Example: An abstract from theatre research
Anna S
9 October 2019
An abstract is the essence of all the parts of a written paper:
Text Organization: avoid long sentences. Do not use ambiguous or unnecessary phrases that do not change the meaning (e.g., “It can be also noticed that…”)
http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/50126
Title: Two adoptions of the Red Cross : the Chinese Red Cross and the Red Swastika Society from 1904 to 1949
Abstract: Looking at the social and political transformation of China during the entire Republican era, my thesis explores the twofold adoption of the Red Cross in the country. My examination reveals that the model served reform-oriented philanthropists of the Chinese Red Cross Society to establish relief structures to improve the country’s welfare system through the implementation of Western approaches. In addition, the Red Cross was of use for supporters of China’s religiously-based philanthropy who reformed the faith-based mission of the Red Swastika Society to gain legitimization and to advance emergency measures. Adding to current research on the development of humanitarianism a so far marginally explored local case study, my thesis suggests that the Red Cross in China not only served reform-oriented philanthropists, but also served supporters of China’s traditional philanthropy.
http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/49125
Title: Is it all in your head? : personality in the context of intergenerational reproduction of inequality
Abstract: This thesis brings together psychological and sociological research approaches to examine the role of personality in the reproduction of educational and labour market inequality. The first research question examines the influence of personality on educational and labour market outcomes. The second research question relates to the extent to which differences in personalities of children and parents can explain the reproduction of educational inequality. The third research question inquires to what extent supportive parenting influences the development of favourable or unfavourable personality traits. The thesis employs an empirical approach and uses quantitative methods. The German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and its sub-sample from the Youth Questionnaire are used to conduct the analyses. To capture personality, the Big Five and Locus of Control are applied. The educational outcomes investigated are maths grades and school placement for 17-year-old, as well as years of education and income for adults. The study uses data on education, socio-economic background, and personality measures spanning two generations: the parents and the children. With respect to the first research question, results indicate positive effects of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness and Locus of Control, and a negative effect of Neuroticism on school placement. Effects of personality on grades were found to a lesser degree. In auto-regressive cross-lagged models, personality and income have reciprocal effects over a time span of 10 years, where different personality traits show different patterns over time. Regarding the second research question, results indicate that personality does not explain the effect of parental education on children’s school outcomes, however it is found post-hoc, that parents’ personality traits mediate the effect of socio-economic status measured with the Erikson-Goldthorpe class scheme. Results for the third research question suggest, that children who report a high degree of supportive parenting show a stronger development of beneficial personality traits.
Subject: Social inequality; Education; Labour market; Personality; Socialisation LC Subject Heading: Equality – Psychological aspects; Equality – Social aspects; Education – Social aspects; Education – Psychological aspects; Personality – Social aspects
http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/51824
Title: ‘Don’t worry, we are from the internet’ : the diffusion of protest against the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement in the age of austerity
Abstract: This thesis focuses precisely on the anti-ACTA mobilization and the way it fits within the broader wave of contention. While the anti-ACTA campaign did not include occupation of squares (but only the more traditional protest marches), it shared many important features with other protests in the wave of contention, including the adoption of the Anonymous mask and the national flag as crucial symbols (Gerbaudo, 2017), the demand for more democratic decision-making, and most importantly – the belief in the Internet as a tool for empowerment that could contribute to a more horizontal democratic society (Beyer, 2014; Jarvis, 2014; Juris, 2012; McCarthy, 2015). The big difference is that for anti-ACTA protesters, the Internet was more than a tool - it became a cause in itself. People protested to defend Internet freedom, interpreted in a wide variety of ways by different actors, but most often as the freedom of sharing culture (and files) online, the freedom of not being 2 under surveillance, and the freedom of expressing oneself as a key prerequisite for the functioning of any democratic community.
“Pre-submission: helping readers find your article” (SAGE)
“Before you submit your manuscript, go back and review your title, keywords and abstract. These elements are key to ensuring that readers will be able to find your article online through online search engines such as Google. More information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords can be found here: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.”
“One simple thing you can do to improve your article’s visibility and ensure proper indexing and cross-linking is to provide full names for all authors. Please refer to our guidelines for author names, prepared in consultation with Google Scholar, for more information.”
This article could not be found in Google Scholar after searching on a variety of phrases around the subject of the article, the representation of youth anti-war protests. The words highlighted below are the only terms repeated and these are unlikely to help someone researching this subject find this article via Google.
Peace Children
John Author Researcher, London, UK
Debate over the role that young people should play in politics reflects different conceptions of childhood and adult concerns about loss of authority and political hegemony. Coverage of demonstrations against the Second Iraq War by the British national press echoes adult discourse on the nature of childhood and exposes the limits set on political activity. Analysis of news-text and images reveals concerns about the political competence of youth, their susceptibility to manipulation and the requirement for social control. Approval of youth’s right to protest was often conditional on the cause espoused.
Key Words: childhood • Second Iraq War
This article comes out top in Google Scholar on a search of ‘depression folic acid’. These are words that researchers are likely to search on. These search terms are highlighted below so you can see the patterns of repeated phrases that Google looks at.
Treatment of depression: time to consider folic acid and vitamin B12
Alec Coppen MRC Neuropsychiatric Research Laboratory, Epsom, Surrey, UK, Christina Bolander-Gouaille Pharmacist, Helsingborg, Sweden
We review the findings in major depression: of a low plasma and particularly red cell folate, but also of low vitamin B12 status. Both low folate and low vitamin B12 status have been found in studies of depression: patients, and an association between depression: and low levels of the two vitamins is found in studies of the general population. Low plasma or serum folate has also been found in patients with recurrent mood disorders treated by lithium. A link between depression: and low folate has similalrly been found in patients with alcoholism. It is interesting to note that Hong Kong and Taiwan populations with traditional Chinese diets (rich in folate), including patients with major depression:, have high serum folate concentrations. However, these countries have very low life time rates of major depression:. Low folate levels are furthermore linked to a poor response to antidepressants, and treatment with folic acid is shown to improve response to antidepressants. A recent study also suggests that high vitamin B12 status may be associated with better treatment outcome. Folate and vitamin B12 are major determinants of one-carbon metabolism, in which S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is formed. SAM donates methyl groups that are crucial for neurological function. Increased plasma homocysteine is a functional marker of both folate and vitamin B12 deficiency. Increased homocysteine levels are found in depressive patients. In a large population study from Norway increased plasma homocysteine was associated with increased risk of depression: but not anxiety. There is now substantial evidence of a common decrease in serum/red blood cell folate, serum vitamin B12 and an increase in plasma homocysteine in depression:. Furthermore, the MTHFR C677T polymorphism that impairs the homocysteine metabolism is shown to be overrepresented among depressive patients, which strengthens the association. On the basis of current data, we suggest that oral doses of both folic acid (800 µg daily) and vitamin B12 (1 mg daily) should be tried to improve treatment outcome in depression. Key Words: cobalamin • depression: • diet • folate • folic acid • homocysteine • one carbon-metabolism • S-adenosylmethionine • vitamin B12
Template is available here:
Scroll down to page 5 https://www.umaryland.edu/media/umb/oaa/campus-life/writing-center/documents/Abstracts.pdf
General recommendations on writing an abstract: http://hsp.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20AN%20ABSTRACT.pdf
http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/abstract
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/abstracts/
https://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Abstract
https://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-write-the-abstract-for-a-social-sciences-or-humanities-paper
https://www.umaryland.edu/media/umb/oaa/campus-life/writing-center/documents/Abstracts.pdf
Practical example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynUiPhi8qEc
If you want to click on just one link: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/06/20/essential-guide-writing-good-abstracts/
A Book: Howard S. Becker “Writing for Social Scientists” (1986, 2007)
Imagine you have finished writing you year paper / thesis. You already have an abstract (from your initial project proposal). Do you need to change anything in it?
Which part of the abstract is the most important? 1) goal and motivation, 2) the problem, 3) main methods, 4) results, 5) conclusions?
When the text is ready, write a new abstract to it, better do not even look at the old abstract.
Results are most important.
Video course: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wb-n89yM0lBiP2QltsDaA
Video on writing an abstract: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkXoD7j2M_Q
Cut the clutter
Use strong, active verbs
Write in short paragraphs; use various punctuation marks
Writing is a process
Writing an academic paper: results -> methods -> introduction -> discussion
Reviewing an academic paper
Academic genres: reviews, proposals, recommendations, motivation letters, press releases