PhD Thesis – Introduction

The content structure of a thesis’s introduction:

1. Introduction to the introduction: a short version (of only a few paragraphs) of the thesis’s aims, research questions, contribution, objectives and findings.
2. State the topic and aims of the thesis in more detail.
3. Provide a brief review of the literature related to the topic (this will be very brief if you have a separate literature review chapter).
4. Define the terms and scope of the topic.
5. Critically evaluate the current state of the literature on that topic and identify your gap.
6. Outline why the research is important and the contribution that it makes.
7. Outline your epistemological and ontological position.
8. Clearly outline the research questions and problem (s) you seek to address.
9. State the hypotheses (if you are using any).
10. detail the most important concepts and variables.
11. Briefly describe your methodology.
12. discuss the main findings.
13. discuss the layout of the thesis.