INTRODUCTIONS AND

CONCLUSIONS

From The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb,

and Williams

SO WHAT?

Basic Structure of an Introduction:

Context:

Background information / common ground

Problem: Lack of understanding
Response: Solution / plan

Why cant a machine be more like a man? In almost

every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the
android Data wonders what makes a person a
person. In the original Star Trek, similar questions
were raised by the half-Vulcan Mr. Spock, whose
status as a person was undermined by his machinelike logic and lack of emotion. In fact, Data and
Spock are only the most recent quasi-persons who
have explored the nature of humanity. The same
question has been raised by and about creatures
ranging from Frankenstein to Terminator II. But
the real question is why these characters who
struggle to be persons are always white and male.
As cultural interpreters, do they tacitly reinforce
destructive stereotypes of what it means to be
normal? The model person seems in fact to be
defined by Western criteria that exclude most of the
people in the world.

As part of its program of Continuous Quality

Improvement (CQI), Motodyne Computers plans
to redesign the user interface for its UnidyneTM
online help systems. The specifications for its
interface call for self-explanatory icons that let
users identify their function without verbal
labels. Motodyne has three years experience with
its current icon set, but it has no data showing
which icons are self-explanatory. Lacking such
data, we cannot determine which icons to
redesign. This report provides data for eleven
icons, showing that five of them are not selfexplanatory.

In todays society, would Major John Andr, a

British spy in civilian clothes captured behind
American lines in 1780, be hanged? Though
considered a noble patriot, he suffered the
punishment mandated by military law. Over time
our traditions have changed, but the punishment
for spying has not. It is the only offense that
mandates death. Recently, however, the Supreme
Court has rejected mandatory death sentences in
civilian cases, creating ambiguity in their
application to military cases. If Supreme Court
decisions apply to the military, will Congress
have to revise the Uniform Code of Military
Justice? This article concludes that it will.

ESTABLISH COMMON GROUND

One sunny morning Little Red Riding Hood was
skipping through the forest to her Grandmothers
house.
when suddenly Hungry Wolf jumped out from
behind a tree.

In todays society, would Major John Andr, a

British spy . . . be hanged?
Recently, however, the Supreme Court has
rejected mandatory death sentences . . .

ESTABLISH A COMMON GROUND

AND DISRUPT IT
As we have investigated environmental threats,
our understanding of chemical processes in acid
rain and the buildup of carbon dioxide has
improved, allowing us to understand better their
effects on the biosphere.
But recently the processes that thin the ozone
layer have been found to be less well understood
than once thought.
We may have labeled hydrofluorocarbons as the
chief cause incorrectly.

AVOID CONFUSION
In view of Hofstadters failure to respect the
differences among math, music, and art, it is not
surprising that the response to The Embodied
Mind would be stormy. It is less clear what
caused the controversy. I will argue that any
account of the human mind must be
interdisciplinary.
Write for a reader who is educated, but may need
some background information to understand the
context of the issue. Do not over-explain the
background, but give a clear and adequate
context for your problem.

PROBLEM

The research problem has two parts:

Condition

of incomplete knowledge or understanding

Consequence (significance) of the incomplete knowledge

Examples of the Condition:

Motodyne

has three years experience with its current icon

set, but it has no data showing which icons are selfexplanatory.
But the real question is why these characters who struggle to
be persons are always white and male.

Examples of the Consequence:

Lacking

such data, we cannot determine which icons to

redesign. (Or a positive statement: With such data, we could
determine which icons to redesign.)
As cultural interpreters, do they tacitly reinforce destructive
stereotypes of what it means to be normal?

WHEN TO STATE THE PROBLEM

The problem does not need detailed explanation
if it is already well-known in your field.
Yet even with a well-known problem, it is useful
to show that others have not yet solved it
satisfactorily.
Applied/theoretical consequences

Applied

consequences may include practical costs and

benefits
Theoretical consequences deal with understanding a
subject

STATE YOUR RESPONSE

Explicit Statement of Response

Recommended/required

for beginning researchers

Although Karl Marx and Frederic Bastiat seem to have
opposite political opinions, the fundamental basis to
which they appeal for justice is the samethe natural
right of property.

Promise of a Solution
The

explicit, precise solution or thesis is not given in

the introduction, but an outline of the argument and
hint of the solution is given.
To evaluate hydro-electric diversion screens, this study
will test three computer modelsQuattro, AVOC , and
Turbo-plexto determine which is most cost-effective
in reliability, speed, and ease of use.

HOW TO FIND THE FIRST WORDS?

Do Not (according to Booth et al.):

Begin

with a dictionary definitionuse your own

definition (?)
Begin grandly: The most profound philosophers have
for centuries wrestled with the question of . . .
Dont simply copy the question in the assignment
make the topic your own.

Better:
A

striking fact
A striking quotation
Relevant anecdote

REVIEW OF INTRODUCTION

Basic elements:
Context,

Pace

Problem, Response

Decide

how much background you need to explain for

your audience

Options
If

the problem is well known, leave out the common

ground
If the consequences of the problem are well known, do
not describe them
If you want readers to follow your thinking through
the report, give a plan rather than an explicit thesis
for the response

CONCLUSION
Reverse the order of the introduction
Begin with your main pointrephrase it, make it
stronger and more explicit
Show how the initial question is now solved
Add a new significance or applicationhow
might this knowledge now change us, the world,
or our thinking?
Call for more researchidentify questions that
still need to be answered
Echo the quote, fact, or anecdote from the
beginning

In light of recent Supreme Court decisions

rejecting mandatory capital punishment, the
mandatory death penalty for treason is
apparently unconstitutional and must therefore
be revised by Congress. More significantly,
though, if the Uniform Code of Military Justice is
changed, it will challenge the fundamental value
of military culture that ultimate betrayal
requires the ultimate penalty. Congress will then
have to deal with the militarys sense of what is
just.

These differences between novice and expert

diagnosticians define their maturation and
development. But while we know how novices and
experts think differently, we do not understand
which elements in to social experience of novices
contribute to that development and how. We need
logitudinal studies on how mentoring and
coaching affect outcomes and whether active
explanation and critique help novices become
skilled diagnosticians more quickly.

Title: Flannery OConnor and the Spiritual

Foundations of Racism: Suffering as Southern
Redemption in the Modern World
Quote: I write the way I do because . . . I am a
Catholic particularly possessed of the modern
consciousness.
Introduction: Although Flannery OConnors
stories gives us insights into modern southern
culture, some have said her attitude toward race
was the product of an imperfectly developed
sensibility and the large social issues as such
were never the subject of her writing. But that
criticism ignores . . .

Those who claim that OConnor ignored racism

fail to see that she understood racism as a
modern crisis of faith, as a failure to recognize
the healing knowledge of suffering, insights that
put her among a few southern writers who saw
the modern world as spiritually bankrupt. Seen
in this light, a rereading of her private
correspondence might reveal . . . As she said in
one letter (May 4, 1955), What I had in mind to
suggest [was] . . . The redemptive quality of the
Negros suffering for us all . . . I meant [a
character in the story to suggest] in an almost
physical way . . . the mystery of existence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph

M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.