How to write an extended abstract?¶
Writing is a fundamental skill to communicate ideas and concepts. This article focuses on how to summarise a thesis or research paper in an extended abstract. I’ve also included a checklist for you to validate your extended abstract.
What is an extended abstract?¶
The extended abstract is a summary of a thesis or report. After reading an extended abstract the reader has a high-level overview of the thesis as the abstract is presented in the same order as the rest of the document. Each chapter or section expands upon one element from the extended abstract to provide the details omitted in the summary. A good extended abstract includes the essential information to communicate all the key points. Avoid leaving out information from the extended abstract that causes the reader to be surprised; a summary should be complete. As a rule of thumb: if you can remove information from the abstract and still capture the essence of the thesis then more work is required.
How is an extended abstract structured?¶
The abstract should be structured in the same order as the thesis as shown in Fig. 6. Below I provide a structure to help get you get started with writing the abstract.
Fig. 6 An extended abstract is a summarised version of the entire thesis.¶
Define the context of the research¶
Start the paragraph with a hook line, a sentence that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. A hook line can be a: a) statistic, b) quote, c) controversial claim, or d) pain point. Then set the context for the thesis by stating your broad research area and the focus of this thesis. End the paragraph with a sentence that indicates a call to action or tension that requires a resolution.
Outline a problem statement for your research¶
The second paragraph of the extended abstract should launch into the problem statement. Answer the following questions: Who has the problem? When does the problem arise? What is the problem? Then describe the impact of the problem. At this point you need to highlight the pain points of the problem and the benefits that a solution provides. Make sure that you clearly answer the question, “if I solve this problem, so what?” Enumerate the aspects of the motivation for your research. You can add additional paragraphs in a future iteration to expand the motivation although limit the abstract to less than 2 pages.
Tell the reader what your focus will be¶
In the third paragraph describe your research aim and objective. Keep this simple and tie this to the problem you have introduced in the previous paragraph. The aims are the goals of your research and the objectives are the actions you plan to take. Map your aims and objectives to the problem statement in the previous paragraph. Introduce the research questions as an enumerated list to provide an outline of the following paragraphs.
Present your research questions¶
The next paragraphs map to the theme chapters in your thesis. Each paragraph fleshes out the research by describing the motivation and outcomes of a research question. Address the following for each question: 1) the expected/actual outcomes (concrete artefacts that can be printed and thrown out a window i.e. reports, checklists, tools etc), 2) methodology, 3) evaluation method, and 4) findings (new knowledge). Highlight the most important findings and reduce the surprise of the reader by summarising the chapter contents.
Wrap up the abstract with a key takeaway¶
The final paragraph wraps up the abstract by describing what will be left as future work and a summary of what your research has done (or will do). Leave the reader with a key takeaway that arises from your research. Make the key point interesting to motivate the reader to finish the rest of the thesis.
How to get started?¶
As with all writing the best place to start is with a plan. Start off by creating an outlining of the thesis and key points. Assume that people who are short for time will only read the abstract. Your job is to ensure that all of the important information has been communicated without the reader needing to read the full thesis. Next write out the abstract following the template above using the checklist below as a guide. Aim to have the full abstract written in a day accepting that the first version will require significant rework. Then, as with all writing, iterate through each paragraph removing content that is non-essential and expanding where key points were omitted until you are left with the essence of your thesis.