Research methods conclusion
The purpose of this guide is to provide advice on how to develop and organize a research paper in the social of research flaws to ndent and dependent ry of research terms. Choosing a research ing a topic ning a topic ing the timeliness of a topic idea. An oral g with g someone else's to manage group of structured group project survival g a book le book review ing collected g a field informed g a policy g a research conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of the main topics covered or a re-statement of your research problem, but a synthesis of key points and, if applicable, where you recommend new areas for future research. For most essays, one well-developed paragraph is sufficient for a conclusion, although in some cases, a two or three paragraph conclusion may be sions. Well-written conclusion provides you with important opportunities to demonstrate to the reader your understanding of the research problem. Just as the introduction gives a first impression to your reader, the conclusion offers a chance to leave a lasting impression. The conclusion is an opportunity to succinctly answer [or in some cases, to re-emphasize] the "so what? Question by placing the study within the context of how your research advances past research about the fying how a gap in the literature has been addressed.
The conclusion can be where you describe how a previously identified gap in the literature [described in your literature review section] has been filled by your trating the importance of your ideas. The conclusion offers you the opportunity to elaborate on the impact and significance of your ucing possible new or expanded ways of thinking about the research problem. This does not refer to introducing new information [which should be avoided], but to offer new insight and creative approaches for framing or contextualizing the research problem based on the results of your , david. Purdue ure and writing function of your paper's conclusion is to restate the main argument. Do this by stating clearly the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem you investigated in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found in the literature. Make sure, however, that your conclusion is not simply a repetitive summary of the findings. This reduces the impact of the argument(s) you have developed in your writing the conclusion to your paper, follow these general rules:State your conclusions in clear, simple language. What were the unique or new contributions your study made to the overall research about your topic? Provide a synthesis of arguments presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem and the overall objectives of your te opportunities for future research if you haven't already done so in the discussion section of your paper.
Highlighting the need for further research provides the reader with evidence that you have an in-depth awareness of the research er the following points to help ensure your conclusion is presented well:If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize the argument for your , prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the end of your paper to describe your main points and explain their from a detailed to a general level of consideration that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from the conclusion also provides a place for you to persuasively and succinctly restate your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with all the information about the topic. Depending on the discipline you are writing in, the concluding paragraph may contain your reflections on the evidence presented, or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the research you have done will depend on the topic and whether your professor wants you to express your observations in this : if asked to think introspectively about the topics, do not delve into idle speculation. Developing a compelling gh an effective conclusion needs to be clear and succinct, it does not need to be written passively or lack a compelling narrative. Strategies to help you move beyond merely summarizing the key points of your research paper may include any of the following strategies:If your essay deals with a contemporary problem, warn readers of the possible consequences of not attending to the end a specific course or courses of action that, if adopted, could address a specific problem in practice or in the development of new a relevant quotation or expert opinion already noted in your paper in order to lend authority to the conclusion you have reached [a good place to look is research from your literature review]. The consequences of your research in a way that elicits action or demonstrates urgency in seeking e a key statistic, fact, or visual image to emphasize the ultimate point of your your discipline encourages personal reflection, illustrate your concluding point with a relevant narrative drawn from your own life to an anecdote, an example, or a quotation that you presented in your introduction, but add further insight derived from the findings of your study; use your interpretation of results to recast it in new or important e a "take-home" message in the form of a strong, succinct statement that you want the reader to remember about your . Although you should give a summary of what was learned from your research, this summary should be relatively brief, since the emphasis in the conclusion is on the implications, evaluations, insights, and other forms of analysis that you make. Strategies for writing concisely can be found e to comment on larger, more significant the introduction, your task was to move from the general [the field of study] to the specific [the research problem]. However, in the conclusion, your task is to move from a specific discussion [your research problem] back to a general discussion [i.
In short, the conclusion is where you should place your research within a larger context [visualize your paper as an hourglass--start with a broad introduction and review of the literature, move to the specific analysis and discussion, conclude with a broad summary of the study's implications and significance]. To reveal problems and negative ve aspects of the research process should never be ignored. Problems, drawbacks, and challenges encountered during your study should be summarized as a way of qualifying your overall conclusions. Findings that are validated outside the research context in which they were generated], you must report them in the results section and discuss their implications in the discussion section of your paper. In the conclusion, use your summary of the negative results as an opportunity to explain their possible significance and/or how they may form the basis for future e to provide a clear summary of what was order to be able to discuss how your research fits back into your field of study [and possibly the world at large], you need to summarize briefly and succinctly how it contributes to new knowledge or a new understanding about the research problem. This element of your conclusion may be only a few sentences e to match the objectives of your research objectives in the social sciences change while the research is being carried out. As these changes emerge they must be documented so that they accurately reflect what you were trying to accomplish in your research [not what you thought you might accomplish when you began]. The urge to you've immersed yourself in studying the research problem, you presumably should know a good deal about it, perhaps even more than your professor! T surprise the reader with new information in your conclusion that was never referenced anywhere else in the paper.
Note that, although no actual new information is introduced, the conclusion is where you offer your most "original" contributions in the paper; it's where you describe the value of your research, demonstrate that you understand the material that you’ve presented, and locate your findings within the larger context of scholarship on the topic, including describing how your research contributes new insights or value to that sions. University of southern sity of southern zing your social sciences research zing your social sciences research paper: 9. That'ly due to the fact that it was originally labeled 'statistical' conclusion you know how even the mere mention of the word statistics will scare off many ways, conclusion validity is the most important of the four validity e it is relevant whenever we are trying to decide if there is a relationship in ations (and that's one of the most basic aspects of any analysis). Perhaps we with an attempt at a definition:Conclusion validity is the degree to which conclusions we reach onships in our data are instance, if we're doing a study that looks at the relationship conomic status (ses) and attitudes about capital punishment, we eventually want some conclusion. Conclusion validity is to which the conclusion we reach is credible or gh conclusion validity was originally thought to be a statistical , it has become more apparent that it is also relevant in qualitative research. E, in an observational field study of homeless adolescents the researcher might, basis of field notes, see a pattern that suggests that teenagers on the street who are more likely to be involved in more complex social networks and to interact with. Although this conclusion or inference may be based impressionistic data, we can ask whether it has conclusion validity, that is, is a reasonable conclusion about a relationship in our er you investigate a relationship, you essentially have two possible conclusions. So, we have to consider all of these we talk about conclusion 's important to realize that conclusion validity is an issue whenever you is a relationship, even when the relationship is between some program (or treatment). So, it is possible that in a study we can conclude that our program and outcome d (conclusion validity) and also conclude that the outcome was caused by some than the program (i.
Finally, we recognize that we have some control over our ability to detect relationships, and we'de with some suggestions for improving conclusion ght 2006, william m. Trochim, all rights se a printed copy of the research methods revised: 10/20/ble of contentsnavigatingfoundationssamplingmeasurementdesignanalysisconclusion validitythreats to conclusion validityimproving conclusion validitystatistical powerdata preparationdescriptive statisticsinferential paperwrite to conduct ments with shuttleworth, lyndsay t wilson 133k this page on your website:For any research project and any scientific discipline, drawing conclusions is the final, and most important, part of the article is a part of the guide:Select from one of the other courses available:Experimental ty and ical tion and psychology e projects for ophy of sance & tics beginners tical bution in er 18 more articles on this 't miss these related articles:4defining a research problem. Reasoning processes and research methods were used, the final conclusion is critical, determining success or failure. If an otherwise excellent experiment is summarized by a weak conclusion, the results will not be taken s or failure is not a measure of whether a hypothesis is accepted or refuted, because both results still advance scientific e lies in poor experimental design, or flaws in the reasoning processes, which invalidate the results. As long as the research process is robust and well designed, then the findings are sound, and the process of drawing conclusions key is to establish what the results mean. Generally, a researcher will summarize what they believe has been learned from the research, and will try to assess the strength of the if the null hypothesis is accepted, a strong conclusion will analyze why the results were not as predicted. Both accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis provides useful information – it is only when the research provides no illumination on the phenomenon at all that it is truly a observational research, with no hypothesis, the researcher will analyze the findings, and establish if any valuable new information has been uncovered. The conclusions from this type of research may well inspire the development of a new hypothesis for further ting leads for future research however, very few experiments give clear-cut results, and most research uncovers more questions than researcher can use these to suggest interesting directions for further study. These could form the basis of further study, or experimental refinement and quiz:question: let’s say a researcher is interested in whether people who are ambidextrous (can write with either hand) are more likely to have adhd.
Can you think of a direction her research could take, given what she has already learnt? Evaluating flaws in the research process the researcher will then evaluate any apparent problems with the experiment. This involves critically evaluating any weaknesses and errors in the design, which may have influenced the strict, 'true experimental,' designs have to make compromises, and the researcher must be thorough in pointing these out, justifying the methodology and example, when drawing conclusions, the researcher may think that another causal effect influenced the results, and that this variable was not eliminated during the experimental process. A refined version of the experiment may help to achieve better results, if the new effect is included in the design the global warming example, the researcher might establish that carbon dioxide emission alone cannot be responsible for global warming. The next stage is to evaluate the advantages and benefits of the medicine and psychology, for example, the results may throw out a new way of treating a medical problem, so the advantages are some fields, certain kinds of research may not typically be seen as beneficial, regardless of the results obtained. Ideally, researchers will consider the implications of their research beforehand, as well as any ethical considerations. In fields such as psychology, social sciences or sociology, it’s important to think about who the research serves and what will ultimately be done with the example, the study regarding ambidexterity and verbal acuity may be interesting, but what would be the effect of accepting that hypothesis? All well-constructed research is useful, even if it only strengthens or supports a more tentative conclusion made by prior research. Suggestions based upon the conclusions the final stage is the researcher's recommendations based on the results, depending on the field of study.
This area of the research process is informed by the researcher's judgement, and will integrate previous example, a researcher interested in schizophrenia may recommend a more effective treatment based on what has been learnt from a study. A researcher could make suggestions for refinement of the experimental design, or highlight interesting areas for further study. This final piece of the paper is the most critical, and pulls together all of the findings into a coherent area in a research paper that causes intense and heated debate amongst scientists is often when drawing g and presenting findings to the scientific community is a vital part of the scientific process. It is here that the researcher justifies the research, synthesizes the results and offers them up for scrutiny by their the store of scientific knowledge increases and deepens, it is incumbent on researchers to work together. The strength of the results the key to drawing a valid conclusion is to ensure that the deductive and inductive processes are correctly used, and that all steps of the scientific method were the best-planned research can go awry, however. Part of interpreting results also includes the researchers putting aside their ego to appraise what, if anything went wrong. Your research had a robust design, questioning and scrutiny will be devoted to the experiment conclusion, rather than the -quiz:question: researchers are interested in identifying new microbial species that are capable of breaking down cellulose for possible application in biofuel production. They then “feed” each species a cellulose compound and observe that in all the species tested, there was no decrease in cellulose after 24 the following conclusions below and decide which of them is the most sound:They conclude that there are no microbes that can break down cellulose. They conclude that microbes from forests don’t break down : the most appropriate conclusion is number 2.
As you can see, sound conclusions are often a question of not extrapolating too widely, or making assumptions that are not supported by the data obtained. Even conclusion number 2 will likely be presented as tentative, and only provides evidence given the limits of the methods used.. Take it with you wherever you research council of ibe to our rss blakstad on is generalization? A conclusion - answering the research ch designs - how to construct an experiment or ch hypothesis - testing theories and ign upprivacy ch > research methods > chapter 1. For this reason, most graduate programs require that you work under the supervision of an experienced researcher for a number of years before beginning your own independent study. Program will be a dissertation, which is a culmination of your knowledge in the subject matter and your ability to do research that adds to the knowledge base in your book will look at each of the areas discussed in this chapter in more detail and provide an overview of research methods. The goal is to give you a solid understanding of the different types of research, ideas for completing your own research, and a method for avoiding a tragic ending to a graduate career. Studies have shown that a large percentage of doctoral students complete their coursework but leave school prior to completing the required research. The reasons include running out of time, failing to progress in a logical order, becoming discouraged with obstacles, and simply fearing the research having a solid understanding of research methods and statistical inference, your chances of completing a research project are greatly enhanced.
Remember that nobody knows everything about doing research and that asking questions and getting advice along the way is not only accepted, it is highly recommended. Look at research as a global phenomenon and prepare for the whole gestalt of your project but always make sure you are proceeding in a logical and organized fashion. Once published, you are considered an expert and your research may someday appear in a college textbook or as a resource in someone else’s research e this text is designed to focus on the methods of research, a basic understanding of statistics is assumed. As a refresher, however, and to better critique the results section of a research report, a discussion of descriptive and inferential statistics is included. By the end of this text, you should have a solid understanding of research methods and be able to intelligently analyze and critique a research report.
