An abstract is one word every researcher must get acquainted with during the process of research in every academic endeavor. An abstract is a short statement about your paper designed to give the reader a complete, yet concise, understanding of your paper’s research and findings. It is a mini-version of your paper. Your abstract should tell the reader the job you have done and how you did it; it is the abstract that should entice the reader to read or skip your work. It is usually at the beginning of most research works. According to Wikipedia (nd) An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper’s purpose. It went further to state that When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a manuscript or typescript, acting as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper or patent application.
However, there are certain areas that an abstract must cover for it to be complete and comprehensive. Below are some components or ingredients of a good abstract.
- Topic and study area: one major aspect that must be covered in the abstract is the topic the researcher intends to cover in the research work, this should of course be followed by the area in which the study is expected to cover. (eg This study investigates the “Effects of Scaffolding Instructional Strategy on Attitude and Performance in Ecology among senior secondary school students in Katsina Local government area Katsina State, Nigeria”. This is one of the aspects the reader must first encounter while going through the abstract of any research work.
- Objective of the study:
The objectives of the study is one other important aspect that must be covered in the abstract, the reader needs to know the major objectives for the study. Though the researcher may only state the number of research objectives that would be used in the research.
- Research question: Also the research questions that would serve as a guide for the study must be stated, this could be stated in form of number of research questions used for the study.
- Research hypothesis: most researches have hypothesis which is the researcher’s reasonable guess. The number of research hypothesis must also be stated in the abstract. The Objectives of the study, reseach question and research hypothesis can be stated in this manner “The study was guided by 6 objectives and 6 research questions were answered, also 6 null hypothesis where formulated and tested at P>0.05 level of significance using t-test”
- Relevant Literature: the researcher must state in the abstract the relevant literature consulted during the research work. This could also be stated in a statement form eg ( several related literatures were reviewed to form the literature review for the work, also relevant theories and empirical studies were reviewed.
- Research Design: Every research work must have its own unique designs adopted by the researcher for the purpose of the study. The researcher must state in the abstract the research design used for the project. In this case a simple direct statement would surface. eg “The research design used for the study was quasi-experimental, involving pretest, posttest and postpost-test”
- Population of the Study: Also in the abstract the researcher is expected to state the number of the entire population used for the project. This can also be in a statement format. eg The Population of the study comprises of 5,200 male and female SSS Students”.
- Sample: Sample refers to the group of respondents taken from the larger population. In the abstract the researcher is expected to state the total number of sample used for the purpose of the research.
- Sampling Technique: The research abstract is also expected to state the technique the researcher used to arrive at the sample size.
- Instrumentation: Also in the abstract the researcher is expected to state the instrument he use to collect and gather the data for the research work.
- Validity and Reliability: the instrument used for the research must have been validated and its reliability measured; in the abstract the researcher is expected to state them appropriately.
- Procedure of data analysis: the researcher also needs to state the procedure that was employed in analyzing the data
- Major Findings: here he should state one or two major findings of the research work.
- Recommendation: at the end of the abstract he is expected to mention some recommendations that where proffered in the research work.
