How to Write an Abstract

Posted by Karen on September 18, 2008 under Term Paper "How To's" | Be the First to Comment

Most research and management reports begin with a one-page summary of the main points so that the reader can quickly see whether reading the report will be beneficial. This summary is usually referred to as an abstract, and it is placed first although it is obviously written after the results have been analyzed and discussed. In many organizations the term “executive summary” is used. The heading “Abstract” should appear on all copies presented to the University even though you are welcome to use “Executive Summary” on any copy of your project you present to anyone in your organization.

People read abstracts and summaries mainly to decide whether they want to read the entire document that the abstract paraphrases. Abstracts are also used to provide access to documents in data base systems, the kind of information system managers have to rely on more and more. To write an abstract you need to know two things: (1) What to include in it, and (2) How to gather and present information for it. An abstract or summary contains the following information elements, as relevant, that describe or extract information from the basic document.

• Purpose
- the problem
- the study objective

• Scope
- the population(s)
- the organization(s)

• Methodology
- hypotheses
- research design
- data-gathering method(s)

• Results
- statistical
- nonstatistical

• Conclusions
- findings from the results

• Recommendations
- actions to take

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