How to write Conclusion for a Project, Thesis or Dissertation
Nearly every type of writing includes a conclusion. When a reader reaches the end of your work, a strong conclusion paragraph may alter their minds, and understanding how to create a complete, interesting conclusion can improve the effect of your writing.
And if you’re writing a dissertation or thesis conclusion, I have a few recommendations for you. So the first thing to remember is what is the objective of your work’s concluding chapter or section?
- Purpose of the Chapter/Section: Its primary goal is for you to reflect on what you’ve discovered, and it’s also where you wrap things up for the reader. And you’ll need to think about what you’ve done and what you’ve discovered in order to do so. Allow me to provide some recommendations for what you should do and what you should avoid doing.
- Discuss your findings in relation to the Literature Review
Now, when it comes to the important aspects, you should reflect on your findings and explain them in connection to the theoretical framework that you developed during your literature study.
So how do your results, for example, fit in relation to previous studies?
- Do they contradict previous studies?
- Do they complement previous studies?
- Did they confirm what other authors have found, but in a different industry or in a different context for example?
- So how do your results fit in relation to the existing literature?
That’s one very important thing in your conclusion for you to remind the reader once again, what the aim of your study was, and how the aim was fulfilled. And the same thing for your objectives, and if you had modes for objectives, how each of those objectives were met, and what was it that you did.
- Your own personal thoughts
Another very important thing is your own reflections in relation to your findings. So how important are they?
- How do they contribute?
- How do they contribute to the industry?
- How do they contribute to academia?
- How do they contribute in any possible sense?
So this reflection that you’re going to that you’re going to have in relation to your findings, that’s something that only you can do. And also, it’s something that you can discuss with your supervisor. But that’s really, really important, which is, again, the reflection that you have on those findings and how those findings contribute in any possible sense.
- Conclusion is not a Summary
Now, one thing that conclusion should not be is an abstract, in other words, a summary of everything that you do. It’s not supposed to be a summary.
You’ll remind the reader what your research goal was, as well as your objectives and how they were met, as well as the outcomes.
But it’s not a description of your findings; you’re not going to summarize all that was done; instead, you’ll have your abstract at the start of your thesis or dissertation, where you’ll offer a fast overview in one page of what you accomplished.
The conclusion is a time for reflection on what you’ve done and discovered, as well as how it relates to contemporary literature. What role does it play? Why your work was significant, what you discovered was significant, and how each of these issues was handled.
- Highlight why your work is important
Highlight why what you discovered was significant, and how it contributes to the industry, academia, and the current literature in any way.
Conclusion
So, to summarize briefly, my advice is to make sure that in your conclusion chapter, you remind the reader what your research goal was, as well as how each of your objectives was met.
Make sure you reflect on your results, that you connect them to the literature, and that you emphasize why and how your study is essential.
Also, please do not use your conclusion as a time to summarize all you’ve done; instead, go through everything you’ve done. That is not the definition of a conclusion.
And, as I’ve mentioned in practically every piece, these are my recommendations. Every supervisor has his or her own personality and set of expectations. As a result, make sure you talk to your supervisor about it.
