Conclusions are the final part of a research paper that summarizes all the work. The concluding paragraph should reaffirm the thesis, summarize the key ideas that have been discussed throughout the work, and offer the final impression on the central idea. This final summary should contain the revelation of a deeper truth. A good conclusion should summarize the final ideas and main points, combining all pertinent information with an emotional appeal for a final statement that resonates with readers.
The number of sentences of the conclusions will depend on the number of paragraphs (statements) that your thesis has. To write a conclusion it is necessary to have some important information. In addition to reaffirming your thesis and highlighting your main points, you could add a relevant quote from an authoritative source.
In addition, it may be worth taking this opportunity to link your argument to a broader context, such as relating your central theme to a particular group in society or even to a global concept.
What is the purpose of a conclusion?
The purpose of a concluding paragraph is to conclude your writing and reinforce the main idea you presented in the body of your work. The structure of the conclusion is one of the key elements of academic writing. A conclusion links the initial thesis presented in the opening paragraph along with the points of support and a final impression that gives the reader a closure. Thus, a well-drafted conclusion clearly conveys the writer’s message. A solid conclusion can offer the reader a different perspective or throw a new view on an old idea.
Outline for drawing conclusions
The beginning of the conclusions
It is the phrase that retains the thesis. So, if you’re wondering how to start a conclusion, rephrase your thesis statement and write it down first.
A summary of the main parts of the thesis
Here you will place 2 or 3 sentences that wrap the arguments of your thesis. Explain how they fit together.
A closing sentence
It’s a final sentence of your thesis, which provides a sense of closure and connects readers to the introduction.
It is important to end on a high note. See an example conclusion to get an idea for your thesis work.
The purpose of this research was to identify effective strategies to treat the repetitive movements identified in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Based on the analysis carried out, it can be concluded that there are multiple behavior modification therapies important for the improvement of this behavior. Future exploration of behavior modification techniques could be helpful in finding more therapy techniques. It’s worth exploring how much this could improve the lives of other people with repetitive motion behaviors.
Discussion and conclusion
The conclusion contains elements similar to those of the discussion, and sometimes these two sections are combined (especially in shorter papers and journal articles). However, in a thesis or dissertation, it is usual to include a final chapter that summarizes the research and offers the reader a final impression of the work.
The chapter of conclusions should be shorter and more general than the discussion. Instead of discussing specific results and interpreting the data in detail, general statements are made here that summarize the most important ideas of the research.
The conclusion should not introduce new data, interpretations or arguments.
Length of conclusion
Depending on the type of thesis, the conclusion usually occupies between 5 and 7% of the total number of words. An empirical scientific study usually has a brief conclusion that concisely sets out the main conclusions and recommendations, while a humanities thesis may require more space to conclude its analysis and link all the chapters into a general argument.
Answer the research question
The conclusion should start from the main question that your thesis or dissertation intended to address. This is your last chance to prove that you’ve done what you set out to do, so be sure to formulate a clear and concise answer. Don’t repeat a list of all the results you’ve already discussed, but synthesize into a final conclusion that the reader remembers.
Example of Phrases to establish the conclusions of the thesis
Presentation of the objectives of the study – closing
The present project was carried out to design … and evaluate…
The present study was designed to determine the effect of …
Also, this study has been proposed …
In this research, the goal was to evaluate…
In this paper it has been argued that …
The main objective of the present study was to determine …
The second objective of this study was to investigate the effects of …
In this thesis the reasons for …
The objective of the present investigation was to determine …
The aim of this research was to examine …
Summary of the main conclusions of the investigation – closing
This study has identified…
This study has shown that…
Research has also shown that…
The second important conclusion was that…
These experiments confirmed that…
X didn’t make a significant difference to …
This study has shown that, in general, …
X’s research has shown that…
The results of this research show that …
X, Y and Z emerged as reliable predictors of …
Multiple regression analysis revealed that the …
The most obvious conclusion that emerges from this study is that…
The relevance of X is clearly supported by the current results.
One of the most significant conclusions that emerge from this study is that …
Suggest implications for the field of knowledge – close
In general, therefore, it seems that …
The results of this study indicate that …
These results suggest that, overall, …
Therefore, the results of this study suggest that…
Taken together, these results suggest that…
One implication of this is the possibility that …
The evidence from this study suggests that…
The results of this research support the idea that …
Overall, this study reinforces the idea that …
Current data highlight the importance of …
The results of this research provide ideas for …
These data suggest that X can be achieved by …
Finally, the theoretical implications of these results are unclear.
The main theoretical implication of this study is that …
This study has raised important questions about the nature of …
The following conclusions can be drawn from this study …
Taken together, these results suggest a role for X in promoting Y.
The results of this research complement those of previous studies.
These results have important implications for understanding how …
Although this study focuses on X, the results may be related to …
Explain the importance of the results or contribution of the study – close
The results will be of interest to …
This thesis has provided a deeper insight into …
This project is the first comprehensive investigation of …
The knowledge gained in this study can be of help to …
This work contributes to existing knowledge about X by providing…
This is the largest study conducted to date documenting a delay in the occurrence of …
Before this study it was difficult to make predictions about how…
The X analysis conducted here, has expanded our knowledge of …
The empirical results of this study provide a new understanding of …
This work contributes to recent historiographical debates on …
This approach will prove useful in broadening our understanding of how …
Also, this new understanding should help improve predictions of the impact of …
This is the first X-report from a nationally representative patient cohort.
The methods used for this X can be applied to other X’s in other parts of the world.
Therefore, the X we have identified contributes to our understanding of the role of …
This is the first study of considerable duration to examine the associations between …
The results of this study make several contributions to the current literature. First of all…
These results contribute in various ways to our understanding of X and provide a basis for …
Laying the Foundations
The present study lays the groundwork for future research on …
It provides the first comprehensive assessment of …
It establishes a quantitative framework for the detection of …
Also, it adds to the growing body of research indicating …
It is the only empirical research on the impact of …
It has been one of the first attempts to thoroughly examine …
Moreover, it seems to be the first study to compare the experiences of …
It has contributed to improving our understanding of the …
It has confirmed the conclusions of Smith et al. (2001), who discovered that …
Recognize the limitations of this study – close
One limitation of this study is that …
Being limited to X, this study lacks …
The small sample size did not allow …
The main limitation of this study is the …
This study is limited by the absence of …
X makes these results less generalizable to …
Third, the study did not evaluate the use of …
It is unfortunate that the study did not include…
The scope of this study was limited in terms of …
The study is limited by the lack of information on …
Moreover, the most important limitation lies in the fact that …
The main weakness of this study was the scarcity of …
As the study was limited to X, it was not possible…
An additional uncontrolled factor is the possibility that …
It was not possible to assess X; therefore, it is unknown whether…
One question that was not addressed in this study was whether…
The generalization of these results is subject to certain limitations. For example…
One source of weakness in this study that could have affected X’s measurements was…
Recognize the limitation(s) at the same time as exposing a finding or contribution – close
Despite these limitations, the study suggests that…
Although this study did not confirm X, it did partially corroborate…
Despite its exploratory nature, this study offers some data on …
Despite its limitations, the study certainly contributes to our understanding of the …
Although the present study is based on a small sample of participants, the results suggest…
Despite the relatively limited sample, this work offers valuable insights into …
Recommendations for future research work – Close
The question raised by this study is …
The study should be repeated using…
This would be a fruitful area for further work.
There are still several questions to be answered.
A natural progression of this work is to analyze…
More research with controlled trials is needed to …
More generally, it is also necessary to investigate to determine…
Another study could assess the long-term effects of …
What is needed now is a transnational study that includes…
Much more work will have to be done to determine …
The exact mechanism of X in insects is yet to be elucidated.
These results provide the following insights for future research: …
Another Examples
Large randomised controlled trials could provide more definitive evidence.
This research has yielded many questions that need further investigation.
A greater focus on X could produce interesting findings that give more account of …
The question of X is intriguing and could be useful for further investigation.
If the debate is to be advanced, it is necessary to develop a better understanding of X.
I suggest that, before introducing X, a study similar to this one be carried out on …
More information about X would help us establish a greater degree of accuracy on this matter.
We must continue working to establish whether …
It is necessary to conduct studies to validate …
It would be desirable to conduct studies on the role of X.
Experimental research is needed to estimate …
Research is needed to establish the therapeutic efficacy of …
A modelling work will have to be carried out to determine …
It is necessary to work to fully understand the implications of …
Research and experimentation on X is strongly recommended
The experiments, using a wider range of X, could shed more light on…
Research on other X’s is therefore an essential next step in confirming …
Further research could explore…
You need to take a closer look at the links between X and Y.
It could also be carried out to determine the efficacy of …
Establish recommendations for practice or policy – close
Other types of X could be: a), b). …
Therefore, there is a clear need to …
Greater efforts are needed to ensure …
The provision of X will improve Y and reduce Z.
Another important practical implication is that …
In addition, you have to make more X available to …
The challenge now is to manufacture X that contains …
If governments do not adopt X, Y will not be reached.
These conclusions suggest several lines of action to …
A reasonable approach to addressing this issue could be…
We must continue to strive to make X more accessible to …
The conclusions of this study have a number of practical implications.
There are a number of important changes that need to be made.
Management to improve bumblebee populations could involve…
This study suggests that X should be avoided by people prone to …
Therefore, a key policy priority should be to plan for the long-term care of …
This information can be used to develop interventions aimed at …
Taken together, these results do not support firm recommendations for …
Ensuring adequate systems, services and support for X should be a priority for …
The results of this study have a number of important implications for future practice.
Examples
Example 1
In a thesis that sets out to solve a practical problem with empirical research, the conclusion could begin like this.
The aim of this research is to identify effective fundraising strategies for non-profit environmental organisations. From a quantitative and qualitative analysis of donation intent in response to campaign materials, it can be concluded that social distance and temporal distance are important factors to consider when designing and targeting campaigns. The results indicate that potential donors are more receptive to images that present a large social distance and a small temporal distance.
Example 2
In a thesis that set out to make a theoretical argument based on the analysis of case studies, it could start like this:
By analysing the changing representations of MIGRATION and UK border policy over the past ten years, this thesis has demonstrated how media discourse can directly and indirectly shape political decision-making.
Note that in the second example, the objective of the research is not directly reaffirmed, but is implicit in the statement (the research aimed to analyze the relationship between media discourse and migration policy). In order not to repeat yourself, it is helpful to rephrase the goals and questions into a general statement of what was done and how it was done.
Example 3
In this research paper, the author summarizes his main findings and supports the conclusions he has reached. In an effort to engage the reader in their area of study, he proposes suggestions for future research. This is his way of leaving readers wanting more.
“Recent research on cold water immersion incidents has provided a more complete understanding of the physiological processes that occur during drowning and near-drowning accidents. Current findings suggest that the cooperative effect of mammalian diving reflex and hypothermia play a critical role in patient survival during a cold water immersion incident. However, the relationship between the two processes is still unclear. Since it is impossible to exactly reproduce a drowning incident in the laboratory, the investigation is hampered by the lack of full details around drowning incidents. Consequently, it is difficult to draw comparisons between published case studies.
More complete and accurate documentation of cold water immersion incidents – including immersion time, recovery time and a victim profile that includes age, sex and physical condition – will facilitate the comparison of individual situations and allow for a better understanding of the processes that affect the long-term survival rates of drowning victims. Once we have a clearer understanding of the relationship between hypothermia and the mammalian immersion reflex, and the effect of factors such as the age of the victim, doctors and rescue personnel will be able to take steps to improve patient care both at the scene and in the hospital.”
Example 4
Although some people choose not to use public transport, decisions to expand or modify public transport systems affect everyone’s life. As a result of my preliminary research, I was interested in exploring whether public transport systems improve the quality of life of citizens. In particular, does public transport only improve the conditions of those who regularly use these systems? Or, do improvements in public transport have a positive impact on the quality of life of all individuals in a given city or region? The rest of this thesis explores the research around these questions and considers some possible conclusions.
Example 5
Although some people choose not to use public transport, decisions to expand or modify public transport systems affect everyone’s life. As a result of my preliminary research, I was interested in exploring whether public transport systems improve the quality of life of citizens. In particular, does public transport only improve the conditions of those who regularly use these systems? Or, do improvements in public transport have a positive impact on the quality of life of all individuals in a given city or region? The rest of this thesis explores the research around these questions and considers some possible conclusions.
Example 6
Although some people choose not to use public transport, decisions to expand or modify public transport systems affect everyone’s life. As a result of my preliminary research, I was interested in exploring whether public transport systems improve the quality of life of citizens. In particular, does public transport only improve the conditions of those who regularly use these systems? Or, do improvements in public transport have a positive impact on the quality of life of all individuals in a given city or region? The rest of this thesis explores the research around these questions and considers some possible conclusions.
Example 7
Recycling is a vital process that benefits the environment. It conserves resources, reduces our need to collect raw materials, and keeps usable materials out of landfills. Recycling reduces our carbon footprint by prolonging the longevity of materials, giving items additional uses before they become waste. By reducing the need for additional resources, recycling can decrease the amount of pollutants and other toxic chemicals that are released into the air through processing and greenhouse gases. The less waste that is incinerated, buried in the ground or thrown into the sea, the healthier and more stable our environment will be. Recycling is just one part of a much-needed effort to combat climate change, but it’s an important part that can help make a big difference.
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Source: indeed.com
You may also be interested in: Examples to develop the introduction of your thesis
Bibliographic References
Hamilton College. n.a. “Conclusions.” Writing Center. Accessed June 14, 2019.
https://www.hamilton.edu//academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/conclusions
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Holewa, Randa. 2004. “Strategies for Writing a Conclusion.” LEO: Literacy Education Online. Last updated February 19, 2004.
https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/conclude.html
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Examples to develop the conclusions of your thesis. Photo: Unsplash. Credits: Andre Hunter
