research paper, you can get an idea of what is considered the norm for that discipline.
Study several of these before you begin your paper so that you know what may be
expected. If you are unsure of the kind of introduction your paper needs, ask your professor
for more information. The introduction is normally written in present tense.

The methods section of your research paper should describe in detail what methodology
and special materials if any, you used to think through or perform your research. You should
include any materials you used or designed for yourself, such as questionnaires or interview
questions, to generate data or information for your research paper. You want to include any
methodologies that are specific to your particular field of study, such as lab procedures for a
lab experiment or data-gathering instruments for field research. The methods section is
usually written in the past tense.

Structuring the Research Paper

Formal Research Structure

These are the primary purposes for formal research:

enter the discourse, or conversation, of other writers and scholars in your field
learn how others in your field use primary and secondary resources
find and understand raw data and information
For the formal academic research assignment, consider an organizational pattern typically
used for primary academic research. The pattern includes the following: introduction,
methods, results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations.

Usually, research papers flow from the general to the specific and back to the general in
their organization. The introduction uses a general-to-specific movement in its
organization, establishing the thesis and setting the context for the conversation. The
methods and results sections are more detailed and specific, providing support for the
generalizations made in the introduction. The discussion section moves toward an
increasingly more general discussion of the subject, leading to the conclusions and
recommendations, which then generalize the conversation again.

Sections of a Formal Structure

THE INTRODUCTION SECTION

THE METHODS SECTION

The methods section of your research paper should describe in detail what methodology
and special materials if any, you used to think through or perform your research. You should
include any materials you used or designed for yourself, such as questionnaires or interview
questions, to generate data or information for your research paper. You want to include any
methodologies that are specific to your particular field of study, such as lab procedures for a
lab experiment or data-gathering instruments for field research. The methods section is
usually written in the past tense.

THE RESULTS SECTION

THE DISCUSSION SECTION

THE CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION

Key Takeaways

For the formal academic research assignment, consider an organizational pattern

typically used for primary academic research.
The pattern includes the following: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and
conclusions/recommendations.