the introduction. purpose: to convince the reader that your study will yield knowledge or knowhow...

The INTRODUCTION

The INTRODUCTION

Purpose: to convince the reader that your study will yield knowledge or knowhow that is new and useful

The INTRODUCTION


Components of the Introduction

The INTRODUCTION


Components of the Introduction ● Identify a gap in knowledge or knowhow (“Study problem”).

The INTRODUCTION



- Provide key background (scope/nature/magnitude of the gap).

The INTRODUCTION




- Be clear that filling this gap will be useful.

The INTRODUCTION




- Be clear that filling this gap will be useful.

- Describe the relevant limitations of previous studies.

The INTRODUCTION



- Provide key background (scope/nature/magnitude of the gap). - Be clear that filling this gap will be useful. - Describe the relevant limitations of previous studies.

● Present your approach to filling the gap (“Study purpose”).

The INTRODUCTION




● Present your approach to filling the gap (“Study purpose”). - Be clear that your approach is new.

The INTRODUCTION





- Emphasize that your approach addresses the limitations of previous studies in a logical/compelling way.

The INTRODUCTION





- Emphasize that your approach addresses the limitations of previous studies in a logical/compelling way.

(often requires just three paragraphs)

Elements of the Introduction

• GAP GB – Key BACKGROUND to the gap.

GU – Why filling the gap will be USEFUL.

GL – Key LIMITATION(S) of previous studies responsible for the gap.

• APPROACH AB – BACKGROUND to the approach (not always necessary)

AN – What is NEW about the approach taken in the current study.

AL – How does this new approach address the LIMITATIONS of previous studies.

[GU: If radiofrequency exposure from mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer, acoustic neuroma would be of potential concern.] [GB: The exposure from mobile phones is concentrated in the head close to the handset; exposure is relatively high only for the glial and meningeal tissue closest to the surface of the head, the parotid gland, and the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve where acoustic neuromas arise.] [Gap: Six studies have investigated the association between mobile phone use and acoustic neuroma, with inconsistent results.] [GL: All available studies are limited by a small number of exposed cases and a short follow-up since the time hand-held mobile phones first became available.]


[AB: In Sweden, mobile phone use became common in the general population relatively early; handheld mobile phones were introduced at the end of the 1980s with an exponential increase of users during the 1990s. Slightly less than 6% of the population used mobile phones in 1990, 23% in 1995, and over 80% today.] Therefore, [Approach: a study based on the Swedish population (is this new?)] [AL: will have a large proportion of long-term users, which is crucial for the possibility of detecting any increased risk of tumors related to long-term mobile phone use.]


[AB: In Sweden, mobile phone use became common in the general population relatively early; handheld mobile phones were introduced at the end of the 1980s with an exponential increase of users during the 1990s. Slightly less than 6% of the population used mobile phones in 1990, 23% in 1995, and over 80% today.] Therefore, [Approach: a study based on the Swedish population] [AL: will have a large proportion of long-term users, which is crucial for the possibility of detecting any increased risk of tumors related to long-term mobile phone use.]

Lung Cancer Risk and Workplace Exposure toEnvironmental Tobacco Smoke

Group Exercise

• What is the Gap (G)?

• Does the study approach address the limitations of previous studies in a logical/compelling way?

• Why will filling this gap be useful (Gu)?

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been recognized as a cause of human cancer by the US Surgeon General,1 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,2 the US Environmental Protection Agency,3 the California Environmental Protection Agency,4 the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia,5 the Great Britain Department of Health,6 and most recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer.7 Evidence for this association has come primarily from studies of nonsmokers who are married to a smoker, and meta-analyses of these studies have demonstrated strong and consistent evidence for an association.3,8,9

Demonstrating an association between workplace ETS exposure and lung cancer risk has been more difficult. Early meta-analyses failed to demonstrate an association between workplace ETS exposure and lung cancer risk among nonsmokers,10–14 but a statistically significant association has been reported in the 3 most recently published meta-analyses.15–17 We sought to extend the previous meta-analyses by including additional studies and by conducting analyses stratified by level of exposure, which was not performed in the previous meta-analyses.

What is the Gap (G)?



Does the study approach address the limitations of previous studies in a logical/compelling way?



Why will filling this gap be useful?

Reducing the Illegal Sale of Cigarettes to Minors

Group Exercise

Read Abstract and Introduction

• What is the gap?

What gap are the authors trying to fill?

Knowledge or Knowhow?

•

•

•

•

[Gap: Although most states, including California, have laws regulating the access of minors to tobacco, they are rarely enforced. By all accounts, tobacco is readily accessible to minors.] [GB: In field trials, minors have successfully purchased tobacco from stores and vending machines 70% to 100% of the time. National survey data indicate that 57% of high school seniors who report daily smoking began by the age of 14 years.] [GU: Stopping the sale of tobacco to minors through enforcement of existing laws is, therefore, a critical step in any effort to prevent tobacco use.]

What about the limitations of previous studies (GL)?

[Gap: Although most states, including California, have laws regulating the access of minors to tobacco, they are rarely enforced. By all accounts, tobacco is readily accessible to minors.] [GB: In field trials, minors have successfully purchased tobacco from stores and vending machines 70% to 100% of the time. National survey data indicate that 57% of high school seniors who report daily smoking began by the age of 14 years.] [GU: Stopping the sale of tobacco to minors through enforcement of existing laws is, therefore, a critical step in any effort to prevent tobacco use.]

[AB: We are aware of only two published studies that measured the effect of efforts to enforce existing laws against the sale of cigarettes to minors. In Decatur, IL, a voluntary merchant education program reduced the ability of minors to purchase cigarettes from stores by 18%. In Avon, England, a voluntary merchant education program combined with a media campaign reduced the ability of minors to purchase tobacco from 91% of tobacconists to 44%. ] [Approach: The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a program to reduce illegal sales of cigarettes to minors that includes [AN(L): three components]: voluntary merchant education, a media campaign, and grassroots community organization.]

Original ~ 500 words

Revision ~ 200 words

Passive voice exerciseOn the basis of evidence from clinical trials, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended in February 2000 that a 4-dose PCV7 regimen should be given to all children aged <2 years.

Try to convert this to active voice without changing the meaning.


• • •


On the basis of evidence from clinical trials, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended in February 2000 that all children aged <2 years should receive a 4-dose PCV7 regimen should be given to.



Can you find an extraneous word in this revision?

On the basis of evidence from clinical trials, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended in February 2000 that a 4-dose PCV7 regimen should be given to all children aged <2 years.



the introduction. purpose: to convince the reader that your study will yield knowledge or knowhow...

Documents

gap study purpose

knowhow study problem

introduction purpose

usefulthe introductionpurpose

logicalcompelling way