The Dissertation Conclusion

This chapter goes by different titles, sometimes “conclusion,” sometimes “discussion,” sometimes both. Whatever it is called, the dissertation conclusion has specific components that must be included. This is not a chapter that is written as an “afterthought or in a hurry, just to get the entire work finished. It must be thoughtful, well organized, and produced so that any who reads only this chapter will have a clear idea of what you have done. That said, this is the basic structure of the dissertation conclusions.

Introduction

Your discussion/conclusions will flow in some type of order, and your reader must be presented with the order in the chapter’s onset. This introductory section will provide a point of reference to the reader – you will re-state your research question, summarize your research, your results, and your analysis.

Discussion

Now that you have reminded the reader of what you have done and the results you got, it is time discuss the implications of those results. Writing a dissertation conclusion with a solid discussion will be one thing your committee will look for. Organize your discussion as follows:

1. Discuss how your findings relate to the literature that you summarized and cited in Chapter 2. Have you validated earlier work? Have you brought earlier research into question? Have you enhanced or contributed to earlier research? You will need to refer to the actual pieces of research as you do this.
2. Answer your research question. And support the answer with the results from Chapter 4. Justify the validity of your study by reiterating the methodology you used to keep your research “pure.”
3. Be certain to include all of the results you obtained, even if some of them were not statistically significant. One of the things your committee will look for is honesty and integrity in your discussion.
4. Address any unexpected results and make an attempt to explain them. Writing a conclusion for a dissertation really needs to be comprehensive. Let’s look at a quick example.

Your research question was this: “Will specific differentiated programming for at-risk middle school students positively impact their academic performance?” This was a quantitative study, and the data gathered were the year-end grades and standardized test scores. Your expectation was that academic performance would improve and you set a level for statistical significance of that improvement. You discovered, as the data was gathered and analyzed, that while there was statistically significant improvement in all basic skills subject areas, the improvement in science was far greater than in any other subject. You need to report this, attempt to provide explanations for this, and point future researchers in the direction of pursuing these possible explanations. Your explanation might include:

1. The teaching style and personality of the science teacher. Are there specific teacher styles and personalities that allow at-risk kids to “connect” and want to perform? Is the style one that engenders enthusiasm for the content area? What factors of instructional delivery might account for this result?
2. Could it be that at-risk students, as a group, tend to prefer the hands-on learning that science affords? A future study might compare the performance of these students in courses that are primarily verbal vs. courses that are tactile-kinesthetic in delivery.
3. Identify limitations and constraints and address the importance of these to your findings. You do not need to apology for these, because they were out of your control. You simply need to state what they are, so that future researchers may account for them.

Conclusion

This section of the chapter must do very specific things, and part of understanding how to write a conclusion for a dissertation will involve a clear understanding of this section. The conclusion must relate directly back to your research question again and put forth your assertions:

1. What contribution to knowledge has your study made? You do not need to be shy or reticent here. You completed a major study and you have contributed. Say so and detail exactly what that contribution is.
2.  How should your research drive future policy and/or practice in your field? Be specific. If you have achieved statistically significant improvement in academic performance on the part of at-risk kids, then educators need to take note and adjust programming accordingly!

Recommendations

This is the final section of your conclusion chapter, and it is the least stressful for you. Nevertheless, if you still have question you are always welcome to our FAQ page. Just remember - this is a mountanious piece if work, so it's OK to have questions. You do not have to justify anything; you do not have to relate findings back to literature or your methodology. You simply have to provide an expert recommendation to future researchers, based upon your findings and the identified limitations of your study.

A good “rule of thumb” here is to make no more than two recommendations; otherwise it begins to look as if your study was incomplete in some way.

The Demands of Chapter 5

Understanding how to write conclusion for dissertation projects is a process. You may have to write several drafts, because organizational issues can be challenging. You may need to really study a dissertation conclusion example or two to understand what to include in each section, and, even then, you may struggle.

Our dissertation writers at ProEssayService can provide that extra assistance you may need to finish up this dissertation with a conclusion chapter that meets every expectation of your committee members!