How to Write a Thesis Abstract

I was requested by some of my colleagues and Master students to help with abstract writing. Here are some stock expressions in the filed of Education to help with Thai to English abstract translation:
1. State research objectives

• The purpose(s) of this study was(were) to examine/investigate/analyze/compare/determine...
• The objective(s) of this study was(were) to examine/investigate/analyze/compare/determine...
• This study examined/investigated (+noun phrase)
• This research aimed to (+ verb phrase)

EX: The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist between the reading scores of students learning by using SQ3Rs and students learning by traditional methods.

2. State population/sample
Population

• The population of this study were...........students from...........
  

• Sample of ........... were selected from .......by using ......method
• .....(number) ...students were selected (from.....) using....method

EX: 375 students were selected through cluster and simple random sampling methods.
Samples were selected by using a two-stage cluster random sampling technique.

3. State methods/Instruments/Statistics

• A 50-item questionnaire with Likert scale on ...(topic) ...was developed (if you are the one created it) ....and administered to the sample.
• The instrument(s) used in this study was(were) .........,
  

• Statistics used in this study included ......, ........, .....
• Statistics used for data analysis were ......, ......,...
  

4. State results/findings
4.1 Present

• The findings of this study are as follows: 1)......... 2)......
• The results reveal that ......

4.2 Past

• It was found out that .....

5. Statistics and significance

• Differences were found between G1 and G2 at the significant level of 0.05 (t > 1.65)

Please make sure that your abstract cover all these important parts required by the Office of Graduate Studies. There are a lot of stock expressions used in writing this kind of traditional abstracts, however, I hope this can help you to get started. Q/A is welcomed.