The Abstract

As a faculty member, what do I look for when I get your dissertation? Over the next few posts, I will explore faculty's expectations when reading a draft of your dissertation. First, I will carefully read your abstract; it will be published in Dissertation Abstracts, so it has to be written as well and be as complete as possible. I will make sure that you briefly put your study into context (just a sentence or so), so I understand the "why do I care about this" question. I will look for the theory used as the framework for the study, the type of study, and key variables. I will want to know the number of participants, where and how you recruited them. I will want an explanation of the analyses you completed (briefly, typically no actual statistics are given). I will then look for a description of your key results, and finally some implications of your study. All of this in one page or less!

You should write the abstract last, so you fully understand the key issues. Remember that the abstract must stand alone in explaining all aspects of your study. You should not give citations nor write out numbers (even if they start a sentence) in it.

Next time I will move on to Chapter One. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu