Module 9, Abstract

9.1 Introduction

 An abstract is a brief overview properly organized and covers the most significant aspects of your study. The length of the abstract, which typically consists of one paragraph or approximately 300–500 words, may differ across the different institutions. While writing the abstract for your dissertation in scholarly papers, you should be keen to avoid writing it as a mere executive summary. A dissertation’s abstract and executive summary are two distinct entities. In most cases, an abstract will outline what the study will address without delving into your results. On the other hand, an executive summary will incorporate both the constituents of the research and delve into your findings. In other cases, the abstract of a dissertation will typically encompass both the introduction and the conclusion of the study, presenting a description of the fundamental research. Regarding the subject matter it addresses, an excellent abstract for a dissertation will often encompass the following points:

• The reason for conducting your study, including its scope and the rationale behind its significance.
• The procedure (how you conducted the study).
• The most important results from the analysis (what answers were given to the research questions posed?)
• The repercussions that these results could have (the implications that the answers have)

9.2 The Purpose of the Abstract

The abstract of a dissertation serves two primary purposes. The initial objective is to provide prospective readers with an overview of the study’s major findings so they can skip the entire dissertation. Particularly, it should express the topic of the study (what you are seeking to learn) as well as the results of your research on that topic. The abstract is the primary portion that readers will evaluate when deciding whether to study the research or thesis that you have written. The second reason why you should include an abstract in your dissertation is so that it can inform search engines and research databases as you are indexing your work. The search engines will classify the project and render it available to readers based on the key terms and phrases that you have includes in your abstract. To clarify, the abstract serves as the storefront’s exhibit screen. It is what physical and virtual clients will examine while determining whether to read it. The following is an example of an abstract with a list of keywords used by readers in search optimization engines to find the research,

“This paper examines the role of silent movies as a mode of shared experience in the United States during the early twentieth century. At this time, high immigration rates resulted in a significant percentage of non-English-speaking citizens. These immigrants faced numerous economic and social obstacles, including exclusion from public entertainment and modes of discourse (newspapers, theater, and radio). Incorporating evidence from reviews, personal correspondence, and articles, this study demonstrates that silent films were an affordable and inclusive source of entertainment. It argues for the accessible economic and symbolic nature of early cinema. These concerns are particularly evident in the low price of admission and in the democratic nature of the actors’ exaggerated gestures, which allowed the plots and action to be easily grasped by a diverse reader despite language barriers.

Keywords: silent movies, immigration, public discourse, entertainment, early cinema, language barriers.”

While writing the abstract of a dissertation, you are expected to understand that most readers lack time to study through the entire research. While considering the time spent conducting the literature review, you will certainly realize how significant abstracts are in the research process. While conducting a literature review on any given subject, you have a wide range of sources to read, so you are required must optimize your strategy. A compelling abstract for the dissertation provides the reader with a rendition of the research, which aids in the reader’s decision regarding whether to proceed with reading it entirely. Therefore, to “sell” the research to people quickly, the abstract should be engaging, precise, and strategic.

Since one of the skills under evaluation is the capacity to provide a clear and compelling synopsis of the study, it is important to devote the time and energy necessary to make it allure. The dissertation is likely the most substantial occupational success that you can make. It should showcase the areas where you have a special and distinctive experience. Likely, prospective recruiters interested in learning about this skill will only examine your abstract rather than review the entirety of the dissertation. Therefore, the abstract must be of high quality. For example, “If the dissertation were a book, the abstract would serve the same purpose as the summary on the back of the book’s cover.”  Readers will invariably form a positive or negative opinion of the research-based only on its presentation.

9.3 Writing the Abstract

While writing the abstract of a dissertation, you should focus on the following major sections:

• The purpose of the study conducted.
• The approach chosen to handle the research question(s)
• The results of the research
• The implications of the study

The outline of the abstract should chronologically depict these points.

9.4 The Purpose of the Study

In this section, you are expected to provide a concise explanation of the significance of your research. While writing the abstract of a dissertation, you should describe what you hoped to discover in the study and why it would be significant for conducting the research. While explaining the purpose of the study, you should be sure to explore each of the following points in detail:

• “What did you hope to find out from your research?”
• “What questions did you ask?”
• “Why were these objectives and questions so vital to accomplish?”

You are also expected to ensure that this section is clear, concise, and compelling. This section serves as the introduction to the abstract. In this section, your main goal is to connect the reader to the dissertation seamlessly. As such, you will ignite their interest in the dissertation. If the reader is not well-oriented and intrigued by this section, they will probably lose interest in the main dissertation.

9.5 The Study Approach     

In this section of the abstract, you are expected to explain how you responded to the research questions in as few words as possible. You should also describe the study methodology and technique used in your research. Some important questions to consider in this section include the following:

• “Which method—the qualitative or the quantitative—did you choose to use?”
• “Who or what made up the entirety of your sample?”
• “How did you go about collecting all of these numbers?”
• “How did you analyze your data?”

It is optional to be extensive since the entire section is an abstract. However, it should answer the four issues presented clearly and concisely.

9.6 The Results of the Research

While writing the abstract of the dissertation, you are required to briefly summarize the most important findings. Since the study yielded a tremendous amount of information and insights, you may be tempted to spend more time and content in this abstract section. However, you should understand that this section will discuss the most important conclusions. As addressed in the other sections of the dissertation, simplicity and precision are also essential in this session. You are required to explain only the most essential results clearly and concisely to the reader.

9.7 The implication of the Research

Have you ever encountered a scenario that required you to review a lengthy document and finding it difficult to understand what all results imply in the context of the wider picture? In any case, bringing attention to the “so what?” of your research is precisely what the implications section is supposed to do. In this section of the abstract, you are tasked with responding to the following questions:

• “To what extent will the industry or field under investigation be affected by the findings of your research?”
• “What are the repercussions in the ‘real world’?”
• “What kind of an influence do your results have on the pool of information that already exists? For instance, do they back the research that has already been done?”
• What do your findings indicate for the study that will be done in the future on your topic?

TIP: If you ensure that your dissertation abstract contains these four crucial components, you will be well on their way to achieving a successful outcome.

 The following is an example of an abstract of a dissertation:

“The process of applying for citizenship in the United States is both a legal and symbolic journey that is impacted by a variety of cultural factors. The purpose of this study project is to develop a better understanding of Dallas, Texas’s increasingly diverse population by bringing to light the experiences of immigrants and citizenship seekers living in Dallas. In addition, this dissertation will provide insights to a specific client, the office of Dallas Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs, about Dallas’ lawful permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship and their reasons for pursuing citizenship status. The data for the research will be gathered from interviews with lawful permanent residents. The information needed for this research was gathered via participating in and observing a variety of citizenship workshops and community activities, as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with 14 volunteers applying for citizenship in the United States. Within the scope of this project, some of the motivations for pursuing citizenship in the United States that have been brought up for discussion include a yearning for membership in American society, the hope of gaining access to more favorable educational and professional opportunities, an enhanced capacity for mobility, and an aspiration to exercise political power. The amount of time that one needs spend to the application, a lack of clear knowledge about the process, and the financial cost of the application are all mentioned as barriers to the citizenship process in this project. Other themes include the effects of capital on applicant’s experience with the citizenship process, symbolic meanings of citizenship, transnationalism, and ideas of deserving and undeserving surrounding the issues of residency and U.S. citizenship. All of these themes are intertwined throughout the paper. These findings point to the need for local government programs that build a sense of community among citizenship applicants and their neighbors, as well as the need for educational resources and mentorship for inhabitants of the Dallas region applying for citizenship in the United States.”

9.8 Practical Tips for Writing the Abstract of a Dissertation

While writing the abstract for a dissertation, the most effective strategy that you can take is to position yourself in the perspective of a possible reader. You can begin to imagine what it would be like to read the abstract. You should assume that the reader is not an experienced professional in the subject but that they are intrigued by that study topic. Therefore, you are expected to be writing for the informed layman rather than the accomplished subject matter specialist. To begin, you should try to respond to the question, “Why should I read this dissertation?” While writing the abstract of a dissertation, you should be sure to cover the “what,” “why,” “how,” and “so what” of the research:

• “What you studied (who and where are included in this part).”
• “Why the subject matter was so significant.”
• “How you planned and organized your research (that is, your research methodology)
• “What were the most significant results and takeaways from your study?” 

Also, you should be keen to keep the abstract as simple as possible. You are expected to utilize a language that is specific to your area of study. However, you are required to refrain from loading the abstract with complicated phrases and terminology that obscure the content and make the paper challenging to comprehend. A great abstract ought to be accessible to readers of all levels and should be generally simple to read. It should also be concise. You are encouraged to remember that you are required to write for critical readers. While writing the abstract of the dissertation, you should be sure to state your significant results and lessons learned carefully. While presenting this information, you should not be concerned about “giving away” too much detail regarding their study. After reviewing the abstract of the dissertation, the reader should have a good understanding of the most important insights presented. This is the one aspect in which the abstract differs from the executive summary that normally appears on the back of a book.

Condensing the entire research into only a few hundred words can be a great struggle. Nevertheless, the abstract is usually the first and perhaps the only element readers examine to have a general feel about the dissertation. Therefore, it is essential to get it correctly.   Reading the abstracts written by other experts is the most effective technique for becoming familiar with the standards of writing an abstract in the field of interest. When you are writing the literature review of your research, you have undoubtedly already examined many abstracts from books and articles.

As such, you should use these abstracts as a template for organization and style. You can also access different dissertation abstract samples in databases containing dissertations in different fields. Given the wide range of studies requiring diverse abstract structures, you are expected to encounter some variation in each abstract’s specific components. While writing the abstract of a lengthier dissertation, you can incorporate the process of reverse outlining. You should also create a list of keywords and write a few sentences summarizing each chapter’s primary argument.

While writing the abstract for your dissertation, you should ensure that every word contributes to the understanding of the dissertation by making it concise and effective. One primary idea should be conveyed understandably in each sentence. To maintain readability while keeping the abstract brief, you can put the following points into consideration:

• “Avoid passive sentences: Many times, passive constructions are far longer than they need to be. By switching to the active voice, you can quickly make them more concise while also improving their clarity.
• “Avoid extended sentences: Replace drawn-out statements with more succinct expressions or single words whenever possible (for example, “in order to” for “to”).”
• “Avoid obscure words: Even if the reader is not well-versed in the subject matter, they should be able to comprehend the abstract.”
• “Avoid using filler words and repetitive language: When it is appropriate to do so, substitute pronouns for nouns and get rid of any extra words.”
• “Avoid elaborate descriptions: It is not typical for an abstract to give in-depth definitions, details on the background, or discussions of the work of other academics. Rather than doing that, you should incorporate this information into the main body of your thesis or dissertation.”