WRITING AN ABSTRACT

WRITING AN ABSTRACT

Abstracts need to be written for theses, dissertations, research and conference papers. They are written after the original manuscript was composed and should be brief, one paragraph (150-200 words), single-spaced, using size 12 Times New Roman font. An abstract should include a valid thesis, followed by clear argumentation, and be based on primary and secondary materials. It should be self-contained, so that the proposed topic can be understood independently from the project.
for instance;
Title: Erich Fromm revisited: The tension between religious humanism and religious pathology
[Purpose of the work]
With the increasing association between religion and violence, this paper reexamines the works of social psychologist Eric Fromm: his theory of the psychology of religion, the tension between a productive, humanistic and healthy orientation and a destructive and pathological orientation.
[Methods used]
The research approach adopted includes summarizing and assessing Fromm's view within the context of advances in research on 1) authoritarianism, 2) neuroscience, 3) cognitive theory, and 4) other theories of religious violence. Second, this paper underscores the strengths and weaknesses of Fromm's view. It identifies those aspects of his theory supported by recent research and those parts that require revision.
[Results and conclusions that can be drawn]

Useful phrases
The focus of this research is in the area of ...
This paper will look at...
Such a study is important in order to…
The research approach adopted in this dissertation includes...
The findings from this research provide evidence that ...
The main conclusions drawn from this study are ...
This dissertation recommends that ...
Underline the purpose, method and results.
The Stereotype Threat Theory
The stereotype threat theory (Steele 1992, 1997) examines the under performance of women in mathematical domains and minorities in academic domains and attempts to explain these trends as being due to situational anxiety. Research indicates that the performance differential between genders and ethnicities can be best understood in terms of stereotype threat activation rather than biological determinants. The anxiety a stereotyped individual feels when confronted with an academic task is compounded by a societal expectation of failure. However, not much research currently exists on the mediating effects of personal belief in the stereotype. The goal of this study was to examine whether anxiety was correlated with a stronger belief in the stereotype among college-aged participants. Individuals from stigmatized groups were taken into consideration. They demonstrated a significantly greater likelihood to experience higher anxiety levels if they believed the negative stereotype and that higher anxiety level correlated with lower test scores. These results provide general support for Steele‟s stereotype threat hypothesis.