Writing a Dissertation Abstract
What to Include In a Dissertation Abstract
The merit of a dissertation is often measured by how often it is cited. In such a context, the importance of the dissertation abstract cannot be overstated.
There are two types of such abstracts:
- Descriptive: This is like a summary of the objective of the paper and its scope. It outlines the areas that will be covered in the dissertation.
- Informative: This is where you state the facts that you will mention in more detail within the dissertation
The two seem similar but once you have your dissertation ready, it will be easy to figure out which category the abstract should fall into.
To begin with, figure out which group you want to target your dissertation at. For instance are you writing a law dissertation meant for lawyers, legislators, law enforcers or firm clients? Frame the abstract accordingly. Pick out certain keywords that are likely to draw your target group to your dissertation. Make it as specific as possible; for instance if the dissertation deals with “bankruptcy laws” then you should mention that in the dissertation abstract rather than just the word “business challenges”. Many students make the mistake of trying to win them all with their abstract i.e. they intend to make it look like the dissertation covers the A to Z of a certain topic when in fact it may be focused on a particular aspect of it only. In the process of trying to woo more readers, they end up keeping away the people that their dissertation is really aimed at, since in research ambiguity is often equated with weak analysis/poor dissertation design.
A handy tip is to enter your keywords into an abstract search engine and see if the abstracts it throws up are close to your topic in scope and target audience.
Then, identify certain phrases or sentences from your dissertation that are most representative of its content. For instance, if the bulk of a psychology dissertation deals with the “limitations of the XYZ scale in measuring people’s responses to new situations” the dissertation abstract must lay a lot of emphasis on this. However, you can’t just copy paste sentences from the main text into your abstract; the abstract must be coherent and comprehensive.
The abstract must mention the following:
- Statement of the problem analyzed in the dissertation: Imagine having to sum up your dissertation topic in one line at a party; this is it.
- Importance of this problem: What makes your topic worth spending so many years on the dissertation and what have you covered that hasn’t been done before?
- Objective of the dissertation: What exactly is your dissertation aimed at; for instance is a history dissertation dealing with the challenges faced in reconstructing a particular era or is it challenging a certain version of historical events
- Research Methodology: Method of studying the problem. For instance a marketing dissertation may be based on interviews with sales managers.
- Results: What is the conclusion that you have drawn? Also suggest its applicability in the dissertation abstract
Also see dissertation format and our sample dissertation.
