How to prepare an abstract? Dr Sarojni Choy Griffith University

Types of abstracts The aim of the ‘Abstract’ is to give a concise summary of what is in the paper. Descriptive – provides an outline of the type of information found in the completed document. The author does not make judgments about the completed research, and no results or conclusions are stated. Abstracts for books, thesis and projects are normally descriptive. Informative abstract – the author presents the main arguments, important results and evidence in the document. The abstract for the AVETRA conference needs to be informative. An informative abstracts allows the readers to judge the relevance of the full article to their interests.

Informative abstract It normally covers 4-7 sub-headings: – What is the problem and why explore it? - Purpose of research/paper – What is the current understanding about the area? What theory or principles have been indicated before in this area? – What is the location and intention of the study – where, what, when and how – design, methodology – Findings – Practical/social implications (if applicable) – What does this paper contribute – how does it do it? Originality/value

Introductory sentence(s) This paper evaluates the impact of recent changes to apprentice training in the building industry in WA through a broad survey and makes three recommendations for practitioners. In this paper we argue that…. by conducting as study of….that indicates…. This paper explores the contentious issue of.… This paper is based on a study that evaluates a VET initiative to….

Example What is the problem, what is needed? Workers, world-wide, increasingly need to engage in continuing education and training to respond to changing workplace requirements, maintain and increase productivity, remain workplace competent (employable), and participate in longer work lives. Australian workers are no exception here. Yet, given that most of the current Australian tertiary education and training provisions largely focus on initial occupational preparation (i.e. entry-level training), these provisions may not adequately meet the kinds of learning needs of existing workers who need to build upon their initial occupational education and training, or transfer what they know to a new occupation. Therefore, the current focus may need broadening or transformation to better meet the learning needs of Australian workers who face continual change in the requirements for performance in their lengthening working lives.

Example contd. What was done? A team of researchers from Griffith University is conducting a three year project, funded by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, to review and appraise current provisions of tertiary education and training and to identify models of tertiary education and training provisions and related pedagogic practices that will be effective in responding to the growing educational project that comprises continuing education and training. This paper reports how some worker-learners from the aged care industry prefer these provisions to be organised for their work and workplaces.

Example contd. Method As an example of a much larger corpus of data, it specifically draws on recently gathered data from semi-structured interviews and written responses from twenty-nine such workers in South East Queensland.

Example contd. Findings & implications The tentative findings advanced here indicate a high preference for everyday learning through work individually, and assisted by other experienced workers and mentors or supervisors in the workplace. These early findings point to demands for a larger component of courses offered by tertiary education and training providers to be delivered at the work site, and for increased levels of on-site support for learning. The findings have implications for changes to policies and provisions for models of continuing education and training.

Other examples See examples in the conference archives on the AVETRA web site Find some authors with styles that you admire and craft your abstract around the format they have used.

Summary Make it appealing - read and understood without any struggle. Prepare draft, rest, re-read, get others to comment. Make it easy to read: – Use familiar words. If unfamiliar words are necessary, define them. – Avoid jargon. – Use active verbs rather than passive verbs. – Use short sentences, but vary sentence structure so that the abstract does not sound choppy. – Use complete sentences. Do not omit articles or other little words in an effort to save space. – Use simple sentence constructions. – Unless the abstract is very short ( words), divide it into several paragraphs. – Be concise and rephrase ideas from the original document in your own words to condense the meaning into fewer words than the original used. Give information only once.