How a discussion and conclusions chapter should be set in the dissertation / or thesis?

In any dissertation / thesis Discussion and Conclusions is not always made. However, its been clearly conveyed that Discussions are interpretive, dealing with points, in contrast to Results which are descriptive, dealing with facts. Further, in the discussion, the researcher should able to consolidate their discussion with three moves

• The first quite extensive, consolidating research space
• Followed by short, dealing with implications
• Future research

In any thesis Discussion is more prominent in the literature than the conclusion.

Conclusion chapter is usually been as part of the Discussion Section of a Research Article or M.Sc dissertation (Dudley-Evans, 1994). However, in a PhD thesis, as confirmed by Paltridge’s (2002) conclusion usually has the status of a separate chapter. In an experimental research paper, the general structure is categorized the “rhetorical divisions” as Introduction (general to particular), Procedure (particular) (Methods and Results) and Discussion (mirror image of the introduction).

Hill et al characterized the Discussion as consists of

• Implications
• Limitations
• Recommendations

Dudely-Evans, emphasises Discussion into 9 moves

• Introduction
• Evaluation of results
  • Information move
  • Statement of results
  • Findings
  • (Un)expected outcome
  • Reference to previous research
  • Explanation
  • Claim
  • Limitation and Recommendations

In Medical articles (Nwogu’s, 1997), there is no separate conclusion section but the final move in the Discussion section is stating research conclusions, concerning future research rather than practical applications or generalizations.

Hewings (1993) also reported the structure of conclusions (below Table)

Moves and Steps in Thesis /dissertation conclusion section

(Yang & Allison, 2003, p.379).

Overall, conclusive research has emphasized six main points for a good conclusion

• Summarising thesis findings
• Discussing the findings more broadly than in earlier chapters
• Coming to conclusions (more generalised than findings)
• Giving implications of findings
• Making recommendations
• Suggesting area of future research

Length of conclusion Chapter

The PhD thesis conclusion chapter range from 2 to 38 pages, averaging 9.2 pages to 17.2 pages depending on the field of study

References for Conclusion Chapter

The number of references in a thesis conclusion is important as it gives some indications of how much the conclusion refer back to previous research in summing up the findings and significance of the thesis and in making recommendations for further research. When this is expressed as a percentage of the number of references in the thesis as a whole, it gives an indication of the importance of the concluding chapter compared with other chapters in positioning the research study in relation to the literature. In general conclusion can have 21 references ranging from 16 to 29 references (3.7% and 6% of total references respectively).