The abstract is an important component of a thesis. Presented at the beginning of the thesis, it is likely the first substantive description of the work reads by an external examiner. For this reason the abstract should be viewed as an opportunity to set accurate expectations.
The abstract is a summary of the whole thesis. It presents all the major elements of the work done in a highly condensed form.
The following questions should help in the preparation of the abstract
•What was done?
•Why was it done?
•How was it done?
•What was found?
•What is the significance of the findings?
An abstract often functions, together with the thesis title, as a stand-alone text. They may also be presented in announcements of the thesis examination. An abstract is not merely an introduction in the sense of a preface, preamble, or advance organizer that prepares the reader for the thesis. In addition to that function, it must be capable of substituting for the whole thesis when there is insufficient time and space for the full text.
The actual process of writing an abstract will force the researcher to justify and clearly state the research aims, to show how the methodology used fits the aims, to highlight the major findings and to determine the significance of what the researcher have done. The beauty of it is that the researcher can talk about this in very short paragraphs and see if the whole works. But when the researcher does all of these things in separate chapters, it can easily lose the thread or not make it explicit enough.
If the researcher has trouble writing an abstract at these different stages, then this could show that the parts with the researcher are having a problem are not well conceptualized yet.
We often hear that writing an abstract cannot be done until the results are known and analyzed. But the point we are stressing is that it is a working tool that will help to get the researcher there.
Before the researcher know what have been found, the researcher has to have some expectation of what he/she are going to find as this expectation is part of what is leading the researcher to investigate the problem. In writing the abstract at different stages, any part that the researcher hasn’t done, he/she could word as a prediction. For example, at one stage the researcher could write, "The analysis is expected to show that …". Then, at the next stage, the researcher would be able to write "The analysis showed that …." or "Contrary to expectation, the analysis showed that …..".
The final, finished abstract has to be as good as the researcher can make it. It is the first thing the reader will turn to and therefore controls what the first impression of your work will be. The abstract has to be short some several hundred words; to say what was done and why, how it was done, the major things that were found, and what is the significance of the findings (remembering that the thesis could have contributed to the methodology and theory as well).
In short, the abstract has to be able to stand alone and be understood separately from the thesis itself.
The structure of the abstract should mirror the structure of the whole thesis, and should represent all its major elements. For example, if the thesis has five chapters (introduction, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion), there should be one or more sentences assigned to summarize each chapter in the abstract.
The most common error in abstracts is failure to present results. The primary function of the thesis (and by extension the abstract) is not to tell readers what you did; it is to tell them what you discovered.
Approximately the last half of the abstract should be dedicated to summarizing and interpreting the results obtained.
No, It is not required to put all results in the abstract, but an overview of your result will be good for your abstract.
Generally In an abstract the main reason of including your findings (result) is to give the reader an idea of what to expect by giving a context and overview of the argument or results. This should include the major and the most important findings that support discussing your hypotheses.
The abstract is an important component of a thesis. Presented at the beginning of the thesis, it is likely the first substantive description of the work reads by an external examiner. For this reason the abstract should be viewed as an opportunity to set accurate expectations.
The abstract is a summary of the whole thesis. It presents all the major elements of the work done in a highly condensed form.
The following questions should help in the preparation of the abstract
•What was done?
•Why was it done?
•How was it done?
•What was found?
•What is the significance of the findings?
An abstract often functions, together with the thesis title, as a stand-alone text. They may also be presented in announcements of the thesis examination. An abstract is not merely an introduction in the sense of a preface, preamble, or advance organizer that prepares the reader for the thesis. In addition to that function, it must be capable of substituting for the whole thesis when there is insufficient time and space for the full text.
The actual process of writing an abstract will force the researcher to justify and clearly state the research aims, to show how the methodology used fits the aims, to highlight the major findings and to determine the significance of what the researcher have done. The beauty of it is that the researcher can talk about this in very short paragraphs and see if the whole works. But when the researcher does all of these things in separate chapters, it can easily lose the thread or not make it explicit enough.
If the researcher has trouble writing an abstract at these different stages, then this could show that the parts with the researcher are having a problem are not well conceptualized yet.
We often hear that writing an abstract cannot be done until the results are known and analyzed. But the point we are stressing is that it is a working tool that will help to get the researcher there.
Before the researcher know what have been found, the researcher has to have some expectation of what he/she are going to find as this expectation is part of what is leading the researcher to investigate the problem. In writing the abstract at different stages, any part that the researcher hasn’t done, he/she could word as a prediction. For example, at one stage the researcher could write, "The analysis is expected to show that …". Then, at the next stage, the researcher would be able to write "The analysis showed that …." or "Contrary to expectation, the analysis showed that …..".
The final, finished abstract has to be as good as the researcher can make it. It is the first thing the reader will turn to and therefore controls what the first impression of your work will be. The abstract has to be short some several hundred words; to say what was done and why, how it was done, the major things that were found, and what is the significance of the findings (remembering that the thesis could have contributed to the methodology and theory as well).
In short, the abstract has to be able to stand alone and be understood separately from the thesis itself.
The structure of the abstract should mirror the structure of the whole thesis, and should represent all its major elements. For example, if the thesis has five chapters (introduction, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion), there should be one or more sentences assigned to summarize each chapter in the abstract.
The most common error in abstracts is failure to present results. The primary function of the thesis (and by extension the abstract) is not to tell readers what you did; it is to tell them what you discovered.
Approximately the last half of the abstract should be dedicated to summarizing and interpreting the results obtained.
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