Q: Can you please help me in writing a research background for my topic on phrasal verbs*?

Hi Dhino – welcome to the forum!

Before responding to your question, we’d just like to discuss one thing. Presently, it’s not clear whether ‘phrasal verbs’ is the topic or the area of your study. The thing is, ‘phrasal verbs’ sounds a bit broad as a topic, and you may perhaps need to narrow down the focus, for instance, to the purpose of these verbs, their usage, or perhaps even the confusion or misunderstanding over how to use them (especially for non-native speakers).

However, this would depend on the subject you are studying and that this research is a part of. For the same reason, you may also wish to discuss this with your professor/supervisor. We also bring this up because it has relevance to your question. You will be able to craft the background better when the focus of your research is clearer.

Coming to your query now, the background of the research has to set the context for the research and provide a broad ‘why’ of the study – why you are undertaking the study. This is not so much your personal motivation but the information and knowledge it will contribute to the topic or field. Writing the background forms a part of the Introduction of the paper, in fact, the very first part.

To write the background, it helps to study just that – the background of the topic. So, you need to first read up on the topic, by doing a literature search. Based on the findings from the search, in the background, you will need to talk about what existing research says about the topic, what gaps are to be found in current research, and therefore, how your research may address these gaps.

For details on writing the background, you may refer to the following resources:

• How to write the background of your study
• What is the best way of stating the background of a study?
• How to write an engaging background of the study for your research paper [Course]

All the best for your research!

* A phrasal verb is a verb made up of a verb and a proposition or an adverb and often having a slightly different meaning from the verb. For instance, ‘run into’ means ‘chance upon’ or ‘encounter’ rather than literally, or at least, more than ‘running into someone or something.’