What is an abstract?

In various kinds of educational institutions, as well as inconferences, meetings and other events, a person often has to keep a summary. To learn is taught at school. This skill can be very important and will often come in handy in life.

Let's consider what is the abstract, what are the main features of the abstract, what kinds of abstracts exist at the moment and what are the methods for outlining.

What is the summary

Abstract is a short form of material recording. It can contain citations, various abstracts, graphics, images and text. The form of the abstract can be arbitrary and strict. As a rule, outgoing first makes an arbitrary form of record, which is a kind of draft. That is, does not require compliance with any rules of note-taking and even assumes the existence of corrections.

Further, if there is a need, you canmake a strict form of recording. A strict form of the abstract is relevant in case you need to write an article, a scientific paper or you want to submit a summary for review.

Characteristics of the abstract

In general, the summary is characterized bybrevity and accuracy. Information in the abstract is divided into basic and additional. In a well-written abstract, there should not be too much information. A good summary will be the one that contains the least amount of information and most fully reflects the essence of the material, whether it is a lecture or speech by the speaker.

Types of abstracts

Abstracts are divided into two main types - formalized and graphical.

Formalized

The formalized summary isa table, in which, in turn, various kinds of tablets or schemes can be included. In the general case, a formalized abstract is a questionnaire into which various sources of information are recorded, as well as a summary material that was proposed by the source.

Formalized abstracts are very suitable for comparing different points of view on the same issue. It is used by journalists, cultural figures, as well as scientists.

Graphic

Graphical notes, as the name suggests,represent the graphic material, and the essence of these abstracts is to represent the information received in a graphical way. You can use this kind of abstract in any field. The widest distribution of graphical notes received from scientists and engineers. It is known that the graphic summary, supported by brief theses from the lectures, is able to transmit information very well, which facilitates its memorization and assimilation.

Other types of abstracts

Also, the abstracts can be divided into planned,textual, arbitrary and thematic. About arbitrary notes, or they are called "free", we told at the very beginning. Let's consider other types of abstracts.

Planned

The planned summary, as the name suggests,is a kind of plan. If the submission of the material did not allow the outline to compose it initially, then he makes up the plan after the abstract was written. Planned abstracts are very suitable for those who need to record a large amount of information. A planned summary helps to structure it and analyze it more quickly.

Schematic

A subspecies of the planned summary is a schematicabstract. It is the most easy to learn and at the same time the most effective in recording information. In it, the recorded material serves as a response to the questions posed. You can remember this kind of notes in the textbooks, in which after each paragraph there were questions for self-examination.

Textual

Textual abstracts usually includequotations and theses. They are very suitable for those who outline information about any author, whether it is a representative of philosophy, literature, cinema or the scientific world.