3E. Conclusion

What is the Purpose of a Conclusion?

 

The conclusion summarizes your Literature Review including the key themes, overall findings, relevance of the topic to current knowledge, and future directions for research. The following should be included in your conclusion:

Decorative

Findings

  1. What are the key discoveries and outcomes of your Literature Review?
  2. What are some of the main points of similarity and difference?
  3. What are the points of debate?
  4. What are the main patterns that have emerged?
  5. Has the approach to the topic changed over time?
  • Revisit your Matrix to see your sources collectively and start identifying patterns.
  • Revisit your topic sentences to see your main arguments.
  • Highlight key findings of academic interest that may not already be known.
  • Be concise and avoid restating what has already been summarized in the body of your Literature Review.
Decorative

Conclusion

  1. What is your analysis of your findings?
  2. What do your findings combine to tell you and why is this significant?
  • Ask yourself "so what?"; What is the significance of your topic to the broader scholarship?
  • Make sure your thesis and your overall conclusions align.
Decorative

Relevance

  1. How do your findings contribute to the current discussion in the field?
  2. How are you building on the current discussion?
  3. How do your findings fit in with what has already been published?
  • Revisit your Matrix to see the main findings and limitations of each study.
  • Make sure your thesis and your overall conclusions align.

Direction

  1. What research still needs to be done on or surrounding your topic?
  2. Can the gaps you discovered in the current body of literature be addressed through new approaches, questions, methodologies, or ideologies?
  3. What kind of research will benefit the body of knowledge on your topic the most? Why?
  4. Have you used evidence and analysis from your Matrix?
  5. Are any researchers or scholars trying new approaches, methodologies, or topics that can be used to address gaps in the body of knowledge in novel ways? If so, how?
  • Revisit your Matrix to assess ways of filling gaps in the current body of knowledge.
  • Make sure your recommendations are specific enough to be useful.
  • Avoid generalizing and making assumptions.
  • Explain the rationale behind your recommendations.
  • Explain theoretical implications or practical applications of your findings.
Decorative

Limitations

  1. Have any constraints influenced your research or conclusions?
  2. Are your findings only valid in some contexts or to some researchers?
  3. Are there instances when your findings might not be applicable?
  4. Do the instances when your findings cannot be applied represent a gap in the current body of knowledge? If so, should research be conducted to address this gap?
  • Be realistic and transparent regarding your findings and contributions to the current scholarly discussion on your topic.
  • Considering how your findings can best be used may help you determine their limitations.