Why Abstract Matters?
Abstract matters because it’s the first thing, or one of the first things, that somebody reading your thesis is going to see. Who is going to be reading your thesis, it’s your examiner who will be reading your thesis. So, this is a fantastic chance to make a really good first impression, to get them excited about it, but also to demonstrate to them that you can write powerfully, and concisely and you can convey what they are going to read about in the rest of the thesis. So, they read your abstract and they’re like, ‘I can’t wait to get into this.”
In the UK, readers will include other researchers in your field, and the abstract is a fantastic opportunity to grab their attention because, unlike your examiner, other researchers don’t have to read your thesis; they are reading it because they choose to read it. So, if you can put together a compelling abstract, it’s going to be helpful in terms of making other people aware of what you are doing. You want other researchers to read your work and to think it’s great and to get in touch with you and ask you to speak at their conference and all of that nice stuff. So, it’s really important to get it right.
Readers also encompass people outside of academia, people in government, in policy, in particular professions, and people who are searching for academic research on the particular issue that you’ve been researching. So, they will go to places like Google Scholar; they will look at subject repositories for research around the thing that you’ve been looking at. And when they come across your piece of work, the first thing they are going to read, which they are going to use to judge whether they should read the rest of it, is the abstract.
Abstract essentials:
The essential things that you should include in your abstract as a UK university student. Your clear, concise, and engaging abstract should include,
- Research problem or question
- Methodology and approach
- Key findings
- Conclusions and implications
But how you put that all together matters. There are four main parts to an abstract.
Opener and research problem
The first part should include an opener and your research problem and question. So, you need a compelling opening sentence to grab the reader’s attention, and then you need to follow that up with a concise statement of your research problem or question.
- The first sentence will set the context
- The second sentence covers what the thesis looks at within that context.
- Then can have some further information which leads to the need for the study and the research question
This will be a nice, compelling, concise opener and statement of the research problem or question. So, if you start your abstract with these guidelines, you have got your abstract off to a fantastic start.
Methodology and findings
You need to describe your research methodology and summarise your key findings. So, here you are saying, ‘Here’s what I did, here’s what I found’. And then they will comment and interpret.
Implications
Here, we are zooming out further. We have already written about what we found and what that shows. But now we are looking at the broader context. We have already covered the implications within academia in the section before. So, here, we are thinking more broadly and we are identifying beneficiaries of the research who are outside of the academic world. Think about stakeholders for your research because you will need to write about them in this section.
Conclusion
We wrap it all up by coming back to the key contributions the thesis has made and by making a bridge between the piece of research and future developments in the area. So, it should have a very nice, concise conclusion about what the research contributes towards, what it highlights, and what it emphasises. What should we be thinking about moving forward? So, having done research, what does our focus need to be now?
Tips for writing
- First make sure you write your abstract after you complete your entire thesis, like after you finish all of it, and there is nothing left to do
- Your abstract is about clarity and simplicity, so, don’t include too many details. Use clear and straightforward sentences
- Make sure to refer back to your aims and objectives because they will be useful in getting your words flowing.
- Edit and revise: Writing your abstract will take a few attempts, you will have to refine it. Make sure to ask your supervisor for a bit of help with it.
- Be mindful of word limits: Make sure to adhere to the specified word limit
Conclusion
We looked at why the abstract matters, the four things you should include in your abstract, and the tips for writing the abstract. You follow the guidelines in this to write the best abstract for your thesis.
Digi Assignment guides to achieve academic success by providing the best tips for writing the best thesis.
Writing a compelling dissertation abstract is often underestimated, but it plays a crucial role in grabbing the reader’s attention and summarizing key findings concisely. One additional tip that has worked for me is tailoring the abstract to reflect the research’s real-world impact—this can make it more engaging for both academic and non-academic audiences. Thanks for sharing these insights!
I really liked the advice on keeping the abstract concise while still communicating the key findings. It’s easy to get caught up in the details, but focusing on the core message is definitely the best approach.
A well-crafted dissertation abstract is crucial for grabbing the reader’s attention and setting the right expectations for the research. Focusing on clarity, conciseness, and highlighting key findings can make a significant difference. One challenge many students face is balancing enough detail to be informative while keeping it brief—any tips on achieving that balance effectively?