How to Write a Good Thesis Conclusion

Concluding your dissertation often feels like a weighty task. After months of writing, researching, and putting hour after hour into this project, it’s time to close off. Summarising is never an easy task. After all, how do you fit so much research into such a short section? How does one ever write a good thesis conclusion? Luckily, there are some steps we can follow to ensure you do your project justice, while also creating a concise summary of its breadth. 

What do I include in a good thesis conclusion?

When writing your conclusion, you have to remember that your examiner will have just read through your whole project. A conclusion isn’t just about restating what’s come before. Instead, you want to use this section to do three primary things. 

• Directly answer the question you’ve set out to research with your project
• Refer back to the literature review and explain how your dissertation fits into this
• Discuss your findings in comparison to the literature review, suggesting how your dissertation furthers the field or challenges established concepts

These three notions are essential in writing your conclusion. We’ll address these in order, as they naturally move through ideas and come to a clear finish. 

Answer the question

No matter what kind of dissertation you’ve written, be it English Literature or Chemical Engineering, your project started in response to a question or topic you were going to research. The opening of your conclusion should link back to your title question, discussing firmly how you have answered the question. You can take this time to restate some of the conclusions of your research, but try to keep it brief. Again, they’ve just read your whole project, so they’ll know what you’re talking about. This is also a good place to document any limitations of your study. After that, use the opening paragraphs of your conclusion to directly answer your research question. 

Refer back to the literature review

Once you’ve answered the question, you’re all set to bring in other ideas. This is where you can demonstrate how your research fits into the wider field of a topic. Does it challenge any established ideas, or does it further clarify them? You want to acknowledge what has come before, and then show how your research follows on from this. Use this section to mention any vital research that others completed that helped shape your own dissertation. Once you’ve done this, you’re ready for the final section.

How does your research further the field?

Use the closing paragraphs of your conclusion to demonstrate how your project will impact the field of research. It could clarify a concept, introduce a novel opinion, or further established knowledge. Suggest what your project has done and the implications of your work. It’s also a good idea to include some points of departure for your study. Now that your dissertation has proved something, naturally, there will be a next step in research that you can signal someone will need to take. Close your thesis conclusion with a succinct summary of your project. Stick of what you’ve achieved, how it fits in, and what the implications for future research are. Once you’ve finished this final section, well done, you’ve finished! 

How long should a good thesis conclusion be?

Conclusions shouldn’t be particularly lengthy. You’ve already done all the research, stated your key claims, and backed up everything with evidence. A conclusion is about summarising the above, condensing it into a concise format. Typically, a conclusion should be around 5% of your total word count. That’ll give you enough words to answer the question, refer back to the literature review, and demonstrate how your research furthers the field. Be concise! 

What not to include in a good thesis conclusion?

Now you know how to structure your conclusion and what to include, it’s time to turn to things you should try and stay away from. Doing any of these things isn’t necessarily disastrous, but they’ll often lead to creating holes in your argument. An incomplete argument is definitely not what we want to leave our readers with! Try to avoid:

• Introducing new research that you have not previously unpacked
• Presenting more of your own new data
• Repeating claims from your introduction. You should have now proved or disproved these claims, focus on what you’ve achieved.
• Bringing up minor parts of your research
• Undermining yourself – you’ve done an incredible thing, own your research!
• Banal phrases like ‘To conclude’ or ‘In summary’

Closing Thoughts

That’s everything! You’re now well on your way to writing a good thesis conclusion. If you are stuck on writing your acknowledgements, check out our examples here. If you need any more help with this, be sure to reach out to one of our expert tutors for advice.