Designing Abstracts
Abstracts and summaries are the most important prefatory items in a report, technical article, thesis or dissertation. The abstract is the only part of your document that someone will likely read. Then, if the content interests them, based on what you have said in your abstract, readers will access the entire document.
The abstract presents the essential ideas of your work. It should be carefully planned and written to ensure that it accurately and clearly represents your project. Understanding the knowledge level of your intended readers is also important.
The title of your project and the abstract should work as a team: The title should contain key words that describe content. The abstract should include these key words and elaborate on their meaning.
Abstracts—Informative or Descriptive
Importance of Key Words
Abstracts, often accompanied by key words, are prepared for use in online indexes and databases. Key words allow your report, thesis, or study, if it is stored in a database, to be retrieved. Thus, you should think carefully about the key words that characterize the content of your report. YOU will select the key words. What words will your readers most likely use in a database search? Abstracts, with key words may be separated from the report but linked to the full report. Based on the information in the abstract and keywords, a reader can decide if moving to the full report is needed.
Because of the increasing quantity of information, well-written abstracts have become critical. Many researchers subscribe to abstract services. These researchers read abstracts quickly and want to know critical information cover in the study.
Informative Abstract
Informative abstracts begin with a statement of the report’s purpose. The remaining sentences give major highlights and conclusions. Informative abstracts of research reports include the following:
· research objectives,
· research methods used,
· findings, including principle results,
· conclusions.
· Recommendations (if any).
Informative abstracts usually range from 50-500 words, depending on the length of the report and the requirements of the organization disseminating the report and the abstracting service.
Example 1—Informative Abstract
The following abstract exemplifies an effectively-written abstract that can be understood apart from the entire empirical report. We will color code the parts of the abstract to help you see each. Note that the abstract begins with the project purpose, then focuses on the specifics of the methods used in the project, and concludes with the results. Writers alert readers to the shift from procedure to results by using “results” as the subject of each sentence that announces the findings:
Chemical (Chlorpyrifos And Permethrin) Treatments Around Stacked
Bales Of Hay To Prevent Fire Ant Infestations
Key words: chlorpyrifos; permethrin, Lorsban 4E, Astro Insecticide, fire ants and hay bales
Abstract. This research evaluated the efficacy of using a chemical barrier applied to the soil area under stacked bales of hay to prevent the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), from infesting stacked hay. Specifically, we were interested in determining if we could protect “clean” hay bales stored in fire ant infested fields for up to several weeks. Chemicals selected as barrier treatments were Lorsban® 4E, active ingredient chlorpyrifos, which kills ants on contact, and Astro™ Insecticide, active ingredient the pyrethroid permethrin, which can also act as a repellent to ants. We established a series of 12ft x 12ft plots, with a 10ft buffer between plots along a fence row in a fire ant infested field. Plots were grouped into four blocks of three stacks each. Plots within blocks were randomly assigned to each treatment (four plots treated with Lorsban® 4E and four treated with Astro™ Insecticide, and four control plots). Treatments included spraying a 12ftx12ft soil area with a 1-gal solution of each chemical and water formulation. After soil treatments, we placed four square-bales of hay, stacked two a side and interlocking in two layers, in the center of each plot. Stacked bales were sampled for fire ant infestation using 2.5 x 2.5cm olive oil –soaked index cards; one bait card was placed on each side of the top layer of hay in each stack. Results from ANOVA show a significant difference in mean infestation levels among treatments. Stacks of hay sitting in the chlorpyrifos plots had fewer ant infestations compared to the permethrin and control plots. Results after one week showed that only one stack in the permethrin, and two in the control plots were infested with ants, while none in the chlorpyrifos plots were infested. Results show that after three weeks all four control stacks, three stacks in the permethrin treatment, and two stacks in the chlorpyrifos plots were infested. These results indicate that on a short-term basis, such as 1 to 7 days, chlorpyrifos may be an effective short-term treatment option for protecting stacked hay from fire ant infestations.
*****
Ronald D. Weeks, Jr., Michael E. Heimer, and Bastiaan M. Drees , Chemical (Chlorpyrifos And Permethrin) Treatments Around Stacked Bales Of Hay To Prevent Fire Ant Infestations, Texas Imported Fire Ant Research & Management Project, Red Imported Fire Ant Management Applied Research And Demonstration Reports, 2000-2002, Texas Cooperative Extension Service.
http://fireant.tamu.edu/research/arr/year/00-02/2000-2002ResDemHbk.htm#stackedbales
Informative Abstract—Example 2
Mihriban Whitmore*, Andrea Berman*, Diane Byerly, Ergonomic Evaluations of Microgravity Workstations, CR-1996-201378, 7/1/1996, pp. 57, * Lockheed Martin Engineering and Sciences Company Houston, Texas.
Keywords: glovebox, foot restraint, microgravity, posture, restraint, interfaces
Abstract: Various gloveboxes (GBXs) have been used aboard the Shuttle and ISS. Though the overall technical specifications are similar, each GBX's crew interface is unique. JSC conducted a series of ergonomic evaluations of the various glovebox designs to identify human factors requirements for new designs to provide operator commonality across different designs. We conducted 2 0g evaluations aboard the Shuttle to evaluate the material sciences GBX and the General Purpose Workstation (GPWS), and a KC-135 evaluation to compare combinations of arm hole interfaces and foot restraints (flexible arm holes were better than rigid ports for repetitive fine manipulation tasks). Posture analysis revealed that the smallest and tallest subjects assumed similar postures at all four configurations, suggesting that problematic postures are not necessarily a function of the operator’s height but a function of the task characteristics. There was concern that the subjects were using the restrictive nature of the GBX’s cuffs as an upper-body restraint to achieve such high forces, which might lead to neck/shoulder discomfort. EMG data revealed more consistent muscle performance at the GBX; the variability in the EMG profiles observed at the GPWS was attributed to the subjects’ attempts to provide more stabilization for themselves in the loose, flexible gauntlets. Tests revealed that the GBX should be designed for a 95 percentile American male to accommodate a neutral working posture. In addition, the foot restraint with knee support appeared beneficial for GBX operations. Crew comments were to provide 2 foot restraint mechanical modes, loose and lock-down, to accommodate a wide range of tasks without egressing the restraint system. Thus far, we have developed preliminary design guidelines for GBXs and foot restraints.
Informative Abstract—Example #3
Exercise Countermeasures Demonstration Project During the
Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project Phase IIA
Abstract: This demonstration project assessed the crew members' compliance to a portion of the exercise countermeasures planned for use on board the International Space Station (ISS) and the outcomes of their performing these countermeasures. Although these countermeasures have been used separately in other projects and investigations, this was the first time they had been used together for an extended period (60 days) in an investigation of this type. Crew members exercised every day for six days, alternating every other day between aerobic and resistive exercise, and rested on the seventh day. On the aerobic exercise days, subjects exercised on an electronically braked cycle ergometer using a protocol that has been previously shown to maintain aerobic capacity in subjects exposed to a space flight analogue. On the resistive exercise days, crew members performed five major multijoint resistive exercises in a concentric mode, targeting those muscle groups and bones we believe are most severely affected by space flight. The subjects favorably tolerated both exercise protocols, with a 98% compliance to aerobic exercise prescription and a 91% adherence to the resistive exercise protocol. After 60 days, the crew members improved their peak aerobic capacity by an average 7%, and strength gains were noted in all subjects. These results suggest that these exercise protocols can be performed during ISS, lunar, and Mars missions, although we anticipate more frequent bouts with both protocols for long-duration spaceflight. Future projects should investigate the impact of increased exercise duration and frequency on subject compliance, and the efficacy of such exercise prescriptions.
Keywords: exercise physiology, physical exercise, weightlessness, muscular strength, bones
Source: S.M.C. Lee,* M.E. Guilliams,* A.D. Moore, Jr.,* W.J. Williams,* M.C. Greenisen, S.M. Fortney, Exercise Countermeasures Demonstration Project During the Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project Phase IIA, TM-1998-206537, 1/1/1998, pp. 71, *Krug Life Sciences, Inc. http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_1998-abs.html
Descriptive Abstract
The descriptive abstract states what topics the full report contains. Unlike the informative abstract, it cannot serve as a substitute for the report itself. The descriptive abstract begins with the report purpose and then explains content areas or topics covered in the report:
Multimodal Perception and Multicriterion Control of Nested Systems:
I. Coordination of Postural Control and Vehicular Control
Keywords: motion, motion perception, perception, control, adaptive control
Abstract: The purpose of this report is to identify the essential characteristics of goal-directed whole-body motion. The report is organized into three major sections. Section 2 reviews general themes from ecological psychology and control-systems engineering that are relevant to the perception and control of whole-body motion. These themes provide an organizational framework for analyzing the complex and interrelated phenomena that are the defining characteristics of whole-body motion. Section 3 applies the organizational framework from the first section to the problem of perception and control of aircraft motion. This is a familiar problem in control-systems engineering and ecological psychology. Section 4 examines an essential but generally neglected aspect of vehicular control: coordination of postural control and vehicular control. To facilitate presentation of this new idea, postural control and its coordination with vehicular control are analyzed in terms of conceptual categories that are familiar in the analysis of vehicular control.
Source: Gary E. Riccio* and P. Vernon McDonald**, Multimodal Perception and Multicriterion Control of Nested Systems: I. Coordination of Postural Control and Vehicular Control, TP-1998-3703, 1/1/1998, pp. 76, *Nascent Technologies, Ltd. **National Space Biomedical Research Institute. http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_1998-abs.html
Differences in abstracts are tending to disappear. Some abstracts reveal the characteristics of both abstract types.
Getting Started—The Game Plan
1. Review pp. 1-4. Study the examples, how they present purpose, methods, findings, conclusions, and any recommendations.
2. Determine what kind of abstract you will need and the length—informative or descriptive. Stay within the length suggested.
3. Determine the audience: who will read your abstract? Be sure that you do NOT use language that is too specialized. Abstracts should be understandable by a wide range of readers in a particular subject area.
4. Using the template below, create a Word file. Then, insert information under each subject heading:
Title: Be sure that your title adequately reflects the content of your study
Study purpose:
Methods (if needed)
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations (if needed)
Key Words: If your research project becomes part of a database, how will readers locate it? What key words best describe your project? Be sure that these words appear in the abstract.
5. Check your writing style: Use concise sentences. Avoid long sentences, which are harder for your audience to read. Avoid information that does not pertain to the four subject categories.
6. Leave the headings in your draft. Then, share your abstract with other students in your class. Ask them to recommend ways your abstract could be improved. Specifically, do they understand what you have said? If not, revise your abstract.