What is an Abstract for a Dissertation or Thesis?

An abstract is a brief summary of a thesis or dissertation, typically around 150-300 words. It summarizes the key components of the research of interest, covering the problem of the study, central research question, methodology, results and findings, and conclusion. The abstract provides readers with a quick overview of the work, enabling them to have a glance of the entire document.  

What is the Purpose of an Abstract in Dissertation Writing?

A concise Summary: An abstract gives readers a brief and concise summary of the dissertation or thesis. It highlights the  contents of the dissertation by capturing key elements hence  providing a quick insight on how the paper contributes to the field of study.  This allows readers, especially researchers and academics, to grasp the contents of the paper with ease. 

Persuades the Reader: The  abstract plays a critical role in influencing the reader to make a decision whether the article is relevant or not. Typically, a good abstract is usually one that provides a clear overview of the study with key points of your research well articulated. Notably, a reader is able to tell the purpose of the study,  the research design used, findings, and conclusion. Therefore, when the reader has a glimpse of the abstract of the paper, he or she will subsequently decide whether to read the entire dissertation. 

This underscores the need to capture the main points in your dissertation when writing your abstract as it would persuade potential readers to dive deeper into your work. A person reading your abstract will decide if your dissertation is worthy of their time and attention. Indeed, it is a filter that sieves relevant and meaningful literature and influences the reader’s when prioritizing their reading. 

First Impression: An abstract is the part of the paper that the audience encounters when reading. Therefore, it is an initial point of engagement with the reader, giving them a preview of the scope and significance of the dissertation. By capturing the overview of your research, it captivates the reader to explore your dissertation further.

Helps in Academic Searchability: Abstracts are indexed in various academic databases, journals, libraries, and repositories. A person conducting a literature search on a specific topic is likely to discover your abstract by typing relevant keywords in search engines. Therefore, a succinct abstract that has the relevant keywords and elements has a greater visibility during literature search.

Abstract Frequently Asked Questions

Below we tackle some questions frequently asked about a dissertation or thesis abstract. Let’s get started.

When Do You Write an Abstract for a Dissertation?

You might be tempted to write your abstract first since it appears in the very first parts of a dissertation. If you are using a university template, you’ll find it in the preliminary pages ahead of the other sections.

However, it is good practice to write the abstract after the research is complete, when you have fully understood the content of your dissertation. It summarizes the entire document, and informs the reader what your dissertation entails and in what order, hence acting as an overall sign post. Despite being the last to be written, it is the first to be read. This means, you write it last to have an end-to-end understanding of what is contained in your dissertation, so you can write a concise summary. If it is not well written, it may be the only part of the dissertation reader may look if he or she is put off!

What does a Dissertation or Thesis Abstract Contain?

1. Overview of the Study
The first part of the abstract is a brief overview of the study that outlines the general purpose of the dissertation. This part also acts as a broad introduction of the topic area and provides the context for the research. This part will help your readers to quickly understand the field of the study and the overarching problem that your study seeks to address. Normally, this is a 2-3 sentences in length.

2. Particular aim of the study
You need to let your readers understand the objective of your study. This could be the overall aim, which is in verbatim from your dissertation or paraphrased accordingly without loosing meaning. The aim should be precisely stated such that it specifies the issue that your study focused on. In doing this, you will clearly state what you aimed to discover, prove or analyze. 

3. Rationale for the study
Here, you will briefly explain why the study was conducted. In this case, you will concisely state the significance of your research, and its potential contribution to the field of study. You may also state the specific research gap that your study intends to fill. This is also referred to as the justification for your study and its relevance. Again here, you should be very precise and straightforward to capture the significance of the study in 1-2 sentences.

4. Methodology of the study
The methodology of your study is of paramount to the reader. In this case, your abstract should clearly help readers understand how you conducted this study. This means, you need to clearly state the research design used, sampling technique used, the data collection method applied, and the analysis method. In a more detailed abstract, you might include details of the research instruments used and or experimental procedures. This gives the reader an idea on how you answered your central research question.

5. Key findings and Conclusion of the study
The abstract should also contain a summary of the main research findings. Again here, you have to be precise and state the main ideas of your results that are drawn from the study. Indeed, you also need to state how you concluded your study based on the results. It is crucial that you adequately capture the main results and their implications. This gives readers a clear understanding of what your study revealed, and its contribution to theory and practice. 

How long is an Abstract in Academic Writing?

An abstract should be ideally one paragraph with about 7-8 sentences. The recommended number of words may vary from one institution to the other. Most institutions advocate for a 150-250 words in length, while others have set a 300 word limit. However, you need to understand that institutions highly recommend shorter versions that condense the key elements of the study. Remember the primary goal of writing a dissertation abstracts is to prepare the reader and persuade them to get the detailed information in the full paper.

How Should an Abstract be Formatted?

There is no universal standard in formatting your abstract, but the aforementioned elements that are contained in the dissertation should be included chronologically. Your institution may provide specific formatting requirements, which you should meticulously follow.

The format also varies depending on the discipline and subject area of your study. You can have a structured and unstructured abstract. A structured abstract is one that has the various sections such as “introduction”, “Method”, “Findings”, and “conclusion” explicitly indicated in the document. This format helps the reader to quickly locate the specific information. This approach is commonly used in scientific and health based research.  Below is an illustration of a structured dissertation abstract example 

An unstructured abstract is one where the abstract is presented as a single paragraph, without any heading. This abstract provides a concise summary of the key points, without any explicit outline of the section. This format is commonly applied in social sciences, humanities, and business based research. The format allows the researcher to experience a seamless narrative flow.

Again the spacing of your abstract depends on the specific formatting requirements and guidelines of the institutions or publisher. Typically, most abstracts are double spaced when written in APA, Harvard, and MLA formats, but single spaced in other styles such as Chicago. I advise that you always check the specific requirements for spacing from your institution.

More Tips  For Writing an Abstract

A the frequently asked questions is what verb tense to use when writing the abstract. The verb tense is dictated by how you view your abstract.  There are two ways that you may view the abstract, as a summary of the dissertation or a summary of the research that you have just completed. In the first case, you will typically use a present simple tense (This study examines…). In the second situation, you use past simple tense, (This study revealed that….). However, it is a common practice to use present tense to describe the methods, findings, arguments, and implications of your research study, while past tense when elucidating about previous research.

 Are there citations in an abstract?

No. The abstract is the concise summary of your research, which focuses on main points. Remember this is your work, and still you are in the writing process and, therefore, you cannot cite your unpublished work. Furthermore, including citations would disrupt the flow and brevity of the abstract. 

Can I Get Abstract Writing Services for my Dissertation?

Yes. At TheGear Consulting, we will help you to expertly draft a high quality abstract for your dissertation, whether as a stand-alone section or as part of your dissertation. We undertake to develop a clear, concise, yet impactful abstract that summarizes key points for your dissertation.

We also provide guidance on how to do it We can help you to learn how to write a good dissertation abstract by yourself, if you have already completed developing your dissertation. Either way, the key is to ensure that your abstract is impactful and informative.

It should give the reader the glimpse of your entire study and encourage them to read further.

Hiring our professional service will certainly ease the process, and will provide you with your dissertation writing process as well as a well articulated abstract. 

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