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Published by at August 31st, 2021 , Revised On August 18, 2025

A dissertation introduction is the first chapter of your dissertation, serving as a roadmap for your research study by outlining the research topic, its significance, and the structure of the research process. It must be to the point, informative, engaging, and enjoyable. So, it’s critical to fully understand how to write the thesis or dissertation introduction before starting the actual write-up. 

Here are the steps involved in writing a dissertation introduction: 

  • Establish the research background 
  • Articulate the research significance
  • Define the research problem
  • Formulate the research questions
  • Outline the research aims and objectives
  • Address the research limitations
  • Present the outline of the dissertation

Where Does Dissertation Introduction Appear?

The introduction is the first major section of the dissertation, appearing immediately after the preliminary sections, such as:

 

What are the critical elements of the dissertation introduction chapter?
An excellent dissertation introduction include a definition of the selected research topic, a reference to previous studies on the subject, a statement of the value of the subject for academic and scientific communities, a clear aim/purpose of the study, a list of your objectives, a reference to viewpoints of other researchers and a justification for the research.

 

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7 Steps of Writing a Thesis Or Dissertation Introduction

Here are the essential steps that you must follow to write a dissertation introduction: 
 

Step 1: Establish the research background 

The first step is to establish your research background. When you build a background of your chosen topic, it helps you understand more about the subject and helps readers know why the general research area is problematic, interesting, central, and important.

Your research background should include significant concepts related to your dissertation topic. This will give your supervisor an idea that you’ve investigated the research problem thoroughly and know the various aspects of your topic.

The introduction to a dissertation shouldn’t talk only about existing research work in the same area, as this will be discussed in the literature review chapter. It should discuss the primary aspects of a topic being investigated. 

For example, if your research is based on job satisfaction measures of a specific country, the introduction chapter will generally be about job satisfaction and its impact.
 

Step 2: Articulate the research significance

The next step is elaborating on why your research study is important. As a researcher, you must demonstrate how your research will provide value to the scientific and academic communities. 

If your dissertation is based on a specific company or industry, you need to explain why that industry and company were chosen. If you’re comparing, explain why you’re doing so and what this research will yield. 

Regardless of your chosen research topic, explain thoroughly in this section why this research is being conducted and what benefits it will serve. The idea here is to convince your supervisor and readers that the concept should be researched to address a specific problem.
 

Step 3: Define the research problem

Once you’ve established the research background and explained the importance of your research, the next step would be to define your research problem. The research problem is the crux of your dissertation, as it gives a direction as to why this research is being carried out and what issues the study will consider. It will help your readers understand the purpose of this research study.

The problem statement should be a clear and concise statement that identifies the gap in the existing knowledge that your research aims to fill. It should be specific enough to guide your research, but broad enough to allow for a comprehensive investigation.

For instance, if your dissertation is based on measuring the job satisfaction of a specific organisation, your research problem should talk about the problem the company is facing and how your research will help the company to solve that.

 

Citing references in the introduction chapter isn’t recommended because here, you must explain why you chose to study a specific area and what your research will accomplish. Any citations only set the context, and you should leave the bulk of the literature for a later section.

 

Step 4: Formulate the research questions or hypothesis

A research question is the central part of your introduction, which should be based on your research problem and the dissertation title. Your research question is what your research aims to answer and around which your dissertation will revolve. 

The research question should be specific and concise. It should be a one- or two-line question you’ve set out to answer through your dissertation. For the job satisfaction example, a sample research question could be, How does job satisfaction positively impact employee performance?

Once you’ve formed your research question, pick out vital elements from it, based on which you will then prepare your theoretical framework and literature review. You will come back to your research question again when concluding your dissertation.

Sometimes, you might have to formulate a hypothesis in place of a research question. The hypothesis is a simple statement you prove with your results, discussion and analysis.

A sample hypothesis, according to the above example, could be that job satisfaction is positively linked to employee job performance. The results of your dissertation could be in favour of this dissertation or against it.

Here are the types of hypotheses:

  • Alternative hypothesis (H1): “A specific statement of prediction that usually states what you expect will happen in your study”.
  • Null hypothesis (H0): “The hypothesis that describes the possible outcomes other than the alternative hypothesis. Usually, the null hypothesis predicts there will be no effect of a program or treatment you are studying”.
  • One-tailed hypothesis: “A hypothesis that specifies a direction; for example, when your hypothesis predicts that your program will increase the outcome”.
  • Two-tailed hypothesis: “A hypothesis that does not specify a direction. For example, if you hypothesise that your program or intervention will affect an outcome, but you are unwilling to specify whether that effect will be positive or negative, you are using a two-tailed hypothesis”.

 

Why does supervisor support matter?
Alternative, null, one-tailed, and two-tailed are the types of research hypotheses.

 

Step 5: Outline the research aims and objectives

The next step is to outline the research aims and objectives. They are broad statements of the desired results of your dissertation. They reflect the expectations of the research topic and address the long-term project outcomes.

These statements should use the concepts accurately, be focused, convey your research intentions, and serve as steps that communicate how your research question will be answered.

Formulate your aims and objectives based on your topic, research question, or hypothesis. Start them with words like ‘to explore’, ‘to study’, ‘to assess’, ‘to critically assess’, ‘to understand’, ‘to evaluate’, etc.

Your aims and objectives should be interrelated and connect to your research question and problem. If they do not, they’ll be considered vague and too broad in scope. Always ensure your research aims and objectives are concise, brief, and relevant.

Once you conclude your dissertation, you will have to reflect on how your dissertation’s findings, analysis, and discussion relate to your aims and objectives efficiently.
 

Step 6: Address the research limitations

Every research has some limitations. Thus, it is normal for you to experience certain limitations when conducting your research study. You could experience research design limitations, data limitations or even financial limitations. So, mention them without any hesitation.

When including them in the introduction, make sure that you clearly state the type of limitation you experienced. This will help your supervisor understand what problems you went through while working on your dissertation.

However, one aspect that you should take care of is that your results, in no way, should be influenced by these restrictions. The results should not be compromised, or your dissertation will not be deemed authentic and reliable.

After you’ve mentioned your research limitations, discuss how you overcame them, along with how they do not adversely impact your results and that you’ve done research with accurate results that the academic community can rely on.
 

Step 7:  Present the outline of the dissertation

The last step is to present the outline of your dissertation. Even though this isn’t mandatory, it is still good to outline what’s to follow in the preceding chapters. Depending on your university and academic subject, you might also be asked to include it in your research proposal.

The dissertation outline includes chapters you plan to discuss in your dissertation and what concepts and aspects each section entails. A standard dissertation consists of six chapters: 

When discussing the outline of your dissertation, remember that you’d have to mention what each chapter deals with. It will give a brief overview of your dissertation. This is precisely what a dissertation outline service provides.

 

What are the major chapters in a dissertation?

  1. Introduction
  2. Literature Review
  3. Research Methodology
  4. Results/Findings
  5. Discussion
  6. Conclusion

 

Dissertation Introduction Example

Here’s an example of a dissertation introduction:
 
introduction example
 

Dissertation Introduction Checklist

  • I have explained the significance of my research topic.
  • I have identified the key gaps or problems in existing literature.
  • I have clearly defined the research problem I address. 
  • I have formulated research questions that guide my study. 
  • I have stated my research aim and broken it into achievable objectives. 
  • I have acknowledged the limitations of my research. 
  • I have justified why my research matters despite limitations. 
  • I have provided a brief outline of the structure of my dissertation. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

To write a dissertation introduction, add research background, significance of the research, research problem, research questions, aims and objectives, limitations, and a brief outline.

An abstract is a short summary of the entire research study. However, an introduction is a detailed section that provides context, problem statement, and research objectives. 

It’s used to introduce key constructs, ideas, models, and/or theories etc. relating to the topic; things that you will be basing the remainder of your dissertation on.

There is more than one way of starting a dissertation’s introductory chapter. You can begin by stating a problem in your area of interest, reviewing relevant literature, identifying the gap, and introducing your topic. Or, you can go the opposite way, too. 

It can range from 1000 to 2000 words for a master’s dissertation, but for a higher-level dissertation, it mostly ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 words.

About Carmen Troy

Avatar for Carmen TroyTroy has been the leading content creator for ResearchProspect since 2017. He loves to write about the different types of data collection and data analysis methods used in research.