An abstract is a small window opening into the full content of your research/thesis. It is a type of discourse consisting of five different but complementary moves. The first move is optional and contains general background information about your key research variable or variables. The second move is the statement of the problem indicating your research hypothesis/ question. The third move is the methodology move representing your participants, if any ; your materials/instruments, procedures, and data analysis. The fourth move portrays your findings. Finally, in the last optional move, you talk about the likely implications of the study.
An abstract is a small window opening into the full content of your research/thesis. It is a type of discourse consisting of five different but complementary moves. The first move is optional and contains general background information about your key research variable or variables. The second move is the statement of the problem indicating your research hypothesis/ question. The third move is the methodology move representing your participants, if any ; your materials/instruments, procedures, and data analysis. The fourth move portrays your findings. Finally, in the last optional move, you talk about the likely implications of the study.
writing a abstract is a skill. its a short scientific summary of your research work. to make it simple and clear you need indicate the objective, methodology and salient findings of your research
I hope the following (about both Abstract and Introduction) is helpful; it is part of my book, A Brief Guide to Writing Style of Articles and References. This book is mostly based on APA Style (6th Edition):
Abstract
● Abstract should be a single paragraph and has a block format; that is, the first line should not be indented.
● The purpose of this section is to provide a brief
and comprehensive summary of the study.
● It should be accurate (do not include information here that is not in the body of the manuscript)
● Self-contained (spell out abbreviations)
● Concise (120 word maximum)
● It is a good idea to write this section last.
● Also notice that everything about this manuscript is double spaced.
● The next section begins on a new page.
● Avoid citing references in the abstract.
● Use active rather than passive voice (but without personal pronouns).
● Use past tense for procedures and present tense for results.
● The content of the abstract of an empirical study is as follows:
▪ The problem under investigation, in one sentence if possible.
▪ Information about the participants’ of the study, including their age, sex, ethnic and/or racial group, and proficiency level.
▪ The essential features of the method of the study, including instrument, treatment, etc.
▪ The basic findings, including effect sizes and confidence intervals and/or statistical significance levels.
▪The conclusions and the implications of the study.
Introduction
● The body of the manuscript opens with an introduction but as it is identified by its position in the manuscript, introduction is not typed; instead, retype your title and center it at the top of the introduction.
● The main purpose of this section is to tell the reader why you performed the study.
● A good introduction answers the following questions:
▪ Why is the stated problem important?
▪ How does the study relate to previous studies?
▪ What are the differences between this study and previous studies?
▪ Why does the problem deserve new research?
● It starts out broad and becomes more and more specific.
● The content of the introduction should contain the following:
1. the general introduction (e.g., defining the key words); the importance of the problem;
An abstract is summary of a thesis but speaks volume. It clearly highlights what contained in the thesis. The abstract must have statement of the problem, the need for doing research-justification,objectives, methodology, key results and summary. it must end with a statement of the relevance of the research
The abstract is an important component of thesis. The abstract is a summary of the whole thesis. It presents all the major elements of work in a highly condensed form.
Abstracts give readers a chance to quickly see what the main contents . They enable readers to decide whether the work is of interest for them.
An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or entire thesis. It is a well-developed single paragraph of approximately 250 words in length, which is indented and single spaced. The function of the abstract is to outline briefly all parts of the paper.
All abstracts generally cover the following five sections:
1. Reason for writing: What is the importance of the research? Why would a reader be interested in the larger work?
2. Problem: What problem does this work attempt to solve? What is
the scope of the project? What is the main argument,
thesis or claim?
3. Methodology: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific
models or approaches used in the larger study. Other
abstracts may describe the types of evidence used in
the research.
4. Results: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific data
that indicates the results of the project. Other abstracts
may discuss the findings in a more general way.
5. Implications: How does this work add to the body of knowledge on
the topic? Are there any practical or theoretical
applications from your findings or implications for future
research?
P.S. For more information & examples, please find attached the file 'Writing an abstract - University of Melbourne'
The following publications may further help, particularly: the guidance in writing title and abstract as per Bern (2009, pp. 188-190); the abstract template (Biggam, 2008, pp. 162-169); checklist for writing abstract (Derntl, 2014, p. 110).
Andrade, C. (2011) How to write a good abstract for a scientific paper or conference presentation, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 53, 2, pp. 172-175.
Bern, D. J. (2009) Writing the empirical journal, in Zanna, M.P. and Darley, J.M. (eds.) The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist. 2nd ed. London: Psychology Press, pp. 171-201.
Biggam, J. (2008) Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A step-by-step handbook. England: Open University Press.
Derntl, M. (2014) Basics of research paper writing and publishing, International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 6, 2, pp. 105-123.
Neill, U. S. (2007) How to write a scientific masterpiece, The Journal of clinical investigation, 117, 12, pp. 3599-3602.
Generally, an abstract has four/five 'moves'/steps(or components). These include the background (1), purpose of the study (2), methodology (3), key findings (4) and implications of the findings (5). The first 'move'/step/component is considered optional. You may refer to Bitchener, J. (2009). Writing an applied linguistics thesis or dissertation: A guide to presenting empirical research. Macmillan International Higher Education.