Unit 3

WRITING AN ABSTRACT

This unit deals with:

the comparison of an abstract and a summary
definition of an abstract
types of abstracts (qualitative and informative)
guidelines for writing an abstract

1. Abstract vs. summary

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis,
dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce
it. An abstract is a type of summary, but summaries are also written elsewhere in
academic writing. For example, you might summarize a source in a paper, in a
literature review, or as a standalone assignment.

NB! For the examples of summaries and abstracts see the supplement to the unit.

2. Abstract: definition, types

Definition
The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form
of a longer piece of writing. There are two main types of abstract: the (1) Descriptive
and the (2) Informative abstract. The type of abstract you write depends on your
discipline area.

Why do we write abstracts?

Abstracts are important parts of reports and research papers and sometimes
academic assignments. The abstract is often the last item that you write, but the first
thing people read when they want to have a quick overview of the whole paper. We
suggest you leave writing the abstract to the end, because you will have a clearer
picture of all your findings and conclusions.

1
(1) Descriptive abstracts
Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities and social science papers or
psychology essays. This type of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most
descriptive abstracts have certain key parts in common. They are:
 background
 purpose
 particular interest/focus of paper
 overview of contents (not always included)

(2) Informative abstracts

Informative abstracts are generally used for science, engineering or psychology
reports. You must get the essence of what your report is about, usually in about 200
words. Most informative abstracts also have key parts in common. Each of these parts
might consist of 1-2 sentences. The parts include:
 background
 aim or purpose of research
 method used
 findings/results
 conclusion

The table below summarizes the main features of, as well as the differences between,
the two types of abstracts discussed above. In both types of abstract, your
lecturer/tutor may require other specific information to be included. Always follow
your lecturer/tutor’s instructions.
Descriptive abstract Informative abstract
Describes the major points of the project Informs the audience of all essential points
to the reader. of the paper.

Includes the background, purpose and Briefly summarizes the background,

focus of the paper or article, but never the purpose, focus, methods, results, findings
methods, results and conclusions, if it is a and conclusions of the full-length paper.
research paper.
Is concise, usually 10% of the original
Is most likely used for humanities and paper length, often just one paragraph.
social science papers or psychology
essays. Is most likely used for sciences,
engineering or psychology reports.

2
Example of a descriptive abstract

Example of an informative abstract

3
3. Abstract structure

Explain the procedure of writing an abstract after watching the video ‘How to Write
an Abstract for a Research Paper’.

Five sections of an abstract are:

1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________

Tips for writing your abstract are:

1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________

4
 UNIT SUPPLEMENT

SUMMARY EXAMPLES

Example of a short summary (= paragraph summary)

Let’s take a look at an example of a longer article. Here, you will find the summary of
this article, which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the
doctor away.”

[Introduction. Start by introducing the article's topic and the research question
it set out to answer] Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying
“an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy
lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for
various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally
and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is
indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help
reduce healthcare costs.

5
 [Methods. Briefly outline the research methods used, describing the source of
the data and explaining how the variables were measured] The study used publicly
available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based
on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were
also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in
the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an
association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician
visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.
[Results. Summarize the most relevant results] Although apple eaters were
slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not
statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was
found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use.
However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using
prescription medication. [Implications. Mention the potential implications of these
results] Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not
keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this
finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high
annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.
[Limitations. Describe the study's limitations] However, the authors also note
several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ
from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example,
apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). [Recommendations.
Summarize the authors' main recommendations] To establish any causal relationship
between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend
experimental research.

6
 ABSTRACT EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-35040-5_10

Abstract

Contributing to the debate of how narratives organize and serve information to exert
influence beyond national borders, we answer an urgent call for comparative
narrative analysis in International Relations (IR). To explore the changing global
narratives of Ukraine, we engage with commentators who argue a certain unity in
sensemaking about Ukraine in the West (including the EU) vis-à-vis the non-Western
world, and we also examine how Western narratives on Ukraine/war against Ukraine
are divided. Empirically, we engage with the media narratives framing Ukraine in
2022–2023 in the selected countries of Europe, Global South and in China. These
narratives are compared to the results of the representative public surveys in the
respective locations and the overview of the knowledge-producing outputs (think
tanks and academia) in the selected countries. We engage with the concept of
“antagonistic narrative strategies” and dissect pro-Kremlin narratives directed
towards diverse receivers around the world in general, and the EU in particular.
Finally, we highlight six “takeaways” for the EU facing an uncertain world at this time
of war against Ukraine. Building on our previous work, we argue the impact of the
constructed image in the narrative can be reinforced by the interplay of two projection
properties: (1) content accentuation and priming, through iterations and content
contextualization and (2) historical and cultural resonance with the receivers.

7
EXAMPLE 2
https://typeset.io/pdf/reflective-teaching-its-benefits-to-the-contemporary-teacher-1f4xdo05.pdf

8
EXAMPLE 3
https://www.academia.edu/99709142/Building_Back_Better_Educational_Development_with_Globalization_in_Post_CO
VID_19

9
EXAMPLE 4

10
EXAMPLE 5

11
 REFERENCES

Wordvice Editing Service. (2018, February 9). How to Write an Abstract for a Research
Paper. [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMEnRBss6V4&ab_channel=WordviceEditing
Service
Writing an abstract: Writing centre learning guide. (n.d.). The University of Adelaide.
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/ua/media/26/learningguide-
writinganabstract.pdf

12