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RoomForWri)ng:Automa)cNoteTaking
1
HowtowriteanabstractTheabstractshouldconveytheessen)almeaningofthedocument.
• Itwillsummarisethesignificance,poten)alcontribu)on,andneedforthework.• Itwillstatethehypothesis(Ifrelevant)ortheassump)onswhichyouaregoingtobe
inves)ga)ng.• Itwillstatethemajorobjec)vesoftheworktobedone,outlinetheproceduresandprovidethe
readerwithanunderstandingofthepoten)alimpact/valueofthefinalwork.Whenpresen)ngaliteraturereview,thinkoftheresearch/methodasbeingadeskstudy.
Normallyanabstractdoesnotcontainanycitedreferences,althoughextendedabstracts,whicharefrequentlyrequestedatconferencesintheartsandhumani)es,mightactuallycontainafewkeyreferences.
Therewilltypicallybeaprescribedwordlimitonanabstract,findoutwhatthatisandmakesurethatyourabstractdoesnotexceedthislimit.
Genericexample:Thisisthewaytheworldis(ageneralcontext)
Thisiswhatiswrongwiththeworld(theproblemstatement)
Hereismyidea/proposedapproach
ThisiswhatIhavefoundanddone,ortheevidencewhichIthinkmyapproachwillproduce
TypicallyIsuggestyouwriteyourabstractfirsttoguidethestructureofthedocument,andthenreviseitasecond)metowardstheendwhenyouhaveaclearideaofthecontent.
Thisiscontrarytomuchcommonadvice,howeverthedisciplineoftryingtoexpressanabstractbeforetheworkiscompletecanbehelpfulinclarifyingthepurposeofthewri)ng.Inthiscaseyouarewri)nganabstractfora‘workinprogress’.
Whenyouwritetheabstractatthestartofthewri)ngcycle,youareusingtheabstractwri)ngexerciseasaresearchtool,toclarifyyourthinking,evaluateyourclaims,andconfirmthatyouhavechosenthecorrect/realis)csetofapproachesandmethodologies.
Ifyouwriteanabstractbeforeyouhavecompletedthetask,youwillprobablyhavetoconcludetheabstractbysta)ngwhattheproject/dataanalysiswillsetouttofind.
RoomForWri)ng:Automa)cNoteTaking
2
Hereisadefini)onwithsomediscussionfromtheperspec)veofEduca)on
WhatgoesintheABSTRACT?Theabstractshouldconveytothereaderconciselyandaccuratelywithinthespaceofafewsentences,theclaimtoknowledgethattheauthorsaremaking.Itshouldindicatetheboundariesofspaceand)mewithinwhichtheenquiryhasoccurred.Ifthereisaclaimtogeneralitybeyondtheboundariesoftheenquirythebasisofthatclaimshouldbegiven,forexamplethatarandomsampleisthoughttoberepresenta)veofalargerpopula)on.Thereshouldalsobeahintofthemethodofenquiry.Theboundariesofanenquiryareimportant-andareunfortunatelytoooVenomiWedfromabstracts.ThisisduetotheregreWabletendencyforresearcherstogeneralisetheirresultsfrom,forexample,afewschoolstoallschools,andtoimplythatwhatwastrueatapar)cular)me,istrueforall)me.Somereferencetothegeographicalloca)onofthechildren,orteachers,orschoolsonwhomtheclaimtoknowledgerestsshouldbemade.Becauseoftheinterna)onalnatureoftheresearchcommunityitisworthmakingclearinwhatcountrytheresearchtookplace.Alsotheperiodinwhichthedatawascollectedshouldbestated.Theabstractshouldbecondensa)onofthesubstanceofthepaper,notatrailer,noranintroduc)on.Journalsandthesisregula)onsusuallyputalimitofaround200to300wordstothelengthofanabstract.'Trailer'isatermborrowedfromthecinemaindustrytodescribeashowingofafewhighlightsinordertowinanaudience.An'introduc)on''tellsthatsomethingiscoming,butdoesn'trevealitssubstance.Thesearenotwhatisneeded.Abstractsarerecycledinabstractjournalsandelectronicnetworksandprovidethemainvehicleforotherresearcherstobecomeawareofpar)cularstudies.Hencethemoreclearlytheyconveytheclaimtoknowledgeoftheoriginalpaperthemoreusefultheyareinhelpingthereadertodecidewhetheritisworthtakingthetroubletoobtainandreadtheoriginalandpossiblyciteitinhis/herownwri)ng.Boththeabstractandthepapershouldmakesensewithouttheother
Bassey,M.(1995)pages70-71
References
Bassey,M.,1995.Crea)ngeduca)onthroughresearch:aglobalperspec)veofeduca)onalresearchforthe21stcentury,KirklingtonMoorPressinconjunc)onwiththeBri)shEduca)onalResearchAssocia)on.Availableat:HartleyLibraryquarto370.78BAS
JohnsonR.,etal,HowtogetapaperacceptedatOOPSLAPanelatOOPSLA'93,pp429-436
KoopmanP.,1997,Howtowriteanabstract,hWps://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html