What is a Dissertation Abstract?
A dissertation or thesis abstract is a well-structured and short summary of the research findings. It should outline key takeaways from your study in one paragraph or about 300--500 words long (about 1 page).
This length varies depending on which university you attend. However, this can vary as much between schools with similar policies. So it's important to verify ahead of time how many characters will be allowed for each school’s requirements!
Ideally, a dissertation abstract should address the following things;
- The purpose of the study and research.
- The research methods of your dissertation.
- The main results and key findings.
- The implications of the acquired results.
- A good abstract discusses all these points. It is written in the present simple tense.
What is the Main Purpose of an Abstract?
The first purpose of an abstract is to catch the attention of potential readers without them having read your entire work. Specifically, it needs to communicate what you were trying to find out and how this research was carried out so that someone who's interested can decide whether or not they want more information on that topic.
The abstract gives brief background information and introduces your work to the readers, and helps them decide whether they want to continue with your work or not. Like a literature review, it should be added to all research projects and case studies.
How to Write a Good Dissertation Abstract?
The purpose of an abstract is to summarize the essence and significance of one's research in just a few words.
The structure should reflect four important aspects: methodology, findings/products or conclusions reached by the researcher(s), implications for future work based on results obtained.
Here are the steps to write a good dissertation abstract.
1. Discuss and Explain the Purpose of Your Research
Describe the significance of your research work and explain everything briefly. State the purpose and importance of your research and tell the reader what they could find out by reading your paper.
Following are the parts of an abstract;
- Your research aims and questions.
- The importance of these research questions.
To grab your reader's attention and interest, it’s essential that you make this section extremely clear. This is where you'll “hook" them in with a compelling introduction that will get their motivation to continue reading about the project.
If we don't put effort here from start to finish, they might lose patience before long.
2. Present a Brief Outline of Your Study’s Methodology
Explain briefly the way you answered the research questions. This means that you will present your research’s methodology and design here. This could be either qualitative or quantitative. Whatever it is, tell the readers about it here.
However, keep it concise and do not try to give all the details here.
3. State Your Research’s Main Findings
The most important findings of your research are in this section. It should be concise and clear to readers about what you found out, without padding it with unnecessary information or going over things again that have been covered before.
Your research was likely extensive, so there may have been a temptation to ramble. Remember, brevity and clarity are important when summarizing what’s most important about your study, namely answering its original questions.
4. Discuss the Implications of Your Research and Study
Have you ever found yourself struggling to figure out the big picture when reading through a large report? Well, that’s why we have implications. It highlights what all those numbers and findings mean in terms of our lives as citizens and readers.
Here are the things that should be discussed here.
- The impact of your research.
- The significance and effect of your research results.
- Scope for future research.
Make sure that you add these elements to your abstract.
Dissertation Abstract Example
Here is a sample dissertation abstract.
The above abstract contains the purpose of the research, the methodology used for the study, and the findings and implications of the study.
Once you are done writing your thesis abstract, it’s time to read it thoroughly and eliminate any mistakes. Moreover, don't forget to add it to your table of contents.
Tips to Write a Strong Dissertation Abstract
Here are the tips for writing a good and engaging abstract for your dissertation.
- Understand the purpose of writing an abstract.
- Write the abstract after completing the entire dissertation.
- Explain each chapter in one to two lines before writing the abstract.
- Read other abstracts and see how they did it.
- Go through some abstract samples to have a better understanding of them.
- Write clearly and do not use overly difficult language.
- Focus on your personal research.
- Make sure that you keep everything concise and brief.
- Do not add everything here; keep the details for the main sections.
- Revise your abstract once it is done.
These tips will help you write your abstract properly and quickly. If you still need help, you can get it here at MyPerfectPaper.net. We are professionals, and we are always here to help.
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