In-Class, Nov. 6th: Conclusion

How to Write the Conclusion:

• must be the best-written part of the whole research essay
• must answer your research question (you can restate it!)
• must relate to your Literature Review (example: if one of your article in the Lit Review was against marijuana, and listed reasons for it, but your own survey found out that most people were in favor of it, write about the differences.)
• must contain MAJOR findings (Unlike your Results section, which talked about ALL your findings from ALL your questions step by step, the Conclusion only contains the main findings in %.)
• must contain speculations/assumptions WHY your findings were like this. You don't need to be "right", since you only assume certain reasons for the answers you got. Example: If you found out that 90% of your surveyed students do not participate in off-campus activities, you might assume that their university work load and their job hours make it impossible for them to participate in off-campus activities....)
• must contain implications/recommendations for the practice. Example: If you found out that texting really makes students' grammar worse, you could recommend that teachers instruct their high school students in code-switching, so they become aware that texting lingo is appropriate in informal settings, but not in academic papers.