WRITING YOUR ABSTRACT....

Abstracts

What are they?

Why do we need them?

What do you need to include in yours?

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Abstact – what is it?

• Go to: What is an abstract?

• Download the sample paper.

• Read the abstract

• How much does it tell you about the article?

• Does it entice you to read the article?

Read an abstract

Abstract - definition

• An abstract is a short summary of your completed work.

• If done well, it makes the reader want to learn more about your work.

2 main types

Descriptive• provides a description

of the report's main

topic and purpose as

well an overview of its

contents.

Informative• provides information from

the body of the report—the

key facts & conclusions.

• summarizes the key

information from every

major section in the body

of the report.

Writing an abstract

Keep in mind

Abstracts answer these qns...• What was done?

• Why was it done?

• How was it done?

• What was found?

• What is the significance of the findings?

• An abstract written at different stages of your work will help you to carry a short version of your project in your head.

• This will focus your thinking on what it is you are really doing and help you to see the relevance of what you are currently working on

Or abstracts contain the following1) Motivation/problem statement:

Why do we care about the problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap

is your research filling?

2) Methods/procedure/approach: What did you actually do to get your results? (e.g. analysed 3 novels, completed a series of 5 oil

paintings, interviewed 17 students)

3) Results/findings/product: As a result of completing the above procedure,

what did you learn/invent/create?

4) Conclusion/implications: What are the larger implications of your findings,

especially for the problem/gap identified in step 1?

Identify the structure used

Because on-line search databases typically contain only

abstracts, it is vital to write a complete but concise

description of your work to entice potential readers into

obtaining a copy of the full paper. This article describes

how to write a good computer architecture abstract for

both conference and journal papers. Writers should

follow a checklist consisting of: motivation, problem

statement, approach, results, and conclusions. Following

this checklist should increase the chance of people

taking the time to obtain and read your complete paper.

Identify the structure used• What was done?

• Why was it done?

• How was it done?

• What was found?

• What is the significance of the findings?

• Motivation/problem statement:

• Methods/procedure/approach

• Results/findings– /product:

• Conclusion/implications

Have a go.....Write a first draft of your lit review abstractUse: •Either the resources about abstracts. OR•The structures covered in the slideshowPost in your project diary.