What is an Abstract?
An abstract is a summary of your final project report or thesis.
The English abstract doesn’t need to be a direct translation of the Finnish one. The main thing is that the abstract
- informative but concise
- clear and logical
- easy to read.
When?
...
- Write the English abstract after your advisor has approved the Finnish abstract.
- Composing an abstract is a challenging task. Linguistic research, writing the text, and editing the language and style may take up more time than you expect – anything between 3 – 8 hours.'
You can write the abstract on your own, or attend an abstract writing workshop.
- Send the whole thesis/report to the designated English instructor for language check 10 days before the final deadline:
Kaija Ahola: Conservation, Design, Media
Sari Hantula: Music & Pop & Jazz Music
Anu Pekkarinen: Cultural Management, Fashion and Clothing, Film & Television, Performing Arts
...
'Opinnäytetyö' in English?
AMK - Bachelor's degree
- final project (report)
your study includes an artistic or a development project and a written report reflecting on the process and the results - a Bachelor's thesis
a dissertation reporting on and discussing the results of original research and substantiating a specific view.
YAMK - Master's degree
- a research and development project (report)
your study includes an artistic or a development project and a written report reflecting on the process and the results - a Master's thesis
a dissertation reporting on and discussing the results of original research and substantiating a specific view.
When?
- Write the English abstract after your advisor has approved the Finnish abstract. Composing an abstract is a challenging task. Linguistic research, writing the text, and editing the language and style may take up more time than you expect – anything between 3 – 8 hours.'
You can write the abstract on your own, or attend an abstract writing workshop.
Send the whole thesis/report to the designated English instructor for language check 10 days before the final deadline:
Kaija Ahola: Conservation, Design, Media
Sari Hantula: Music & Pop & Jazz Music
Anu Pekkarinen: Cultural Management, Fashion and Clothing, Film & Television, Performing Arts
How?
Form
Write the abstract into the table on the third page of the thesis / report template.
Title
- Short, clear, informative, and yet it should attract the interest of the reader.
- Don’t translate the original title word for word, but express it clearly in plain English.
- Write the English Title in Title Case. Metropolia house style: All Words in Upper Case, Except Articles, Prepositions and the Word And.
...
- Advisor's Name, Academic Title or Job Title (or both), e.g.,
Heikki Heikkilä, M.A.
Marja Marjanen, D.Mus.
Body of the Abstract
- 250 – 300 words, including articles and prepositions
- 4 - 5 paragraphs with a blank line between them
- Do not indent the first line of the paragraph
Content
- Introduction: Who has done what?
- Methodology: When, where and how was the research or project carried out?
- Results and conclusions: What did you learn during the process?
- Discussion: Why is the research topic or project important? Who might benefit from the results of your work? What should be done next?
Language and Style
Write the abstract
a) in the first person I examined the learning outcomes of…
b) the third person and the passive voice This thesis reports on a survey conducted in…
2. Check the terminology
Tuubi.metropolia.fi àMOT sanakirjasto
Specialist dictionaries and glossaries
Thesauri / thesaurses (for finding synonyms)
3. Check phrases and idiomatic expressions
Monoligual dictionaries, e.g.,www.dictionary.cambridge.org
www.m-w.com
www.thefreedictionary.comCollocations dictionaries (for finding out, which adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs and prepositions typically appear together), e.g.,
Oxford Collocations Dictionary, http://5yiso.appspot.com/
You can also google the expressions “in quotation marks”, and assess the reliability of
the texts where the expressions were found.4. Write the abstract in formal academic style.
However, formal does not mean ‘overly complicated’. The sentences
can be short and simple.The text should be accessible (easy to understand) and
cohesive (ideas are logically connected).6. Check the spelling and grammar in the text.
To select the proofing language in MS Word 2010:
Review à Language à Set Proofing Language à English (U.K., for example)
To check the spelling and grammar in MS Word 2010:
Review à Spelling and Grammar à Change the expressions or Ignore the suggestions.7. Final Touches
Send the Finnish and English abstracts (or the whole thesis / project report)
to the designated English instructor as a Word document (not a pdf) by email.
When you get the tutor’s comments, edit the text (cf. editing instructions on
page 6), and send it back to the instructor once more for final approval.
There are differences between degree programmes in the School of Creative Industries. Do check what kind of supervise or proof reading might be available or obligatory in your degree programme.