How do I Write the Introduction of my Paper? An introduction is t
How do I Write the Introduction of my Paper? An introduction is the first paragraph of a written research paper, or the first thing you say in an oral presentation, or the first thing people see, hear, or experience about your project. It has two parts: 1. A general introduction to the topic you will be discussing 2. Purpose of the study, thesis statement, research question and operational definitions. Why do an introduction? Without an introduction it is sometimes very difficult for your audience to figure out what you are trying to say. There needs to be a thread of an idea that they will follow through your paper or presentation. The introduction gives the reader the beginning of the piece of thread so they can follow it. How do I do it? Start with a couple of sentences that introduce your topic to your reader. You do not have to give too much detailed information; save that for the body of your paper. Make these sentences as interesting as you can. Through them, you can hook a reader and get them very interested in the line of thinking you are going to develop in your project. Then state your purpose and thesis, which may be done in 2-4 or more sentences. Next state your research questions and operational definitions. The length of your introduction depends on the length and complexity of your project, but generally it should not exceed one page unless it is a very long project or a book. The average length of an introduction is one half a page. Example of the introduction Teenagers in many American cities have been involved in more gangs in the last five years than ever before. These gangs of teens have been committing a lot of violent crimes. The victims of these crimes are both gang members and people outside of gangs. Many people do not want to travel to areas in our cities because of the danger from this problem. Continue
on for a few more sentences stating the reason this topic is important. Next state the purpose of the study: The purpose of the present study is to find out how to reduce gang violence in our community. And then your thesis: For this terrible situation to stop, it is going to take a combined effort on the part of many people. Excellent, supervised after-school programs, more jobs available for teens, and healthy family relationships will go a long way towards ending this crisis in our society. Research Questions The following research questions will be explored: Research question 1: Research question 2: (if applicable) Operational Definitions The researcher has defined the following words and phrases to use for the purposes of this research in order to maintain the same definition throughout the paper: Definition #1: gangs Definition #2: violent crime Definition #3: Defintion #4 Closing transition sentence Literature Review Use annotated bibliography and template of paper as your guide for this section
1 See Instructions FirstName MiddleInitial(s) LastName Institutional Affiliation (Department Institution) Course Number and Name Instructor Name and Title Assignment Due Date
2 Coping with Type 1 Diabetes among Women Coping with Type 1 Diabetes among Women Type 1 diabetes is a chronic illness associated with limited insulin production in the body. Given that scientists are yet to determine a cure for the ailment, type 1diabetes patients have to abide by controlling sugar bodies by inducing insulin in the body, healthy diets, and controlled lifestyles. Managing such complications can be overwhelming, especially for busybodies. This happens especially with women at their prime working age, given their work commitments and family commitments. Establishing and adopting effective coping mechanisms influences positive health outcomes and general wellbeing for the patients with the disease. The coping mechanisms have varied impact on the wellbeing of the patients. Research question The research seeks to answer the following question: What are experiences of women between the ages of 30 – 51 years of age living with Type 1 diabetes? Research Purpose The research is designed to find out the coping mechanisms for women with Type 1 diabetes. Literature Review There is significant amount of literature on the coping mechanism for Type 1 diabetes, which highlight various coping mechanisms for different individuals. Andersen et al. (2020) assessed the correlation between socioeconomic position and lifestyle among
3 diabetic individuals. The researchers collected data from a DNHS conducted in 2013 (Andersen et al., 2020). The participants were seven thousand five hundred and four adults suffering from diabetes and aged forty years and above. The SEP indicator was the level of education, which was low, middle, or high. Participants within the low educational level category had less than ten years of schooling, while those in the middle category had ten to twelve years of schooling (Andersen et al., 2020). The high educational level group consisted of patients with more than thirteen years of education. On the other hand, physical activeness, alcohol intake, inspiration to lifestyle change, and lifestyle advice from general practitioners formed part of the dependent variables. The study deployed the 4-level Saltin-Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale to measure individuals physical activity (Andersen et al., 2020). To obtain data on alcohol intake, the researchers identified the amount of standard alcoholic drinks the participant consumed in one week. A standard alcoholic drink contained 12g of alcohol. They measured the individuals smoking status by identifying whether they smoked or not. Finally, the participants filled questionnaires to indicate their motivation level to lifestyle change as well as whether their GP provided lifestyle advice (Andersen et al., 2020). The study conducted logistic regression analyses using age, BMI, and ethnic background to examine the link between SEP and the dependent variables. The results indicated a strong relationship between low SEP and physical inactivity in both men and women. On the contrary, there was a positive relationship between high SEP and high alcohol consumption in men but not women. Moreover, both men and women with high SEP reported receiving lifestyle advice from their GPs. Smoking was rampant among participants with low SEP. Finally, high SEP had a positive relationship with elevated motivation to lifestyle change (Andersen et al., 2020). From these results, the authors
4 concluded that diabetic individuals socioeconomic position positively relates to their lifestyle, and GPs should use SEP to inform their interventions in diabetes care. Luyckx et al., (2015) examined the extent to which Type 1 diabetes interrupts an individuals self-definition. The researchers used the Belgian Diabetes Registry to identify and invite participants (Luyckx et al., 2015). Four hundred and seventy-eight patient with the disease and aged between 18 and 35 participated in the study by completing questionnaires. Fifty percent of the participants were women. The dependent variables were individuals illness perceptions, personality, diabetes problem areas, clinical and demographic variables. Measurement tools included the ISC Scale, which indicated a participants illness self-concept, the RIPQ (Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire) that measured illness perceptions, and the Quick Big Five to measure personality traits (Luyckx et al., 2015). The study also deployed the diabetes problem areas scale to identify emotional, treatment, food, and community support issues attributable to diabetes. Emotional problems identified by the study were self-esteem and depression (Luyckx et al., 2015). The 10-item RSES (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale measured the participants’ self-esteem while the 20-item CESD (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression) scale identified depressive symptoms in the participants. Regarding the clinical and demographic variables, the results pointed to a negative relationship between educational level and illness self-concept. On the other hand, illness duration and age had no association with illness self-concept. The univariate analyses of variance showed a higher score in women than in men (Luyckx et al., 2015). Additionally, the personality traits, self-esteem, and perceived consequences assessments identified a positive relationship between illness self-concept and illness perceptions and a negative correlation between illness self-concept and diabetes integration. Besides, the relationship between emotional stability, self-esteem, and illness
5 self-concept was negative (Luyckx et al., 2015). Finally, self-esteem and depressive symptoms related negatively. From the studys results, the authors concluded that an individual’s self-concept on illness was a substantial component for diabetes care. It forecasted depressive symptoms among people with the disease and related functioning even when the patients controlled their self-esteem, personality traits, and illness perceptions. Therefore when handling diabetic patients with a high central illness self-concept, general practitioners should eliminate the interruptive role played by Type 1 diabetes in patients’ self-definition. An observational investigation on communal mechanisms of coping with diabetes shows confirms that communal coping mechanisms are quite useful for individuals with diabetes. The participants included one hundred and nineteen people with Type 2 diabetes together with their marriage partners (Van Vleet et al., 2018). The recruitment procedure involved massive advertisements and the issuance of brochures and flyers. Couple members filled a questionnaire rating the degree to which 12 diabetes problems were challenging. Based on the independent ratings, each couple discussed the most significant problem for eight minutes aiming to find solutions to the problem. The research assistant recorded the eight minutes of discussion. After the discussion, the assistant issued couple members another questionnaire with the aim of measuring their current mood and progress in the resolution of the diabetes issue. The partners filled the questionnaires independently. The research team used actor-partner interdependence modes to measure the impact of diabetes problem solving on couple members (Van Vleet et al., 2018). Besides, they deployed the interaction APIM approach to check whether there were more substantial communal coping outcomes in patients than in spouses. The study found trivial actor communal coping in diabetes problem-solving. The
6 results revealed a positive relationship between partner communal coping and enhanced diabetes problem-solving in women and not in men. According to Van Vleet et al., (2018), actor communal coping had a bigger positive effect on men than on women, while partner communal coping had a more positive impact on the health outcomes for women compared to men. Additionally, the results showed a more positive relationship between relationship quality and partner communal coping than own communal coping (Van Vleet et al., 2018). Finally, the study portrayed a significant link between partner communal coping and reduced psychological distress for patients but not for spouses. With these results, the authors concluded that partner communal coping enhanced diabetes problem-solving, reduced psychological distress, improved relationship quality and mood in couples dealing with diabetes Van Vleet et al., 2018). The coping strategy was, however, more beneficial to women than men. Summary Coping with Type 1 diabetes is a daunting task for women due to their enhanced health worries and predisposition to take on the sick role. According to Luyckx et al. (2015), women suffering from the disease have a higher illness self-concept centrality than men. Women value their relationships and interactions with friends and family (Van Vleet et al., 2018). Type 1 diabetes may reduce these interactions because one must stay close to medical equipment and treatments for emergencies; this destabilizes womens emotions and may cause psychological distress (Luyckx et al., 2015). These findings explain why women with diabetes have greater motivation to lifestyle change and engagement in physical activity and benefit the most from communal coping (Andersen et al., 2020; Van Vleet et al., 2018). The willingness to quit smoking and alcohol consumption even without lifestyle advice from general practitioners is attributable to their great health concerns (Andersen et al., 2020; Luyckx et al., 2015). Contrary to Andersen et al. (2020) and Van Vleet et al. (2018) findings,
7 I have immensely neglected my health. My GP must eliminate the invasive role that Type 1 diabetes has played on my self?? concept to cope effectively. Methodology Design The study utilized a qualitative approach to gather data about the subject. Through a qualitative approach, it was possible to collect rich data about the participants and their condition. The information collected would help to understand the experiences of the participants, especially their coping mechanisms. Data Collection The data was collected through interviews and a review of literature on the subject of coping with the disease on a daily basis. The interview’s research prompt was to establish women’s experiences between the ages of 30-51 years living with Type 1 diabetes. The interviewer conducted a face-to-face interview with a female diabetes specialist who has also been diagnosed with the chronic disease. The specialist is a lifestyle expert to diabetic patients. Given her encounter with diabetes, she deeply understands the dynamics of Type 1 diabetes among female patients within the listed age group. The interview runs for half an hour, and the interviewee was willing to respond to most of the questions formulated for the interview. The questionnaires for the interviews had ten open ended questions. Each question was designed to collect as much data about the participants and their coping styles as possible. The other source of information was literature review on the coping mechanisms for individuals suffering from the illness. The literature research gathered peer-review journal articles on women suffering from Type 1 diabetes and also look for articles related to coping with the disease, with emphasis on women. The literature search brought up five articles. The search utilized the following key words and phrases:
8 ?? Diabetes ?? Living with Type 1 diabetes, ?? Women with Type 1 diabetes Sample The participant was sampled through convenience sampling method. Ten participants were sampled for the research including members of the American Diabetes Association. Limitations One of the key limitations of the study was the use of responses from a few participants. The conveniently sampled participants may have many similarities. These limitations compromise the capacity for generalization of the results. Ethical Considerations Participants were requested to provide a signed consent acknowledging that they voluntarily and that they understood the need for the research. The interviews were conducted at a time convenient for the participants. Findings There were many open-ended and long answer requests that the interviewee responded to in the interview. The questions prompted various responses. A large percentage of the participants were first diagnosed with the disease in their late 30s and early 40s. The participants acknowledge that the knowledge diabetic status allowed them to adjust accordingly and live a more fulfilling life despite the disease. The participants have since diagnosis started various types of medication. A large percentage of the treatment mechanisms are related to lifestyle changes. Eight out of the ten participants take insulin through injection. Two of the participants use an insulin pump. The younger participants prefer injections while the older participants believe that insulin pumps are convenient since they do not have to worry about forgetting their medication. Six participants use angiotensin-
9 converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) for high blood pressure every day. The participants are prescribed different types of the drugs and in varied doses, but the most common ones include Azilsartan (Edarbi), Candesartan (Atacand), Eprosartan, Irbesartan (Avapro). The dosage depends on the prescription of the physician. The participants argued that they had to change their lifestyle to cope with diabetes. Some of the changes include adoption of healthy diets and controlled lifestyles (Andersen et al., 2020). The patients had to change their nutrition to meet their coping requirements. Literature and the participants indicate that avoiding or dealing with emotional disturbance is one of the ways to cope with the disease (Jaser, 2016). The women, and any other patient, are required to improve the processes of monitoring their blood sugar constantly. The literature and the patients indicate that insulin has had various side effects such as dizziness, blurred vision, fast heart rate, hunger, and sweating among others. The patients have to exercise regularly to handle the weight gain that comes with insulin usage. Some patients experience arms and legs swelling as a side effect of insulin. The injection sites turn red and may start itching and swelling. In some cases, patients experience skin shrinking at the injection site. The results indicate that nutrition is one of the essential factors in coping with diabetes. However, the affordability of the key nutrition components, availability of some nutrition components and ensuring their right measurements of the various components can be challenging for patients with Type 1 diabetes. This argument narrows down to socioeconomic status of the patient. The wealthy and those with elaborate support structure can easily access the right nutrition unlike the poor people. Healthy is one of the hardest part of being diabetic; one has to watch everything they eat at all times. It is not easy living with diabetes and thus, diabetic individuals need socioeconomic support. Discussion
10 The results indicate a number of coping mechanisms for women with Type 1 diabetes including attention to nutrition, emotional therapy, social interactions, medications, and exercise. These mechanisms have varied influence on the wellbeing of the patients. Healthy eating is a prime requirement in managing diabetes (Andersen et al., 2020). According to the interviewee, the most recommended types of food for diabetic patients include food portions from each food group, such as fruits and vegetables, protein, healthy fats, and whole grains. Also, given the insulin consumed by a person with diabetes, one must moderate the carbohydrates they consume. A huge amount of carbohydrates may lead to a significant drop in blood sugars, leading to patient complications. The interviewees also recommend random snacks for diabetes patients to maintain their energy and maintain high blood sugar levels. However, the snack must abide by the healthy eating restrictions imposed on the patient. The research indicates that living with diabetic is not an easy task. Individuals have to deal with side effects of the medications as well as strict diets. The socioeconomic status of the patient influences their health outcomes in significant ways; the poor people can hardly afford medication. The wealthy and those with elaborate support structure can easily access the right nutrition unlike the poor people (Mello, 2017). Healthy diet is one of the hardest parts of being diabetic; one has to watch everything they eat at all times. Therefore, diabetic individuals need socioeconomic support. The interviewee explained different strategies that women use to manage type 1 diabetes. The first strategy includes stress management. According to the interviewee, stress and anxiety are negative diabetic-related emotions that are likely to cause an imbalance in insulin level, leading to complications. Another strategy includes random interactions with the diabetes care team to determine one’s progress with the disease and prescribe improvements or plausible lifestyle changes (Jaser, 2016). Also, the interviewee explained that taking care of oneself is the surest way to manage type 1 diabetes. One must stick to the
11 treatment plan, practice healthy eating, exercise, sufficient sleep, and learn to manage and balance the blood sugar levels. Conclusion Diabetic individuals have to adopt effective coping mechanisms to achieve positive health outcomes and general wellbeing. Living with diabetes is not easy for anyone; they have to put in a lot of work from dieting to physical and emotional fitness. The coping mechanisms have varied impact on the wellbeing of the patients. Medications and dieting are some of the common coping mechanisms for individuals with diabetes. The research indicates that individuals can cope with Type 1 diabetes by seeking social support, physical exercises, and use of new technologies to monitor blood sugar; dieting, and ensure continuous learning to ensure better health outcomes. Individuals will also have to invest in insulin and other drugs for treatment of associated diseases. It is important to note that a large percentage of the treatment mechanisms are related to lifestyle changes. A general change in lifestyle can significantly influence the impact of the disease on the body. Therefore, it is essential to change ones lifestyle for better to avoid some of the opportunistic diseases. References Andersen, M. B., Bjørkman, A. S. D., Pedersen, M., Ekholm, O., & Molsted, S. (2020). Social inequality in lifestyle, motivation to change lifestyle and received health advice in individuals with diabetes: A nationwide study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 48(8), 847-854. DOI: 10.1177/1403494819885727
12 Jaser, S. S., Patel, N., Xu, M., Tamborlane, W. V., & Grey, M. (2016). Stress and coping predicts adjustment and glycemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51(1), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-016-9825-5 Luyckx, K., Rassart, J., & Weets, I. (2015). Illness self-concept in Type 1 diabetes: A crosssectional view on clinical, demographic, and psychosocial correlates. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 20(1), 77-86. DOI: htttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2014.902482. Mello, D., Wiebe, D. J., Barranco, C., & Barba, J. (2017). The stress and coping context of type 1 diabetes management among Latino and Non-Latino white early adolescents and their mothers. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 42(6), 647-656. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsw109 Van Vleet, M., Helgeson, V. S., Seltman, H. J., Korytkowski, M. T., & Hausmann, L. R. (2018). Communally coping with diabetes: An observational investigation using the actor-partner interdependence model. Journal of Family Psychology, 32(5), 654-663. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000414 Appendix Appendix 1: Interview Questions 1. When were you diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes? How old were you then? 1. Please list all medications that you take, including dosage 1. In what ways have you adapted to living with diabetes? 1. What are the side effects of your medications/insulin?
13 1. What would you like a non-diabetic to know about having diabetes? 1. What is the most challenging aspect of nutrition for you? 1. How can you change your lifestyle in a way that you will be healthy? 1. What is the hardest part of being diabetic? 1. What other problems does diabetes bring? 1. I will also like to know their experience with the disease. I would like to know if it is easy to live with the disease right now in this modern-day and age, or whether it is still difficult. I would like to know how they felt and where their emotions were when they realized that they had diabetes type 1.
Notes about the literature review: Students, after writing your introduction/purpose of the study/research questions and operational definitions, you will need to write a literature review based on the annotated bibliography that you prepared. The Annotated bibliography will serve as your literature review blueprint. Hopefully after reviewing all of your articles, books, websites, and other documents; and writing about them in the annotated bibliography, you should have a better idea about what is out there already about your topic. What research has already done on your topic, what were the findings? The literature review is basically a review of the existing research out there about your topic. Have the questions about your topic you want to find out about already been answered? If so, what else is missing? How can you fill in any missing answers about your research topic? If your research confirms your suspicions about the answer to your research question, is there a way you can put an original spin on your own research to dig deeper and add to the existing research? This is the purpose of the literature review: To find out what is already out there about your topic and what you want to know so you can decide what other answers need to be found? Or, perhaps you already have your answer from reading the articles but want to replicate a study to see if you get the same results (reliability). Your literature review should be a group of articles, books, scholarly websites, documents that relate to your topic. Let’s say you want to study self esteem in Asian American Teens. You find many articles about self-esteem, and teenagers, but little about the Asian American girl experience with self-esteem. Therefore, your literature review will be more about reviewing articles about self-esteem in teen girls and perhaps you found a few articles about self-esteem in Caucasian girls, and African -American girls. That is okay. This simply tells you that your research will fill a gap in the research about self-esteem in Asian American girls! Your literature review will probably have subtopics like this: Self-Esteem and the American Adolescent female This is where you review your articles from the annotated bibliography that are about self-esteem in general and teen girls no matter what their culture Self Esteem and Culture For this subtopic, you will review the articles that relate to self-esteem and how one’s culture affects one’s self-esteem Asian American Teen Experience In this section, you will review articles you found about Asian American teen girls specifically. The studies do not have to relate directly to self-esteem, but perhaps you found an article about the academic and or social pressure Asian American girls face. This could definitely be related to self-esteem, right? So you see, the articles need to be grouped together by subtopic so the literature review will flow. The literature review is building a case for you to do your own
study. Your study will add to the existing literature (in your literature review). This is why the lit review is so important. It sets up your own original research You are making a ‘so what’ case for your study. I hope this makes sense. I have provided a few examples of how students from my 4812 class grouped their articles in their literature review. Please note that the same articles could be included in all or some sections of your literature review. Or,you may only use a few of your articles one time in the entire literature review. Your goal is to tease out the important parts of each articles and synthesize it so it makes a case for your research. Whew…I know that was a lot but I hope this helps you understand why you have to do a literature review and how to do it. Professor Davis See the two samples in week 3 folder Due date for Literature review: Sunday 3/3
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