If you do not take into account the design elements, the introduction is the first section of the thesis. It is from the introduction that members of the attestation commission begin to read the thesis (after which, as a rule, they read the conclusion – and this is limited). The introduction should form a positive impression of the thesis.
The structure of the introduction of the thesis
The structure of the introduction of the thesis are quite clear requirements governing both the composition of the elements and the order of their following.
Definition 1
The main purpose of the introduction is a brief description of the work, the formation of the reader’s understanding of what the thesis is about, what it is about.
Standard components of the introductory part, not depending on the subject of research:
- The relevance of the problem, which is devoted to the study.
- The purpose and objectives of the work.
- The object and subject of the thesis.
- The hypothesis of the study.
- Scientific methods used in the development of the topic.
- Characteristics of the degree of knowledge of the problem.
- Definition of scientific novelty.
- Description of practical significance and possibilities of applying the results.
- Review of sources of literature and primary data.
The volume of injection should not exceed 10% of the total volume – otherwise it will contain too much “water”. At the same time, the prologue should not be reduced too much. On average, a harmonious volume is 3-5 pages with a thesis volume of 50-80 pages.
Relevance of the topic
The first thing that should be in the introduction of the thesis is the justification of relevance. The reader should understand that the theme you choose is related to modernity, it really makes sense to develop it. There are three ways to choose a topic that determine how easiest to write the relevance section in the introduction:
The department gives students a list of topics, and everyone chooses something that interests them. Such topics practically do not change from year to year and are well known to both graduate heads and commission members.
The thesis supervisor offers a topic related to his personal research (the topic of his dissertation, a monograph in preparation, or other work).
The topic is offered by the student himself on the basis of professional activity (it is appropriate for students working in their specialty)
In the first case, you can search for works of past years: many universities publish them on their website (even if the work is not fully laid out, the introduction must be included in the introductory piece). Many topics with minor changes are considered in other universities, so the Internet can be a significant help. Copying the relevance is literally risky in the light of the introduction of checks on borrowing, but it is easier to single out a rational grain and retell in your own words than to invent from scratch.
In the second case, you can ask the manager why he recommends this topic, or read his publications – they should indicate the prospect of studying this topic or its significance in modern conditions.
In the third case, you should rely on your personal experience or ask for help from more experienced colleagues, the boss. The thesis supervisor will help to formulate the relevance in a manner accepted in the scientific community, according to common patterns.
Relevance may be based on changes in the economic or political principles of the functioning of society, on the latest technological advances, on major discoveries or inventions of recent years, as well as on the discourse related to regulations or laws.
Example 1
For example, if a tax reform has occurred in a country, tax issues will be relevant due to the changes that have occurred.
The purpose and objectives of the work
It is important when writing the introduction of the thesis correctly formulate the goal.
Example 2
Examples of goals:
Evaluation of the effectiveness of labor resources in the context of improving the efficiency of the organization.
Improving the management of the investment attractiveness of an industrial enterprise on the basis of optimizing its resource potential.
Improving the strategy of personnel management of the enterprise.
Definition 2
The purpose of the thesis – this is what the result is planned to get after writing a thesis.
As a joke, students say that the purpose of the thesis is to get them a thesis, which then can be attributed to the employer. For the introduction of such a goal (no matter how sincere it may be) is not suitable.
The goal should be based on the theme of the work, almost literally repeat it. At the same time, the verb “study” should be avoided, because most topics imply not only acquaintance with literary sources and the situation at the enterprise, but also the development of any recommendations, the creation of a project, the assessment of its effectiveness.
Example 3
Convenient for the formulation of objectives will be the verbs “improvement”, “efficiency increase” (if it is possible to measure effectiveness), “improvement”, “project development”.
Definition 3
The tasks of the thesis are steps towards achieving the goal.
The easiest way to write tasks is to reformulate the contents of the thesis. Then the number of tasks will coincide with the number of paragraphs (not chapters).
When writing tasks, you can use these verbs:
- Expand (concept).
- Describe.
- Make a classification / classify.
- To study.
- To explore.
- Analyze / analyze.
- Characterize / characterize.
- Rate / evaluate.
- Develop (draft, recommendations).
The object and subject of study
Before you write an introduction to the thesis, you need to understand the differences between the object and the subject of study.
Definition 4
The object is a field of work, and the subject is a constituent part of this field on which attention is concentrated.
The object can be an organization, public relations, phenomena. The subject is reflected in the topic of work.
Example 4
An example of an object is Chinese manufacturing companies, the subject is models and strategies for the internationalization of Chinese companies.
Example 5
For legal subjects, the object is public relations arising in the process of determining the capacity of citizens, the subject of the study is the norms of legislation governing relations in the process of determining the capacity of citizens.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis as an element of introduction is not always required, but it will not be superfluous.
Definition 5
A hypothesis is an assumption, an expectation from the results of a study.
The hypothesis may not be confirmed in the course of the experiments (although this situation is relatively rare for graduation projects).
Example 6
The hypothesis may relate to the existence of a connection between phenomena, expectations of the result of actions: “the introduction of a program of non-material motivation will increase productivity in the enterprise”, “the developed program will provide control”, “the use of the proposed exercises will help improve performance among younger students.”
The hypothesis should have a direct connection with the ongoing practical research, carried out experiments, to be verified in the framework of the thesis.
Research methods
Definition 6
Methods are ways to study posed problems.
There are general scientific and special (for a particular science) methods. Before you write this section of the introduction to the thesis, you should determine how the study will be conducted. After performing the main part of the work, the methods can be adjusted. Extra methods should not be included, because the commission may ask where exactly this method was used. Commonly used methods:
- Synthesis.
- Analysis.
- Induction.
- Deduction.
- Modeling.
- Graphic method.
- Vertical and horizontal analysis.
- Balance method.
- Classification.
- Generalization.
- Comparison.
The degree of knowledge of the topic and an overview of the sources
Writing a thesis assumes that the student relies on the works of predecessors, and does not invent something from scratch. Some topics are widely covered in the literature, others are new, recently interested in the scientific community. Sometimes a problem is traditionally viewed from a certain angle, while other aspects remain unlit. The task of the author of the thesis is to designate in which section the problem was studied and described in detail, which “white spots” remained, and in what directions the researchers did not come to a common opinion. Interesting can be both actively discussed topic, and a new one, which was previously paid unduly little attention. When writing this part of the introduction, you should refer to specific authors, scientific schools and areas.
The degree of knowledge echoes the review of the sources used – after all, in order to understand how well a topic has been studied, it is necessary to become familiar with the literature. Additionally, in the review of sources, it is necessary to indicate if statistical data were used (by which organization they were prepared), enterprise documentation, normative acts.
Scientific novelty and practical significance
Sections of scientific novelty and practical importance answer the question; what thesis can bring to humanity. Before you write this part of the introduction in the thesis, you need to determine for yourself what your work may be useful for – for pure science or for practical work.
In abstract, theoretical studies, greater emphasis should be placed on scientific novelty (that you came up with something that nobody knew before you). In practice-oriented work, it is more important to demonstrate practical significance.
As a proof of the value of the work, references to patents, registered copyrights, acts of introduction, letters of thanks from the enterprise – the base of pre-thesis practice can be given. External confirmations always adorn the student’s words about the significance of his work.