The word “conclusion” comes from the Latin “conclusĭo”, which is formed from “conclus” of the verb “concludere” which means “to close or conclude”, plus the suffix “ion”. And, the Latin “conclusĭo”, derives from the Greek “ἐπίλογος”.
The term conclusion refers to that situation that is considered finished within a process that involved the study of a particular term, which starts from its most relevant factors and information. From there, the outcome of the investigation arises.
Constantly, human beings, day by day, reach various conclusions unconsciously. For example, if the day was sunny and suddenly the weather turned cloudy and the rain began to fall, we ask ourselves: “What happened?” Thus, we began to replicate the possible arguments and reached a certain conclusion. Likewise, in the literary field, the conclusion indicates the outcome of the plot of the story, since it is considered one of the three parts that make up the fiction, that is, beginning – development – conclusion. For this reason, in the literary aspect, the conclusion is the final part in which all the mentioned stories are closed and the last instance of the story is reached, where the result of the events described and narrated throughout the story is observed.
At an educational or professional level, making a conclusion allows writing the final phase of the work carried out, where the knowledge acquired throughout the investigation will be expressed and the objective of not leaving loose ends is pursued for a better understanding by the readers or evaluators, as appropriate. Likewise, when participating in a discussion table on a specific topic, it is prudent to end with the conclusion that synthesizes the research, to highlight the main ideas and summarize what was discussed; Usually, the conclusion is usually represented by the point of view of each one of the participants of the discussion table.
Generally, people tend to confuse summary and conclusion, being two totally different actions. The first consists of a brief presentation, either oral or written, of the parts that make up a study, without providing an opinion or citing examples and information that is not reflected in the subject studied. While, the conclusion consists of synthesizing the main ideas of an investigation contributing the point of view of the researcher, taking into account the knowledge acquired throughout the understanding of the work carried out, where emphasis should be placed on the results obtained and their effects. The definitions that the term conclusion presents are varied, everything will depend on the context that surrounds it.
Within a research paper, which begins with the introduction, is followed by development and finally closes with the conclusion; It is very noticeable that this last part is usually the most complex for people to write. And this falls on the amount of information that they have handled up to that point, confusion arises as to what will be the most relevant, and they tend to close at the moment they start writing. It is normal for this to happen, because they come from an extended process that is to investigate. Therefore, most of the conclusions of academic papers turn out to be weak and not very nutritious, some present fragments that do not fit the topic. Therefore, it is natural that at the end of the investigation, the doubt arises: “How to make a conclusion?”, Well, A series of parameters must be taken into consideration that allow the final phase of our investigation to be satisfactorily elaborated. So, here are the steps to follow.
What do you need to make a conclusion?
- Ideas
- Text
Instructions for making a conclusion
The conclusion of a work or investigation must summarize the content and purpose of the study, maintaining the natural character and capturing the reader’s attention, that is, it must become interesting and appropriate to the results of the investigation. When writing the final phase of your work, it is important to follow a series of key elements to achieve an effective conclusion, and also avoid some parameters that weaken it. These are:
- Review the research carried out: A good conclusion summarizes the main ideas of the work, since it is the final part of it and therefore, our research ends there. For this reason, we must carry out a closure that does not leave questions open that could call into question the quality of our work. Usually, we ask ourselves the question: “How to make a conclusion?”, because we have handled a lot of information and we do not know how to classify it. In such a way, to start, you must read the study carried out again, but, with a fresh mind, after letting it rest for a few minutes; in order to understand each point and be able to extract the most relevant to start writing the final phase.
- Write the key elements: It is important to emphasize in the conclusion, the scope of the objectives, the results obtained and what repercussions these results generate in the environment or environment studied; in this same order. Well, the sequence of the investigation will be carried out without confusing the reader or evaluator by anticipating or skipping important lines and then going back to explain them, it is important to point out the ideas at once and not reopen them later. Likewise, at the time of writing, natural words must be used, depending, of course, on the level of education that is being studied or the public that will have access to our research; words must be in the proper context to avoid inconsistencies.
- Avoid redundant information: when reviewing the research carried out, it is relevant to emphasize the introduction, since we should not repeat the same lines in the conclusion, since we are closing our study, so the information to be written should be more concise. In this sense, in the final phase of our investigation we must not repeat again what has already been mentioned throughout the work, but select the most important points and there emphasize and synthesize them, in order to provide the new knowledge that we acquire. throughout the study.
- Represent ideas related to the subject: once the study is understood, prepared to write avoiding redundant information, it is important to focus on the subject of study, without mentioning information that is not found in our research. That is, if our work was aimed at highlighting the differences between the Samsung and iPhone mobile brands; We should not mention other brands, such as LG –in no specific order- if the study does not require it, because we would be losing the meaning of the research and deviating from the objective studied, which will generate confusion for readers.
- Send a message: each investigation pursues a series of objectives and in order to successfully fulfill them, it is important that you connect with the subject in order to better understand it and obtain great results. Once the conclusion of the points studied is finished, it is convenient to call for reflection or send a message that touches the sensitivity of the reader. Well, all research shows the social effects produced by the areas that make up our environment, and if we want our study to stand out from the rest, it is important to close it with a reflection relevant to the subject studied.
Tips for making a conclusion
The conclusion of an investigation should not be a summary, where the ideas that have already been developed throughout the study are quoted verbatim. It should be a synthesis of the most relevant data that gave shape to the work, and allowed to obtain a series of results that give the study as achieved and the objectives set out at the beginning. As mentioned, this section of a research paper is usually the most feared, everyone wonders: “How to draw a conclusion?”, Therefore, when starting to write, the following tips should be taken into consideration to get a clean and uniform conclusion:
- In the conclusions, new elements or elements that are not part of the investigative process should not appear. The same line should always be followed.
- It is important to deny or confirm the hypothesis studied in the investigation, since, from there, the need to prepare the study began.
- Do not extend too much: the conclusions must not exceed four pages, and these refer to the Degree Thesis, where the conclusions must be comprehensive and at least three pages.
- It is important to mention the results of the questionnaire, and comment on its analysis.
- Conclude first, the specific objectives and then the general. If you do not present specific objectives, finish the general one.
- Highlight the contributions made in the field of research, mentioning the most relevant aspects of the population or environment studied.
- Indicate the disagreements presented throughout the investigation, in order to show sincerity and not falsify data that could not be fully verified.
- Lean on the author’s citations to give greater validity to the theories, as long as the exposed citation is interpreted later.
- Avoid fillers and dequeísmos.
- Avoid contradicting yourself with respect to the information embodied throughout the investigation
- Take care of the writing, spelling and presentation.
- Make use of bullet points to separate the achievement of the research objectives (not mandatory).
- Separate the paragraphs so as not to overwhelm the reader with so much information, and know how to differentiate the ideas.
- At the end of the reflection, do it on the subject studied, not deviate with quotes that do not correspond to the investigation.
- Avoid using all the numerical figures obtained in the research results, take the most relevant ones and explain why.