Is Abstract and Executive Summary the same?

 

Can you tell the difference between an Abstract and an Executive Summary? Are these two same things? If no, then what is the difference between these two, and how do you write them differently?  

Well, there are a lot of questions we have bubbling in our minds when we need to write an executive summary or abstract for our research studies. Do you want to find out your answers? Go ahead and read the below section to know more! 

Abstract and Executive Summary are two terminologies that are mostly spoken as same and are misunderstood often by the writers while writing their research papers. Abstract is a word exercised while writing the research papers. In contrast to the former, executive summary is a word used in professional writing for brief writing that represents a short summary of a lengthy report. This is the key dissimilarity between an executive summary and abstract. 

An abstract is added with the intention of allowing the readers to fathom the essence of the thesis or dissertation to be offered throughout a session or a conference. It is a brief kind of the whole thesis or research paper. In other terms, it comprises the theme or subject of the report or analysis in a nutshell. 

An executive summary is required to be provided in non-technical writing, whereas abstract can potentially be provided in technical writing or format. An executive summary must carry a conclusion in the last part. Alternatively, an abstract requires no sort of conclusion in the last section. This is one of the key differences between an abstract and executive summary. 

An executive summary is must make an effort at adding a suggestion given in the report in the ending or concluding lines of the paragraph. On the other hand, an abstract needs no such recommendation towards the end. An executive summary should summarize more than one recommendation at the end. Conversely, an abstract provides a summary of only one research paper that is to be presented in the conferences or a seminar. 

An abstract serves the purpose of orientation, while an executive summary is composed as a kind of summarized description. This is another key dissimilarity between an abstract as well as an executive summary. It is indeed likely that various businesses describe the executive summary in a different way as per the background of their business models. 

An executive summary must enclose short or concise sections. At one fell swoop, an abstract likewise can comprise short as well as concise subsections. Every so often, it covers only one section too. These are some differences identified between an abstract and an executive summary. 

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