Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter

If you are writing a thesis, you must know that it is a big and complicated task with a particular structure and rules. Usually, it is divided into chapters, each having its own purpose. In the following article, we’d like to talk about a part of the thesis called Conclusions and Recommendations, which is, usually, the 5th chapter of a thesis.

Following 4th chapter, where, typically, you describe results of your work, Conclusions and Recommendations chapter must include your own take on those results and, hence the title of the chapter, conclusions based on the results and recommendations for the reader on the topic of your research. In short – explain your results to the reader and tell him what they should do about it. Usually, there are three parts to the Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter. Let’s review them in detail.

Part One: Making Conclusions This is the place where you can reflect on your findings and look at them from the personal perspective rather than statistical. Give a brief recap of the results of your paper and point out what the reader can conclude from them. Give some idea as to whether those results go in line with what you were expecting or, on the contrary, challenge your point of view. Explain if your hypotheses were supported and why. If there were any limitations on the way of your research, feel free to describe them and reveal how they affect the conclusion of your thesis.

Additionally, it is advisable to write about how your results correspond to the originally described problem. To do this, try to answer these questions: Are there any alternatives, and, if yes, how they can be effectively implemented to improve or resolve the situation? Your conclusions, what do they mean in long-term and short-term? How do your research and its result go along with other researchers you cited?

Part Two: Recommendations on the Reaction The goal of your thesis is to examine the problem, state your results, and give recommendations for implementing a policy that will bring changes. The latter is written in the second part of Conclusions and Recommendations chapter. When recommending some course of actions, it is obligatory to make it clear how they are supported by your conclusions. This is what should be included in this part: Description of the actions that are needed along with resources involved; The layout of the positive improvements of the studied situation as a result of implemented policy; Proof of expediency of given policy; Vague description of the process of evaluating the policy and its effectiveness.

Part Three: Recommendations for Future Research Finally, there is a place for you to give advice for other researchers who will continue working on this topic and will use your results hypothesis of a dissertation. The more thought-through this part of your thesis will be, the bigger chances are that your paper will be taken for further research and development. In this part, you should give hints on the most promising alternatives you’ve discovered, suggest ideas for additional research, etc.