Concluding your research

Writing the conclusion of your research paper

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The
Conclusion
Chapter

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Writing conclusions to your dissertation
Oftenpeoplefeelthatconclusionsarehardtowrite;
However,thisusuallyemergesforanumberofnon-academicreasons:
Psychologicallyyouhave“finished”yourdissertation,soitishardtowrite
anotherchapter;
Youaretiredaftermanytimeofwork;
Youarealittleboredwiththetopicbecauseinterestingdiscoverieshave
beenmade;
But:
Itisanimportantchapter,anditssignificanceconnotbeunderestimated;
Itsmainpurposeistomakeastrongimpressionontheaudienceand
giveasensationofcompletenesstothewholepaper;

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Itisconnectedtotheintroduction;
Itprovidesasummaryofyourresearch;
Itcompletesthecontentsandprovidesasense
tothetotalitytothework;
Itiselaborativeandcoversalltheanswers
aboutthequestionsraisedbeforeintheprevious
sections;
Itfocusesontheanswersandnotonquestions;

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Concluding your dissertation
Theconclusionsectioniswherestudentsbothsummarizeand‘wrapup’
theirwork;
Conclusionsalwayshavethefollowingfeaturesofconclusions(Evans&
Gruba,2002):
ConclusionsarewhattheMiddlesections/orDiscussionchapterhasbeen
arguingfor;
Conclusionshouldbeaseparatechapterfromthe“Discussion”chapter;
TheConclusionsreachedinthischaptershouldbedrawnfromtheMiddle/
or“Discussion"chapter;
Thereshouldbenofurtherdiscussionintheconclusion’schapter;
Youarenotgoingtoanalyzeparticularissues,youaretogiveaconstructive
andpreciseevaluationoftheworkyouhaveconducted;
Conclusionsshouldrespondtotheaimsthatwerestatedinthefirstchapter;

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AccordingtoMorley(2006):conclusionsservethe
followingpurposes:
Identifycommondistinctivefeaturesoftheobjectof
yourstudy;
Demonstratetheresultsofyourresearch;
Provetheaudiencethattheprocessofyourresearch:
Yousucceededtodevelopacriticalunderstandingof
rangeofproblemssetinthedissertation;
Donotincludeanynewinformationandmaterialsnot
mentionedbefore;

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The importance of conclusions
Fortheexaminationprocess:
Itisoftenthelastpieceoftextinthedissertationthat
examinersread;
Examinersmayhavereadthedissertationoveraseriesof
weekswithinterruptionsandcomebacktorecapviaaquick
readoftheintroductionandconclusion;
Foryourlongertermresearchcareer:
Agoodconclusionwillprovideyouwiththeenergytopublish
yourworkwhenyoucomebacktorecapyourfindings;

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The purpose of conclusions
Tietogether,integrate,andsynthesizethevarious
issuesraisedinthebodysections,whilstreflectingthe
introductorychapter;
Provideanswerstothedissertation’sresearch
questions;
Identifythetheoreticalandpolicyimplicationsofthe
researchwithrespecttotheoverallstudyarea;
Highlightthestudy’slimitations;
Providedirectionandareasforfutureresearch;

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Basic functions of conclusions
Tosummarize:
Whatdidyouresearch?
Whatisthenatureofyourmainarguments?
Howdidyouresearch?
Whatdidyoudiscover?
Toprovideanoverviewof:
Thenewknowledgeorinformationdiscovered;
Thesignificanceofyourresearch;
Thelimitationsofyourresearch;
Speculationontheimplicationsoftheselimitations;
Areasforfurtherdevelopmentandresearch;

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Conclusionsarestatementsofthesignificanceof
whattheyfoundout;
Oftenaconclusionchapterisonlyafewpages
long,asopposedtotheDiscussionchapterwhich
shouldbemuchlongerandmuchmoreextensive
initselaborationandreferencetopriorresearch;
Thompson(2005:317–318)liststhefollowing
conventionalsectionsofconclusionchapters;

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Introductoryrestatementof
aims,researchquestions:
Restatementoftheissue
beingresearched,work
carriedout,purposeofthe
study,researchquestionsor
hypotheses,
Consolidationofpresent
research:
Summaryandevaluationof
methods, summary of
results/findingsandclaims,
Recommendations, for
furtherresearch,implications:
Futureresearch,practical
applications,limitationsofthe
study,
‘Self-Reflection’: Lettheexaminerseethat
althoughyoudidthe
dissertationbecauseitwasan
academicrequirement,itwas
alsoalearningprocessfor
you,

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Bunton(2005)carriedoutanexaminationofthestructureofconclusions
chapters;
Therearetwomaintypesofconclusions:
Thesis-orientedconclusionVs.Field-orientedconclusion;
Thesis-orientedconclusion:‘focusesmainlyonthethesisitself,beginning
witharestatementofpurposeandsummaryoffindingsandclaims’(Bunton
2005:214–5);
Field-orientedconclusion:‘focusesmainlyonthefieldandonlymentions
thethesisanditsfindingsorcontributionsinthecontextofthewholefield’
(Bunton2005:215);
Accordingly,conclusionsalsovaryacrossareasofstudy;
Forexample,conclusionswritteninthehumanitiesandsocialsciencestend
tobelongerthanscienceandtechnologyconclusions;

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The language of Conclusions
Hewings(1993)discussestypicallanguage
featuresofConclusions;
Hedescribeshowwritersreport,comment,and
speculateontheirfindings;
Hefound,inhisresearch,thatwriterstypically
refertooneofthreethingswhentheydothis:the
world,otherresearch,andeitherthe
methodologyorfindingsofthethesis/or
dissertationitself;

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The content of good conclusions
Belogicalendingandsynthesizingwhathasbeenpreviously
discussedandnevercontainanynewinformation;
Itmustpulltogetherallofthepartsofyourargumentandrefer
thereaderbacktothefocusyouhaveoutlinedinyour
introductionandtothecentraltopicandtherebycreateasense
ofunity;
Beverysystematic,brief,andnevercontainanynew
information;
Itshouldbepreferablylessthanorequaltoabout5pages;
Addtotheoverallqualityandimpactoftheresearch;

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The “4 Avoids”
Avoidclaimingfindingsthatyouhavenotproventhroughout
yourresearch;
Avoidintroducingnewdata;
Avoidhidingweaknessesorlimitationsinyourresearch
(makeavirtueofshowingstronganalyticalskillsandself-
critiquebydiscussingthelimitations);
Avoidbeingtoolong(repetitive)ortooshort(sayingnothing
ofimportance);

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Sample conclusion structure
Oneparagraphtofocusonwhatyouresearchedandhow
youdidit;
Oneparagraphtofocusonwhatarethemainfindings
were;
Oneparagraphtofocusonpossibleareasforfuture
research;
Oneparagraphremindingreadersoftheoriginal
contributionandsignificanceofyourresearchtoyourfield;

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Conclusion
Theconclusioniswhereyoucanmakethestrongestcase
foryourselfasanacademic;
Itisthereforeimportanttoknowthattheconclusionis
oftenwhattheexaminerorreaderremembersbestand
shouldprojectthebestofyourwork;
Thisisyourfinalstatementabouttheresearchwork,thus
itmusthaveagreatimpactontheexaminer;

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