Conclusion vs. Abstract — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 4, 2024
The conclusion summarizes findings and implications, while an abstract offers a brief overview of the entire study.
Difference Between Conclusion and Abstract
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
The conclusion of a research paper or report is where the key findings, interpretations, and the implications of the study are discussed. It draws together the main points made in the document and usually offers some insight into the future or the implications of the results. An abstract, on the other hand, serves as a succinct summary of the entire paper, including its purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions. It provides a comprehensive snapshot intended to give readers an immediate understanding of the paper's content.
While the conclusion is written with a focus on the outcomes of the study, highlighting what has been learned or understood as a result of the research, the abstract is designed to give a bird's-eye view of the research. The conclusion may suggest future research directions or applications of the findings, whereas the abstract condenses the study’s entire scope into a brief paragraph.
The conclusion often engages with the research questions or objectives stated at the beginning of the paper, aiming to address them directly based on the findings discussed in the document. The abstract, while mentioning the research questions or objectives, does not delve into them but rather includes them as part of the overall summary.
In terms of positioning, the conclusion is typically found at the end of a document, providing a closure and synthesis of the ideas presented. The abstract, however, is placed at the beginning of the document, offering a preview of what is to come and helping readers decide whether the document contains information relevant to their interests or research needs.
The audience for the conclusion might be more specialized, as it assumes a reader who has gone through the entire document and is looking for a synthesis of the findings and their implications. The abstract is aimed at a broader audience, including those who might only be scanning through multiple documents to identify useful information without reading each one in full.
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Comparison Chart
Purpose
To summarize findings and their implications.
To offer a comprehensive overview of the study.
Content
Highlights outcomes, interpretations, and future directions.
Includes purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions.
Placement
At the end of the document.
At the beginning of the document.
Focus
On outcomes and implications of the study.
On a brief overview of the entire study.
Target Audience
Readers who have gone through the document.
A broader audience including researchers scanning for relevant studies.
Compare with Definitions
Conclusion
A summarization of the research's findings and implications.
The conclusion emphasized the need for further research.
Abstract
A brief overview of a document's content.
The abstract succinctly summarized the study's purpose and findings.
Conclusion
Draws together main points made in the document.
The conclusion offered a critical evaluation of the findings.
Abstract
Aims at a broader audience.
The abstract made the study accessible to non-specialists.
Conclusion
The final section of a document, highlighting its outcomes.
In the conclusion, the study's impact on current theories was discussed.
Abstract
Serves as a comprehensive snapshot of the research.
The abstract included the methodology and key results.
Conclusion
May suggest future research directions.
The conclusion hinted at the potential for new studies in the area.
Abstract
Placed at the beginning of the document.
The abstract provided a preview of the study's insights.
Conclusion
Provides closure and synthesis of the ideas presented.
The conclusion wrapped up the study's arguments effectively.
Abstract
Intended to give readers an immediate understanding.
From the abstract, it was clear what the research achieved.
Conclusion
The close or last part; the end or finish
The conclusion of the festivities.
Abstract
Considered apart from concrete existence
An abstract concept.
Conclusion
The result or outcome of an act or process
What was the conclusion of all these efforts?.
Abstract
Not applied or practical; theoretical.
Conclusion
A judgment or decision reached after deliberation.
Abstract
Difficult to understand; abstruse
Abstract philosophical problems.
Conclusion
A final arrangement or settlement, as of a treaty.
Abstract
Denoting something that is immaterial, conceptual, or nonspecific, as an idea or quality
Abstract words like truth and justice.
Conclusion
(Law) The formal closing of a legal complaint or pleading.
Abstract
Impersonal, as in attitude or views.
Conclusion
A proposition that follows from the premises of a formal proof, for instance from the major and minor premises of a syllogism.
Abstract
Having an intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on narrative content or pictorial representation
Abstract painting and sculpture.
Conclusion
The proposition concluded from one or more premises; a deduction.
Abstract
A statement summarizing the important points of a text.
Conclusion
The end, finish, close or last part of something.
Abstract
Something abstract.
Conclusion
The outcome or result of a process or act.
Abstract
An abstract of title.
Conclusion
A decision reached after careful thought.
The board has come to the conclusion that the proposed takeover would not be in the interest of our shareholders.
Abstract
To take away; remove
Abstract the most important data from a set of records.
Conclusion
(logic) In an argument or syllogism, the proposition that follows as a necessary consequence of the premises.
Abstract
To remove without permission; steal
A painting that was abstracted from the museum.
Conclusion
(obsolete) An experiment, or something from which a conclusion may be drawn.
Abstract
To consider (an idea, for example) as separate from particular examples or objects
Abstract a principle of arrangement from a series of items.
Conclusion
(law) The end or close of a pleading, for example, the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace", etc.
Abstract
(ăbstrăkt′) To write a summary of; summarize
Abstract a long article in a paragraph.
Conclusion
(law) An estoppel or bar by which a person is held to a particular position.
Abstract
To create artistic abstractions of (something else, such as a concrete object or another style)
"The Bauhaus Functionalists were ... busy unornamenting and abstracting modern architecture, painting and design" (John Barth).
Conclusion
The last part of anything; close; termination; end.
A fluorish of trumpets announced the conclusion of the contest.
Abstract
An abridgement or summary of a longer publication.
Conclusion
Final decision; determination; result.
And the conclusion is, she shall be thine.
Abstract
Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items.
Conclusion
Any inference or result of reasoning.
Abstract
Concentrated essence of a product.
Conclusion
The inferred proposition of a syllogism; the necessary consequence of the conditions asserted in two related propositions called premises. See Syllogism.
He granted him both the major and minor, but denied him the conclusion.
Abstract
(medicine) A powdered solid extract of a medicinal substance mixed with lactose.
Conclusion
Drawing of inferences.
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyesAnd still conclusion.
Abstract
An abstraction; an abstract term; that which is abstract.
Conclusion
An experiment, or something from which a conclusion may be drawn.
We practice likewise all conclusions of grafting and inoculating.
Abstract
The theoretical way of looking at things; something that exists only in idealized form.
Conclusion
The end or close of a pleading, e.g., the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace," etc.
Like the famous ape,To try conclusions, in the basket creep.
Abstract
(arts) An abstract work of art.
Conclusion
A position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration;
A decision unfavorable to the opposition
His conclusion took the evidence into account
Satisfied with the panel's determination
Abstract
(real estate) A summary title of the key points detailing a tract of land, for ownership; abstract of title.
Conclusion
An intuitive assumption;
Jump to a conclusion
Abstract
(obsolete) Derived; extracted.
Conclusion
The temporal end; the concluding time;
The stopping point of each round was signaled by a bell
The market was up at the finish
They were playing better at the close of the season
Abstract
Drawn away; removed from; apart from; separate.
Conclusion
Event whose occurrence ends something;
His death marked the ending of an era
When these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show
Abstract
Not concrete: conceptual, ideal.
Her new film is an abstract piece, combining elements of magic realism, flashbacks, and animation but with very little in terms of plot construction.
Conclusion
The proposition arrived at by logical reasoning (such as the proposition that must follow from the major and minor premises of a syllogism)
Abstract
Insufficiently factual.
Conclusion
The act of ending something;
The termination of the agreement
Abstract
Apart from practice or reality; vague; theoretical; impersonal; not applied.
Conclusion
A final settlement;
The conclusion of a business deal
The conclusion of the peace treaty
Abstract
(grammar) As a noun, denoting a concept or intangible as opposed to an object, place, or person.
Conclusion
The last section of a communication;
In conclusion I want to say...
Abstract
Difficult to understand; abstruse; hard to conceptualize.
The politician gave a somewhat abstract answer when asked about their plans to cut spending.
Conclusion
The act of making up your mind about something;
The burden of decision was his
He drew his conclusions quickly
Abstract
Separately expressing a property or attribute of an object that is considered to be inherent to that object: attributive, ascriptive.
Abstract
Pertaining comprehensively to, or representing, a class or group of objects, as opposed to any specific object; considered apart from any application to a particular object: general, generic, nonspecific; representational.
Abstract
(archaic) Absent-minded.
Abstract
(arts) Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them.
Abstract
Free from representational qualities, in particular the non-representational styles of the 20th century.
Abstract
(music) Absolute.
Abstract
(dance) Lacking a story.
Abstract
Being a partial basis for subclasses rather than a complete template for objects.
Abstract
(transitive) To separate; to disengage.
Abstract
(transitive) To remove; to take away; withdraw.
Abstract
To steal; to take away; to remove without permission.
Abstract
(transitive) To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize.
Abstract
To conceptualize an ideal subgroup by means of the generalization of an attribute, as follows: by apprehending an attribute inherent to one individual, then separating that attribute and contemplating it by itself, then conceiving of that attribute as a general quality, then despecifying that conceived quality with respect to several or many individuals, and by then ideating a group composed of those individuals perceived to possess said quality.
Abstract
To extract by means of distillation.
Abstract
(transitive) To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality.
Abstract
To withdraw oneself; to retire.
Abstract
(transitive) To draw off (interest or attention).
He was wholly abstracted by other objects.
Abstract
To perform the process of abstraction.
Abstract
To create abstractions.
Abstract
To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with "out".
He abstracted out the square root function.
Abstract
Withdraw; separate.
The more abstract . . . we are from the body.
Abstract
Considered apart from any application to a particular object; separated from matter; existing in the mind only; as, abstract truth, abstract numbers. Hence: ideal; abstruse; difficult.
Abstract
Expressing a particular property of an object viewed apart from the other properties which constitute it; - opposed to concrete; as, honesty is an abstract word.
A concrete name is a name which stands for a thing; an abstract name which stands for an attribute of a thing. A practice has grown up in more modern times, which, if not introduced by Locke, has gained currency from his example, of applying the expression "abstract name" to all names which are the result of abstraction and generalization, and consequently to all general names, instead of confining it to the names of attributes.
Abstract
Abstracted; absent in mind.
Abstract
To withdraw; to separate; to take away.
He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices.
Abstract
To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his was wholly abstracted by other objects.
The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
Abstract
To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a quality or attribute.
Abstract
To epitomize; to abridge.
Abstract
To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till.
Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.
Abstract
To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts of a substance, by distillation or other chemical processes. In this sense extract is now more generally used.
Abstract
To perform the process of abstraction.
I own myself able to abstract in one sense.
Abstract
That which comprises or concentrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief.
An abstract of every treatise he had read.
Man, the abstractOf all perfection, which the workmanshipOf Heaven hath modeled.
Abstract
A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated things.
Abstract
An abstract term.
The concretes "father" and "son" have, or might have, the abstracts "paternity" and "filiety."
Abstract
A powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance mixed with sugar of milk in such proportion that one part of the abstract represents two parts of the original substance.
Abstract
A concept or idea not associated with any specific instance;
He loved her only in the abstract--not in person
Abstract
A sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
Abstract
Consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically
Abstract
Make off with belongings of others
Abstract
Consider apart from a particular case or instance;
Let's abstract away from this particular example
Abstract
Give an abstract (of)
Abstract
Existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment;
Abstract words like `truth' and `justice'
Abstract
Not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature;
A large abstract painting
Abstract
Based on specialized theory;
A theoretical analysis
Abstract
Dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention;
Abstract reasoning
Abstract science
Common Curiosities
Who is the target audience of an abstract?
The abstract targets a broader audience, including those scanning for relevant research.
Where is the conclusion found in a document?
The conclusion is typically located at the end of a document.
Can a conclusion suggest future research?
Yes, conclusions often suggest directions for future research or applications of the findings.
What is the purpose of a conclusion?
A conclusion summarizes the key findings and implications of the research.
Is an abstract necessary for all research papers?
Yes, an abstract is a crucial component of research papers, providing a quick overview of the study.
How long is a typical abstract?
Abstracts are usually between 150 to 250 words, depending on the journal or academic requirements.
Can an abstract influence the reader’s decision to read the full paper?
Yes, an effective abstract can persuade a reader to delve into the full document.
Are conclusions only found in research papers?
No, conclusions are used in various documents, including reports, essays, and articles, to summarize and reflect on content.
What information does an abstract contain?
An abstract includes the study’s purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions.
Should the conclusion include new information?
No, the conclusion should synthesize information presented in the document without introducing new data.
What makes a good abstract?
A good abstract concisely presents the research's purpose, methods, results, and conclusions, offering a clear snapshot of the study.
Does a conclusion discuss the research methodology?
No, the conclusion focuses on findings, implications, and possibly future research directions, not the methodology.
How does an abstract differ from an introduction?
An abstract summarizes the entire paper, while an introduction sets up the background and states the research problem.
Is it necessary to read the conclusion if one has read the abstract?
Yes, as the conclusion provides a deeper insight into the study's outcomes and implications.
Can the abstract and conclusion contain similar information?
Yes, but the abstract provides a brief overview, while the conclusion delves deeper into the findings and their significance.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
