Question Archive - Online Writing Lab

Extracting the Key Ideas from a Text

Maria Noll — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 09:46:38 +0000

What does extracting the key ideas from a text mean?

This is useful when you are approaching a text with a specific question in mind: the goal is to become aware of contradictions, ambiguities, or difficulties in the text by putting it into your own words. Extracting the key ideas from a text allows you to integrate the content better into your own writing.

Extracting the key ideas of a text means writing down the main statements in a text.

In addition, extracting the key ideas can help us keep track of knowledge we have developed, and keep it available for reference at a later stage or for future work.

You should summarize texts in a way that you won’t need to go back to the original text later.

What should I write down?

Relevant aspects: Does the text interest me? Is it important for my question? Does it match my prior knowledge?
Criteria: Title, author, year of publication, table of contents, introduction, conclusion, and bibliography.
Questions for the text: What, who, how, why, for what purpose, where, when? Activate your prior knowledge!
The basic structure of the text: Be aware of the structure of the work to avoid taking passages out of context.

Keep the notes on your literature in one place, ideally in a reference management program such as Zotero.

What kind of texts are suitable for this technique?

Fundamental texts for your own studies
Texts that may become important later, e.g. for exams or when writing your final thesis
Passages from texts that are particularly important for what you are working on just now

Literature (in German): Rost, Friedrich (2013): Wissenschaftliche Texte lesen und verstehen, In: Franck, Norbert; Stary, Joachim (ed.): Die Technik wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens. 17., überarbeitete Aufl. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 65–91.

Frequently asked questions

How can I extract the main ideas from a text?

When extracting the main ideas from a text, you write down the key statements of a text in your own words.

How is extracting the main ideas from a text helpful?

It helps you understand even difficult texts, and the content becomes better integrated into your own words. In addition, the processed knowledge is now available if you need it again at a later stage.

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The Narrowing Table

Maria Noll — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 08:54:14 +0000

Developing a research question

After you have chosen a topic you want to work on in your academic paper, you still need to develop a specific research question – in other words, narrow down your topic to a clear focus.

A research question is the guiding question you answer in your academic work.

A good research question is usually:

worded as an actual question
clearly recognizable as a research question (possibly with sub-questions)
short and concise
interesting for you as the author
relevant to the topic
still unanswered or disputed
an opportunity to formulate a thesis and prove it
clearly identifiable in the introduction of your academic work

A poor research question is:

easy to answer if you can quickly look up the answer or cite a single source
irrefutable because the answer is obvious or a matter of opinion
impossible to prove because no data is available or data cannot be collected
too broad because it is impossible to cover the most important sources and aspects within the given time or length

How to use the table to narrow down your research topic

Look at the following example to understand what each narrowing criterion means.
Fill in the subsequent blank narrowing table. You do not have to complete it in the given order, and you do not have to find something for every point.

Example

Topic area “Burnout as a consequence of capitalism?” (cf. Grieshammer et al. 2012).

Selected aspects:	Specific narrowing options:
Narrowing criteria	burnout of executives in companies banks
Time limitation	age of executives during the study period
Geographical limitation (cities, countries, institutions etc.)	in Hamburg in Europe in rural areas
Setting priorities, with special consideration of …	capitalism and lifestyle? work, private life?
By groups of people	bank employees in Europe
By disciplines and research methods	theories of capitalism/social psychology studies statistical comparisons qualitative studies
Limiting the sources	only German literature from the year 2000 onwards specific research direction e.g. capitalism-critical research on burnout interviews with experts and specialists
By theoretical approaches	psychoanalytic sources with special consideration of the works of XY
Establishing relationships and comparisons	compared to healthy executives in intercultural comparison
Emphasising a single case or example	case study
Giving an overview	historical review overview of the current state of research
Specifying practical relevance	case examples relevance for corporate management

Your narrowing table

Selected aspects:	Specific narrowing options:
Narrowing criteria
Time limitation
Geographical limitation (cities, countries, institutions etc.)
Setting priorities, with special consideration of …
By groups of people
By disciplines and research methods
Limiting the sources
By theoretical approaches
Establishing relationships and comparisons
Emphasising a single case or example
Giving an overview
Specifying practical relevance

Next steps

These questions can help you continue working with the completed narrowing table:

On which point did you have the most ideas?
Which criterion do you find important but found difficult to fill in?
What exactly do you mean by XY?
What could be the main focus of your topic?
Which narrowing criteria could be combined? What belongs together for you?

After revising the table, you can:

explore one aspect of your concept in a cluster or a freewriting session
sketch a first outline
develop one or more preliminary research questions
note keywords for your research

Literature: Grieshammer, Ella; Liebetanz, Franziska; Peters, Nora; Zegenhagen, Jana (2019): Zukunftsmodell Schreibberatung. Schreibberatung lohnt sich. Eine Anleitung zur Begleitung von Schreibenden im Studium. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren.

Frequently asked questions

How does a narrowing table help me?

With the narrowing table, you can narrow down your topic according to specific categories, which gives you ideas for formulating your research question.

What makes a good research question?

A good research question is the guiding question for your academic work – it should be worded as an actual question, written in a short, concise and interesting way, and should be disputed and relevant to the topic.

Der Beitrag The Narrowing Table erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.

Writing an Introduction in the Social Sciences

Maria Noll — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 11:07:45 +0000

Info: Here you can find an overview of the overall structure of a paper in the social sciences.

What belongs in the introduction?

An introduction should answer three main questions:

What topic does the paper address?
Which questions will be answered regarding this topic?
For empirical work: Which method is used to answer these questions?

First:

Outline the context of the topic. Referring to the literature, show the relevance of the topic:

You can also refer to practical experience, current politics, or recent events.
This is less about your personal reasons for choosing the topic and more about the extent to which it is related to a particular area of expertise – whether it pertains to practice, the profession, or the field of study.

Some papers, e.g. in reconstructive social research, also mention a personal connection to the topic – discuss with your supervisors whether this is appropriate for your work.

Then:

Present your own approach:

State your specific research question(s) here.
Explain how this paper answers the question(s).
Present the aim of the paper.
Mention the methodological approach, e.g. whether you conducted interviews or participant observations.

It is often helpful for readers if you then present the structure of the paper, stating the focus of each chapter.

At this point, offer initial insights into your results instead of merely repeating the table of contents (see example below).

The following questions should be answered in the introduction:

In which scientific, professional, or societal context does the topic belong?
Which aspects of the topic are you addressing, and why?
What significance does working on this topic have for science or practice?
If relevant for your work: What current event prompted the choice of this topic?
Which method was chosen to answer the question?
How is the paper structured? How and according to which criteria are the chapters organized?

The introduction can have a thematic title (see example below) and should not exceed 10–15 percent of the total text.

Common mistakes in the introduction

Avoid these common mistakes in your introduction:

The aim is not stated in the introduction.
The introduction gives the impression that the topic is too broad because it is not made clear that only a specific aspect is addressed.
The introduction consists of too many elements that do not fit together.
The introduction contains elements that belong in the main body of the paper. The introduction should only present the content that will be developed in the main section.
The professional context and the relevance of the research question are not evident.
The introduction only explains the structure of the paper – but readers have already seen this in the table of contents.
The introduction lacks motivation: Why was this work carried out with this specific aim?
If you wrote your paper in cooperation with an organization: The organization is described in too much detail, and the description reads like an advertisement.

Example of an introduction

Full-time schools as an “all-inclusive package”?

Education holds a high value in today’s society. The results of the 2001 PISA study were therefore all the more shocking: The performance of German students in reading, mathematics, and science was rated as below average in an international comparison (Baumert et al., 2001). Moreover, it became evident that in none of the other 43 participating countries were school performance and the socio-economic status of the family of origin as closely linked as in Germany (ibid.). Calls for a more efficient school system and educational reforms were raised not only on the political level.

The expansion of full-time schools in Germany can be seen as a result of this debate. In 2003, the federal government decided on the “Future Education and Care” investment programme (IZBB), allocating four billion euros for the demand-oriented development and expansion of full-time schools in Germany (Federal Ministry of Education and Research [BMBF], 2013). A look at the goals pursued by the federal government and experts gives the impression that the concept of full-time schooling represents a kind of “all-inclusive package” intended to solve all problems at once. However, given the difficult financial situations of municipalities, the shortage of teachers, the lack of space, and the shortage of educational staff in many German schools, the question arises whether full-time schools can truly deliver what they promise. This paper critically examines this question. It becomes clear that despite the sometimes considerable efforts of those involved, the expectations placed on full-time schools cannot always be met in educational practice. This is due in particular to the varying political – and thus financial – conditions in the federal states.

The introduction is a mandatory part of the structure of an academic paper.

Frequently asked questions

What should I write in an introduction?

An introduction typically contains: a lead-in to the topic, a statement of the research question and aim, a description of the approach (method), and an overview of the structure of the paper.

What comes before the introduction?

The structure of an academic paper usually consists of: cover page, table of contents, introduction, main body, conclusion, and reference list. The table of contents therefore usually comes before the introduction.

How long should an introduction be?

The introduction should not exceed 10–15 percent of the total text.

Der Beitrag Writing an Introduction in the Social Sciences erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.