How to Write a Thesis Introduction

What types of information should you include in your introduction?

In the introduction of your thesis, you’ll be trying to do three main things, which are called Moves:

Move 1 establish your territory (say what the topic is about)

Move 2 establish a niche (show why there needs to be further research on your topic)

Move 3 introduce the current research (make hypotheses; state the research questions)

Each Move has a number of stages. Depending on what you need to say in your introduction, you might use one or more stages. Table 1 provides you with a list of the most commonly occurring stages of introductions in Honours theses (colour-coded to show the Moves). You will also find examples of Introductions, divided into stages with sample sentence extracts. Once you’ve looked at Examples 1 and 2, try the exercise that follows.

Most thesis introductions include SOME (but not all) of the stages listed below. There are variations between different Schools and between different theses, depending on the purpose of the thesis.

Stages in a thesis introduction

1:state the general topic and give some background

2: provide a review of the literature related to the topic

3: define the terms and scope of the topic

4: outline the current situation

5: evaluate the current situation (advantages/ disadvantages) and identify the gap

6: identify the importance of the proposed research

7: state the research problem/ questions

8: state the research aims and/or research objectives

9: state the hypotheses

10: outline the order of information in the thesis

11: outline the methodology