Background: Provides context for the research problem. Articulates the issues and concerns that have created the problem. Reader should have the sense that the researcher has read and thought about the existing literature on this topic.
Theory: Identifies the theoretical perspective through which the researcher is viewing the problem.
Importance: Identifies why it is it important to resolve this problem *from a psychological perspective.*
Research problem: Specific, narrow, measurable, psychology-driven, and focused on a specific population. Reader should have the sense that the researcher has a specific, feasible population/sample/method in mind, though those are not explicitly covered in this section.
