An abstract is a mini or condensed version of a thesis, which summarizes the information in the body of the document. There are mainly two types of abstracts used: descriptive and informative abstracts. When writing a descriptive abstract, one should include information explaining the thesis. The purpose, methods, and scope of the thesis are also included in this type of abstract. This type of abstract simply introduces the thesis, prompting the reader to go through the whole paper. It, therefore, should not preempt the results, discussions, conclusions, or even recommendations of the thesis paper. Descriptive abstracts are usually 100 words long.
Informative abstracts include specific information from the thesis paper. Such abstracts outline the purpose, scope, and methods used. They also provide a glimpse of the results, discussions, recommendations, and conclusions of the thesis paper. An informative abstract is usually between 100 and 200 words.
An abstract is written after one has completed the rest of the paper. Due to this, one should re-read the whole thesis paper with the purpose of writing the abstract in mind. While doing this, look keenly at the main parts of your thesis, which are the discussion, results, scope, conclusion, and recommendations. The headings and table of contents can also serve as guides when writing your abstract, and so you should also pay key attention to them.
When you are finished reading through the thesis, write a rough draft without looking back at the paper. If you write and keep referring to the thesis, there is a high chance that you will write too much or too little than what is actually required for the abstract. Further, if you keep referring to the thesis, you will not be able to summarize the detailed information in a new way, which is the key purpose of an abstract.
Go through the draft of your abstract to remove any grammatical errors. Check if the organization of the abstract is appropriate, and if there is a transition of points from one to the next. Remove any unnecessary information and add any details that you feel should be included.
Other things to take note of when writing a thesis abstract is to use a well-developed paragraph, which is coherent, concise, and can stand on its own. The abstract should follow the structure of the paper. This means that it should flow from the introduction, to the contents of the main body, right through to the conclusions and recommendations. Further, the abstract should not have new information that is not included in the thesis paper. Finally, do not forget that the abstract stands on a distinct page, right after the table of contents page.