The abstract for humanities or social sciences is most of the time unstructured in comparison to others. It is not divided into specific sections matching with the content, such as the Introduction, Methods, Results and so on. Most of the time it comprises a single paragraph that elaborates the content and the scope of the study. The length of a social sciences abstract is somewhere closer to 150-250 words. With that limited word count available, the writer has to be very sure of including only the necessary stuff. Know that although the abstract is written as a single paragraph, it has to include a very crisp summary of the significant sections of the study. Some things that don’t have to be missed are the objectives, approach, findings and conclusion. Since all this content has to be included, it is best advised to write the content after having completed the entire document. This gives you a more clear idea about the content and the scope of the work so you are able to put across a more holistic summary of the content in the abstract in the best possible condensed manner.
Some of the main elements of the abstract are:
Statement of purpose: This statement of purpose has to clearly explain why it was chosen to conduct this study. The reason because of which the problem is significant or what is the gap in the existing literature you have identified that you intend to fill.
Methods or approach: What has been the course you have adopted to get the results that you have presented and what process you adopted to get your results? In other words here you need to talk about the research methodology in a very brief way.
Results: This is very important and the only thing that is completely unique and novel to your study. This is what makes or mars the worthiness of your study. Mostly readers, the seasoned ones prefer to go to the results straight away so make sure your abstract gives the significant results that you have derived from the above mentioned procedures.
Conclusions: The conclusion part is where you try to tell the readers why your study is significant and why how are your results contributing in the existing literature. The larger implications of your findings are how do they identify with the gap in research that has been identified by you is again a very important component of the abstract and has to be given in as concise a manner as possible.
