After completing your research and writing a neuropsychology dissertation well, abstract writing becomes a piece of cake. However, there are some rules and requirements that you must follow to achieve success in your dissertation abstract. But don’t worry, we will help you here with our expert advice on how to write a psychology dissertation abstract and share some essential dos and don’ts as well.

If you want to become a successful neuropsychologist, you need to write a winning dissertation to get a degree. According to the BLS report, the employment rate of psychologists is expected to grow 6% from 2022-2032, which is much faster than other disciplines. And we see, on average, almost 12,800 jobs open every year for them.

An abstract is a to-the-point synopsis of your dissertation that gives readers an overview of the goals, methodology, findings, and conclusions of your research. For some students, writing a dissertation abstract can be difficult and annoying if they have no proper guidance. However, if you also go through the same phase and need professional help to write your clinical neuropsychology thesis or dissertation, get dissertation writing services from a credible source, such as The Academic Papers UK.

Here, we’ll look at the purpose of writing an abstract, a step-by-step guide to writing a neuropsychology dissertation abstract and the dos and don’ts of writing a strong abstract for your research project.

What is the Purpose of Writing an Abstract?

A dissertation abstract is a condensed or summarised version of a dissertation or thesis, which is a larger research paper. Its purpose is to introduce the topic, outlining the primary goals, writing methodology, significant discoveries, and conclusions of the dissertation shortly.

Dissertation abstracts are usually created to give readers, academic scholars, or professors a brief overview of the scope and importance of the dissertation without requiring them to read the full work.

Your neuropsychology dissertation abstract should convey the main idea of your dissertation writing and tell the reader about these 5 things:

1. What have you done in this research and dissertation writing?
2. Why do you find a need to do this?
3. How did it happen, or how did you do it?
4. What have you got or found through this research?
5. What does it mean, and how is it significant?

Do you know how long should be a dissertation abstract? Well, dissertation abstracts are normally restricted to a certain word count or page length, typically between 150 and 350 words, depending on the requirements set by the journal or the university.

Step-by-Step Guide to Write Neuropsychology Dissertation Abstract

Step 1: Recognise and Understand the Goal Before Writing

You need to know the objective of the abstract before you can write one that works well. Readers can select whether to read your dissertation as its whole or just the abstract by using it as a concise summary.

It decides the fate of your whole dissertation, so it should clearly discuss the important aspects and pique the reader’s curiosity about your findings.

Step 2: Arrange Your Abstract to make it Well structured

It is essential to have a well-organized abstract to enhance its readability and clarity. According to the book Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation, 2008, your dissertation abstract must cover the following elements:

A neuropsychology dissertation abstract typically includes the following elements:

• Title: Begin with your dissertation’s title. Make sure it is clear, precise and reflects the primary focus of your research.
• Introduction: Describe the precise goals or theories that guide your research. What did you hope to accomplish or establish through this work?
• Methodology: Give a brief summary of the data collecting and analysis strategies you used in your research. In the book Writing Dissertation and Grant Proposals by Lisa Chasan-Taber, the author explained the highlights of the methodology that you should cover in your dissertation, such as:

• Results: Provide a summary of your study’s key conclusions. Emphasise the most important results and findings. It covers an overview of the primary discoveries and conclusions made during the study.
• Conclusion: In your abstract’s conclusion, go over the research’s implications and importance for the discipline of neuropsychology.
• Keywords: Search terms or phrases that are relevant to your neuropsychology dissertation and aid in its discovery in scholarly databases. Here is the complete explanation of how to choose the keywords given in the book Dos and Don’ts of Completing the Ed.D. Dissertation by Jan  P. Hammond, Paula E. Lester:

Step 3: Keep it Short or Brief

Writing a dissertation abstract that fits a long subject into a small word count is one of the hardest tasks. Try to be brief and avoid extraneous information. Concentrate on the most important parts of your study. Write a few lines from each chapter of your dissertation by summarising the whole story.

Step 4: Write Clearly and Precisely

Writing on science subjects like personality disorder, traumatic brain injury, brain function, eye movements, clinical treatments, brain injuries, implications for neuropsychology, etc., must be clear and concise.

To communicate your neuropsychology dissertation ideas well, choose clear language in your dissertation. Stay away from the use of unnecessary jargon and technical phrases that your readers might not be familiar with unless they are often used in the neuropsychology community.

Step 5: Emphasize Important Results

The most important discoveries and contributions of your study should be highlighted in your abstract. Why is your study special and important to the neuropsychology community? Be careful to highlight these features in a significant manner and avoid overwriting.

Step 6: Edit and Proofread

Edit and proofread your abstract thoroughly after you’ve written it. Check for punctuation, grammatical, and spelling mistakes. Make sure the abstract maintains a logical structure and flows well throughout the writing.

Think about asking advisers, mentors, or peers who are knowledgeable in neuropsychology research for their opinions. Take their constructive feedback and recommendations positively for development.

Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Neuropsychology Dissertation Abstract

To write a perfect abstract for your thesis, dissertation or any other paper, you must consider that your readers know nothing about your topic and subject, and this is the only way to convince them to read about your subject matter.

Here is an example taken from the book Lab Reports and Projects in Sport and Exercise Science by Mike Price, which will help you to get an idea about how to write a dissertation abstract by following the popper structure:

For that, you must pay attention to writing it clearly, concisely and accurately. Here are some dos that you should follow and some don’t that you must avoid in writing a neuropsychology dissertation abstract.

Dos

• Strictly follow the guidelines specifically given by your institute
• Make it short by writing concise but complete and unambiguous sentences, explaining the long story in a few words.
• Add relevant keywords to ensure that researchers in your field can easily find your work and benefit from it.
• The primary subjects or ideas of your research should be reflected in these terms.
• Verify that there are no typos or grammatical errors in your abstract.
• To improve your abstract, ask mentors or peers for their constructive feedback.
• Carefully read it to ensure continuity and clarity.
• Make it impactful, as it will decide the future of your neuropsychology dissertation whether it is worth reading or not.

Don’ts

• Avoid giving too much background material or details unrelated to the study’s primary subject.
• Although some technical phrases are required, stay away from using too much jargon, as this could mislead readers who are not neuropsychology professionals.
• Give a fair assessment of your results and their significance, and don’t exaggerate the importance of your findings.
• Don’t include any citations in your abstract.
• Don’t write it right after making a topic selection from different neuropsychology dissertation topics.
• Write your abstract after finishing your dissertation because it can be difficult to condense a work in progress.

Conclusion

If you want to write a good abstract for a neuropsychology dissertation, give attention to detail and strictly adhere to the systematic framework given above. The dos and don’ts listed in this article will help you write an engaging abstract that maintains the essence of your research and draws readers in.

Keep in mind that a strong abstract can make a big difference in how your dissertation looks to others by going through the abstract in a few minutes.

However, if you don’t have enough time to write your dissertation well and are not able to manage your student and work-life balance, you can get help from experts. The Academic Papers UK is the perfect one-stop solution for you if you need dissertation writing services online.