Academic Writer
academic writer: organization: context: background information
Background information
Background information provides useful information about
your project. For example it can explain current research work, a situation or incident, a
general process or give a more general overview of a situation. In any case it should help
your reader understand why you have chosen a particular research topic or question.
EXAMPLE Explaining what is currently happening.
| Background to the study In the English Department we are currently working on a research project which is examining the feasibility of compiling corpora of learner data, and the extent to which such corpora may be used as a language learning resource. The English Department is currently piloting a new English for Academic Purposes (EAP) credit-based subject which involves the students completing a number of written assignments throughout the duration of the course. We selected a group of first year Electrical Engineering students studying EAP and asked them to hand in all written assignments in both electronic format and hard copy to their lecturers. The electronic versions of their assignments were then inputted and combined to form our initial corpus of written learner data. |
EXAMPLE Explaining a typical process.
| The results of factory closure in the United
Kingdom In this paper I will examine the long term effects of factory closure in the United Kingdom. The economic impacts of factory closure are always, immediately or in the long run, social impacts as well. The 'multiplier effect' on the local economy starts a process of gradual deindustrialisation. For every factory that closes and every job that is lost, further jobs are lost elsewhere in the locality. The most immediate impact is on the industry's suppliers - engineering and haulage firms, and contractors, for example. Local shops and other consumer services also lose business because of loss of income in the community, even if in the short run the blow is eased by redundancy payments. In the longer term, areas that lose jobs suffer from out- migration, and as people leave to find work elsewhere, they add a further downward twist to local spending and the health of the local economy. Eventually, if population falls enough, even employment in public services (for example, schools and hospitals) adjust downwards. Against this background I would like now to examine three factory closure cases in some detail... |
EXAMPLE Describing the moral context.
| The ethical responsibility of engineers in
large scale civil engineering projects As engineers test designs for ever-increasing speeds, loads, capacities and the like, they must always remember their larger societal obligation: protecting the public welfare. After all, the public has provided engineers, through the tax base, with an educational opportunity, and, through legislation, with the means for licensing and regulating themselves. In return, engineers have a responsibility for protecting the safety and well-being of the public in all of their design efforts. This is part of the implicit social contract all engineers agree to when they accept admission to an engineering college. In this paper I would like to examine the largest civil engineering project in Hong Kong, the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, in terms of its environmental impact. In particular I would like to focus on the question, are current regulations in Hong Kong satisfactory in protecting the environment from projects of this size? |
Find out about other ways of providing context
Academic Writer 2000