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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

...

  • 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

 Language Help

  • Finnish-English Dictionary : (Tuubi - MOT sanakirjasto, link on the left)
  • Specialist glossaries Thesauruses (synonyms)(e.g. A Glossary of Video Editing Terms)
  • Collocations dictionaries (which adjectives, nouns, verbs and prepositions can be matched together?)
    Oxford Collocations Dictionary
  • Monolingual dictionaries (definitions and grammar)
    The Free Dictionary
  • Collocations dictionaries (natural sounding, correct language)

Write the abstract

...

  • in the first person (My thesis investigates... My final project is a...) or

...

  • in the third person (The author studied... The author carried out a survey...)

...

 




  •  

    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.com   

     

    Collocations 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.

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