What is an abstract; WRITING AN ABSTRACT
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What is an abstract?
In any research paper, perhaps no section is as important as the abstract. The abstract acts as a summary of the research paper and appears at the head of the article. An abstract acts as a brief description of the article. A good abstract captivates the reader so that they can read the entire article. It also acts as an advert, so that the strengths of the article can be seen, and entice readers to delve further into the paper (Feldman, 2004). Additionally, abstracts serve to assess the potential and relevance of an article to a researcher's needs. A researcher will first look at the abstract to decide whether they can go further to find material relevant to what they are researching (Alexandrov & Hennerici, 2007).
Ground rules for creating a good abstract
In creating a good abstract, the article's writer needs to convey the key points that the article talks about. Such communication should be precise, avoid unnecessary information, and accurately represent the article's argument's gist. It should be logical, in that it should follow a rational process that enables the reader to understand what the article is about (Feldman, 2004).
Main parts of an abstract
The first part of the abstract is the title. The title shows a few simple words that generally communicate the content of the article. The title includes the article's main points if they can be reasonably included without making the title too long. The second part is the background. The background involves explaining why the study was done, its aims, or a specific hypothesis or hypotheses tested through the study. The third part of the abstract is the methods section. This section details the design, settings, and subjects of the study, as applicable. The methods of data collection and analysis are also described in this part. The fourth part of the abstract is the results section, which is also the most important since it answers the research question. It summarizes the key findings, needs to show the statistical summary of the data that was collected and synthesized. The last section of the abstract is the discussion/ conclusion section. It helps to highlight whether the hypothesis was tested and proven or disproven.
Strategies for improving writing skills
The first strategy for improving your writing style is by writing from an outline. In designing an outline, the writer needs to decide on a topic and then develop the necessary material to write the article. The system should then be organized logically, with the significant ideas being highlighted. The second strategy involves setting the draft aside and rereading it later. It is possible to see the draft from a fresh perspective, which enables the writer to see issues and problems that could not have been apparent at first. The third strategy is asking a colleague to analyze a draft for you. The work analysis should be done after errors have been removed, and thorough proofreading is done. The reading is mostly done to further perspective and enrich the work (Pilotti & Chodorow, 2009).
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Personal strategy
Writing an outline is personally very important. It will ensure that I do not leave any important points out. It will be easier to have a work that flows logically by having all the materials at hand, rather than scrambling around for relevant material midway through the writing.
References
Alexandrov, A. V., & Hennerici, M. G. (2007). Writing good abstracts. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 23(4), 256-259.
Feldman, D. C. (2004). The devil is in the details: Converting good research into publishable articles.
Pilotti, M., & Chodorow, M. (2009). Error detection/correction in collaborative writing. Reading and Writing, 22(3), 245-260.
