6-3
Writing the Abstract
Experiments and interventions are usually described only briefly, to save space. However, be sure to include a method for each result presented in your abstract. Working backward from the results in your abstract can help you determine what methods to include. Also, be sure to specify which techniques you used. For example, rather than simply saying that you analyzed protein levels, which can be done by more than one technique, it is more informative to specify that you performed Western blotting. Results The next few sentences of the abstract should state your most important findings. Be sure to give a result for each method described in the abstract. The results can be summarized using mean or median values, if appropriate, but should be described in enough detail to support your conclusion. As with the methods, working backward (in this case, from your conclusion) can help you determine what results to include. Conclusions The final sentences of the abstract should state the conclusions drawn from your most important results and the implications of your results. (It is not enough to just summarize your results.) The conclusions must be supported by the results described in the abstract and should relate to your study’s hypothesis or specific purpose. The chapter “Writing the Discussion Section” describes how to identify and state the implications of your findings. Please ensure that the conclusions and implications of your study in the conclusion section of your abstract are the same as the conclusions and implications stated in your Discussion section. (The statements about the implications in the 2 parts of the paper do not have to match word for word but should be consistent.) Activity 1 Stating an Abstract’s Conclusions and Implications The abstract on page 6-9 contains all the information needed to write the Conclusions section. Read the entire abstract and write 1 sentence stating the study’s conclusions and 1 sentence stating an implication of the conclusions. A possible solution will be handed out after the discussion.
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