Comparative Analysis of Research Abstracts

A Comparative Analysis on Research Abstracts

An abstract is the first section in a Research Article (RA) that acts as a guide for readers to know the main information they may encounter in the whole paper. According to Hubbuch (1996), “Composing an abstract has the same goals as a map: An abstract is a map in prose form” (p. 126). This paper presents a comparative analysis of the Abstracts of four Research Articles (RAs) from both medical and educational fields. While the former focus on the treatment of serious illnesses such as breast cancer and hypertension, the latter exposes the uses of videos and DVDs as facilitating resources in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lessons.

Abstracts are generally defined as descriptions of main texts. In Hubbuch (1996)’s own words, they are “(…) brief summaries of the major points made by an author in a book or article” (p.126). In addition, Swales and Feak (1994) stress the increasing importance of Abstracts for readers since one of the main functions of this type of summary is to attract the audience to continue reading. This arousing interest and willingness to read complete RAs should not be taken for granted, because factors such as the readers’ own interests or the relevance of the information may also influence. However, a precise and coherent Abstract may be a significant starting point that subsequently leads to extensive research.

Swales and Feak (1994) establish that Abstracts should be one paragraph long containing between four to ten sentences. This convention seems to be applied by Rammal (2006) and King (2002), both authors of the educational articles, since they concisely present the topic under discussion and do not add further information on each section of the RA. In contrast, Jorgensen, Zahl and Gotzhe (2010) as well as Becket et al. (2008) pose a depicted presentation of the background or setting, methods, results and conclusions, each of them in different paragraphs and organized by its corresponding headings. 

Two types of Abstracts have been distinguished by Swales and Feak (1994): informative and indicative. Jorgensen et al. (2010) as well as Becket et al. (2008) seem to follow the informative one, because the focus is placed on data, and on the actions researchers took to achieve those results. For instance, Beckett et al. wrote that, “ we randomly assigned 3845 patients from Europe, China, Australasia, Tunisia, who were 80 years of age or older and had a sustained systolic blood pressured of 160 mm Hg or more (…)“ (p. 1887). Hence, emphasis is placed on the Methods and Results, issues to be later depicted in the main article. 

Indicative Abstracts are generally used in conferences, but their characteristics tend to apply more to the type of abstract Rammal (2006) and King (2002) have written. According to Swales and Feak (1994), generalized summaries of the information in the articles, reference to the future and absence of specific or quantitative results are some of these features that are also applied in the educational papers. Such is the case of Rammal (2006), who explicitly states in his abstract that “(…) emphasis will be on approaching the identity and culture of the native speakers of English through diverse authentic teaching materials” (p.1).

Another possible classification of the Abstracts of RAs is concerned with the organizational formats. While the educational authors create unstructured abstracts, characterized by the presence of a long and unbroken paragraph, the medical ones tend to prefer the structured type of Abstract. This contains bolded headings that identify the sections in the Research Paper (RP). As it has been mentioned previously, Jorgensen et al. (2010) devote a paragraph to each of the following subsections: Objective, Design, Setting, Main Outcome Measure, Results and Conclusions. Only after this detailed abstract, does the introduction of the RP start.

As regards the linguistic features of Abstracts, Swales and Feak (1996) state the use of full sentences and the impersonal passive as some of the most salient features. While the former convention is applied by all authors, the latter seems to arise some points of divergence. King (2002), Rammal (2006) and Beckett et al. (2008) resort to passive voice as a device to focus on the actions rather than on the doers. However, Jorgensen et al. (2010) prefer using the personal active form, probably following the convention in medicine of not using the passive voice since if the agent is not stated, no one can take responsibility for the actions described.  

Another linguistic consideration is tense mobility. Swales and Feak (1996) establish that present tenses are generally used in opening sentences, conclusions and current applications, whereas past tense is predominant when referring to findings, variables and tests. Becket et al. (2008) appear to strictly follow this convention, but discrepancies arise in the other RAs. Such is the case of King (2002) and Rammal (2006), whose brief and concise Abstracts resort only to the use of present tenses since there is only reference to the current applications and the organization of the RPs, not to particular data, methodology or figures.

The format of Abstracts may vary according to the journal or publisher’s requirements, but the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2010) states some features that could be standardized. These include assigning one page to the Abstract with the corresponding header. None of the writers seem to apply this convention since the abstract is written on the same page than the introduction of the RP, without a consistent header. Besides, it has been stated that the word Abstract should be centered with no bold, italics, or quotations marks. However, Rammal (2006), King (2002) and Becket et al. (2008) place this word in the left margin, with different sizes and fonts. 

The logical presentation of information and ideas is considered significantly important in Abstracts writing. The APA manual (2008) establishes that continuity in words and concepts as well as thematic development should be reached for the audience to understand the issue presented. For example, Rammal (2006)’s Abstract may be too brief to grasp an idea of all the contents of the RA, while Jorgensen et al. (2010) may present such a detailed account of each part of the research that the audience may not follow reading since the Abstract itself summarizes the issue and mentions all the important findings.

The RAs analysis has portrayed significant differences in the way medical and educational writers undergo the process of writing Abstracts. Not only the structure of the Abstracts, but their organization, the format, the main function, the type of information included, the length, the tense mobility and the appliance of APA conventions have shed light on distinctions among the Education and Medicine fields. Despite these differences, all the Abstracts analyzed act as maps that, depending on their efficiency and coherence, may lead the audience to different destinations.

References

American Psychological Association.(2008). Publication Manual (5^th edition). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. 

Beckett, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen, J., Lui, L., Dumitrascu, D., Stoyanovsky, V., Antikainen, R., Nikitin, Y., Anderson, C., Belhani, A., Forette, F., Rajkumar, J., Thijs, L., Banya, W., Bulpitt, C. (2008). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years of age or older. [Abstract]. The New England Journal of Medicine,358. Retrieved May, 2012, from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0801369  

Hubbuch, S.M. (1996). Writing research papers across the curriculum. Harcourt Brace: Fort Worth, TX.

Jorgensen, K.J., Zahl P.H., Gotzche, P.C. (2010). Breast cancer mortality in organized mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. [Abstract]. BMJ: British Medical Journal. British Medical Association. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.c1241.   

King, J. (2002). Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom. [Abstract].  The weekly column, 88. Retrieved May, 2012, from  http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/February2002/art882002.htm

Rammal, S. (2006). Video in EFL classrooms. [Abstract]. Palestine: Birzeit University. Retrieved May, 2012, from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/using%20video

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B.(1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan.