The role of the abstract is to tell readers:
- WHAT the research is—what question the research is attempting to answer
- WHY the research was done
- HOW the research was done—what methodology was used
- WHAT the results of the research are
- What the results MEAN
In effect, the abstract sums up the research and summarises the separate sections of the thesis: the introduction, the methods section, the results section and the discussion and conclusion sections.
Find out more about Abstracts (PDF file)
Examples
- Biology Abstract (PDF file)
- Business Abstract (PDF file)
- Engineering Abstract (PDF file)