Skip to main content

WRITING AN ABSTRACT Part 2

By
WRITING AN ABSTRACT Part 2

It is one thing to complete a good research work and another to place its value on high demand. Just like in production, except a product is well marketed, its quality cannot be predicted. Marketing draws the attention of the prospective consumer first before a trial will be considered and then the salability of such good. As a mark of high necessity, the abstract of every research work should be able to draw any reader’s interest to insist on purchasing the complete material. In this dispensation, e-journals have become the best way to reach a wider audience and only the quality of a researcher’s abstract has the capacity of selling the research material.
This blog post therefore concentrates on how best to present a good abstract. Let us take a glance on some basics;
DEFINITION
An abstract in a simple form can be understood to be a summarized write-up that is complete enough to represent the full work in view, (no more, no less). This abstract should be able to highlight key contents of the enabling the reader predict the expectations from the journal. Nevertheless, as informative as an abstract can be, the writer should be careful not to use high vocabularies nor end up on a lengthy write-up with unnecessary extensions.
FEATURES OF A GOOD ABSTRACT

  1. Precise: A good abstract has to correctly reproduce the purpose and subjects of the work in view. It does not have to include neither irrelevant information nor points that are not contained in the work. I can advise that the headings of the research work should be noted and used as guide in verifying the exactness of the abstract. In a case where the research work is either a replication or an extension of an existing research, the author’s (initials and family name) must be cited with the year of publication.
  2. Brief and definite: Every sentence used has to be as revealing as possible, most especially the first the lead sentence. And it should be as brief as possible such that the total length of the whole abstract should not exceed 150 words (in estimation).

COMPONENTS OF AN ABSTRACT
In as much as an abstract does not need to be lengthy, it should be able to well represent the complete material in view. That is to say that every major point in the work must be represented in either a sentence or two. The following components are the specifications that can be used for check when writing an abstract;

INTRODUCTION:
This is the first part of the abstract that introduces the motivation or intention of the research in general. This has to come first to be able to captivate the reader and gradually lead to the problem of the research.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Is the research trying to solve a problem? Is your scope of work generalized or specified to a particular situation? You will need to avoid too many stories, just go ahead and state it in one sentence. Sometimes, it is better to bring the problem statement then the motivation can follow.
METHODOLOGY:
What method did you use in solving the problem? It could be the use of field data, simulation, analysis or prototype construction. They need to be stated all in a sentence with the variables after the problem statement.
FINDINGS:
What are your findings? Be careful not to use ambiguous statements, it is ok to put the figures obtained specifically, yes, Put the result there, in numbers.
CONCLUSIONS:
What inferences can be drawn from your answer? Can your result be potentially generalized or is it limited to the particular case of study? It has to be stated.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER AIDED MEDICAL PROGNOSIS

By
Price: 2000 Naira CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 BACKGROUND OF STUDY Medical prognosis, (often simply termed prognosis) refers both to the process of attempting to determine or identifying a possible disease or disorder to the opinion reached by this process. A diagnosis in the sense of diagnostic procedure can be regarded as an attempt at classifying an individual’s health condition into separate and distinct categories that allow medical decisions about treatment and prognosis to be made. Subsequently, a diagnostic opinion is often described in terms of a disease or other conditions. In the medical diagnostic system procedures, elucidation of the etiology of the disease or conditions of interest, that is, what caused the disease or condition and its origin is not entirely necessary. Such elucidation can be useful to optimize treatment, further specify the prognosis or prevent recurrence of the disease or condition in the future. Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE AWESOME LITERATURE REVIEW…SECRET REVEALED…PART 2

By
THE AWESOME LITERATURE REVIEW…SECRET REVEALED…PART 2 Welcome to the second series of my planned four series on the theme ‘Secret Revealed: Discover what your supervisor is looking for and how your project is graded’. Without a doubt undoubtedly, the first series which covered the proposal and introductory chapter of a research project was a great read. This second series will reveal to you my awesome reader what supervisors’ look out for in your literature review. So, as usual enjoy! STRUCTURE OF AN AWESOME LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Theoretical Framework Conceptual Review Empirical Review Summary of Chapter N/B: The arrangement may vary considering different formats of some tertiary institutions. But for a well written review of related literature, these components are needed. Introduction A brief introduction in your literature review will enable readers know what the chapter is all about. Not just that, it will also earn you good points. The introducti...
1 comment
Read more

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE ON RESEARCH PROJECT WRITING FOR UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION AND POLYTECHNICS IN NIGERIA

By
A STEP BY STEP GUIDE ON RESEARCH PROJECT WRITING FOR UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION AND POLYTECHNICS IN NIGERIA Undergraduate research project is an independent effort required of students in tertiary institutions. The students, though supervised by an academic staff, are to carry out a pre-determined research within the constraints of their study. The supervisor is primarily to receive proposals of the research interest, approve it, provide guidance and assess the work at the end. An external supervisor is usual, to provide an external and independent assessment of their research work. The proposal for the topic is to include the intended subject of study, a brief description, justification for the work, aims and milestones, software and hardware to be employed, assumptions to be made, the methodologies involved and the references. There are standards in the research build-up, actual research, and presentation and print submissions. These put the students in shape for th...
Post a Comment
Read more