Getting Started

Over the past several weeks, you drafted a research proposal that included three sections:

• The introduction to the problem
• The literature review
• The methodology

Now, it is time to take all of those drafts and culminate them into one final draft. Before doing this, you will need to develop the abstract, which is a summary of your paper.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

• Develop a final draft proposal.

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Resources

• Textbook: Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
• File: Descriptive Abstract and Final Draft.pdf
• File: Experimental Abstract and Final Draft.pdf
• File: Qualitative Abstract and Final Draft.pdf

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Background Information

An abstract is a short summary of what is in the paper; someone who reads the abstract should be able to obtain a snapshot of what they will read in the study. For your research proposal, the abstract should summarize the problem of the study, give a short background of the problem, provide a summary of the literature review, and provide a summary of the elements of the methodology used.

Format your abstract according to these guidelines:

• The abstract is on the first page after the cover page.
• The word “Abstract” is centered at the top of the page (no bold, no underline, no colon).
• The first line of the content is flush left (no indent).
• Do not include in-text citations in the body of the abstract.
• The abstract should be a single paragraph.
• The abstract is double spaced.
• The abstract is a minimum of 150–250 words.

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Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. In your textbook Writing Empirical Research Reports, read:
   1. Chapter 13
   2. Chapter 15
3. Take a moment to look through these example final drafts provided for your reference:
   1. Descriptive Abstract and Final Draft.pdf
   2. Experimental Abstract and Final Draft.pdf
   3. Qualitative Abstract and Final Draft.pdf
4. Write your abstract.
5. Be sure to make any corrections to your original drafts.
6. Compile your finished drafts into one paper:
   1. Cover page
   2. Abstract
   3. Introduction to the Problem
   4. Literature Review
   5. Methodology
   6. References (be sure that the references begin on a new page)
7. Your paper should align with APA requirements, including a cover page, in-text citations, and a reference page.