Dissertation Conclusion

What Is The Difference Between Discussion & Conclusion?

How Long Should A Dissertation Conclusion Be

There is no fixed rule, but as a general guide:

Aim for 5% to 7% of your total word count.

For example:

• A 10,000-word dissertation → 500-700 words
• A 15,000-word dissertation → 750-1,050 words

How To Write A Dissertation Conclusion Chapter – Step By Step

Here is a step-by-step guide to help you get started. 

Step 1: Revisit Your Research Questions

Make sure that you start your conclusion chapter by directly addressing the research questions or the research problem that your dissertation or thesis intends to address.

The conclusion chapter gives you the final chance to demonstrate to your readers that your research achieved what was aimed at the beginning of the research.

Provide a clear, concise, and to-the-point answer to your research questions. You are not expected to repeat what you have already said in the discussion part of the paper, rather, turn readers’ attention towards a final outcome.

Step 2: Summarise Your Main Findings

Briefly mention the biggest results or discoveries from your research methodology. You do not need to explain everything again. You only have to give the highlights.

Like this: “My study found that X helps improve Y among Z people.”

Step 3: Show Why Your Research Matters

You don’t want your readers to leave with the impression that your work did not make a valuable contribution to the existing knowledge in your area of study. Here are some ideas to demonstrate how this is done.

• Referring back to the problem statement helps readers understand how your work addresses the research problem originally identified.
• Elaborate on how your results validated or tested an existing hypothesis or theory.
• Stating how your research was able to fill a certain gap in existing knowledge, as pointed out in the literature review.

 
For example: “This study can help teachers understand how students learn better in online classes.”

Step 4: Acknowledge Any Limitations

Be honest about what you could not do. Maybe you did not have enough time, data, or participants. It is completely okay! Just mention it briefly.

Say it like this: “The results may not apply to all schools because I only surveyed one city.”
 

Step 5: Recommend Future Research

Suggest what future researchers could do to build on your work as part of your recommendations. Think of it as passing the baton to the next runner.

Example: “Next studies can include more schools or test different age groups.”

Step 6: Keep It Short and Simple

Your conclusion does not need to be long. Just make sure it:

• Answers your research questions
• Summarises your key findings
• Mentions the importance and limitations
• Offers ideas for future research

Step 7: Do Not Add Anything New

This is very important. Do not bring in new ideas, data, or arguments. The conclusion is only for wrapping things up.
 

Dissertation Conclusion Example

Here is a conclusion example of a dissertation that aimed to test a theoretical argument based on an analysis of a case study – Proposed anaerobic digestion plant in Tripoli.
 

Chapter 5 – Dissertation Conclusion
5.1 Background
This chapter highlights the crux of the study by briefly describing objectives and literature survey. The feasibility of the proposed plant is then discussed, leading to the study’s limitations and difficulties. In the end, some recommendations for future work are provided in brief. Some suggestions to improve and highlight the renewable energy generation techniques are also part of the chapter.
5.2 Literature Review, Survey and Interviews
A Valora process AD plant, with a capacity of 0.8 tones of food waste per day, is proposed to be established in the city of Tripoli. This plant can assist the national grid in meeting the rising demands of electricity in Tripoli and on the outskirts. Public opinion about establishing such a plant is taken by conducting a survey.
The survey results suggest that the people of Tripoli understand the need for a WTE plant and ensure their cooperation for the separate household food waste if provided with the containers by the municipal authorities.
The food waste to energy generation plant provides a solution for both household food waste management in Tripoli and generating an adequate amount of electricity to meet the rising demand.
An informal session of interviews has been conducted with the experts from the Energy Agency of Libya. The opinion and observation-based data collection are done in order to opt for the interpretive approach of research adequately. All five respondents recommended the idea of establishing an AD plant in Tripoli-Libya.
Their comments and suggestions have also validated the plant location selected in the research as an appropriate location for establishing a plant. The idea of energy generation using sustainable methods is the main point they’ve endorsed. The research provides the solution for both; waste management in Tripoli and the introduction of sustainable energy generation methods in Libya.
5.3 Feasibility of the Proposed System
A detailed, feasibly study was conducted, including technical details such as the amount of biogas generation, plant type, equipment sizing, and proposed location for the plant. Initial finances, operation and management costs of the proposed AD plant are estimated in the financial analysis of the proposed plant.
Life cycle assessment is compared with food waste management to evaluate the environmental effects of the plant. The analysis suggests that the proposed AD plant is economically, technically and ecologically feasible to establish on 3rd Ring Road in Tripoli.
5.4 Limitations and Difficulties
Some of the limitations and difficulties involved in the process of digestion or establishing a digestion plant are listed as follows;
1. Since many WTE technologies are designed to handle mixed-type food waste such as solid waste and municipal waste etc. Running the plant with specifically food waste is difficult as food waste makes comparatively less amount than MSW as a whole.
2. Some other WTE challenges include high capital cost, waste-gas cleanup, regulatory hurdles, and conversion efficiency.
3. Since domestic utilization of generated electricity is a primary objective, and it adds a limitation where even distribution of electricity distribution in domestic buildings is not possible if the plant is located outside the residential area. This issue can be resolved by centralizing a substation for the proper transmission and distribution.
4. Since the accuracy of the estimated analysis depends entirely on the data, and missing fields affect the accuracy of the estimations.
5. Since the survey is conducted among non-technical people and represents their views, no primary data is available that accurately estimates the energy generation from the amount of food or biogas generation. The calculations of estimation of biogas yield and energy generation are based on the equations taken from secondary resources thus can be erroneous.
5.5 Future Work
This study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of establishing a large-scale plant to provide an alternative and renewable energy solution. The whole idea is applicable and implementable in the proposed area.
Instead, in the future, the idea can be evaluated for the individual high-rise buildings to make them self-sufficient in energy demand and supply and to reduce the load on the national electricity grid.
A cross-national study involving cost-benefit analysis of family-sized digesters in Tripoli is yet to analyze in order to predict the future of biogas technology in Libya. Information about government subsidies on renewable energy generation plants in Tripoli is important but unknown yet.
This study revolves around the utilization of food waste collected from residential buildings only. Although hotels, restaurants, and canteens can also provide a considerably high amount of food waste and it is relatively easy for them to collect it separately. Thus further work can be based on the food waste collection from the food consumption areas.
It is important to remember that there is no need to restate the research objectives in conclusion. Your statements should incorporate answers to research questions without you having to repeat those questions.

 
Here is another example of dissertation conclusion.

Common Mistakes To Avoid In Your Conclusion

• Introducing new data or arguments
• Overcomplicating your language
• Ignoring the research questions
• Forgetting to mention limitations
• Making unsupported claims

Frequently Asked Questions