My questions now: preparing a thesis conclusion

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Thesis Conclusions, writing conclusions

By Cally Guerin

Conclusions continue to be a challenge for thesis writers, not least because they need to bring together a whole range of ideas and step back from the detail to look at the bigger picture of what all these words and findings mean. This is the moment when examiners are assessing whether the whole text has persuaded them that, yes, this thesis makes an original and significant contribution to knowledge in its field and is therefore worth a PhD. Yet, as Trafford, Lesham and Bitzer (2014) point out, a surprising number of theses fail to make a direct statement about the originality of the research and its contribution; in fact, some don’t even have a chapter labelled ‘Conclusion’. While it is still possible to succeed in exhibiting ‘doctorateness’ without fulfilling the standard requirements, my own approach is to make it as easy as possible for readers (here I mean examiners) to identify the elements they are looking for and thus be firmly confident that the thesis meets the established criteria.

How to make a great Conclusion

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Thesis Conclusions, Writing the Conclusion

By Claire Aitchison

I love a good conclusion. There’s nothing more satisfying than reading a good paper that finishes strongly, but what a letdown when there is a poor – or non-existent – conclusion!

We know that most of us read the abstract, scan the introduction and then move quickly to the discussion and conclusions sections when we read research papers (Feak & Swales, 2011 p. 40). Whether it is a thesis or journal article the conclusion is really important, so why is it that it is so often badly done? And how can we make sure it’s as great as it can be?

Firstly, I think there are some useful processes that can help ensure a successful conclusion. Especially because a PhD thesis is such a long time in the making, it is useful to begin building the conclusion over months and years – at least from the time data is being collected and analysed. I suggest these steps to students I work with.