You would like to write an abstract for your research paper or thesis? But how should you structure the abstract? What should be included in the abstract?

Here you get all the answers.

Why write an abstract?

The purpose of an abstract is to summarize your research paper or thesis in a short paragraph. The abstract serves as a guide for the readers as to what they can expect in the paper. It contains all the important information about the paper, such as the context, the research relevance and method, and also the main results of the paper.

The abstract is a kind of a mini-version of a research paper.

It is important to understand that the abstract is NOT a teaser. Nothing should be hidden from the reader here, and there must not be a cliffhanger at the end. All the most important findings and contributions should be presented concisely. Hence, no artificial tension should be created in the abstract. The reader’s curiosity automatically results from the relevance of the topic.

Especially in research articles, the abstract is one of the most important parts of a text. This is because it allows an interested reader to decide whether the results obtained or the content of the text are relevant to him. And not only the reader. A paper will also be indexed by databases such as Google Scholar based on the abstract. So make sure all important concepts appear in your abstract.

Even if you are a student and have no interest in publishing your paper whatsoever, your professors want you to come as close as possible to actual scientific work. Therefore, they ask you to write an abstract.

How should the abstract look like?

There are no generally accepted standards for an abstract. In research, they result from the requirements of the publisher, at university from the requirements of your supervisor. If you are unsure, ask for the criteria in the next office hour or check the thesis requirements of your department. A typical abstract is between 150 and 200 words.

Although the criteria are not set in stone, there is a common practice of how how to write an abstract. If you follow these 7 steps, there is not much that can go wrong when writing your abstract.

#1 Context

What is the context of your research? (1 sentence) By context, I mean the real world events that frame your scientific work.

I will now give you an example for each step. At the end, we will have a complete abstract that connects all the steps with each other. All you need to do then is to transfer this example onto your own paper and topic. The example is from a paper by Suh et al. (2010).

So for the context sentence, one could write the following:

“Retweeting is the key mechanism for information diffusion in Twitter.”

Note that the key concepts are already mentioned: Retweeting, information diffusion, and Twitter.

#2 Relevance

Why is this topic relevant to your research field? (1 sentence)

This is where your argument practically begins. Why should anyone care about this topic? “Anyone” often means the researchers that are the potential audience of your paper or thesis. But your work could also be of societal or practical importance.

So for the relevance sentence, one could write the following:

“It (retweeting) emerged as a simple yet powerful way of disseminating information in the Twitter social network.”

#3 Problem Definition

What is your research problem? (2 sentences) The research problem is often grounded in the scientific debate. What do we know already? What do we not know? And why is that a problem? Why should we conduct research to address this problem?

So for the problem definition, one could write the following:

“Even though a lot of information is shared in Twitter, little is known yet about how and why certain information spreads more widely than others. In this paper, we examine a number of features that might affect retweetability of tweets.”

#4 Method

What method do you use to approach the problem? (1 sentence) The choice of method is linked precisely to the research problem. It is the toolkit you use to explore and address the problem.

So for the method sentence, one could write the following:

“We gathered content and contextual features from 74M tweets and used this data set to identify factors that are significantly associated with retweet rate. We also built a predictive retweet model.”

#5 Main Results

What are the main results of your paper or thesis? (2 sentences) Remember that the abstract is not a teaser but should include everything there is to know about the study. It is a challenge how to write an abstract but you should be able to summarize the essence of your results in two very concise sentences.

So for the main results, one could write the following:

“We found that, amongst content features, URLs and hashtags have strong relationships with retweetability. Amongst contextual features, the number of followers and followees as well as the age of the account seem to affect retweetability, while, interestingly, the number of past tweets does not predict retweetability of a user’s tweet.”

#6 Contributions

How can researchers (or practitioners) benefit from your work? (1-2 sentences) How would dealing with the research problem advance our knowledge? What part of the research literature would it enrich and how? Theoretically? Methodologically?

And how might possible findings help practice, i.e., professional individuals or organizations?

Here you need to sell your paper a little bit to the audience. For the contribution sentences, one could write:

“This research proposes a framework that explains the theoretical relationships between platform features and information diffusion on microblogging platforms. Moreover, this work informs the design of sensemaking and analytics tools for social media streams.”

#7 Keywords

An abstract most often comes with keywords. Name the 3 to 5 core concepts of your paper or thesis. Those could be: microblogging, Twitter, information diffusion, retweeting.

Conclusion

If you stick to this structure, you will automatically have included all the important information in your abstract. In addition, you can easily use your introduction and adopt some of the sentences you have used there. Do not copy and paste them but change the wording and grammar slightly.

Also make sure that the abstract flows. You can use words such as “Therefore”, “hence”, “consequently”, or “moreover” to connect your sentences and create one coherent piece.

It couldn’t be easier, could it? 🙂

Are you looking for a jumpstart that explains how to get over writer’s block?

You’re in luck.

Because in this very place in the endless expanses of the internet, you’ve found it. I’ve got 5 unbeatable tips for you on how to overcome your writer’s block and get a waterfall of words flowing across your keyboard in no time.

You’re guaranteed to get closer to your goal of writing a term paper, bachelor’s thesis, or your next bestselling novel.

How to solve writer’s block (fast)

Do you know this?

There is no time left for procrastination and you finally have to deliver. The deadline for your project is already looming and you’ve freed up all the time you can for your work.

But you can’t find more than the heading “Introduction” and a sinister ticking cursor in your Word document. Although you are actually good at the subject, the ball doesn’t quite want to get rolling.

You’ve already typed the first sentence three times and discarded it again, because it just sounds ridiculous. The longer you look at the empty document, the more invincible the opponent seems: that darn 15-page paper.

So what can you do to solve your writer’s block?

#1 Recognize the true opponent

The first thing to do is to face your greatest adversary. Face to face. In the mirror. Because the biggest opponent is not your scientific work, but yourself!

EVERYTHING is a matter of motivation; of priorities, discipline and perseverance. The biggest mistake you can make is to develop a negative attitude. The subject is stupid, the lecturer sucks and you have to work on the weekend.

Once you have started to allow such thoughts, you enter into a negative spiral. You won’t get out of this thinking anytime soon. Therefore, it is even more important to link your scientific work with positive thoughts.

Is the topic boring? Examine it from an unprecedented perspective.
The lecturer is a jerk? Show him what you’re made of.
Do you have to use your hard-earned free time to write? Make writing your hobby.

Don’t let external conditions spoil your fun. Strengthen your attitude from within.

Make the writing process an event. You can write a term paper on the beach, in a cozy Starbucks, or at home in bed… How awesome is that?

Once you’ve powered up in mentally, it’s time for the next step.

#2 Determine your writing type

When it comes to writing, there are two different types.

First, let it be said that both types of writers can get to their goal equally. So there is no one type that is better or worse than the other. However, in case of a total blackout, one of the two is better able to solve his writer’s block.

The perfectionist (type #1)

Personally, I definitely belong to this group of people. When I write a sentence, it has to be perfect right away. I’d rather rewrite it five times instead of just getting on with it and torturing myself with a tedious revision later.

As a result, my writing progress is a little slower. In the end, however, I save the time again because the first draft is usually already good enough for my needs.

In addition, I tend to write very densely. By that I don’t mean that I’m drunk or stoned while writing, but that I need less text for the content. In scientific papers, this often leads to me having too little text available. Then I have to think afterwards about where I could still add meaningful text modules.

The explorer (type #2)

This type embodies exactly the opposite of a perfectionist. Without giving it much thought, the explorer just writes away. The words pour over the pages, so that within the shortest time the complete amount of the required pages is filled.

People who claim to have written 7 pages of their term paper in one day are explorers. They get started and look afterwards to see where this has taken them. For me, it’s impossible to write that much at once. That’s because explorers put their first draft down on paper without regard for typos or other minor weaknesses.

A text written so quickly is often very light on content. By this I mean that the content is conveyed with the help of a larger number of words. At the end of a scientific paper, explorers have not infrequently simply written twice(!) the required number of pages.

So explorers finish their work very quickly, but must allow time to revise the draft and shorten it.

Now what?

So how do these types behave when they have writer’s block?

Well, first and foremost, perfectionists have the potential to write great work. So if you deliver the perfect draft in the first pass, that’s exceptionally good.

But if you insist on remaining a perfectionist when you’re experiencing with writer’s block, you’re doomed.

#3 Get rid of your perfectionism

If you don’t produce any text at all, or only very little, you’re facing a problem: the pressure is mounting.

That’s why, when you have writer’s block, it can be useful to remember the virtues of the explorers. Text is still better than no text. Later on, you can still let your perfectionism rule, but during writer’s block, it’s your death sentence.

This is where getting into the writing flow matters. Correcting spelling, grammar, or expression is something you can do once you’ve cracked the magic page number. Be sure to allow time for this, because turning in a sloppy draft is not the point, of course.

As an explorer, however, you make progress piece by piece. You notice how something is happening. The pages in your document become more and more.

This is good for your conscience and takes the pressure off your shoulders. In contrast to perfectionists, who remain on the first page, explorers are the ones who are unleashed.

#4 Keep a diary

A popular exercise for perfectionists who are blocked: Journal writing. Grab your journal, calendar, or open a blank document and start writing. Formulate sentences about how you’re currently sitting in front of your laptop writing.

Look out the window and just type into the keyboard whatever pops into your head. It doesn’t matter if these words make sense or not. The main thing is that you write.

Alternatively, you can think of a little story. Just keep writing. Do this for about 10 minutes and then seamlessly move on to your scientific work. You’ll be amazed, but your fingers are much looser on the trigger than before.

#5 Use your flow experience

If one or a combination of these methods and techniques has led you to get the first sentences down on paper – by all means keep at it. Don’t get carried away and interrupt the flow again.

Instead, grab your keyboard and use it as your surfboard. That way, you can ride the flow wave and move inexorably toward finishing your work.

Here you can take advantage of a principle that is actually known from physics. Once you get the proverbial ball rolling, you need less energy to keep it rolling than it took you to get it started.

Believe me, once you get started, the rest of your work is a breeze. Now stretch your finger muscles and get ready for your writing marathon. Let’s go!

Do you want to select a research topic for your thesis or dissertation, but you don’t really know how and where to start looking?

Then you’ve stumbled upon the perfect article here.

Because in the next few minutes, I’m going to tell you 3 steps I would take if I were looking for a research topic for my thesis, dissertation, or paper.

If you follow these 3 steps, you will not only get rid of your doubts and indecisiveness – no, after this exercise you can already write the email to potential supervisors and submit them a proposal they can’t refuse.

#1 Supervisor Screening

The first suggestion I’d like to make is perhaps a bit unconventional. But if you want to get an outstanding grade AND have fun with your thesis, here’s what I would do if I were you.

Don’t put the potential content of your research at the beginning of your topic identification process, but rather a person.

Why?

Well, think about it. If you find a supervisor with whom you get along great, how does that affect you?

The mentoring conversations are informal and fun. A person with whom you are on the same wavelength is likely to be enthusiastic about the same topics as you are.

The person will offer to help you more and more often if they like you. Hence, the likelihood that you’ll get a bad grade drops precipitously. So, the first step on how to select a research topic is to identify your preferred supervisor. In doing so, you can look at these criteria:

• How good was your experience with him or her during your studies?
• What topics does this person advertise on their website?
• Is this person actively doing research, i.e. can you find recent publications on their website? On which topics?
• Is this person an experienced professor or research assistant (PhD student, post-doc)?

Your favorite lecturer is not your favorite lecturer because he or she has nice hair. Most of the time, your enthusiasm for their course comes through the topics anyway. Now write down your 3 favorite topics you found while researching this person.

If you are studying at a university, research assistants and post-docs can also supervise your work. Always prefer these people over a professor. For three reasons:

• They have to do their own research (PhD students) or prove themselves with publications (post-docs).
• The motivation of this person to use a thesis for their research is much higher
• A bad thesis serves this person nothing at all; therefore the supervision becomes all the better

Professors who have hung up their research boots don’t care if your thesis is good or bad.

#2 Read, read, read

When it comes to a selecting a research topic, reading is by far the biggest lever you can apply. You can think back and forth as much as you want – it’s all wasted time. Just don’t think about a possible topic at all, but read into the 3 topics from step 1 as much as you can allow yourself.

Slowly approach the topic of your research

Start with light fare to get a gentle introduction: YouTube, popular science articles or documentaries. This usually doesn’t hurt that much and is fun.

Then you dare to tackle the scientific literature. Here, the following principle applies to finding a topic:

For now, topicality is more important than the basics.

If one of your 3 topics is e-learning, then knowing the history and roots of e-learning will not help you in finding a topic. It is more important to know how the topic has been researched in the last 1-3 years and which acute questions arise in this area.

So, when searching for reading material, be sure to use literature databases where you can find journal articles and conference proceedings.

The Special Issue Hack

One trick to select your research topic lies in so-called “special issues”. These are calls for papers from scientific journals that want research on specific topics. Here, smart people (the editors) have thought about what research questions would be really important right now. So they have practically already done the work for you! In addition, you will find in such calls even a small bibliography with reading recommendations. So you get suggestions for topics as if served on a silver platter. Isn’t that practical?

You can find these calls for papers on the websites of the journals. If you don’t know which journals are relevant for your topic, go back to the publication list of your potential supervisor from step 1 and write down the journals in which he or she has already published.

#3 Combination and Inquiry

To avoid choosing the exact same topic that has already been researched by your supervisor, you need to add a little original twist to your research topic. If you didn’t find what you were looking for in the calls for papers, or if people in your discipline tend to only research books, try the following:

Combine the topic you’re most interested in with a current phenomenon, technology, or theory.

The topic you finally choose should not only be interesting, but also relevant. And you achieve relevance by addressing a research problem.

If you now combine your favorite topic with a second component, in most cases the result is such a dynamic topic that a relevant research problem can easily be derived from it. Here are a few examples:

• E-learning + AI
• Enterprise + Digital Nomadism
• School education + Virtual Reality
• Democracy + Bitcoin
• Cryptocurrencies + Climate Change
• E-mobility + 3-D printing
• Retirement + Social Media

I think you see the pattern. So now think about what research problem arises from such a combination and how you might approach this problem methodologically. Qualitatively? Quantitative? With literature work?

The next step on how to select a research topic would be to derive a research question. For this, you take your chosen topics or some aspects of it and take those as variables. Then you simply ask for the relationship between the two. For example:

How does Virtual Reality affect the Cognitive Load of school children between the ages 12-15?

Additionally, I’ve added a theory to the mix. I explain how and why you should do this in my tutorial on how to develop a research question.

Conclusion

Be prepared for presenting a preliminary research question in your inquiry to your potential supervisor. Present him or her with a topic for your research that fits in with her own research, has an original and current twist, and is fun for both of you.

This way, you’re guaranteed to open doors with your request and lay a fantastic foundation for your research.

Your scientific work is on the home stretch and you just have to write your conclusion? In this article, I’ll give you a guide on how to write a conclusion for your research paper, bachelor thesis, or master thesis that will tip the scales in favor of an outstanding grade.

Writing a conclusion is not an art. Rather, it is a technique that you can learn in just a few steps.

The Conclusion of a Research Paper

Before I present you with an exact guide to writing a conclusion, let’s clarify one more thing: What is a conclusion good for anyway?

Sometimes, instead of ‘conclusion’, the terms résumé or outlook appear in the academic vocabulary. To cut to the chase, a conclusion is meant to be an evaluative summary of your work. It is one of the main pillars of an academic paper and requires a lot of attention. In the conclusion, you are required to present the results of your work and demonstrate to your reader why your work was sensationally good.

Remember, the conclusion of your paper is usually read last. Accordingly, it is the part of the work that will be remembered. Here, you need to be extra careful when writing your conclusion and make use of some tricks on how to write a conclusion for a research paper.

The Outline for a Conclusion

In my opinion, this is best possible outline for your conclusion:

• A summary of your findings
• The answer(s) to the research question(s)
• Added value for science/seminar
• Added value for practice (if applicable)
• Limitations
• Further research

Now let’s dive into an exact guide on how to address each point.

7 Basic Rules for Writing a Conclusion

A conclusion, just like other parts of a scientific paper, needs a clear structure. Before we go through this structure in detail, you need some background information to prepare you for writing your conclusion.

Identify the Audience of your Work #1

First of all, you should be aware of whom you address (this also applies to the rest of your text). If you are not preparing a research paper for an international conference or journal, the only reader (with the exception of your mum) is your lecturer or professor!

When writing your conclusion, imagine how you will sell your research results to your professor. Accordingly, you should not tell her anything that she already knows and that would bore her. Rather, you can make it your task to convince her of a real added value of your work for her field of research.

If your paper relates to a specific seminar or course, reflect on the results in light of the topics covered during the semester and place them in a meaningful overall context.

Write your Conclusion on a Meta Level #2

Just like the introduction, the conclusion should be approached a bit differently than the main body. Instead of moving on with your content, you should zoom out and “write about writing” in these parts of the paper.

This means that you do not add any new sources or insights in your conclusion except for limitations and recommendations for future research. A conclusion only refers to the findings you have already written down in the main body of your paper, such as in the results and discussion sections.

Summarize your Results #3

Now we come to the actual content of your conclusion. Start with some introductory words and explain what you are going to do in the following. Also explain why you are doing it. For example, you will summarize the main points of the results discussed above, in order to make them explicit with regard to the research question. Also, when writing a conclusion, this step is helpful in placing your findings in the context of the research gap you identified at the beginning.

Do not proceed chronologically in your “summary” so that the reader does not get too bored. Try to restate your findings along the lines of your argument and the idea of your paper.

Close all open Loops #4

One of the most important steps on how to write a conclusion for a research paper is to concisely repeat the answer to the research question you posed at the beginning of your paper. In doing so, you must abstract your results to such an extent that they point purposefully to the problem of your work in just a few sentences. Explain your results in an understandable way and explain how they build on existing literature.

Sell the Added Value of your Results #5

The idea behind research papers always implies creating added value for the scientific community. In a thesis or term paper, this principle can be practiced. Therefore, you should try to carve out a unique contribution, even if it is “just” a paper that only your lecturer will ever read.

The closer you get to the principle and requirements of scientific work, the better your grade will be in the end.

How do you convince a reader of your contributions?

Argue how your work and its results could be useful. For theory, the general state of knowledge, individuals, organizations, or society. It is common to distinguish between added value (=contribution) for theory and knowledge and added value for practice. Practical implications also depend on the field of study. Work in technical fields or business administration often has a higher relevance for practice. In contrast, humanities scholars often work within the boundaries of a scientific debate. If your work can do both, all the better.

Explain Limitations #6

Again, we are at the meta-level, reflecting on our own work. When writing your conclusion, point out any hurdles that stood in the way of your work. For example, did you not have access to certain data? Was your sample small, but justifiable for the scope of a thesis? Did you only look at one set of facts (case study) and lack a means of comparison?

Be honest, but don’t completely pick apart your work, after all, you want to sell it as outstanding. In addition, you should not invent any limitations, but at best have made notes on them during your work. The limitations should be plausible, but not caused by your own fault. A good way to deal with limitations is to refer to further research opportunities.

Make Recommendations for Further Research #7

Finally, you can give a preview of what other areas you would like to explore in further research (even if you never work on this topic again). Suggest which studies, methods, and open questions could be addressed in the future. This not only shows interest, but also demonstrates foresight and competence.

Bonus: Miscellaneous Questions

What length should you aim for when writing the conclusion? As always, the length of the conclusion should be based on the length of the entire paper. About 10 percent of the entire text.

If possible, the above steps should be worked through in the suggested order. Subheadings are rather unusual, but quite possible in a thesis with a very long conclusion.

Now you are left with one very last sentence that you can use to stick in your reader’s mind. Choose a strong statement that will leave a lasting impression.

You want to know how to write an introduction for a research paper so that your scientific work attracts unbridled attention? No matter if your introduction is for a term paper, thesis, or the next paper in the “Science” journal…

You’ve come to the right place.

Because this article will help you write the best possible introduction for your academic paper.

Here you’ll get a 7-part step-by-step guide to writing an introduction.

The steps are super easy to follow and will give your introduction the professionalism it needs.

At the end of the article, I’ll tell you an insider tip that will make writing an introduction much easier. That’s a promise 😉 .

So stay tuned until the end of the article and use it as a checklist while writing your introduction.

Why write an introduction at all?

The purpose of an introduction is to introduce the topic of your scientific work and to arouse a certain interest in the reader for the following content. Above all, it should be clear why the study of your research topic has a great deal of relevance from a scientific or even practical perspective.

You should definitely avoid retelling your abstract when writing your introduction. Rather, it is necessary to introduce the argumentation of your paper. The introduction of your term paper should be (just like the conclusion) partly on a meta-level. That means you write “about writing”.

Explain your steps and give reasons for them. You do this along your argumentation. Guide the reader along this argument structure:

• What is the context of your work?
• Why is it relevant?
• What is the current state of research on your topic?
• What is the problem with this current state?
• How are you trying to approach a solution?
• What contribution will this solution provide?

You should try to tease as little as possible, by this I mean to throw questions into the room and leave them open. Rather, you should remain as concrete as possible and argue logically and closely to the literature (with appropriate references).

Now, to write your introduction step-by-step, I suggest you follow these 7 steps.

#1 Establish the context of your work

Probably the most obvious reason to write an introduction in the first place: An introduction to your topic. Yet this simple step is often done incorrectly or even forgotten.

Provide some societal context (very brief)

If your topic is very popular in the media, you don’t need to start completely from scratch.

If, on the other hand, your paper deals with a topic that most people rarely come into contact with, you should make it understandable to your reader.

Give the reader a short introduction that puts the topic of your paper into a social context. Don’t get bogged down in platitudes like “the digitalization changes this and that” or “The Web 2.0 was a major revolution for…” Be a little more creative and precise.

Use some seminal scientific papers as references to strengthen this section. They should not be older than 3 or 4 years.

Name and explain core concepts

Once you have placed your topic in a larger context, you can immediately narrow it down. You can now distinguish your topic from related domains. Always make sure that you formulate the language carefully and clearly. The most important terms of your work should already be mentioned here. Especially the terms that will appear later in your research question (very important!).

They do not all have to be defined with a direct quote, but those concepts should not leave any open questions.

#2 Explain relevance and research motivation

Why is it important and significant to address the topic of your paper from a scientific perspective?

Use some statistics

You can support the relevance of your topic with some numbers or statistics.

This is the only place of your paper or thesis where you can make use of non-scientific sources. However, make sure to use newspapers or statistics portals with a high reputation.

Do a Mini Literature Review

Now that you have proven that your topic is relevant to be researched, it’s time to get down to business. Now you get into the research literature.

By research motivation, it is not meant that you want to get a good grade, for example, or that you have always found the topic interesting. Rather, this section of the introduction asks for an explanation of why your paper addresses an obvious research problem.

You have to try to mirror the scientific debate about your topic in just a few paragraphs and identify something that is missing in this debate.

This is where your work on how to write an introduction for a research paper comes into play.

#3 Identify a research problem

Which aspects of your topic have already been studied? By whom? What has been left out? Is there conflicting evidence?

If you have conscientiously researched and read the current research literature, you can identify a good research problem with by answering those questions to yourself – and then to the reader.

So, in order to be able to make a well-founded argument here, you must already have done a lot of reading. But you are only at the beginning of your work…

You can find out how to solve this problem with my secret tip at the end of the article.

Please do not ever make the mistake and claim: “The aspects X and Y of topic Z have not been researched so far. Therefore, I do it.” This is not a good argument.

#4 Define the goal of your work

At this point you should express what exactly you want to achieve with your work. You want to address the previously identified research problem as best you can. You can do this by defining specific research questions.

This part of your introduction is probably the most important step by far. The success of your paper stands or falls with the research question(s). You can learn everything about how to formulate a brilliant research question on my blog. Here you will also get a step-by-step guide with all the tricks of the trade for posing such a question.

At this point, I’ll give you two hot tips on how to write an introduction for a research paper:

A research question should never be answerable with “yes” or “no.” Use the question word “how” for your research question if you are not bound to a specific research paradigm that requires the question to be different.

Usually, 1 to 2 research questions are quite sufficient, depending on the scope of your paper.

#5 Describe the procedure of your research

The introduction of your paper or thesis should definitely consider this point as well: A short description of your method.

Examples of scientific methods are the following:

Surveys, experiments, data analysis, content analysis, literature reviews, interviews, etc….

If you are using an empirical approach, explain the main features of your study or data analysis. A detailed description of your approach follows separately in the main part of your paper.

If your scientific work is limited to the theoretical discussion of a topic, this is no problem at all. For example, you can use the methodology of a literature search or analyze and expand an existing concept that is of great importance in your subject area.

#6 Write a contribution statement

This is probably the most tricky part of your introduction. In this paragraph that follows the research question and the method, you have one last chance to convince your reader of the importance of you work.

As this is only the introduction of your work, you can’t get to deep into the findings of it as the reader does not know them yet.

Try to articulate very precisely, how your work contributes to existing literature. Or even better: How does it contribute to theory? If you use theory in your work, it should of course be explained in your Mini Literature Review and be incorporated in your research question(s).

In your contribution statement, you can distinguish between theoretical and practical contributions. For some disciplines, one is more important than the other. You will have to adapt to the expectations of your discipline.

#7 Outline the structure of your work

Last but not least, you give the reader a roadmap so that she can prepare herself for the following pages. In concise words, you explain the steps you will take in the following chapters.

You can name the individual chapters and their numbering. However, the small section should not be a monotonous enumeration. Rather, orient yourself to the argumentation that should make up your work.

Usually 2-3 sentences are sufficient for this small section at the end of the introduction.

Now you have almost completed the guide on how to write an introduction for a research paper. There is only the bonus tip missing.

Bonus Tip

And the key to success is…

Write your introduction last.

Start your paper or thesis with the main body and write your introduction at the very end. This way you can make sure that your introduction fits your work and your results one hundred percent.

A lot can change in the course of a scientific paper or thesis, so wait to write your introduction until the rest is complete. This tip has proven to be enormously useful.

You would like to know how to develop a research question for your academic paper or thesis? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, you will learn exactly how to master this task.

Why the research question is so important for your term paper or thesis

The research question of your term paper or thesis is the holy grail in your quest for a good grade. Since you want to follow an argument in the course of your academic paper, you should first pose an existing problem at the beginning of the paper.

Subsequently, at the end of the introduction, you then set up the research question. It will be your and the reader’s guide for your scientific work from now on.

The following tasks will be taken over by the research question for your paper or thesis:

• The rhetoric of your paper improves
• The basic concepts of your paper are narrowed down
• You know in which direction you have to research literature
• Your research goals are set in stone

Thus, setting up a research question at an early stage has several advantages. On the one hand, you know in the creative process how you should proceed with your work. On the other hand, the reader knows which problem your work is pursuing at all.

Should I formulate only one research question in my paper or thesis?

For term papers, you should always formulate a research question. Here, one question can usually be quite sufficient, but 2 research questions are also ok. For larger projects such as a master’s thesis or even a doctoral dissertation, there may be more research questions.

A regular thesis usually gets by with 2 solid research questions.

Sub-question hierarchy

Another way to split up your research questions: sub-questions. This is quite a proven way for longer papers.

However, too many research questions will make you quickly lose your focus. At the beginning you will think: How will I ever by able to fill so many pages on such a simple question?

Trust me, afterwards you will hardly know what to cut in order to stay within the given page restrictions. But for now, let’s find out how to develop your research question.

Who, how, what? Finding the right question

If you believe your instinct, all possible W-words would be suitable for a research question. The truth, however, is a little different. In my opinion, the question words How…, To what extent…, and What… are the most suitable question words to formulate your research question for your paper or thesis.

If you are not bound to a particular research paradigm that pre-determines the type of research question, I strongly recommend that you begin your research question with the question word “How…”

Why is that?

Simply because of the answer these question words allow. If you ask with “Who”, “Why” or “When”, the answer to your research question is limited in terms of possible answers. A How-Question is also an “open” question, which is suitable for the purpose of a research paper. Only in rare cases or very narrow research designs are we in search of an answer to a “closed” research question.

In a scientific paper or thesis you want to investigate a problem from a certain angle and find the answer to your research question. However, the latter should always be formulated in such a way that it does not exclude other answers.

Formulate your research question in such a way that you can answer it openly and flexibly (and still concretely). 

This is not to say that you do not have an idea of a possible answer when you write your research question. On the contrary: If you can already roughly estimate what the result of your argumentation, data analysis or literature review etc. will be, formulating a research question is much easier.

The different types of research questions

The question word you choose also depends on the type of research question. Roughly, the following questions can be distinguished:

Descriptive question
Example: How do commercial organizations communicate during self-inflicted crises on social media?
Explanatory question 
Example: Why do corporate communication strategies on social media differ from traditional crisis PR?
Design question
Example: What communication strategies are appropriate for corporate social media crisis management? (Especially relevant for practically oriented disciplines such as mechanical engineering, organization science, computer science, etc.)
Forecasting question
Example: How will the demand for skilled knowledge workers develop in the next 5 years, taking into account industry 4.0?
Evaluating question
Example: How will the introduction of a statutory health card affect the privacy concerns of patients?
Utopian question:
What will the knowledge worker archetype look like in 10 years? What are potential consequences for corporate culture?

Tip: Formulate 2-3 different research questions for your topic and use different question types. Send these to your supervisor by e-mail or take them with you to the consultation hour.

My experience is that the most common question types for undergraduate research are evaluative and descriptive.

Focusing the research question

At this point, you are ready to formulate your research question. To do this, we need the topic that you have wisely thought about or been assigned.

The narrowing down of your topic must now also be reflected in the research question. Let’s work with an example. Your overall topic is social media marketing. How can you break down this topic and create a question that is as precise as possible?

Limit yourself to partial aspects
Example: Twitter
Limit yourself to a geographical framework
Example: Germany
Limit yourself to a period of time
Example: During the VW diesel scandal

Now, merge your narrowing with the question type you selected earlier. In our example:

How did VW communicate over the course of the 2015 diesel scandal on Twitter?

Choose the concepts within your research question wisely

The more solidly your research question is formulated, the better you can use it for the development of your argument.

Make sure to explain every concept you use in your research question prior to introducing the question. Typically, that would be the introduction.

I must not happen that the reader stumbles upon an ambiguous concept in your research question without being introduced to it earlier.

Examples of research questions

Here are a few simple examples from different disciplines to give you some inspiration. Perhaps you will recognize a pattern, which will help you to develop your own interesting research question.

• How does “servant leadership” affect the corporate culture in medium-sized companies in the digital economy in Canada? (Economics)
• To what extent are recipients of computer games with violent content morally sensitized? (Psychology) 
• To what extent does the retweeting behavior of police accounts on Twitter influence individual decision-making in crisis situations? (Media & Communication Studies) 
• How can serious games promote social competence in elementary school students? (Education) 
• To what extent can belt drives in large agricultural vehicles be optimized by reducing vibrations? (Mechanical Engineering)
• To what extent can augmented reality applications improve user experience in logistics management? (Applied Computer Science) 

Even a research question from the field of theoretical physics follows the same pattern. No matter the methodology, no matter the discipline: anyone can formulate a good research question if he or she follows the above rules. With a little practice, it gets easier with every scientific project.

The 7 deadly sins for research questions

Now, before you start formulating your own research question, you should learn which mistakes you should avoid at all costs. If you take care to avoid all of these pitfalls, you will be able to create the perfect research question.

#1 Your research question has a yes or no answer.
Example: Is enjoyment the deciding factor in choosing entertainment media?

#2 Your research question is too broad
Example: How can social media be implemented to increase company sales?
#3 Your research question does not include the most important concepts of your topic
#4 It is impossible for you to answer the research question
#5 Your research question does not incorporate your theory (if you use one)
#6 Your research question is not relevant
#7 Your research question is too long
Example: To what extent can moral disengagement theory be extended with consideration of Bushman’s General Aggression model in relation to the perceived enjoyment of online multiplayer users?

Are you still there?

We’re not at the end yet. Hang in there, you’re about to have all the information you need on how to develop a research question.

Position of the research question

In rare cases, your research question may arise from the literature, in which case it would appear at the end of the literature review.

However, my suggestion is to introduce the research question earlier.

The research question should be positioned almost at the end of the introduction, after motivating your research and describing the research problem. 

How to answer a research question

You will answer the research question in detail in the discussion section of your paper or thesis. Here, you address each of the findings you highlighted in your main body and review them for relevance against the research question. You will also relate it to the literature you have previously selected as the basis for your argument.

You also answer your research question in your conclusion. Here, however, you get very specific and summarize the findings in a few sentences. When writing your conclusion, keep your research question in mind and try to answer it as directly as possible. If you can do that, you’ve already done a lot right.

If you made it this far down, congratulations! It was a hard piece of work. But it will pay off, because with an excellently formulated research question, you can easily win over your supervisors goodwill and increase your chances on a good grade. And now you know, how how to develop a research question.

Now get to work and formulate your own research question!