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Maximizing Report Utility: Abstract Types and Guidelines for Impactful Summaries

Learn about the two basic types of abstracts - descriptive and informative, and how to craft an effective summary that provides a snapshot of your report's key contents to cater to different reader needs. Understand the guidelines for writing concise, informative, and easily-understood abstracts to engage readers and communicate the essence of your work efficiently.

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Maximizing Report Utility: Abstract Types and Guidelines for Impactful Summaries

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  1. Abstracts

  2. Abstract • A brief overview of the report’s contents • Most read section of a report • Offers readers a “first impression” of your work • Readers determine the report’s usefulness to them • Written last (usually)

  3. Two Basic Types of Abstracts • Descriptive abstract • Informative abstract

  4. Descriptive Abstracts • Provides the specialist with enough information to decide if she would benefit from reading the report • Gives an accurate indication of the subject matter and scope • May use technical language and jargon

  5. Informative Abstracts • Provides administrator or executive with an overview of the project and the results it shows • Summarizes the results and conclusions in context by adding a bit of background • Contains terms understood by a general audience

  6. Guidelines • Include enough specific information to satisfy the needs of a busy reader • Topic • Method • Budget • Results • Other??

  7. Guidelines (con’t) • Must be a self-contained unit • The abstract must accurately portray the report’s contents in order to be effective • “Report-in-miniature” (or a snapshot of the report’s contents)

  8. Guidelines (con’t) • Must be short • Depends on the length of the paper • Rule of thumb 100-150 words • Longer reports will require longer abstracts

  9. Guidelines (con’t) • Must be easy-to-read • Grammatically correct • Each sentence must be purposeful • Be able to identify the function of each sentence • If you can’t identify a sentence’s purpose, consider revising • No tables or illustrations

  10. Handout

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