How to Write a First Class Introduction in a Lab Report or Dissertation

The funnel method - the way top professors write introductions

Introduction - sell the research

It’s ironic, the aspect of a psychology degree that is easiest to get a top grade is the one that people fear the most

Lab reports and dissertations follow a very specific structure that stays the same regardless of what topic you are discussing

In order to know how to get a good mark in a lab report or dissertation, you must know the purpose of one

• to sell the reason why you’re doing this project in the first place

• to make the study reproducable by someone else

• to present the results clearly and concisely

• to show how your research adds to the area and its implications for real life and future research

The introduction part is about selling the research

What does sales have to do with anything?

Lab reports and dissertations are structured in the same ways as journal articles

Top journals are provided thousands of articles yearly, of which they only accept a few

The main factor that determines whether the paper does well is whether it sells

Your lab report or dissertation is meant to be a practice of journal writing

If your lab report or dissertation is written to the standard of a Lancet Psychiatry academic publication, you would not just get a first, you’d likely get above 95 (although this is VERY difficult to achieve)

The way you sell your article is by starting broad and funnelling in to the specific study. This is the broad part of the funnel

You start by talking about why the broad area (the dependent variable is important)

And you funnel down on why your specific study is vital and adding to the research

Below is the formula that top professors use worldwide

Part 1 - Shock Statistics and Definitions (why is the dependent variable important)

You want to start your paper with statistics about the dependent variable of interest that shock the reader. This will grip the reader early on.

For example. Psychotic disorders have high rates of morbidity and mortality (Simon et al., 2018), with high suicide rates, lowered quality of life, and deficits in cognition and functioning (Bowden, 2005; Brissos et al., 2008; Chang et al., 2016; Miller & Black, 2020; Thompson et al., 2005).

You want to start strong and follow up by defining the dependent variable and going in further depth on why it is important

Part 2 - Therefore

You then guide the reader to the next point.

Because the dependent variable is important, it is vital for research to…

What that … is depends on your question

In some cases it will be that it is important to create interventions to improve the problem

For example. Therefore, it is important for interventions to be formed and tested that could reduce the impacts of negative effects of bipolar disorder.

In other cases your article is discussing that it is important for research to focus on risk factors

For example. Therefore, it is important for research to focus on factors that predict poor outcomes in bipolar in order to reduce negative consequences in the highest risk subgroups.

Part 3 - The Independent Variable

The therefore point links you to your independent variable.

For example. Research has reliably found that psychiatric medications reduce the risk of severe negative outcomes in bipolar disorder.

Or

For example. Research has reliably found that substance misuse is a primary risk factor for negative outcomes in bipolar disorder.

Following this, you discuss the independent variable, defining it and describing the research investigating the relationship between these variables

Part 4 - Funnel down to the specifics

We started the independent variable investigating psychiatric medication. In our study we may be interested in one of those specifically. Perhaps quetiapine.

You want to funnel down to the specific topic of interest, explaining why this is particularly important.

For example. Research indicates that quetiapine is particularly beneficial in the treatment of bipolar disorder, due to having positive impacts on both mania and depressive symptomatology

Part 5 - Previous research is awful

Here you want to tell the researcher why previous research was limited in its impact

This may be because of:

The study sample: For example. Although previous research has investigated the impact of quetiapine on bipolar disorder, the studies have been focussed on participants over the age of 50

The methodology: For example. Previous research has only focussed on correlations between quetiapine use and hospitalizations. In order to test causation, it would be essential to conduct a randomized control trial to investigate involuntary and voluntary hospitalizations

Or a host of other reasons

Part 6 - My research is the best

Now, you present the current study and say how it alleviated the limitations stated previously

Part 7 - Hypotheses or research questions

Finally, you write the hypotheses or research questions

Usually, when I do hypotheses I state the reason why I made that decision

This usually takes the form of something like: As previous research by (REF) found x, the study hypothesised that y.

And that is the introduction done and dusted. Take the reader on a journey. Sell the importance of your research.