The Role and Position of Summaries: some issues and data

ABSTRACT (1) Summaries generally have two positions (before and after an article) and three functions: they help readers to decide whether or not to read an article, they clarify what is to come and they aid recall. These positions and functions can interact to the advantage (or disadvantage) of the reader. (2) The previous research shows no particular advantage for positioning a summary before or after an article. (3) In the experiment reported three groups of students read a passage with a beginning summary, an end summary, or no summary at all. The results showed that the end summary led to significantly better recall scores(P#lt0#lb05). (4) The discussion suggests that more research needs to be done on different kinds of summaries in different positions, with different kinds of text and different methods of recall.