Format

• Abstracts are summaries; a good abstract explains the research questions, outlines research methods used, includes a brief statement of the results and raises implications for further study. According to Kim Kastens and colleagues at Columbia University, an abstract should be limited to one or two paragraphs and generally not exceed 400 words. Abstracts should not include citations nor should they repeat the title of the thesis. They should be explicit and succinct.
  
  

Hypothesis

• Abstracts should begin with a clear statement of the hypothesis. Prior to embarking on research, an investigator formulates a hypothesis or succinct question that guides the research and predicts the expected outcome. This is often a cause and effect statement that describes a relationship between two variables. The hypothesis is stated at the beginning of the abstract and should stand alone. Prior research should not be summarized in the abstract; however, one or two studies can be referred to in order to support the hypothesis.
  
  

Research Methods

• The abstract should include a summary of research methods used in the thesis paper. This includes the specific techniques used and why they were chosen. Research methods should be based on prior techniques used by other researchers to investigate the same or a similar topic. Research methods referred to in the abstract should be limited to a couple of sentences stating why and how these particular methods were used in service of investigating the stated hypothesis. Later, in the body of the thesis, the researcher details the specifics of the methods used.
  
  

Findings

• The findings of the research project are summarized at the end of the abstract. Major results of the study should be presented as concisely as possible, including stating whether or not the findings supported the initial hypothesis. As with the rest of the abstract, findings should be simply stated. Since a large section of the thesis paper is dedicated to the findings, the abstract merely gives an overview of these.
  
  A brief sentence explaining implications for further research is also often included at the end of the abstract.