The Introduction
Chapter -Two
Syllabus topic 7, "Preparation of the Research Design"
Pages 475 to 477 of 543
In one line
The introduction tells a reader what the study is about, why it matters and what it will establish, and it should be readable by somebody who has never thought about the subject before.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: the introduction is the first of the research design components required by the University of Mumbai; its function is to set out the subject of the study, the context in which the problem arises, the significance of the problem, and a statement of what the study will do, so that a reader who knows nothing of the field understands by the end of it what is being investigated and why it is worth investigating.
What an introduction has to do
Establish the subject. In plain words, in the first paragraph. A reader should not have to reach page three to learn what the dissertation is about.
Supply the context. Enough law, briefly and with authority, for the problem to make sense. Not a treatise on the field; the minimum the problem requires.
State the problem. Chapter 1100's statement of the problem sits here or immediately after.
Say why it matters. What turns on the answer, and for whom.
Say what the study will do, briefly, since the Aims and Objectives follow as a separate component.
And say what it will not do, briefly, since the Scope follows too.
What it must not do
It must not be a general essay on the subject. This is the commonest defect. Twenty pages on the importance of legal aid, followed by a paragraph on the actual study, is an introduction to the field and not to the dissertation.
It must not review the literature. That is a separate component, chapter 1290.
It must not argue the conclusion. A reader should not be able to tell from the introduction what the researcher wants to find, chapter 1170.
It must not be padded with definitions of everything. Define what the study needs, where the study needs it.
And it must not be written first and left. The introduction is the last thing revised, because only at the end does the researcher know what the study actually turned out to be.
Its shape
A workable structure in five movements, which a student can follow.
One: the subject, in a paragraph. What field, what activity, what institution.
Two: the context. The law, briefly. For the remand study: the duty exists, arises at first production and every remand, and a trial in breach is vitiated, chapter 630.
Three: the problem. What is not known.
Four: the significance. Why the answer matters, and to whom: to the accused, to the validity of trials, to the legal services authority that would have to act.
The Introduction
Five: the study. In three or four sentences, what was done and what the dissertation contains.
Length. Proportionate. In a dissertation with a body of 100 to 150 pages, chapter 120, an introduction of eight to twelve pages is ample and one of thirty is a symptom.
The first paragraph
It is worth writing separately and revising many times, because it is the paragraph that decides whether a reader engages.
A weak first paragraph. Legal aid is a very important subject in modern India. Since ancient times, justice has been a cherished value. In this study an attempt has been made to study legal aid.
Why it is weak. Nothing in it is specific to this dissertation; every sentence could open any dissertation on any subject; and the last sentence promises a study rather than describing one.
A strong first paragraph. Since 1980 an Indian magistrate before whom an accused is first produced has been under a duty to tell that person that a lawyer can be provided at State cost, and a trial conducted without it is liable to be set aside. No published source records whether the duty is performed. This study observed 217 remand productions in one court over six weeks in order to find out.
Why it is strong. It states the law, the gap and the study, with a number, in three sentences, and a reader now knows exactly what they are reading.
Writing it last
The introduction should be drafted at the beginning and rewritten at the end, and the reason is practical rather than stylistic.
At the beginning it is a plan, and it will contain the study the researcher intended.
At the end it must describe the study that happened, which is never identical: the hypothesis may have been refuted, chapter 1170; the sample may be smaller; an unanticipated finding may have become the most interesting part.
A student who does not rewrite it produces a dissertation whose first chapter promises something the last chapter does not deliver, which is the criticism a supervisor makes most often after reading a complete draft.
A worked example
The introduction of the remand study, in outline.
Paragraph one. As above.
Section: the constitutional and statutory background. Article 39A; Article 21; the four judgments in sequence, chapter 630; the Legal Services Authorities Act's machinery for supplying a lawyer once the accused asks, chapter 560.
Section: the problem. The statement of the problem from chapter 1100, in four paragraphs.
Section: significance. That the right is otherwise illusory in the Court's own words; that a breach affects the validity of the trial; and that the remedy, if the failure is one of practice, is administrative and cheap, chapter 750.
The Introduction
Section: the present study. One court, six weeks, 217 productions observed against a one page schedule; two hypotheses; and what the following chapters contain.
Ten pages, and every one of them is about this dissertation.
Quick revision
The introduction establishes the subject, supplies the context, states the problem, says why it matters, and says briefly what the study will and will not do.
It must not be a general essay on the field, review the literature, argue the conclusion, define everything, or be written once and left.
Five movements: subject; context; problem; significance; the study.
The first paragraph should state the law, the gap and the study, with something specific in it. A paragraph that could open any dissertation on any subject is a weak one.
Draft it first and rewrite it last, because at the end it must describe the study that happened rather than the study that was intended.
Length: proportionate; eight to twelve pages in a body of 100 to 150.
Test yourself
1. What are the five things an introduction must do? Establish the subject in plain words; supply the minimum context of law needed for the problem to make sense; state the problem; say why it matters and to whom; and say briefly what the study did and what the dissertation contains.
2. Give three things an introduction must not do. It must not be a general essay on the field, which is the commonest defect; it must not review the literature, which is a separate component; and it must not argue the conclusion, since a reader should not be able to tell from it what the researcher hopes to find.
3. Why must the introduction be rewritten at the end? Because at the beginning it describes the study that was intended, and the study that happened is never identical: a hypothesis may have been refuted, the sample may be smaller, or an unanticipated finding may have become the most interesting part. An unrevised introduction promises what the last chapter does not deliver.
4. What makes a first paragraph weak, and what makes one strong? It is weak when every sentence could open any dissertation on any subject and it promises a study rather than describing one. It is strong when it states the legal position, the gap in knowledge and what this study actually did, with something specific such as a number, in three or four sentences.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.