In this video, we are going to explain what an abstract is in the context of a typical
dissertation, thesis or research paper. The abstract is also sometimes called an executive
summary but strictly speaking it is a little bit different. I will unpack that later. If you
are new to the oftentimes intimidating world of academic research be sure to hit that subscribe
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if you are working on a dissertation or thesis check out our free collection of easy-to-use
chapter templates to fast-track your project. You can find the link to those in the description.
So what is an abstract in a dissertation or thesis? Well, simply put an abstract is a short
but well-structured summary that outlines the most important points regarding your study. In other
words, the key takeaways. The abstract section is usually about three hundred to five hundred words
in length about one page. But this can vary between universities so be sure to check what
your institution's specific requirements are. In terms of content, a good abstract usually
covers the following essential points. Number one, the purpose of the research what was your
research aims and why were those important? Number two, the methodology how did you carry out the
research in high-level terms? Number three, the key findings what answers did you find in relation
to your research aims and questions? And lastly, number four, the implications of these findings
so basically what do the answers mean for researchers and practitioners? As you can
see the abstract summarises the key details of a study much like an executive summary.
Strictly speaking though, an abstract and an executive summary are two different things.
Typically an abstract only states what the research will be about but does not explore the
findings whereas an executive summary covers both. But in the context of a dissertation or thesis,
the abstract usually covers both providing a summary of the full project. Now as I mentioned
earlier be sure to check with your university what their norms and preferences are as these
things do vary. If you cannot get that info out of them have a look at past dissertations and thesis
from your specific program to get an idea of what is considered normal. You can also view an example
of a well-written abstract in the companion blog to this video. I will include the link below.
When you are writing up your abstract it is really important to understand what purpose
it serves within your document. There are two key functions you need to keep in mind here. Firstly
the abstract serves to inform potential readers of the main idea of your research without them having
to read the entire piece of work. Therefore it needs to communicate what your research is
about what you were trying to find out and what your findings were. When readers are deciding
whether to read your dissertation or thesis the abstract is the first part and possibly the only
part they will consider. So make sure that it can stand strong on its own and sell your research.
The second function of the abstract is to tell search engines and dissertation or academic
databases what your document is all about. The keywords and phrases in your abstract as well as
your keyword list will often be used by these databases to categorise your work and make it
accessible to users. Simply put your abstract is your shop front window it is what passers-by both
human and otherwise will look at before deciding to step inside. So it is super important to take
the time to craft an abstract that clearly and accurately describes your study so that other
researchers can discover it and build onto it. At this point, you might be thinking but I do
not even want to publish my research and that is a fair point. Even so, you still need to provide an
impactful abstract for your marker. Your ability to concisely summarise your study's focus and
findings are one of the many things your marker will be assessing. So it is vital to invest the
time and effort to craft an enticing shop window and get your marker interested in your study.
Think about it this way if your dissertation or research paper were a book then the abstract
would be the blurb on the back cover. For better or worse readers will absolutely judge your book
by its cover. One last tip while the abstract will be located right up front in your dissertation
before the table of contents even it is best to write it up last after you have completed all the
other sections of your document. Understandably it can be tempting to work on the abstract while
you are still busy with other chapters but this approach usually just results in wasted time
as you will need to write and rewrite your abstract as your research project evolves
which it will. So save yourself the hassle and just leave your abstract to the end you
will thank yourself later. By the way, if you want to learn about other common mistakes that
students make when writing the abstract check out our video covering the five biggest mistakes
for this section. Also if you would like to learn how to write an abstract we have got
a blog post that explains that process step by step so check it out, link in the description.
If you enjoyed the video please hit the like button and leave a comment
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