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Sample Abstracts
The following abstracts written by Tufts University undergraduates demonstrate different ways writers can summarize their research in various fields in the arts, sciences, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering.
1. Interdisciplinary research in literature, history, and political science 2. Psychology 3. Biology 4. Mathematics 5. American Studies (Media Studies, Music, and American Politics) 6. Interdisciplinary research in American History and Community Health 7. Bio-Medical Engineering 8. History 9. American Studies & Media Studies 10. International Relations & Community Health 11. Creative Project: Art History, Museum Studies, & Documentary
1. Sample abstract for interdisciplinary research in literature, history, and political science: This abstract foregrounds the historical, political, and social context to highlight the significance of the study. The last two sentences of the abstract describe the author’s methods, findings, and purpose.
El Colectivo de Escritores Jóvenes: Cultural Resistance to the Chilean Dictatorship Mie Inouye, International Letters and Visual Studies & Political Science (Class of 2009) Research Advisor: Professor Nina Gerassi-Navarro
Between 1973 and 1990, Chile experienced a military dictatorship unlike any previous or subsequent political regime in its history. With the abrupt transition to dictatorship on September 11, 1973 came a corresponding cultural transformation. Along with the wider cultural changes that took place after 1973, Chile’s literary scene was drastically altered due to the policy of censorship, the military intervention of universities, the realities of political exile and imprisonment and the dismantling of the state-run publishing house. Paradoxically, despite the many impediments to writing and publishing, Chilean writers of the generation of the eighties attest to the fact that there had never been more literary production. The Collective of Young Writers (Colectivo de Escritores Jóvenes), which formed in Santiago in the early eighties and united writers who were beginning their literary careers under emergency political conditions, is one example of the type of cultural movement that flourished under the dictatorship. This group operated based on the objectives of generating cultural activity, promoting solidarity among increasingly isolated writers, creating a space for democracy within the dictatorship, and resisting the dictatorship from its members’ positions as writers. Drawing from a series of interviews with former members of the collective, I present the group’s history and examine its relationship to cultural and social movements that unfolded post-1973. I also tell the stories of the generation of writers that began their careers during the dictatorship and analyze their writing in relation to the unique set of political circumstances that accompanied their development as writers.
2. Psychology: This abstract is a good example of how to explain the significance of findings that did not match the researcher’s hypothesis.
Can nonverbal behavior in popular media influence social category learning? Molly Lorenzo, Psychology, Multimedia Arts Minor (Class of 2009) Research Advisor: Nalini Ambady
Social categories (e.g., race, gender, and nationality) have tremendous social consequences for individuals within those categories. This study investigates whether arbitrary categories, like shirt color, can be learned and integrated as a meaningful social category. It was hypothesized that people will be more likely to make distinctions of shirt color only if they are exposed to repeated instances in which one shirt color is nonverbally favored over another. Participants viewed screen shots of popular television shows to induce nonverbal favoring of one of two shirt colors, or neither in the control condition, and all were then given a memory task using a “who said what” paradigm to measure if shirt color was established as a new social category. I expected confusions in “who said what” to occur more frequently within a shirt color than between shirt colors and that this confusion should be more prevalent in the experimental conditions than in the control condition. Contrary to hypotheses, the number of within and between category errors did not depend on the experimental condition, F (2, 60) = 2.02, p = .14. Thus, the shirt color was not processed as a social category. The results reinforce the mystery of why certain social categories like race have greater consequences than others (e.g., ear size or shirt color).
3. Biology: Even though this abstract uses language specific to biology, an educated reader can understand the significance of this study by reading the first and last sentences.
A Morphological and Genetic Analysis of Polistes versicolor: the Paper Wasp Invading the Galápagos Islands Christopher Perrone, Biology and Psychology (Class of 2010)
Polistes versicolor, a wasp native to Ecuador, has only recently invaded the Galápagos Islands. This invasion may have put us in position to explore evolution as it occurs, but only if we collect data as the invasion progresses. With preliminary evidence suggesting P. versicolor body characteristics vary with elevation, we gathered ecological, morphological, and genetic data during the early phase of this invasion. Individuals (n = 714) from the Ecuador mainland and six different island regions were collected by Philip Starks and Frank Sulloway in 2007 and 2008. Head, wing, and leg measurements were gathered. DNA was extracted and cataloged for each animal, PCR was performed on mainland and select island individuals, and loci were examined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We found significant morphological differences in relation to elevation. Data suggests that larger heads, smaller wings, and smaller legs are seen at higher elevations. Highly polymorphic loci have also been isolated for mainland individuals. Preliminary genetic data suggests that island-specific reductions in genetic diversity may have occurred and such limited variation supports morphological plasticity. These data will serve as a reference in morphological and genetic analyses over time to decipher whether plasticity or evolution is driving such differences.
4. Mathematics: Although you may have to be a mathematician to understand the details of this abstract, it contains a good example of how to reference other scholars in an abstract.
Three Types of Randomness Adam J. Raczkowski, Mathematics & Computer Science (Class of 2009) Research Advisor: Professor Benjamin Hescott
Three types of randomness are integral to the strength of public-key cryptography. With the techniques of Allender et al., we present an analysis of how the ability to quickly distinguish Kolmogorov randomness allows for a probabilistic attack on two of the conjectured hard problems underlying public-key cryptography: the discrete logarithm and factoring. Specifically, Kolmogorov random strings are pertinent to inverting one-way functions and distinguishing pseudorandomness from true uniform randomness. This method provides a lens that more sharply categorizes the hardness of the discrete logarithm and factoring in the hierarchy of well-known complexity classes. Using this approach, we establish relationships between provably secure public-key cryptography, Kolmogorov complexity, and the essential cryptographic primitives.
5. American Studies (Media Studies, Music, and American Politics): This abstract foregrounds the original contribution the author is making to an emerging field of study.
Live and Direct: the Theoretical and Qualitative Impact of Live Nation on Contemporary Popular Music Performance Mikey Goralnik, American Studies (Class of 2009)
The Reagan administration initiated an era of sweeping media deregulations that culminated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, considered by many to be the most important piece of media policy in US history. In the wake of this broad legislative agenda, a handful of large corporate entities, the largest being California-based Live Nation, have come to directly own most of this country’s live music promotional apparatuses. While the existing literature on media deregulation and consolidation does not yet extend far enough to sufficiently address live popular music, the field’s dominating frameworks would suggest that by corporatizing and commodifying a media product, deregulation would have a decidedly negative impact on popular music performance. My research, the first that deals entirely with contemporary popular music performance, refutes that suggestion. Based on interviews with eight popular music performers on their experiences with Live Nation venues and promoters, my research characterizes the goals that popular musicians associate with their performances and arrives at a surprising consensus—that performers across the popular music spectrum feel like Live Nation does not compromise and actually enhances their ability to achieve their performance goals. My research expands the body of media deregulation theory to include popular performance, and my findings break from the ideologies that dominate the field, suggesting that live music requires a new framework and ultimately a new field of research.
6. Interdisciplinary Study in American History and Community Health: This abstract foregrounds the historical and social context of the study before describing the author’s analysis and findings in the last two sentences.
Participation, Power, and Place: Roots of the Community Health Center Movement Morissa Sobelson, American Studies & Community Health (Class of 2009) Research Advisors: Professors Edith Balbach and Kevin Irwin
The Tufts-Delta Health Center, established in the Mississippi Delta in 1965, was the forerunner of a movement that changed the way we think about health and health care. It furthered national awareness of the failure of traditional health systems to reach marginalized populations, and showed the effectiveness of bridging public health and clinical interventions at a grassroots level. It demonstrated why race, class, and power are important determinants of health, and why community is a critical locus for health care delivery and social change. Rather than pathologize poor people, it highlighted their assets, strengths, and ways of knowing, and prioritized their active involvement. The project not only managed to initiate an empowerment-based and comprehensive approach to health care, but it did so in the context of some of the most entrenched race, class, and status segregation in the country. Through analysis of the stories and archives of health and civil rights pioneers, this thesis analyzes the participatory approach they took to promoting health and community empowerment at one of the nation’s first health centers in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. I use an empowerment domains framework in order to understand the application of this participatory model, sources and impacts of opposition to the center, and the ways in which these dynamics can inform contemporary health equity and reform efforts.
7. Bio-Medical Engineering: This abstract frames the complexity of the bio-medical research with a purpose and significance that any reader can understand.
Light Scattering Spectroscopic Characterization of Healthy and Cancerous White Blood Cells Austin Hsiao, Mechanical Engineering (Class of 2009)
Leukemia is uncontrolled proliferation of immature white blood cells. The conventional method of diagnosis requires invasive and medically extensive biopsies and blood samplings of great discomfort to the patients. Since leukemia is the most prevalent type of cancer in children, where blood drawing is particularly painful and difficult, a non-invasive screening modality could improve significantly the detection and monitoring of these patients. For this reason, we performed an initial set of studies to assess the potential of light scattering spectroscopy to determine whether unique light scattering signatures can differentiate leukemic from healthy white blood cells. We acquired angle-dependent and wavelength-dependent light scattering maps of the samples in the backscattering geometry. Specifically, we acquired polarized light scattering maps from isolated cell populations along the parallel and perpendicular polarizations and computed the differential light scattering maps, representing mostly singly backscattered light. From these LSS maps, the wavelength-dependence of the biological samples, characterized by a power law exponent value, was used to quantitatively differentiate between the healthy lymphocytes, granulocytes and the leukemia cells. Therefore, these initial findings provide the basis for detection of leukemia in in vivo flow cytometry and demonstrate the potential of a non-invasive leukemia screening test.
8. History: Because this study is a narrative of an historical event, the abstract focuses on the historical context. The second to last sentence summarizes the author’s analysis. This abstract also provides a good example of when it’s acceptable to use a quotation.
Constructed Utopia and the ‘Culture of Deception’: the Harvard Expansion towards the Charles River, 1902-1932 Benjamin J. Sacks (Class of 2010)
A June 11, 1997 Boston Globe article on Harvard’s expansion into Allston, revealed Harvard’s “secret land purchases, mostly along Western Avenue [in Allston], took place by proxy over several years without the knowledge of abutters or city officials. The university's desire to buy low apparently outweighed its obligation to establish trust with its neighbors.” Although controversial at the time, the practice of secretly buying land was not new to Harvard. Between 1902 and 1932, Harvard employed this tactic in order to construct a series of large residential houses along the Charles River, away from the traditional enclave of Harvard Yard. In particular, both the University and the Harvard Riverside Associates actively employed the strawman approach to gain the necessary land: the utilization of proxy real estate agents to deceive a property owner into believing that they were selling their land to an individual with no Harvard affiliation, when in reality they were selling their land to the University. Fearful of a precipitous loss of tax income and influence, the city of Cambridge and the Massachusetts State Legislature both attempted to intervene in Harvard’s land grab, but with ultimately little success. This narrative adds a new perspective upon the Harvard administration of Abbott Lawrence Lowell, shedding light on his anti-Semitic beliefs, discrimination against religious, ethnic, and immigrant groups, and the continuation of admissions policies that placed class and perceived social rank above merit. This work is currently under review by the New England Quarterly for possible publication.
Date: 2014-12-22; view: 987
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