Dissertation Introduction
The introduction is the chapter most students write first and should write almost last. Written first, it previews a dissertation that does not exist yet, which is why so many introductions promise something the finished document does not deliver. Examiners notice that mismatch immediately.
This guide covers the six moves an introduction makes, what belongs in each, and a full worked example. It also covers the material students routinely put in chapter one that belongs somewhere else.
| Length | Around 10% of total word count |
|---|---|
| Write it | Second to last, before the abstract |
| Moves | Six, in a fixed order |
| Must contain | Aim, objectives and research questions |
| Must not contain | Your literature review or your findings |
| Common failure | Objectives that never reappear |
The six moves, in order
These are not headings you have to use, though many students do. They are the sequence of things the reader needs, and reordering them breaks the logic.
- 1Context. What field is this, and what is the situation a general academic reader needs to understand? Two or three paragraphs, no more.
- 2Problem statement. The specific difficulty, gap or tension your study addresses. This narrows from the context and it must be specific enough to act on.
- 3Aim and objectives. One aim as a single sentence, then three or four objectives, each starting with a verb and each traceable to a chapter.
- 4Research questions. What you will actually answer with data. Each maps to at least one objective.
- 5Significance. Why this matters, and to whom. Academic contribution, practical implications, or both.
- 6Structure. One short paragraph per chapter saying what it does. Written last because it describes what you actually wrote.
Aim, objectives and questions are three different things
These get conflated more than anything else in chapter one, and separating them properly makes the rest of the introduction fall into place.
The aim is the overall purpose in one sentence. The objectives are the concrete steps that achieve it, each measurable and each traceable to a later chapter. The research questions are what you answer with evidence. A useful test: if an objective cannot be answered by any data you plan to collect, it is not an objective, and it will be conspicuously unanswered in your conclusion.
Before: The aim of this study is to look at remote working and team cohesion. The objectives are to research the literature, to collect data, and to draw conclusions.
After: Aim: to examine how the shift to hybrid working has affected perceived team cohesion in UK professional services firms. Objectives: (1) to identify the mechanisms through which co-location is theorised to support cohesion; (2) to measure perceived cohesion across teams with differing hybrid arrangements; (3) to determine which forms of contact, synchronous or asynchronous, are most strongly associated with cohesion; (4) to assess what these findings imply for hybrid policy design in the sector.
What does not belong in the introduction
Chapter one attracts material that belongs in other chapters, usually because it is written early when the boundaries are not yet clear.
- A literature review. The introduction cites a handful of sources to establish the problem. The systematic treatment is chapter two.
- Your methodology. One sentence naming the approach is enough. The justification belongs in chapter three.
- Your findings. Previewing results in the introduction removes any reason to read on and is not a convention in UK dissertations.
- Extended definitions. Define terms where you first use them substantively, not in a glossary paragraph at the start.
- Your personal motivation. Interesting, rarely assessed, and it dilutes the problem statement.
A worked opening
This is the first two moves of an introduction for a master’s dissertation in management. Note how quickly it narrows: three sentences of context, then straight to the specific problem.
Before: Remote working has become very popular in recent years and many companies now offer it. This has changed how teams work together. This dissertation will investigate this important topic.
After: Hybrid working moved from an accommodation to a default across UK professional services between 2020 and 2023, with the majority of firms now operating some form of split-week arrangement. The operational questions this raised have largely been settled. The relational ones have not: cohesion, the willingness of team members to rely on and support each other, was theorised through decades of research that assumed co-location as a baseline condition. Whether those mechanisms survive when co-location becomes partial is not established, and firms are currently designing hybrid policy without evidence on the question. This study addresses that gap in the context of UK professional services.
Five checks before you submit chapter one
- 1Can a reader state your research question after reading only the introduction?
- 2Does every objective correspond to something you actually did?
- 3Does the structure paragraph describe the dissertation you wrote, not the one you planned?
- 4Is the problem statement specific enough that someone could disagree with it?
- 5Have you removed everything that belongs in chapters two and three?
Writing the significance section
The significance move is the one students find hardest, because it feels like self-promotion. It is not: it is a statement of who would act differently if your findings held, and it is assessed.
There are three legitimate kinds of significance and most dissertations have at least one. Theoretical significance means the study tests, extends or challenges an existing account. Empirical significance means it provides evidence in a context where none exists. Practical significance means someone outside the academy could use the finding. Name which one applies rather than gesturing at all three.
Scale the claim to the evidence. An undergraduate dissertation with a convenience sample of 60 does not change a field, and claiming it does invites an examiner to disagree in the first paragraph. "These findings offer preliminary evidence in a UK context where prior work has been US-based" is defensible and does the same job.
Questions the introduction has to answer
A reader finishing chapter one should be able to answer all six of these without turning back. If any is unclear, that is where to edit.
- 1What field is this and what is the situation in it?
- 2What specifically is not known or not working?
- 3What is this study trying to do about that?
- 4What questions will it answer with evidence?
- 5Who would care about the answer, and why?
- 6What is in each chapter that follows?
Frequently asked questions
How long should a dissertation introduction be?
Around 10% of your total word count. That is roughly 1,000 words in a 10,000 word undergraduate dissertation and 1,500 in a 15,000 word master’s. Longer than that usually means the literature review has started early.
Should I write the introduction first or last?
Second to last, after the conclusion and before the abstract. Writing it first means previewing a dissertation that does not exist yet, which is why so many introductions promise something the finished work does not deliver.
What is the difference between aims and objectives?
The aim is the single overall purpose, written as one sentence. Objectives are the three or four concrete steps that achieve it, each measurable and each traceable to a chapter. Aims say why, objectives say how.
Do I need a separate research questions section?
Most UK departments expect them stated explicitly, either as their own short subsection or immediately after the objectives. Check your handbook. What matters is that they are visible, numbered, and answered directly in your conclusion.
Can I include a hypothesis instead of research questions?
Yes, in quantitative work where you are testing a directional prediction. Qualitative and exploratory studies use research questions. Some mixed-methods dissertations use both, with hypotheses for the quantitative strand.
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