The first task of your conclusion is to remind the reader of your research problem. You will have discussed this problem in depth throughout the body, but now the point is to zoom back out from the details to the bigger picture.
The content of the conclusion varies depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument through engagement with sources.
Whatever the scope of your own research, there will always be room for further investigation of related topics, and you’ll often discover new questions and problems during the research process.
No, it’s not appropriate to present new arguments or evidence in the conclusion. While you might be tempted to save a striking argument for last, research papers follow a more formal structure than this.
Table of contents
- Restate the research problem addressed in the paper
- Summarize your overall arguments or findings
- Suggest the key takeaways from your paper
While you are restating a problem you’ve already introduced, you should avoid phrasing it identically to how it appeared in the introduction. Ideally, you’ll find a novel way to circle back to the problem from the more detailed ideas discussed in the body.
While the role of cattle in climate change is by now common knowledge, countries like the Netherlands continually fail to confront this issue with the urgency it deserves. The evidence is clear: To create a truly futureproof agricultural sector, Dutch farmers must be incentivized to transition from livestock farming to sustainable vegetable farming. As well as dramatically lowering emissions, plant-based agriculture, if approached in the right way, can produce more food with less land, providing opportunities for nature regeneration areas that will themselves contribute to climate targets. Although this approach would have economic ramifications, from a long-term perspective, it would represent a significant step towards a more sustainable and resilient national economy. Transitioning to sustainable vegetable farming will make the Netherlands greener and healthier, setting an example for other European governments. Farmers, policymakers, and consumers must focus on the future, not just on their own short-term interests, and work to implement this transition now.
The recommended length of a dissertation conclusion is 5-7% of the overall word count.
- It answers the research questions of the study.
- It provides you with the opportunity to summarize the findings of the study.
- Offers you the opportunity to make recommendations for additional studies.
- Clearly highlights the additional knowledge that your dissertation has added.
By evaluating the fast-changing representation of migration and Italy border policy in the past 15 years, this demonstrated that media discourse can help to shape the decision making in a country.
After writing the thesis, you are finally approaching the end. So, it is the best moment to hit the final steps because everything is still clear and fresh in mind. Make sure to also check another top example of conclusion in thesis and compare it with yours. The aim is to make your conclusion look better. Here are the main things that you need to work on:
How To Write A Dissertation Conclusion
When thinking of how to write thesis conclusion, it is important to make it easy-to-read, concise, and fun to read. Your goal should be putting across the argument that your dissertation brought out. Although you will most probably have handled the introduction, literature review, methodology, and discussion of the dissertation, the importance of the dissertation conclusion cannot be underestimated.
But you should note that empirical scientific studies, which are shorter, rock shorter conclusions compared to those of studies in humanities. You might want to check a dissertation conclusion sample from a top student or expert to see how he/she did the conclusion.
This study strongly demonstrates that Y, but further raises fundamental questions about X and Z
Note that the conclusion should not appear as a stand-alone chapter in the dissertation. Rather, it should articulately interweave with the rest of the paper. To perfect your skills, make sure to also check top conclusion paragraph examples from other students.
In the discussion section, you delve deeper into the results you have just presented. You are simply deciphering the findings in line with your research questions. It is the discussion that will set the stage for approving or disproving the thesis statement that you outlined in the first chapter.
Note that just like the rest of the dissertation, you should not shy from asking your supervisor for a great dissertation conclusion example, especially from past students. This is very important because your department might have a preferred format for writing dissertation conclusions. You can also get a perfect example of a conclusion in thesis as you research your topic.
As you think about how to write a conclusion, there is one question you need to get right: “How long should a conclusion be?” If you are writing a conclusion for a standard research paper or short thesis, one to three paragraphs should suffice. To put it in percentage, the conclusion should be about 5% of the overall word count. Therefore, you should start by establishing “how long should a thesis be”.
The Best Format for Writing a Conclusion
From this post on how to write a conclusion paragraph, there is no doubt that you should find it an easy and enjoyable process. After working so hard to complete the dissertation, the conclusion paragraph is simply aimed at wrapping everything up. To get the best conclusions, you should also read top-rated conclusion paragraph examples to see how experts do it. But we must agree that even with this simplified demonstration, crafting the perfect conclusion paragraph is no easy task. It takes time and practice.
The conclusion paragraph is the part where you reflect on the dissertation.
In most cases, the conclusion for empirical scientific researches is generally short while that of humanities dissertations is longer. Here is the best format on how to end a research paper or thesis.
When writing a dissertation conclusion, you demonstrate what new knowledge you are contributing to the field.
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The only thing you need to remember is that the conclusion of an essay is not just the last paragraph of an academic paper where you restate your thesis and key arguments. A concluding paragraph is also your opportunity to have a final impact on your audience.В
- Provide clear examples from real life to help readers better understand the further implementation of the stated solutions
- A short, but memorable and attention-grabbing conclusion
Instead of Intro: What Is a Conclusion?
Another key thing to remember is that you should not introduce any new ideas or arguments to your paper's conclusion. It should only sum up what you have already written, revisit your thesis statement, and end with a powerful final impression.
- A concluding sentence should only revisit the thesis statement, not restate it
- So what?
- What is the goal of a research paper?
- What are the possible solutions to the research question(s)?
- How can your results be implemented in real life? (Is your research paper helpful to the community?)
- Why is this study important and relevant?
It also means summarising your thesis in a way that is free of unnecessary detail and is easy to understand.
As you go through the empirical chapters you begin to introduce a bit more certainty into your discussion. You start to change from ‘what if’ to ‘here is what’s happening’.
So, rather than get bogged down in detail, your job is to reflect back on your original aims and intentions and discuss them in terms of your findings and new expertise.
Don’t forget to discuss the implications or your thesis and the directions for future research. No PhD thesis is perfect and you should acknowledge what your thesis didn’t do as much as what it could have. This doesn’t stop with a discussion on the epistemological, ontological or methodological limitations of the study, but extends to your own personal limitations. Did you run out of time? Did you struggle to recruit participants because of language barriers? Or maybe you didn’t have the budget to conduct the study you wanted to? These kinds of personal reflections are important, as they show humility and that you are aware of avenues for growth.
1. Don’t repeat yourself
Remember earlier when we discussed not owning your research and speaking as an authority? One way to fail at this is to over-generalise or to pretend that your thesis does more than it actually does.
There are lots of guides out there that explain how to write a PhD thesis conclusion, but few that explain how to write outstanding conclusions.
Each chapter is a piece of the puzzle and only when they are all slotted together do you have an entire thesis. That means that a great conclusion is one that shows that the thesis is bigger than the sum of its individual chapters.
A quick summary or recap of the findings is sufficient, not a lengthy restatement. The same is true with your theory framework or literature review. Recap, don’t repeat.
- A concluding sentence should only revisit the thesis statement, not restate it
- A short, but memorable and attention-grabbing conclusion