This article will give you a detailed idea of how to construct an ideal conclusion for your academic dissertation. There are certain goals and objectives of writing a conclusion section.
Writing any part of the dissertation is not easy. Each section has its own demands and requirements. Students must understand the objectives of every chapter in order to meet the goals effectively and efficiently. You have to follow some basic steps that can help you to write a winning conclusion for the dissertation.
What Is A Conclusion Of The Dissertation?
The conclusion of the dissertation is the final chapter. The purpose of the conclusion is to wrap up the information, restating the thesis statement, and providing results and findings at the same time. It might seems you an average task, however, you have to be very careful when drafting a perfect conclusion.
What Are The Objectives Of the Dissertation’s Conclusion?
The main objective of the conclusion is to provide a summary of the work done in the paper. Furthermore, it helps the reader to understand the purpose of reading your paper and what they are going to achieve throughout the process.
Normally, the conclusion is misunderstood by the students. Ensure that you don’t simply restate the thesis statement or provide a summary of your thesis. It is more of a synthesis of the main points instead of a summary.
Here are some of the main objectives of the dissertation writing conclusion;
- It answers the research questions that were developed at the very beginning of the research.
- The conclusion summarises the information and gives a reflection of the research.
- It provides further future work recommendations on the same topic.
- The conclusion shows your contribution to the selected field of specialisation.
Ensure that the conclusion of your dissertation should be attractive to the targeted audience so that they can engage in your writing. Your conclusion should clearly explain the arguments or findings in the research for a better understanding of the readers.
What Is A Difference Between A Conclusion And A Discussion?
When we talk about short assignments, discussion and conclusion are almost the same. They are even sometimes combined, depending on the nature of the document.
However, when it comes to the professional dissertation, the conclusion is an entire chapter and not just only a small section of your daily assignment. There are certainly important components associated with the conclusion chapter. Make sure that you comprehend them before moving to the writing process. It aims to wrap up the entire research in such a significant way that readers can understand your arguments and claims with the help of logical facts and figures.
You have to be careful about the word limits in the conclusion part. There are certain limits of words when writing a conclusion. Your conclusion should be concise, clear, and to the point. Furthermore, it should be more general than any discussion. Rather than simply interpreting your results and data in the conclusion, try to state some statements that cover the deep insights of your topic.
Note: Never include any new information, idea, or arguments in the conclusion section.
How Long Should Be A Dissertation Conclusion?
First of all, you should follow the instructions of your supervisor about the word limits. If they don’t provide you with any guidelines, then go for the internationally approved standards of the dissertation. Normally, a dissertation conclusion should be around 6% to 7% of the total dissertation, and not more or less than that. It is easy and short to write a conclusion for empirical research, however, humanities research always requires a little bit more room to conclude the dissertation.
Characteristics Of Dissertation Conclusion
Following are some of the core characteristics of a winning and significant conclusion of the dissertation;
- The conclusion of the dissertation should be clear and concise. Still, it should include every important piece of information as required by the study.
- The research questions developed at the start of the research should be significantly answered in the conclusion.
- It should include the learning outcomes from the research.
- Make sure that the learning outcome of the research should not be a part of indirect findings.
- Never duplicate the information in the conclusion if you already have stated the same in your paper. The information provided in the thesis can be summarized in different words instead of using the same words throughout the dissertation.
- Be 100% sure and guaranteed of your research so that readers can accept your claims and arguments with the help of logical facts and evidence.
- The conclusion should mention the area of study and the population is taken into consideration during the research process.
- The conclusion should be founded on the results and findings of your research.
Significance Of Conclusion In The Dissertation
You should never underestimate the significance of the conclusion in your academic writing activities regardless of any nature. The conclusion is a final touch and mostly the last thing that the readers will encounter in your research. Therefore, it is recommended to leave a good impression on the readers in the final chapter of the dissertation. In short, it is a closing of your thesis that helps you to summarize and wrap up the knowledge that you have provided throughout your paper.
It is a chance for you to authenticate your arguments in the research. Let’s see some of the points that show the significance of the conclusion in the dissertation;
- It helps to bring all the important points of the thesis in one stage and in a concise manner.
- Another significance of the conclusion is that it supports providing the disputed points in an organised way.
- It further helps to make your approach understand to the audience with the use of logical facts.
- The conclusion makes everything crystal clear to the audience.
The conclusion is a final chance for the students to make their position strong in the dissertation. So make sure that you write a solid conclusion in order to give the best ending to your thesis.
How To Write A Dissertation Conclusion?
Some significant considerations are must to examine before writing a winning conclusion of the paper. Let’s see these important considerations in detail;
Give Appropriate Answers To The Research Questions
You should start the conclusion with one of the research questions that you are targeting throughout the research. This is the last opportunity to showcase your achievements in the research paper. Therefore, ensure that you clearly and significantly answer your research questions in the conclusion.
Avoid the repetition of the results and findings that are previously discussed in the research. Instead, give a perfect synthesis to the audience for significant and relevant takeaways from the research.
Provide Synopsis And Reflect On Your Research
The conclusion of the dissertation is an opportunity to jog the reader’s memory in order to answer the following questions;
- What is the purpose of selecting a specific approach to the research?
- What are the goals of your research?
- What are the expectations of your research?
- Do the results match your expectations?
In conclusion, you should provide a complete explanation of the steps involved to build the arguments throughout the process of research.
Try to be more reflective in your conclusion writing rather than simply summarizing the facts and important points. This will help you to avoid repetition. You can also explain the effectiveness of the selected research methodologies and how well they were significant in answering the research questions, and if there are any new ideas or concepts that come to light during the process.
Furthermore, if you haven’t provided the limitations of the research in the discussion section, ensure to provide the same in your conclusion. Never run for the number of words or vocabulary, instead, try to maintain focus on the positive results of the research.
Give Recommendations
The right section to make recommendations about the research is the discussion. However, the conclusion is the best place to examine and elaborate on the future recommendation for the selected topic of your research.
Never overstate the applicability of your findings in the research. If you are writing a dissertation for some business purposes, it is okay to frame the suggestions for the sake of applicability. However, your academic dissertation aims to investigate, describe, or explore the facts rather than instructing them.
Make sure to keep your research strengthen when providing the recommendation for future work on the selected topic. Future recommendations might help you to enhance your conclusion, however, it is not the only thing that completes your conclusion of the dissertation.
Highlight Your Contributions In The Field
Always ensure that you leave the audience with a good impression about the contributions and achievements of your research in the selected field.
Here are few tips to explain the significance of your study in the field;
- Restate your problem statement, and compare that how your research has helped to solve the issues significantly.
- You can also refer back to the literature review and address the gaps you found in the literature.
- Explain how your research findings and results authenticate or provoke the theory in the research.
Furthermore, avoid the repetition of the information in the conclusion that you have already discussed in the discussion section of the paper. Select and sum up the core points of your research in order to give a broader perspective to your research.
End The Dissertation
Once you are done researching and writing with the paper, now it’s time to give a proper finish to the dissertation. According to the approved standards, writing the dissertation abstract should be your next step of the process.
Here are few steps that you must cover to finish your research paper;
- Ensure that you don’t take any long break before writing an abstract.
- Do it when your mind is still fresh and connected with the topic. A long break in the dissertation could make you do the research again.
- Make sure that you provide a detailed and complete reference list in the required format.
- After providing the appendices, it’s the right time to create a title page and table of content of your dissertation paper.
- Ensure that your paper is free from spelling, grammar, and punctuations mistakes as they cannot be tolerated in such a professional document.
- Get it to proofread through your peers, colleagues, friends, or even family.
How To Structure The Conclusion Of The Dissertation?
You need to structure the conclusion of the dissertation in a precise and right way in order to organise the information. The structure of the conclusion should organise each key point, argument, results, findings, and future recommendations in the best way possible.
The structure of the conclusion is entirely opposite to the structure of the introduction. The introduction of the dissertation always start with a general approach and ends with specific information. While on the other hand, the conclusion starts with specific and ends with general information.