8/6/2019 Common Mistakes in Abstract Making

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Common Mistakes

Paragraph one:

1.1 No purpose indicated. (Difficult to see the research problem or reason thestudent researched the topic)

1.2 No background information provided. (The reader does not understand whatarea the student researched or what the researched organisation does. e.g.research into a clothes manufacturer but no mention is made that thecompany manufactures clothes.)

1.3 More information than required. (Too much detail about all parts of theorganisation or student notes many purposes for the research but it is

difficult to understand the main purpose.)

1.4 Mention of I in the abstract. (Third person passive should be used, theauthor)

1.5 The purpose of the research was to clarify. (Clarify is usually used when thethe researcher knows the answer and wants to make sure the answer iscorrect. Use identify or discover if clarify is not what you mean)

1.6 The purpose of the research was to find out (use identify or discover)

Paragraph Two:

2.1 No mention of the research methodology used. (Was the research quantitativeor qualitative? review example abstract for explanation. Practical research canbe included with qualitative research)

2.2 Student mentions the research methodology but does not tell how theresearch was carried out. (No mention of whether questionnaire were usedor interviews etc.)

2.3 Student detail non essential information. (Detailing the computer programsused to carry out the research etc. is not required.)

2.4 Student includes outcome or conclusion of research. (Outcome or conclusionof research comes later in the abstract)

8/6/2019 Common Mistakes in Abstract Making

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Paragraph Three:

3.1 No conclusion mentioned. (Student does not indicate what they discovered

when carrying out the research)

3.2 Respondents. (Respondents is the word for the people who answer theresearch)

3.3 Students uses numerals rather that words to explain percentages. (50 % ofrespondents indicated = Fifty percent of respondents indicated) Also no needto use exact figures e.g. 2.7 percent close to three percent.

3.4 Conclusion does not relate to the research question. (Students sets out toidentify satisfaction levels in a company but does not indicate any satisfaction

percentages)

Paragraph Four:

4.1 Student does not suggest any recommendations. (having carried out theresearch the student should indicate how improvements could be made basedon the research findings e.g. research indicated that employees do not feelmanagement in the company listens to them The author recommends thatstaff meetings be held monthly so staff members can provide input into theefficient running of the company.)

4.2 Student recommendations appears to be an opinion and not based onresearch findings. (All recommendations must come from research findings)

Keywords:

5.1 No keywords visible in the abstract. (All abstracts should have key words, themain words that appear in the abstract)

5.2. Keywords visible but do not appear in the abstract. (Students can only use thekeywords that are actual used in the abstract and not words that appear else

where.)

5.3 Too many keywords. (only five to seven keywords should appear in theabstract)