Writing an Abstract

Importance

Its usually the first thing that readers read so

its strategic to make a good impression.
Its an overview of the most salient aspects of
your research.
The language of Abstracts - guidelines

Use the past tense to refer to what was done and

what was found at each stage of the research.
Use the present tense to comment on the
significance of your research/findings.
Use active verbs whenever possible, e.g. the
study tested instead of it was tested by the
study.
Use non-evaluative language - report not
comment on what you have done.
 Length

Aim for
No more than 300 words
 What not to include

Definitions
Citations
Acronyms,
abbreviations or
symbols
Information that is
not in the paper
 Tip

Write about each point in proportion to the

emphasis it receives in your dissertation.
 This study focused on the effects of job mismatch and employment
status on the job involvement level of De La Salle University Psychology
graduates. The quantitative and qualitative research designs were used
to analyze the data gathered from the graduate batch of school year
2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008. The survey questionnaire and the
revised Kanungo's (1982) Job Involvement Questionnaire were altogether
distributed to a population of three hundred fourteen (314) respondents,
out of which only seventy five (75) who completed the survey were
considered as the actual participants of the study. The interview guide
was administered to twenty one (21) respondents, selected from the
seventy five (75) participants. Results show that (a) those who are into
jobs that are related to their undergraduate degree are more involved in
their job than those who are not; (b) those who are permanently
employed are more involved in their job than those who are temporarily
employed; (c) there are several other factors that affect one's level of job
involvement which characterizes the basic human needs.