How to write an abstract A good abstract should be: · informative · coherent (well-organised and clear) · brief Content/structure Ø Read the following sample abstract. What kind of information does it give? Mark the following types of information in the text: 1 Topic introduction 2 Background information 3 Study aim 4 Research context and participants 6 Main method (data collection, analytical procedure…) 7 Results Sample abstract Active participation is as essential a skill to children with autism as it is for children without autism, as children are expected to engage in these skills both in and outside the classroom. Without participation skills, children are at a disadvantage when it comes to school and other settings, such as extracurricular activities and the workforce. Recent research has shown that there are interventions available that aim to improve the social skills of children in the home and in the school. These interventions can be delivered in varying forms with the primary caregiver as the interventionist, the specialist as the interventionist, and naturalistic interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate one of the naturalistic interventions, the Competent Learner Model, and determine its effects on the participation and social skills of students with autism. Three middle school male students diagnosed with autism from a rural northeast middle school participated in the study. They were assessed using the Competent Learner Repertoire Assessments of the Competent Learner Model and the adaptive measures of the Vineland-II and ABASII. The results showed improvement for one of the three students and little to no improvement for the other two students. (Source: Vining, H. (2011): INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSROOM FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (Bucknell University) Useful language Introductory sentence + Aims: The thesis deals with/focuses on/explores/examines/investigates.... The aim of the thesis (study) is to assess/compare/determine/describe.... Suggesting the structure/content: First(ly),... Second(ly),... Third(ly),.... Finally,... The first part/chapter/section ...., the second part,... the final part… Adding more points: Further, ... Furthermore, ..... Next, .... What is more, .... Another/the next important point/aim is to … Useful verbs to consider/to take sth. into consideration/to take st. into account to emphasise st. / to put emphasis on st. to state/argue st. to reveal st. to concentrate/focus on st. to explore/investigate st. to involve st. to include st. to represent st. to gather data / information to research st. / to do/carry out research into/on st. to draw upon/on st. / to be based on st. (an assumption) to contribute to st. to depend on st. to compare st. with st. / to make a comparison Useful nouns an aim/objective a background research methods/methodology an indicator an analysis a survey a questionnaire respondents open questions; semi-open questions; closed questions a proportion a finding an outcome a supplement (Adapted from Writing a Thesis Abstract, English for Special Educators, 2018) Ø Use the information above to write an abstract (100-150 words) of your Master´s thesis. Ø Look at the following Abstract worksheet to help you get started. Abstract worksheet Purpose/Problem What is the problem? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ What is your purpose? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Methods What are the three most important details about your methodology? Do these relate to your purpose? 1.________________________________________________________________________________ 2._________________________________________________________________________________ 3._________________________________________________________________________________ Results What are your three most important findings? 1. ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3._________________________________________________________________________________ Conclusion/Implications How do your results connect to your purpose? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ So what? Why is this important? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ (Adapted from Abstracts, Writing Center, University of Maryland)