17 Understanding Abstracts
Ted Moore
Goals
After reading this article, you will be able to do the following:
- Demonstrate and understand an abstract’s purpose.
- Identify an abstract’s component parts.
- Explain an abstract’s various component parts.
- Explain your own research clearly and concisely through your own abstract.
Introduction
Quite simply, an abstract is a summary of your published or unpublished research paper, usually about a paragraph or 150-250 words long. The abstract is not normally meant to defend the research paper but to describe it.
Why Do Abstracts Exist?
A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:
First, it helps readers understand your paper or article’s essence quickly, so they can decide whether they want to read the full paper. Second, an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper. Third, an abstract helps readers remember your paper’s key points.
Another way to think about an abstract’s purpose is the elevator scenario. Imagine being in an elevator with someone who asks you what you are researching. You only have about 45 seconds to explain your research in such a way that the questioner can get of sense of your paper’s topic and if they might be interested in reading it.
What Should Be in an Abstract?
The abstract should begin with a brief but precise thesis—a statement of the problem or issue, followed by a description of the research method and design, the major findings, and the conclusions reached. Below is a list of things to choose from to include in the abstract. Note that you will not need to include all these items, but generally speaking, these are the information one finds in abstracts:
- What is the context or background information for your research? For example, if this is a history paper, include the date range, place, and major events that are happening surrounding your topic. What is the broad general topic that you are studying? For example, this could be racial justice, research to cure cancer, or how humans learn, etc. What is your research’s specific topic? For example, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce’s role in fighting air pollution, or the ring-tailed lemurs’ impact on the food supplies of Sifakas lemurs.
- What are the central questions or problem statement that your research addresses?
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- Why was Utah slower in paving its roads compared to other states? What role did bicycles play in moving this process forward?
- What is already known about this question; what previous research has been done?
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- Building off David Hawley’s research on genomes…
- What are the main reasons, the rationale, or the goals for your research? Why is it important to address these questions? Are you, for example, examining a new topic? Why is that topic worth examining? Are you filling a gap in previous research? Are you applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data? Are you resolving a dispute within the literature in your field?
- What are your research and/or analytical methods and sources?
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- Using Jurgen Habermas’ public power theory…
- Data from the following four surveys demonstrates that…
- What are your main findings, results, or arguments—what is your thesis?
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- This paper proves that people over seventy years old should not drive.
The following is a general percent allocation that most abstracts devote to the research problem, methodology, main findings, and conclusions.
Introduction/ Problem—context, topic purpose, and importance: 25 percent
Methods—what you did, how your topic sources fit with other literature: 25 percent
Results/Thesis/Main Findings—what you found: 35 percent
Discussion/Implications/Conclusions—why the topic is important and its implications: 15 percent
Now that you are familiar with an abstract’s basics composition, read the following example of an abstract followed by the same abstract which is annotated to point out the various parts:
Between 1890 and 1930 a group of businesspeople rose to prominence in Salt Lake City and shifted the demarcation lines of private and public governance. This shift saw city governance transition from private entities to an associative “state,” and finally to government centralization. The owners of the two largest chocolate factories in the city spearheaded many of the urban reforms and helped create a number of associations that would tackle the city’s problems. Eventually, these organizations would partner with the city to improve the urban environment, and then finally, the city government took full responsibility in addressing the issues. Using newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and city records, this paper examines some of the reasons why this transformation from private to public governance occurred and subsequently how citizens of the city changed how they interacted with their urban home.
After reading the above, do you believe that you have a good understanding of what the paper is about? What is it arguing? What are some of the sources used to find the information? Now, let’s break down the abstract’s various parts.
- “Between 1890 and 1930 a group of businessmen rose to prominence in Salt Lake City and shifted the demarcation lines of private and public governance.” (This introduction gives context: where and when things are taking place; and it announces the research topic.
- “This shift saw city governance transition from private entities to an associative state, and finally, to government centralization.” (The thesis)
- “The owners of the two largest chocolate factories in the city spearheaded many of the urban reforms and helped create a number of associations that would tackle the city’s problems. Eventually, these organizations would partner with the city to improve the urban environment, and then finally, the city government took full responsibility in addressing the issues.” (The discussion gives the basic facts, the paper’s narrative)
- “Using newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and city records, this paper examines some of the reasons why this transformation from private to public governance occurred and subsequently how the city’s citizens changed how they interacted with their urban home.” (The method gives the sources used, research question, and its significance)
Difference between a Proposal and an Abstract
When creating an abstract, remember that it is different from a research proposal. A proposal contains some same abstract elements such as the topic, source material that will be used, and why the proposed research is needed in that study field, but the data has not been fully collected; therefore, there are no conclusions, nor will the methodology to evaluate the evidence be fully decided upon.
Conclusion
An abstract serves as a concise overview of a research paper, highlighting key components such as the research problem, methodology, main findings, and conclusions. It allows readers to quickly grasp the paper’s content and importance, helping them to decide whether to explore the full document. Additionally, an abstract provides readers with an initial framework to understand the entire paper’s comprehensive details. This brief research depiction facilitates scholars and interested parties in evaluating the paper’s relevance and its contribution to ongoing academic debates, acting as a crucial bridge between broad interest and scholarly rigor. Consequently, mastering abstract writing is crucial for effectively communicating research findings and encouraging engagement within the academic community.
Practice
Now, it’s time to practice evaluating and creating some of an abstract’s component parts by looking at student abstracts from Michigan State University.
Part 1.
In the following examples, you may not fully understand some terminology and concepts. Regardless of this, see if you can identify each abstract’s various components that are explained in the article.
Abstract One
The Internet has become a primary resource for the general public who seek health information about a variety of topics, including breast cancer. This particular research is part of a larger study which evaluated the use of basic design tenets and theoretical behavioral change components in the top 157 breast cancer websites. Fourteen components were taken from three behavioral change theories. The focus of this particular project was to assess the use of these fourteen theoretical components on breast cancer websites as they persuade users towards prevention or detection behaviors. It will also discuss how some components were additionally used to persuade users to contribute money to the organizations that sponsor the websites. It should first be noted that overall, theoretical components were absent from the websites in general. Nine out of the fourteen components were found to be used primarily for detection, as opposed to prevention. This is an important finding because it is just as valuable, if not more so, for a person to prevent a disease as it is to detect it early. Four of the fourteen were considered when assessing persuasion in terms of fundraising. Of these four that were assessed, three were used more than 50 percent of the time when soliciting money. These results lend ideas for future research on such topics as well as ideas to better the current state of the top breast cancer websites.
LaPlante, C., Samantha Munday (n.d.). Abstract Samples. Abstract Samples-Undergraduate Research. https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Now consider the following questions:
- After reading the above abstract, what is the paper’s topic?
- What methods/data did they use to come to their conclusions?
- What did they conclude (thesis)?
- How well were these ideas conveyed in the abstract? Are there ways that they could have made some points clearer for the reader? If so, how could they reword those parts of the paper?
Abstract Two
Although research has been done showing that dysphoria correlates with an increased amount of mood congruent false memories in both dysphoric participants and negative mood induced participants, no research prior to this study has examined how inducing a negative mood in dysphoric participants affects mood congruent false memories. One hundred undergraduate participants viewed lists of depression-relevant, neutral, and positive words that they were asked to recognize later among lure words. Participants were grouped as dysphoric, mid-dysphoric, or non-dysphoric as determined by BDI-II scores. This study hypothesized that dysphoric participants induced into a negative mood would have a greater number of mood congruent false memories than all the other groups. A 2 x2 x3 x 3–way mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Mood Induction (positive, negative), Gender (male, female), and Group (dysphoric, mid-dysphoric, non-dysphoric control participants) as between-subject variables and Word Type (depression-relevant, neutral, positive) as a within-subject variable and correlation analyses were used to examine the depression relevant false memory results. Correlation analyses revealed that dysphoria is related to an increased amount of mood congruent false memories (r = .22; p< .04). The results of this study add to previous research in the field of depression and memory on a small scale. Further research in the area is needed for a more complete understanding of how memory functions in dysphoric individuals and may be used to augment or create treatment techniques.
Morabito, K. (n.d.). Abstract Samples. Abstract Samples- Undergraduate Research. https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Now consider the following questions:
- After reading the above abstract, what is the paper’s topic?
- What did they conclude (thesis)?
- What methods/data did they use to come to their conclusions?
- How well were these ideas conveyed in the abstract? Are there ways that they could have made some points clearer for the reader? If so, how could they reword those parts of the paper?
Part 2.
Read the samples that follow. Then answer the question: Why is the following abstract not quite an abstract? What is missing?
Abstract One
Within our culture, recycling is seen as an important way in which we can help preserve our wildlife and protect the earth for our children’s future. With this positive reputation and strong public interest, it would be reasonable to believe that recycling programs are widely supported and funded throughout the state of Michigan. However, this is not the reality. During our research, we plan to investigate three prominent Michigan cities: Lansing, Detroit, and Ann Arbor. Each city has its own recycling history, and we are delving into the legislation and statistics surrounding the emergence or absence of a recycling program in each city. We hope to discover trends which point to why some cities have become more involved in the recycling phenomenon. We seek to determine what types of economic, social, and political conditions are necessary for a city to introduce and fund a comprehensive recycling program.
Seavoy, E. Jennifer Copus, Erik Jonasson. (n.d.). Abstract Samples. Abstract Samples-Undergraduate Research. https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Abstract Two
For this project, related to my research assistance for Dr. Kenneth Waltzer in his work on “The Rescue of Children and Youth in Buchenwald,” I will look at several different memoirs rooted in experiences of mass violence undergone by children and youth. I want to draw parallels between memoirs of youthful survivors who lived through the Nazi Holocaust in Europe and the “Lost Boys” who survived recent violent conflict in Sudan. My sample of memoirs includes works in French by Polish Jewish boys who survived the Holocaust in ghettos and work camps, finally winding up in Buchenwald. The Sudanese memoirs trace the paths of boys as they fled from destroyed homes to refugee camps. They are written in English, often involving the collaboration of American authors. Besides engaging each story individually, the exploration of these works urges broader questions about memory of horrific violence. How is memory presented and organized in a memoir? What is emphasized and why? What are the motivations for speaking as witnesses of horror and survivors of violence? What are the implications of personal memoirs for the larger task of preventing violence and genocide? These stories are diverse—they take place in worlds and times apart; they involve different actors and contexts. Yet they are also connected, involving experiences by youth of mass violence, survival, and finally efforts to represent memory years later as warning, as remembrance, and as an effort to help others understand.
Angelini-Knoll, J. (n.d.). Abstract Samples. Abstract Samples- Undergraduate Research. https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Part 3.
Now that you have had a chance to read about abstracts, their component parts, and purpose, and had the opportunity to read through some examples, it is time to begin creating your own abstract. Remember that writing is a process and involves feedback and rewriting. Do not be discouraged if your abstract needs to be revised; it is a process that even the best writers go through (which is partly what makes them the best writers).
As you create your abstract, start by answering the following questions:
- What is my paper’s topic?
- What is the context for my paper?
- What is the conclusion of my study?
- What is the evidence and methodology I used to reach my conclusion?
References
Biological Department, University of Pittsburgh, “Abstract Writing,” https://www.biology.pitt.edu/abstract
Carolyn LaPlante, C., Samantha Munday, “Abstract Samples,” Abstract Samples- Undergraduate Research, https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Erin Seavoy, Jennifer Copus, Erik Jonasson, “Abstract Samples,” Abstract Samples-Undergraduate Research, https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Jasmine Angelini-Knoll, “Abstract Samples,” Abstract Samples- Undergraduate Research, https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Katherine Morabito, “Abstract Samples,” Abstract Samples- Undergraduate Research, https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples
Michigan State University Undergraduate Research Showcase, https://urca.msu.edu/abstract-samples)
Philip Koopman, “How to Write an Abstract,” Carnegie Mellon University, 1997, https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html
The Writing Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “Abstracts,” https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/abstracts/
Undergraduate Research Center, University of California Davis, “How to Write an Abstract for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference,” https://urc.ucdavis.edu/how-write-abstract
Writing Center University of Wisconsin, Madison, “Writing an Abstract for your Research Paper,” https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/
Answer Key
Part 1.
Abstract One 1- Survey of health websites on breast cancer; 2- Looked at 157 websites, used fourteen components from three behavioral change theories; 3- 9 of 14 components were found for detection as opposed to prevention, 4 of 14 used for fundraising by emphasizing detection.
Abstract Two 1- “Dysphoria correlates with an increased amount of mood congruent false memories in both dysphoric participants and negative mood induced participants”; 2- “Correlation analyses revealed that dysphoria is related to an increased amount of mood congruent false memories”; 3- “One hundred undergraduate participants viewed lists of depression-relevant, neutral and positive words that they were asked to recognize later among lure words. Participants were grouped as dysphoric, mid-dysphoric, or non-dysphoric as determined by BDI-II scores.”
Part 2.
Abstract One: While the paragraph above raises some interesting issues and questions, this is more like a research proposal as it has not examined the evidence and come to any conclusions from that evidence.
Abstract Two: While the above poses many interesting questions, it is more akin to a research proposal because it has not examined the evidence, nor come to any conclusions.
