Conclusions are something I really struggle with.

I am about to write one - so if any of you have hints and tips in this area, it would be great to know what they are.

Or just mutual conclusion support would be fabulous too.


Thank you X

I want tips too! so far I have this for my conclusion...

Conclusion:

:p

I was watching for tips too. I hate conclusions. Originally I had them all short and brief. With each chapter my supv said 'expand, expand...' with the result that my eight chapter conclusions are all a page each. My conclusion chapter was too short as well and is now twice the size it was.

I wish I had a quote to end on e.g.

Conclusion

So, this thesis has looked into penguins and polar bears and duck food and found its all a lot of rubbish, and as Sneaks once remarked "Don't quack like a duck, soar through the seas like a penguin"

My supervisors hammered into me the mantra of "So what?". They would write that in the margins of mydrafts, and ask it repeatedly. Basically what is the point of what you have done, why is important, what does it show that is new.

In my final conclusions/discussions chapter I had a brief recap of what I had done, and the thematic answers I had discovered. But then I tackled a bigger, but fundamental, question which arose out of my research. And I considered possible future research.

Always bearing in mind "So what?" though :p

I think the thing for me is that the conclusion would have been easily done 2 years ago, but now I am so close to the research and am so used to talking to people about it, that I feel that what I've done isn't 'new' anymore so its difficult for me to 'sell' what I've done and why without thinking "yeh, but haven't we heard it all before" even though when I think about it, its only me that's heard it all before. I'm rambling again.

======= Date Modified 03 Aug 2011 18:09:26 =======
Sneaks that's so funny. Earlier, when I posted this thread I had the following:

Conclusion:

first vague one word reference which I'd already discussed in the introduction and at several points in the chapter.

second (as above)

third (as above)

Also, my 'Conclusion:' was in bold. So possibly slightly in advance of yours...

Bilbo, that is really useful - to think of what is new and how it's relevant to the subject. Just reading someone else say that has got me thinking about possibilities.

I decided after posting this thread that the biggest step I could take to writing it would be to get off the internet and find somewhere condusive to writing. So I hit the park where I did some editing, then went to the park cafe for some fortifying coffe - and three short paragraphs flowed out of me in 25 minutes. Admitedly not a proportionally advantageous conclusion for a 16,000 word chapter, but at least it's something, and a start I am very proud of.

Thank you all. I feel I can build on all of the above, so lets hope our conclusions pan out well in future. When I told my sup how tough I find them he said I 'should work on it', so any more tips on this topic would be most appreciated.

Best, Eska XX

I usually work with the "Tell them what you told them" idea. Recap what went on. Then again, I always start to ramble on when I do that. I don't stop the random musings of my mind until I just stop typing "what I told them". Then I set upon editing it to make it sound neat. A lot gets chucked out, but some of the things in my random writings make the cut as they expand into explaining why the reader should care, not just rehashing info.

Did anyone crack this? I'm at this stage now and really struggling!!!

Here are the tips for structure from my sups:
1) tell them what you told them - i.e. review findings
2) what this means theoretically, how your findings fit with current theories, what's new, etc
3) critically evaluate your research - what was good/bad of approach/methodology
4) implications for practice if applicable
5) future studies

That's the order they told me but I've been doing 3, 1, 2, 4, 5 as I felt the flow was better this way but I don't think it matters as long it contains all the info and it flows.

Extra things to add:
anything that you expected to find and didn't find
did you achieve your research goals?

Good luck!

I know what you mean, it's hard to discuss and not conclude, that's why I've done them together, on my number 2.

The way I did it was to initially write everything I wanted regardless of structure, more like long bullet points full of info, then broke this text down into the required sections and moved the bullets to their appropriate section if that makes sense.

What are you having difficulties with exactly? If it's just the blurring you mentioned, rest assured you can have them together ;-)

I had to do two studies and these formed two different chapters and as part of each chapter I had a large discussion section. I would say I've included all the five things you've suggested but have your point 4 as my point 3. My supervisors want a conclusion, which I'd already done, but they've been very, very vague and my impression is much of what I have in the dicussion should be in the conclusion (but they really have been vague) but I shouldn't repeat myself too much. Given that I've done all you've suggested (already had done) I cannot see what to put in a conclusion chapter that would add to things.

Just to add, I wasn't told to change my discussion sections or move parts to a conclusion chapter.

I see what you mean now... I'm not sure to be honest. I've just been asked to write a conclusion page rather than a chapter. Like you said, I don't think I can write a final conclusion without repeating myself so I'll just summarise the whole thing - this is what I set out to do, this is what I did, what I achieved, and this is what I've told you in the report. How do your sups want you to finish the thesis? Would your final discussion do?