The Essence of Chapter I

Chapter in the undergraduate, particularly in AB is called Introduction.  In some disciplines, and sometimes in the Graduate School, it’s called “The Problem and It’s Background.”

This particular chapter lays down the foundation of what the thesis is all about.  The word thesis applies to two things:  one is your written manuscript, and second and most important the content of the manuscript – the thesis (or argument, or idea, or claim.

You write because there is a particular thing in the world that invites intellectual curiosity.  It’s not simply a pet peeve of writing.  It has the goal of trying to understand something.  Isaac Newton wrote his thesis on gravity because he problematized on “why things fall to the ground.”  And after so many observations, he deduced from every individual event (which we call phenomenon) that “gravity pulls things to the ground.”  It’s a specific idea.  A thesis as an idea should be both specific and generalizable.  The general equivalent of Newton’s is that Forces affect the motion of objects.  Force is the general concept to which gravity belongs.

Now think of your thesis?  What are you problematizing about which belong in your specific discipline?  There must be a particular phenomenon that elicits questions that needs finding out?  That is not yet your thesis.  That is the background of your problem.  The answer to this question is your thesis.

A thesis usually is composed two parts.  The independent and the dependent variable.  The independent variable is a component of the phenomenon that affects the other component – which is the dependent variable.  The values of the dependent variable rely on the independent.

We call them variables because their values vary depending on the thesis.

E.g.  A thesis on student getting high grades because they listened to Celine Dion have two components.  Getting high grades is one.  The other is listening to music.  From that phenomenon, it’s music that affects student performance.  And those two make up the generalizable thesis.  Music affects student performance.  Specifically, Celine Dion’s music makes students perform better. J

This is what you introduce in Chapter 1.  And will be the foundation of next 4 chapters along with subsequent parts of the thesis.