If you wanted to understand the theoretical reasons that led the researchers to conduct a project, you would read which section of their research article?

The introduction lays out the theoretical background, prior literature and rationale that motivated the researchers to undertake the study.

The abstract only gives a compressed summary of the whole paper and states no detailed reasoning.

The discussion interprets the obtained results against expectations rather than explaining the initial motivation.

The references merely list the sources cited and carry no argument of their own.

Reading the introduction therefore reveals the conceptual gap the study intended to fill.

A well-framed introduction usually ends by stating the research problem or objectives.