Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

The typical shape of Conclusions
Thompson (2005: 317–318) lists the following conventional sections of a
Conclusions chapter:
●
introductory restatement of aims, research questions;
●
consolidation of present research (e.g. findings, limitations);
●
practical applications/implications;
●
recommendations for further research.
In his words:
A thesis is a long text and the restatement of the aims and questions is a
necessary reminder to the reader, several chapters on, of what the starting
point of the research was. The concluding chapter is also an evaluation of
the whole research project. This evaluation is strategically important as
... the targeted readers are also evaluating the project, to determine
whether the writer is worthy of [the award of the degree]. In the conclu-
sions chapter, therefore, the task of the writer is to point out what his/her
achievements have been, and to forestall criticisms by identifying limita-
tions of the research.
Bunton (2005) carried out an examination of the structure of Conclusions
chapters in PhD theses and found two main types of Conclusions. He
describes these as thesis-oriented and field-oriented Conclusions. A thesis-oriented
Conclusion is one that ‘focuses mainly on the thesis itself, beginning with a
restatement of purpose and summary of findings and claims’ (Bunton 2005:
214–215) whereas a field-oriented Conclusion ‘focuses mainly on the field
Writing Discussions and Conclusions
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and only mentions the thesis and its findings or contributions in the context
of the whole field’ (Bunton 2005: 215).
He found these different orientations affected the organization of this
chapter. Table 10.2 summarizes the typical structure and content of thesis-
oriented Conclusions.
Field-oriented Conclusions, Bunton found, often have quite a different
structure to thesis-oriented Conclusions. They are often written in more of a
‘problem/solution/evaluation’ type pattern and in some cases are written in
the form of an argument. While this type of Conclusion is less frequent than
thesis-oriented Conclusions, they do indicate that there is more than one way
in which the Conclusions may be written. Conclusions also vary, Bunton
found, across areas of study. For example, Conclusions written in the human-
ities and social sciences tend to be longer and have more sections than science
and technology Conclusions. Students need to look at previous theses and dis-
sertations in their area of study to see which of these patterns is more typical.
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Writing Discussions and Conclusions
Table 10.2 The typical structure of thesis-oriented Conclusions
Section
Content
Introductory statement
Restatement of the issue being researched, work carried 
out, purpose of the study, research questions or hypotheses
Consolidation of 
Summary and evaluation of methods, summary of 
the research space
results/findings and claims
Recommendations 
Future research, practical applications, limitations of the 
and implications
study
Source: based on Bunton 2005