RESEARCH BACKGROUND: CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES - SCIENCE - 2024

The background of the investigation is the information that identifies and describes the history, as well as the nature of the problem that is being investigated in reference to existing literature.

Ideally, the research background should indicate the root cause of the problem being studied. A context of the problem must be provided in relation to theory, research and / or practice, and its importance.

Additionally, the background should indicate the extent to which previous studies have successfully investigated the problem. In this way, it is possible to inform about the areas in which there are gaps and in which the current study wants to concentrate.

The background should expand on the key points stated at the beginning of the introduction, however it should not be the main focus of the work. A good background should help the reader determine if the author has a basic understanding of the research problem they are investigating.

This crucial information should give the reader sufficient essential context necessary to understand the research problem and its importance. It also promotes confidence in the overall quality of the analysis and in the author's results.

Characteristics of the background of the investigation

The introduction of a work or thesis should provide background to the study. This includes an explanation of the area of ​​investigation; in this way you can provide a context for the problem you want to investigate.

Additionally, the background should include a detailed bibliographic study in which the information that previous studies on the subject have found is explained.

Recent developments on the subject should also be discussed and any gap in the literature that has motivated the study should be identified.

It should also explain the problem the study is trying to focus on and give a brief summary of the history of the problem, mentioning whether it has been studied in any way in previous studies. This information precedes the research question and the purpose of the study.

The contextualization of the antecedents

Depending on the type of problem being investigated, contextualizing the antecedents may include one or more of the following:

1-Cultural: located within the learned behavior of specific groups of people.

2-Economic: relating to systems of production and administration of material goods and / or business activities.

3-Gender: located within the psychological, cultural and behavioral characteristics typically associated with men and women.

4-Historical: the time in which something happened or was created and how that has an influence on its interpretation.

5-Interdisciplinary: explanation of theories, concepts, ideas or methodologies borrowed from other disciplines that are being applied to the research problem.

6-Philosophical: the clarification of the nature of a being or of the phenomena in the way in which they relate to the research problem.

7-Physical / spatial: it reflects the space around something and how that has an influence on how it is perceived.

8-Political: cares about the environment in which something is produced indicating its public agenda.

9-Social: the environment of the people that surrounds the creation of something or its audience, reflecting how the people around it use and interpret it.

10-Temporal: reflects events or problems that are related or limited by time.

The background may also include summaries of important or relevant research studies.

This is particularly important if there is some essential or key study on the research problem or some key study that supports or denies the stated thesis.

Research studies cited as part of the background should not include very specific or lengthy explanations. This should be discussed in more detail in the bibliographic background section.

Importance

Carrying out a preliminary investigation helps to gain familiarity with the general context, so that it is possible to find useful sources for the work more easily.

Providing sufficient background in the introduction of an investigation, serves as a bridge to relate the reader to the topic of the study.

The length of the background will depend on the author: how much information do you think the reader needs to understand the topic being discussed and its importance?

Examples

Research on doctoral programs

Background

issue

Research on the seeds of

Background

issue

Along with other natural ingredients, is it possible that Tubang Bakod seeds are used to kill cockroaches?

References

1. Background of the study sample. Recovered from scribd.com
2. What is the best way of stating the background of a study? (2016). Recovered from editage.com
3. What is the difference between introduction and background in research proposal? Recovered from researchgate.net
4. Introduction to your study. Recovered from sagepub.com
5. Science fair project background research plan. Recovered from sciencebuddies.org
6. Organizing your social sciences research paper: background information. Recovered from libguides.usc.edu