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Anna Greathead

Abstract... noun and adjective!

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Part 2 of my current TMA is to produce an abstract about my eventual conference presentation (for which the poster is also a part).

I must have read hundreds of abstracts but somehow I have not got a firm idea on how to produce one myself - especially as it is about a piece on ongoing work and not something which is completed.

We have been given 500 words which seems really long. Most abstracts I have read are a longish paragraph of a maximum of 200 words - more often about 150 I would say. They are, for me, an indication of whether the paper is what I am looking for or if I have stumbled here by using vague search terms or attracted by an intriguing paper title.

The advice we have is, in the OU style, nice and vague! Whilst this has frustrated me a lot in my OU journey I am starting to realise that deliberately vague instructions may be designed to give us plenty of room to manoeuvre rather than as a trip wire!

Anyway - I intend to have a good bash at this abstract tonight. Wish me luck!

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