Writing abstracts

An abstract is a short summary of a whole project. It differs from an introduction, which may
outline the structure of a project, but does not include findings or conclusions.
Abstracts may appear at the beginning of pieces of academic writing, for example, at the front
of an academic journal. They also appear in conference programmes. The purpose in both
cases is to give either the reader or the conference delegate a brief overview of the contents of
the article or presentation. The reader or delegate can then make an informed decision about
whether that text or presentation is going to be of interest to them. Usually there is a word limit
for the abstract of a conference programme, which you should check carefully.

Written project abstract

You are now going to write an abstract for the beginning of your own written project. It can be
most effectively written when you have completed the first draft of your project. The length of
an abstract can vary; for a 3,000-word essay an abstract of 100-150 words would be
appropriate. Remember to include some of the features below.
a) a general statement
b) essential background information
c) the aims of the project
d) an investigation into a particular topic or subject area
e) the implementation of the investigation in a real-world situation
f) how the text is organised
g) details of the research carried out by the writer
h) what the results of the research suggest
i) a thesis statement
j) a definition
I
Task 1: Features of abstracts

Look at the two sample abstracts from a written project, below, and identify any features from
the list on the previous page.

ABSTRACT A

The evolution of foreign management consultancy firms in italy and China: an evaluation of
their localisation processes
Management consultancy has been developing for more than one hundred years. It
originated in the United States, before spreading to other countries. Localisation plays an
important role in the expansion of management consultancies. This, according to Crucini
(1999), is the process of "adapting and translating management tools and ideas to work in a
foreign market with a different economic or social background". The history of the spread of
management consultancies is first described, followed by an outline of the localisation
processes of foreign management consultancy firms in Italy and China. Some common
problems encountered in the processes are then identified. Finally, advice is given on how
to achieve successful localisation. (110 words)

ABSTRACT B

The manufacturing industry in the Mexican economy: a competitiveness

model
In Mexico, the meaning and use of the term 'competitiveness' has evolved significantly in
recent times. The lack of agreement among Mexican economic agencies about the meaning
of the term partially explains the economic situation in recent decades, and has been a core
problem in industrial policy. This paper proposes a model to assess competitiveness, and
explain its complex meaning. First, it reviews some important economic concepts from the
literature. Then, the relevance of the industrial sector in the Mexican economy is explained.
Next, the model is applied to a specific situation in the manufacturing industry. The main
conclusion is that this simple concept could be the beginning of a more sophisticated tool
for implementing industrial policy in Mexico. (119 words)
 Task 2. Analyse the following abstracts. Which one do you consider the best?

Abstract
Human memory is similar to computer memory; however, there is one vital difference -
humans are unable to automatically retrieve every memory at the press of a key or the
click of a mouse. Much effort is being made to improve human memory. This project sets
5 out to examine the reasons for memory loss and how it can be remedied. The conclusion
will suggest that methods exist for improving human memory.

Abstract

The Qualification work is devoted to the engineering of the database in the

specific subject area. The chosen subject area is an activity of a drugstore. During

engineering of a database was used a method that consists of several stages- subject

area research and description, analysis of the integrity limitations, ER-modeling,

CASE-projection and transferring into database server environment. After the

database was created, several SQL queries were executed in order to reveal the

practical use of this particular database.

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the topic of project management and the structure of
my graduation work entitled “Creation of a project documentation library with
the help of iProject Files”.
The introduction part is devoted to the historical background and the main purpose of
this paper. The second paragraph entitled “Key definitions” presents the key
definitions associated with project management. In the next paragraph, “Triple
constraints” you can find a brief description of three constraints every project has to
deal with. The third paragraph presents the justification of the topic chosen for my
graduation work and the potential of the Oracle system for file management and
storing. In the next paragraph you can find the structure of my graduation work; and
the concluding paragraph contains a review of key points touched upon in this paper.
 Abstract

The draft acquaints the reader with the most popular practical
applications of data analysis methods as an essential part of business
intelligence (BI) systems. Basing on recent developments in this area the draft
explains how the companies derive economic benefits from the usage of the
systems that combine the two definitions of BI – the technologies of data
processing and the received as a result knowledge. Since business intelligence
includes data mining, the draft briefly explains which data mining methods are
the most popular ones, what problems the user of data mining can encounter
with, what stages does data mining include according to the CRISP standard.
Moreover, the draft covers the future content of the degree work as well as the
structure of it. As a result the draft tries to form a feeling that data analysis
plays a significant role in modern decision making. The reader does not need
one special economic or mathematic foundations to get to know the
information the draft contains and is available for a wide audience.