Phil Druker/ Department of English/ UI

Phil Druker/Department of English/University of Idaho

Background Sections for Proposals and Final Reports:

Here are some points to consider when composing the background section. 

Remember:  Writing is for readers.  So you need to help your readers get into your document by helping them understand what you are writing about and why. Since your proposal is a persuasive document, you need to be sure your readers understand what you are writing about.

To do this try considering these ideas:

1.      Level of technicality
·        start at a place your reader understands

2.      Level of specificity
·        move from general to specific =>start with a general principle and move to specific
+ Make this work for a manager who does not know what's going on with your project.

3.      Focus
·        Consider the general goal / general problem
·        Explain the situation
·        Explain the general problem
·        Show what created the problem ---->> relate to the "ultimate goal"
·        Show why the problem/issue/situation is important

To do all this you need to
·        explain the theory behind the problem/situation
•  introduce key terms for the project
·        define terms as you introduce them

4. ORGANIZE:  Move from general to specific
        >>> move from general principles towards the project problem

5.      Some ideas for openers:

·        unusual fact / interesting fact

·        review the controversy

·        ask a question—then answer it

·        define an important term 

Proposal Background

In the background section, you need to provide the Argument of Fact: you need to show that a problem exits that needs to be solved.  So, in the background section you need to:

1. Explain the situation
2. Explain the general problem (this relates to the ultimate goal)
3. Show what created the problem
4. Show that the problem, the situation is important

In doing all this, you may need to explain the theory behind the problem and you will need to define terms.
   Focus on key terms/ key concepts: make use the reader understands the need.

Often, in writing a background section, you end up reviewing literature on the topic and summarizing the work others have completed on the topic.

Mainly, you need to give some kind of narrative, a term sometimes used instead of “background,” to show that a problem exists.  Sometimes the background section is called the justification because you are justifying the need for the project.

In a background section you want to start with a general principle, and move to specific problems you will deal with.

In the background section, you need to start with a relatively low level of technicality and work to bring your readers up to speed on the issue.  REMEMBER AUDIENCE: for your proposal, your audience often will include managers who don’t necessarily have a great deal of technical expertise in your area.

·        You don’t want to turn readers off with technical information just when they get started.

·        You don’t want to confuse your readers.

·        You can have a great idea, but if your readers don’t understand the need for the project, they won’t buy into it.

So, you really need to start at a point that your readers will understand

For example, a few years ago a group of microbiology professors at Washington State University had this idea for a project:  Since cows don’t digest their food very efficiently, and because use bacteria to digest food, they thought they should try to clone a new bacteria that would more efficiently digest food.  Is this a complex project?  YES.  You might think their proposal starts with complex microbiology.  But read how their proposal starts:

"Livestock production in Washington state includes cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and horse programs [1].  A key player in the state’s economy, these industries represent a $1 billion enterprise and are one-third of the totals agricultural sector’s revenue.  This large and diversified agricultural base benefits the state greatly.

Currently, however, the agricultural sector is having to make changes in production processes.  Customers are becoming increasingly concerned with personal fitness, nutrition, and varied diets.  To successfully market livestock products in the future, Washington will have to provide increasingly higher quality, competitively priced products.

Animal production methods using inexpensive feeds must be discovered.  The Pacific Northwest produces over 9 million metric tons of straw and other cellulosic waste annually [2]. These potentially useful, low cost feeds include cereal grain straw, sweet corn cobs, apple pumice, dry bean and pea stems, potato peelings, and grape aftermath.  With the exception of potato peelings these residues, although unavoidably produced, are largely unused. ...."

How difficult is this to follow?   The level of technicality is pretty low, but notice that it increases as the text progresses.  In the next paragraphs, the proposal begins to become more complex, but still the writers are working to persuade the readers that there is a serious problem and they have a solution that is founded in sound theory and previous successful work. To do this, they are educating/ informing their readers.

If biochemists can start their proposal for this complex project at this level of technicality, what level of technicality should you use to present your argument that a problem needs a solution?

So in your background section, move from general to specific, from non-technical to technical.  Don’t loose your readers before they get to the good part—your solution. 

The background section in the proposal often becomes the background section in the final report.  That will be the case in this course.

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