Writing a case study abstract is one of the most common and important academic tasks, which are assigned to students during their years of education. Students are often appointed a peculiar case that is related to their field of study and requires their detailed and comprehensive analysis. They are required to conduct research on the assigned case and reveal their findings in a thoughtful and argumentative scholar work. The paper, in most cases, features a case study abstract, which is an important element that allows the reader to become acquainted with the type and amount of research that was conducted. As a result, the task of writing a case study abstract helps the writer to recollect his or her thoughts and conduct a self-assessment that will assist the reader in understanding the scale of the accomplished scholar work.
Before writing, one should first understand the role and nature of an abstract in a case study paper. The abstract is the opening paragraph of a written work, which is usually found between the title and the first page. The abstract paragraph is commonly preceding the introduction paragraph in its position. In its size and structure, the abstract does not exceed the introduction section and is usually half of a page long, although a more detailed abstract of a larger case study can take up a whole page.
It is also important to note the differences between an abstract and an introduction because writers often confuse these two parts. While an introduction aims to shed light on the topical background of the case study, the sole purpose of an abstract is to inform the reader about the technical side of the research. In the same way, the thesis statement, which is the closing sentence of the introduction, and the purpose statement, which is the closing sentence of the abstract, are also often confused. While the role of the thesis is to clearly state the claim of the argument that will be defended in the case study, the purpose statement is aimed to reveal the goal of the conducted research. The following example of a case study abstract to a fictional research on gender studies and leadership would serve as a guideline on how to write a proper case study abstract.
Abstract
In the recent decades, the contemporary business world has greatly evolved. The following case study is aimed to analyze the particular trends of gender behavior in management. The conducted research was accomplished in response to the common belief that men are better leaders than women. After analyzing a number of selected journal articles and scientific entries, one would come to a conclusion that such assumption is not correct. According to the surveys conducted in the case study, the experimental groups with leaders of different genders had little deviations in their test results.
Purpose statement: The conducted research is bound to support the claim of the case study in order to dissolve the stereotype that women are not suitable for leadership roles in management.