How to write an abstract The abstract should convey the...

RoomForWri)ng:Automa)cNoteTaking

1

HowtowriteanabstractTheabstractshouldconveytheessen)almeaningofthedocument.

• Itwillsummarisethesignificance,poten)alcontribu)on,andneedforthework.• Itwillstatethehypothesis(Ifrelevant)ortheassump)onswhichyouaregoingtobe

inves)ga)ng.• Itwillstatethemajorobjec)vesoftheworktobedone,outlinetheproceduresandprovidethe

readerwithanunderstandingofthepoten)alimpact/valueofthefinalwork.Whenpresen)ngaliteraturereview,thinkoftheresearch/methodasbeingadeskstudy.

Normallyanabstractdoesnotcontainanycitedreferences,althoughextendedabstracts,whicharefrequentlyrequestedatconferencesintheartsandhumani)es,mightactuallycontainafewkeyreferences.

Therewilltypicallybeaprescribedwordlimitonanabstract,findoutwhatthatisandmakesurethatyourabstractdoesnotexceedthislimit.

Genericexample:Thisisthewaytheworldis(ageneralcontext)

Thisiswhatiswrongwiththeworld(theproblemstatement)

Hereismyidea/proposedapproach

ThisiswhatIhavefoundanddone,ortheevidencewhichIthinkmyapproachwillproduce

TypicallyIsuggestyouwriteyourabstractfirsttoguidethestructureofthedocument,andthenreviseitasecond)metowardstheendwhenyouhaveaclearideaofthecontent.

Thisiscontrarytomuchcommonadvice,howeverthedisciplineoftryingtoexpressanabstractbeforetheworkiscompletecanbehelpfulinclarifyingthepurposeofthewri)ng.Inthiscaseyouarewri)nganabstractfora‘workinprogress’.

Whenyouwritetheabstractatthestartofthewri)ngcycle,youareusingtheabstractwri)ngexerciseasaresearchtool,toclarifyyourthinking,evaluateyourclaims,andconfirmthatyouhavechosenthecorrect/realis)csetofapproachesandmethodologies.

Ifyouwriteanabstractbeforeyouhavecompletedthetask,youwillprobablyhavetoconcludetheabstractbysta)ngwhattheproject/dataanalysiswillsetouttofind.

RoomForWri)ng:Automa)cNoteTaking

2

Hereisadefini)onwithsomediscussionfromtheperspec)veofEduca)on

WhatgoesintheABSTRACT?Theabstractshouldconveytothereaderconciselyandaccuratelywithinthespaceofafewsentences,theclaimtoknowledgethattheauthorsaremaking.Itshouldindicatetheboundariesofspaceand)mewithinwhichtheenquiryhasoccurred.Ifthereisaclaimtogeneralitybeyondtheboundariesoftheenquirythebasisofthatclaimshouldbegiven,forexamplethatarandomsampleisthoughttoberepresenta)veofalargerpopula)on.Thereshouldalsobeahintofthemethodofenquiry.Theboundariesofanenquiryareimportant-andareunfortunatelytoooVenomiWedfromabstracts.ThisisduetotheregreWabletendencyforresearcherstogeneralisetheirresultsfrom,forexample,afewschoolstoallschools,andtoimplythatwhatwastrueatapar)cular)me,istrueforall)me.Somereferencetothegeographicalloca)onofthechildren,orteachers,orschoolsonwhomtheclaimtoknowledgerestsshouldbemade.Becauseoftheinterna)onalnatureoftheresearchcommunityitisworthmakingclearinwhatcountrytheresearchtookplace.Alsotheperiodinwhichthedatawascollectedshouldbestated.Theabstractshouldbecondensa)onofthesubstanceofthepaper,notatrailer,noranintroduc)on.Journalsandthesisregula)onsusuallyputalimitofaround200to300wordstothelengthofanabstract.'Trailer'isatermborrowedfromthecinemaindustrytodescribeashowingofafewhighlightsinordertowinanaudience.An'introduc)on''tellsthatsomethingiscoming,butdoesn'trevealitssubstance.Thesearenotwhatisneeded.Abstractsarerecycledinabstractjournalsandelectronicnetworksandprovidethemainvehicleforotherresearcherstobecomeawareofpar)cularstudies.Hencethemoreclearlytheyconveytheclaimtoknowledgeoftheoriginalpaperthemoreusefultheyareinhelpingthereadertodecidewhetheritisworthtakingthetroubletoobtainandreadtheoriginalandpossiblyciteitinhis/herownwri)ng.Boththeabstractandthepapershouldmakesensewithouttheother

Bassey,M.(1995)pages70-71

References

Bassey,M.,1995.Crea)ngeduca)onthroughresearch:aglobalperspec)veofeduca)onalresearchforthe21stcentury,KirklingtonMoorPressinconjunc)onwiththeBri)shEduca)onalResearchAssocia)on.Availableat:HartleyLibraryquarto370.78BAS

JohnsonR.,etal,HowtogetapaperacceptedatOOPSLAPanelatOOPSLA'93,pp429-436

KoopmanP.,1997,Howtowriteanabstract,hWps://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html