The conclusion chapter should be shorter and more general than the discussion. Instead of discussing specific results and interpreting the data in detail, here you make broad statements that sum up the most important insights of the research.
Avoid exaggerating the applicability of your research. If you’re making recommendations for policy, business or other practical implementation, it’s generally best to frame them as suggestions rather than imperatives – the purpose of academic research is to inform, explain and explore, not to instruct.
- Clearly state the answer to the main research question
- Summarize and reflect on the research
- Make recommendations for future work on the topic
- Show what new knowledge you have contributed
Make sure your reader is left with a strong impression of what your research has contributed to knowledge in your field. Some strategies to achieve this include:
Discussion vs conclusion
The conclusion is an opportunity to remind the reader why you took the approach you did, what you expected to find, and how well the results matched your expectations.
You can also mention any limitations of your research if you haven’t already included these in the discussion. Don’t dwell on them at length, though – focus on the positives of your work.
It’s a good idea to write the abstract next, while the research is still fresh in your mind. If you’re not sure where to begin, read our guide on how to write an abstract.
- 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.
The person who is reading your dissertation conclusion has come a long way from the first chapter. Before finishing reading the study, this is a great opportunity to remind him/her why you started working on the study in the first place. Well, go a step further and demonstrate how articulately the results from the study synched with your main expectations. So, summarize the study coherently, showing the entire journey that was followed during the study.
The dissertation conclusion is the final chapter of the thesis, wrapping up the research conducted and summarizing the key outcomes of a discussion section.
This study strongly demonstrates that Y, but further raises fundamental questions about X and Z
Dissertation Conclusion: What Is It?
To make concluding your thesis easy and direct, you should follow these four steps. Since you are concluding, it is important to have the arguments clear both in your mind and the thesis. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to conclude a thesis.
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.
Here, it is important to be factual. Remember that when you call for additional studies, a question about it could be thrown your way during the thesis defense.
What was your contribution? This part of the conclusion is used to answer the question: “So what?” It provides the right impression of how the thesis contributed to the researcher’s field of study. To achieve this, you can use the following strategies:
There are times when students, even after working on the biggest chunk of their dissertations, feel inadequate to write the conclusions. Often, the process can be complicated when you are required to follow specific models such as MLA or APA conclusion. Even if you have the best conclusion examples and working hard to hone writing skills, a tight deadline or other engagements might make it hard to craft the best. If you feel inadequate about writing a Harvard or MLA format conclusion because of any reason, do not hesitate to seek writing help.
- Revisit the study problem statement and explain how the thesis helped to solve it.
- Refer to the study’s literature review to demonstrate how the dissertation has helped to fill the existing gap.
- If your dissertation is in humanities, you can demonstrate how the findings challenged or confirmed the current viewpoints, assumptions, or theories.
At the conclusion, you draw the recommendations for additional studies in areas that you found with gaps.
The Best Format for Writing a Conclusion
The conclusion paragraph is the part where you reflect on the dissertation.
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”.
Start by answering the thesis question: Your conclusion should commence by restating the main thesis question that you anticipate to answer. Finally, you have the opportunity to answer the question. Ensure the answer is clear and concise.
Your dissertation conclusion is the last part that you work on after completing research and the write-up. No matter the area of study you are focusing on, the conclusion can help you to achieve the following goals:
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Well, re-stating your thesis means reminding your readers what you promised them when starting your paper or essay. When you know how to restate a thesis and the tips to follow, you do this more effectively. The most important thing is to rephrase your thesis idea and focus on reminding your readers what you promised them in the introduction. Also, show them how you have fulfilled your promise in the body of your paper or essay. Alternatively, tell them why you didn’t fulfill your promise. You can use an example to learn more about restating a thesis idea.
It’s crucial to avoid using references in this section. Instead, employ a tense that shows that you have discussed all the major points that you mentioned in the introduction. Since the major points in your paper or essays were supporting your thesis idea, make sure that you restate it in the concluding section.
A thesis is included towards the end of the introductory paragraph of an essay or a research paper. So, the question that could be lingering in your mind now is probably, where does the restatement of the thesis belong?
Many students don’t know how to restate a thesis towards the end of their essays or papers. But, before you learn how to restate a thesis, it’s important to know what a thesis statement is. That’s because you can only restate what you know.
Restate Thesis Effectively
This section should focus on addressing all parts of a thesis and make clear that your paper or essay has come to a successful end. Simply put, this section of a paper or essay should tell your readers that you have finished your research. Remind them about the findings of your research too.
At this point, you’re no longer asking, what does restate thesis mean. You also know what a thesis statement is. But, you want to know how to restate a thesis. This is very important because if you restate thesis improperly, it won’t make the finalizing statement strong. Here’s a useful guide on how to restate thesis in your essay or research paper.
Follow these tips to make your restatement more effective. You can also seek help from your colleagues, educator, or guardian if you have difficulties restating your thesis.
- Choose where to restate thesis.
You know that a thesis should be restated in the conclusion. But, how do you restate your thesis in the conclusion? Well, you need a rough draft of this section first. Once you have it, pick the right place to include a thesis restatement. For instance, you can choose the last sentence of this section. However, you will most likely include a reference to the broader context or add a reinforcing statement towards the end of this section. - Avoid limiting yourself.
You’re not limited when it comes to restating your thesis statement. Therefore, don’t limit yourself to include it just a few times. Instead, use your thesis idea to strengthen the emotional appeal to your readers. - Address the “so what” question.
Readers of every paper or essay always have the “so what” question. Therefore, address this question by expanding the initial assumptions that you make in your thesis. Also, add the arguments that your body section has covered in the restatement of thesis. - Avoid being trivial.
You have several language clichés to choose from when restating your thesis. Maybe you don’t think you can invent something original when restating the main idea of your paper or essay. However, you should avoid being trivial. Don’t select a primitive construction like “in conclusion” or “to sum up everything”. Instead, come up with something better, original, and unique. This can be the major contribution that will earn you a better grade than other students in your class or college. - Draft persuasive and strong conclusions.
You might not prove the main point that you promise when starting to write your paper or essay. And, there are good reasons for failing to do it. For instance, you may fail to find experts’ opinions or primary data. The subject of your paper or essay might also lack consensus in terms of the published sources. However, this is not a reason to sound apologetic. After all, you have done a great job. Therefore, restate your main idea and give readers your reasons for not fulfilling your promise.
You might already have made recommendations for future research in the discussion, but the conclusion is a good place to elaborate and look ahead, considering the implications of your findings for theory and practice.
Once you’ve added any appendices, you can create a table of contents and title page. Finally, read through the whole document again to make sure your dissertation is clearly written and free from language errors. You can proofread it yourself, ask a friend, or take a look at Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service.
Depending on the type of dissertation, the conclusion should typically be around 5-7% of the overall word count. An empirical scientific study will often have a short conclusion that concisely states the main findings and recommendations, while a humanities dissertation might require more space to conclude its analysis and tie all the chapters together in an overall argument.
If you’re making recommendations for further research, be sure not to undermine your own work. Future studies might confirm, build on or enrich your conclusions, but they shouldn’t be required to complete them.
Make recommendations
- Missing commas and periods
- Incorrect usage of “et al.”
- Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
- Missing reference entries
Note that in the second example, the research aim is not directly restated, but is implicit in the statement (the research aimed to analyse the relationship between media discourse and migration policy). To avoid repeating yourself, it is helpful to reformulate your aims and questions into an overall statement of what you did and how you did it.
The end is near! Once you’ve finished writing your conclusion, it’s time to wrap up the final steps to a completed dissertation.
Avoid exaggerating the applicability of your research. If you’re making recommendations for policy, business or other practical implementation, it’s generally best to frame them as suggestions rather than imperatives – the purpose of academic research is to inform, explain and explore, not to instruct.