Frankagain

An abstract is a brief summary of the content of an article. It allows you to quickly review the contents of an article that you have previously read. Because it is used for indexing, information retrieval, and as background material, the abstract should be self-contained and fully intelligible. Well-written abstracts might actually eliminate the need to keep copies of articles. Information and conclusions that do not appear in the original article should not appear in the abstract. The abstract is a summary of the original work; not your opinion and not what you infer or extrapolate from the original article.

An abstract of a research report should contain statements of the problem, method, results, and conclusions. Specify the subject population (number, age, gender, etc.) and describe the research design or data-gathering procedure. Summarize the data, findings, or results, and report the original author’s inferences and conclusions.

An abstract of a position paper or theoretical article should state the topics covered, the central thesis, the sources used by the author (for example personal observation, published literature, previous research), and the conclusions drawn. It should be short, yet informative. For example, “The problem was further discussed in terms of Hershey’s hypothesis…”. The abstract should present the nature and content of the theoretical issues involved: “The discussion centered on Hershey’s position regarding the experimental design issues that confounded Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory”. Then you should provide summarized details of the author’s position or hypothesis.

An abstract of a news story should state the salient items (“Morgan Stanley settles gender discrimination class action lawsuit”) and related issues as defined by the original author “Will this impact future policies related to entertaining clients?”). The abstract should also contain supporting information or collaboration as presented in the article (for example, types of damages paid). It is important to note whether estimates, admissions, or conclusions are drawn from an organizational source, third person, media, or from one of the individual’s featured in the article. Think about possible bias based on the source.

By definition, the abstract should be brief, between 300 and 500 words depending on the complexity of the original article. In no case should an abstract exceed one page in length.

For the purposes of this assignment, your abstract should include a paragraph in which you state your position regarding the author’s original work. Do you agree/disagree? What are the implications to an organization based on the information provided in the article? Where does the information provided in the article fit into class discussions, assignments, or the text?

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*Thanks to Gus Colangelo for allowing the adaptation of his Abstract format.