How to write the conclusion of a degree thesis
The Conclusions are the last act of writing the degree thesis, which means that most of the work is now done, and the student is close to crowning their studies with the degree discussion.
After the drafting of the entire corpus composed of the Chapters – the beating heart of one's research thesis – the last step is represented by the Introduction and the Conclusions, strictly written last.
And it is for this reason that these two sections are very similar.
If in the Introduction, the student will have to present the objective and structure of the research, in the Conclusions it will be necessary to remember the initial objective, while analyzing the results obtained from the investigations carried out, proposing possible interpretations or solutions to the questions posed originally.
The final part of a three-year or master's thesis is therefore the final act that concludes a course of study and research, but, due to the similarities with the Introduction, students can often encounter some difficulties.
It is therefore appropriate to understand how to structure the conclusions of a degree thesis and what mistakes should absolutely not be made.
Below is everything you need to know.
read also University thesis, the complete guide.
How and when to request it, score and supervisor.
Degree thesis, how are the Conclusions written? As anticipated, the Conclusions must be written in relation to the Introduction, explaining what the purpose of your research was, but not only.
In order to be complete, the Conclusions must highlight not only the fundamental steps of the study, but must highlight the results, underlining what the strengths and limitations of one's research are, hoping for further studies in the future that can contribute to the topic covered.
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Usually the conclusions should be a couple of pages long, no more, otherwise the impression that will be given to readers is that of wanting to "stretch the story".
Below is a brief outline with the essential points to be covered in the last chapter of your paper.
Objective.
After the numerous pages written on the subject of study, it is important for the student to remind the readers – usually the supervisor and some professors who will be present at the degree discussion – what was the question that prompted the research, what was the objective and what you wanted to demonstrate with your study.
In this case, you can go over the work done in two lines, helping your memory to go over the work again, without dwelling on it.
Interpretation of results.
In this section you must demonstrate the validity of your study, discussing the results, explaining whether they confirmed or disregarded the horizon of your expectations (the objective of the study).
It is important that this step is carried out in a clear and detailed manner.
For example, we can ask ourselves whether the results have led to new or different points of view on an already known topic, or whether they have confirmed what has been known to the academy so far.
Limitations of the study.
In the conclusions it is important to also present the limitations of one's research, mentioning how these factors can be improved in subsequent studies.
This is not to denigrate one's work, but to indicate a path to follow.-* Recommendations for future research The conclusion of the thesis should end with suggestions, recommendations for possible future studies, hoping that other researchers in the future will delve deeper into the topic of their thesis, going to complete the search.
read also How to write the university thesis: the structure Thesis conclusion: what are the errors to absolutely avoid Now that you know how to structure your Conclusions, it is good for students to be warned about the errors that must absolutely be avoided, so as not to compromise the conclusions of his own careful work.
– The conclusions are not the summary of the thesis.
It is one thing to have to take into consideration the hard research work of the previous chapters and another to simply summarize your paper.
To avoid this mistake, supervisors often advise students to wait a few days before writing the conclusions, in order to free their mind and review their work with new eyes.
– Do not repeat chapter titles.
It is best not to list in detail all the topics covered, which should have already been presented in the Introduction.
– Avoid comments or self-evaluations.
The center of attention must remain the results, the insights that the thesis proposes and the different interpretations of the phenomenon or theme which is the subject of the thesis, and not explain the qualities of one's thesis.
– Conclusions are not Acknowledgments.
These two sections must be separated.