A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, 7th edition - Kate L. Turabian 2007

State your claim
Writing your final introduction and conclusion
Part I. Research and writing: from planning to production

Once you state that something isn't known or understood and why it should be, readers want to see your claim, the answer to your research question (we abbreviate a good deal in what follows):

Ever since Girolamo Cardano . . . mathematical perspective._context But risk communicators have discovered that ordinary people think about risk in ways that are systematic but irrational and unrelated to statistically realistic probabilities._question [So what?] Until we understand how risk is understood by nonexperts, an important kind of human reasoning will remain a puzzle: the kind of cognitive processing that seems systematic but lies outside the range of what is called “rational thinking.”_significanceIt appears that nonexperts assess risk not by assigning quantitative probabilities to events that might occur, but by visualizing worst-case scenarios, then assigning degrees of risk according to how vivid and frightening the image is._claim

If you have reason to withhold your claim until the end of your paper, write a sentence to conclude your introduction that uses the key terms from that claim and that frames what follows:

It appears that nonexperts assess risk not by assigning quantitative probabilities but by systematically using properties of their visual imagination._{promise of claim}

Those four steps may seem mechanical, but they constitute the introductions to most research reports in every field, both inside the academic world and out. As you read your sources, especially journal articles, watch for that four-part framework. You will not only learn a range of strategies for writing your own introductions but better understand the ones you read.