The Introduction

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.