Clarifying definitions (optional) (Move 1, Step 3)

In this step, we will discuss how to introduce and clarify definitions of key concepts. See the Language focus section in the next tab to find out what language is used to write this part of the Introduction. 

The next step that writers often take is introducing or clarifying definitions of key concepts. They may offer their own definitions of the concepts or “borrow” other scholars’ definitions. They may also add their own interpretation of the “borrowed” definitions in the context of their study. When other authors’ definitions are used, these are often integrated as direct quotes (thus quotation marks should be used) or paraphrased, with the sources acknowledged in the references at the end of a sentence. The authors’ names may or may not be mentioned alongside the definition. 

Examples:

Here are step three examples from research articles in different fields.

1. Transparency, defined as the ability of the principal (voters) to observe the agent’s (delegate’s) behavior and the consequences of the agent’s decisions, aligns the interests of the two actors and allows the principal to hold the agent accountable. (Malesky & Schuler, 2012) (Political Science)
2. Self-efficacy pioneer, Bandura, defined perceived self-efficacy as “concerned with judgments of how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations” (1982, p. 122). In other words, self-efficacy is a belief, held either individually or collectively, that future outcomes can be influenced within the context of external constraints [author’s own interpretation of the definition]. (Locke & Johnston, 2016) (Applied Linguistics)
3. Engagement represents active participation in the learning process, which consists of activities and perceptions that learners are involved in in the form of attention, interest, curiosity, and motivation (references) [paraphrased definition].(Liu, Bridgeman, & Adler, 2016) (Education) 
4. Homelessness, a severe form of residential instability, disproportionately occurs among young children from low-income families. (Fantuzzo, LeBouef, Chen, & Rouse, 2012) (Education)

In which of these examples does the author first give a definition of a concept coined by another scholar and then provide his or her own interpretation of the concept? What ‘defining’ language can you identify in the three examples?

Language for providing and clarifying definitions

Use this section to learn about typical language that is used to introduce and clarify key definitions for your study. Complete follow-up self-check language activities in the next tab to have more practice with key vocabulary from this section. 

Verbs

Here are some verbs that often feature in definitions:

Be, call, define (as), describe (as), refer to:

• Insomnia is a disorder of difficulty initiating and/or maintaining sleep, with impaired daytime functioning as a consequence.
• Reeves (1998) defined oceanic islands as islands that have never been connected to a mainland continent.
• Declarative knowledge refers to “knowing that” and procedural knowledge refers to “knowing how?” (Anderson, 1980, p. 223).
• The underlying one-way function is a basic ingredient in the system (in crypto jargon one calls it a “primitive? or sometimes an “atomic primitive”).
• This distinction is helpful in analyzing a problem that Nissenbaum describes as the challenge of protecting “privacy in public” (Nissenbaum, 2004).

Less commonly used defining verbs are signify and designate:

• A value of 0 signifies perfect balance, and other values (positive or negative) signify imbalance.
• I shall use the word “gentrification” to designate processes of strong growth of higher social categories in working-class neighborhoods.

Some defining verbs can be used not only in the active but also in the passive voice, as is shown in the table:

In fact, the use of the passive voice allows the writer to take the focus away from the specific “doer” of an action (e.g., Thomas) to the content of the message. Compare:

• Thomas (2001) defined oceanic islands as islands that have never been connected to a mainland continent.
• Oceanic islands can be defined as islands that have never been connected to a mainland continent (Thomas, 2001).

Here are some more examples:

• Trade interdependence is associated with peace, especially when peace is defined as the absence of deadly conflict.
• Climate is often referred to as the recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in the organization.
• Cybernetics is concerned with the underlying processes of behavior in biological systems and its extension to communication, manipulation of information and control mechanisms (Porter, 1969).
• This situation is known as a decision trap.
• In the kiwifruit industry, GM policy is described as largely market-driven because it is determined by the preferences of customers and consumers, and the industry’s major international markets.
• This mapping process is called preprocessing and is done by a prefilter.

Nouns + for-V-ing

There are also some structures that define or explain the function of specific objects, techniques, instruments through the use of a noun + for + V-ing, as in the following examples:

• An alternative method … is a procedure for generating a controlled truncation of a large Hilbert space.
• Strict scrutiny is a tool for ensuring that the benefits of programs using racial classifications outweigh the costs.
• This is a viable method for visualizing the spectrum using color graphics.
• Democratic experimentalism is a technique for making public problem solving easier in a democratically legitimate way.

Adverbs & adjectives

So-called, named, whereby, henceforth (from this time on), that is (= i.e.)

Some adjectives and adverbs can also be used to specify or illustrate what some concepts interjected earlier really mean. Note that “whereby” is often used to replace “by means of which,” “by which” in definitions:

• [Authors] proposed a so-called X based on hybrid symbolic and numerical computations.
• Additional work in feedback, servo-mechanisms and gestalt were brought into a new body of knowledge namedcybernetics by Norbert Wiener (1965).
• The European Commission defined CSR as “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001).
• These clocks will henceforth be referred to as power-clocks.
• In order to delay gratification, people need to be able to employ self-regulation, that is, the ability to override and change their response to an immediate impulse or desire.

Short definitions

Note that authors can resort to short definitions or clarifications of terms and concepts that appear in the middle of a sentence. These definitions are often separated by commas or placed in brackets, as in these examples:

• Drosophila melanogaster, or the common fruit-fly, offers the geneticist a near perfect organism to explore the models of inheritance via simple, straightforward, cross breeding experiments.
• Homelessness, a severe form of residential instability, disproportionately occurs among young children from low-income families.
• These can be summed up in the following table, setting A as the person who utters the repair word (usually referred to hereafter as the speaker) and B as a fellow conversant or passive listener (G0.07.1, MICUSP).

Competing definitions

In some cases, the writers may have to show that there is a certain disagreement on the precise definition of a term or concept. This can be done through providing competing definitions of the term and then indicating which of them the author adopts for the present study. Definitions can, in their turn, be described by authors as accurate/ broad/ clear/ exact/ general/ natural/ precise, or traditional.

The following structures are often used to point to a disagreement in existing approaches to defining a term:

• There is a diversity in the use of X … in studies on … / among scholars.
• Precisely what this term means remains a puzzle/ unclear.
• For centuries, researchers have attempted to define X.
• There is little/ no agreement on the exact definition of X.
• Debate exists regarding the exact definition of X.

To state a preference for a specific definition, these structures can be used:

• While there is no complete agreement on the precise definition of X, we define/ refer to it as …
• In this paper/ proposal, we define/ view/ refer to X as …
• This (term)… we will/ shall call X …
• In this paper/ proposal, we have adopted the definition suggested by [author].
• This paper/ proposal follows [author’s] definition of X.