Conclusions

[altariel]

So writing a conclusion to a PhD thesis is a lot harder than I would have imagined. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts that any of you might have.

At the moment I am leaning to the kind of advice given here (scroll down), that it is a purely instrumental section saying, "This is what I've done, this is how it's great, this is what I'd do next if you gave me the cash." Or something on those lines.

I know some of you have already passed through this elusive initiation rite. Any advice?

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

A conclusion in the kind of papers I write tends to run pretty much along the lines of the quotation you gave.

Re-state the key results from the study and the extent to which they met the study's aims/objectives. Review how your results fit into the existing body of literature. Expand on their applications (what?, to whom?). Discuss any limitations of your data. Indicate avenues for future study.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

This really helped - cut and pasted it at the top of the chapter. Thank you.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Glad it was of use! I think it's easy to over-engineer these things.