By Russell Sutton
A book has a blurb which gives you a snapshot of the plot. Similarly, a dissertation has an abstract which summarises its scope, contents and findings.
Your dissertation abstract needs to be succinct.
Applying the ‘No Lazy Words’ concept will help you reach this goal because, like a filter, it only lets through words that build specific meanings.
- Start by outlining the key points of your dissertation
- Then compile a list of action verbs like conclude, develop, research, reveal, summarise, etc.
- Write a short overview of the key points of your dissertation. Limit it to 200 to 250 words: save the lengthy details for the dissertation
Read this opening paragraph of a dissertation abstract.
Many studies have documented how various factors influence the general academic performance scores of eleven- to thirteen-year-olds in the secondary school environment. Among these are parents’ education levels (Brownstein, 2017), income hierarchy (Jones and Middleton, 2019), rent vs. home ownership status (Staltz, 2015) and student peer relationships (Staltz, 2020). These studies focus on a wide range of broad academic disciplines, such as history, citizenship, maths, science, music and visual arts.
Consider:
- Are there any ‘filler’ words? For example, ‘general academic performance’ could be cut to ‘academic performance’, and ‘wide range’ cut to ‘range’.
- Do your words convey the right meaning? For example, ‘span a range of…’ would be more suitable than ‘focus on a range of’, because none of the studies is focusing on all of the disciplines listed.
A revised version could look like this:
Many studies have documented how various factors influence the academic performance scores of eleven- to thirteen-year-olds in the secondary school environment. Among these are parents’ education levels (Brownstein, 2017), income hierarchy (Jones and Middleton, 2019), rent vs. home ownership status (Staltz, 2015) and peer relationships (Staltz, 2020). These studies span a range of disciplines, such as history, citizenship, maths, science, music and visual arts.
A book has a blurb which gives you a snapshot of the plot. Similarly, a dissertation has an abstract which summarises its scope, contents and findings.
Your dissertation abstract needs to be succinct. Applying the ‘No Lazy Words’ concept will help you reach this goal because, like a filter, it only lets through words that build specific meanings.
- Start by outlining the key points of your dissertation
- Then compile a list of action verbs like conclude, develop, research, reveal, summarise, etc.
- Write a short overview of the key points of your dissertation. Limit it to 200 to 250 words: save the lengthy details for the dissertation
Read this opening paragraph of a dissertation abstract:
Many studies have documented how various factors influence the general academic performance scores of eleven- to thirteen-year-olds in the secondary school environment. Among these are parents’ education levels (Brownstein, 2017), income hierarchy (Jones and Middleton, 2019), rent vs. home ownership status (Staltz, 2015) and student peer relationships (Staltz, 2020). These studies focus on a wide range of broad academic disciplines, such as history, citizenship, maths, science, music and visual arts.
Consider:
- Are there any ‘filler’ words? For example, ‘general academic performance’ could be cut to ‘academic performance’, and ‘wide range’ cut to ‘range’.
- Do your words convey the right meaning? For example, ‘span a range of…’ would be more suitable than ‘focus on a range of’, because none of the studies is focusing on all of the disciplines listed.
A revised version could look like this:
Many studies have documented how various factors influence the academic performance scores of eleven- to thirteen-year-olds in the secondary school environment. Among these are parents’ education levels (Brownstein, 2017), income hierarchy (Jones and Middleton, 2019), rent vs. home ownership status (Staltz, 2015) and peer relationships (Staltz, 2020). These studies span a range of disciplines, such as history, citizenship, maths, science, music and visual arts.