Thesis Writing: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations

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SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This is the last chapter of the thesis and the most important part because it is here where the findings, and the whole thesis for that matter, are summarized; generalizations in the form of conclusions are made; and the recommendations for the solution of problems discovered in the study are addressed to those concerned.

Summary of Findings

Guidelines in writing the summary of findings. The following should be the characteristics of the summary of findings:

1. There should be e brief statement about the main purpose of the study, the population or respondents, the period of the study, method of research used, the research instrument, and the sampling design. There should be no explanations made.

Example. (Using the hypothetical study of teaching science in the high schools of Province A). This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the status of teaching science in the high schools of Province A. The descriptive method of research was utilized and the normative survey technique was used for gathering data. The questionnaire served as the instrument for collecting data. All the teachers handling science and a 20percent representative sample of the students were the respondents. The inquiry was conducted during the school year 1989-’90.

2. The findings may be lumped up all together but clarity demands that each specific question under the statement of the problem must be written first to followed by the findings that would answer it. The specific questions should follow the order they are given under the statement of the problem.

Example. How qualified are the teachers handling science in the high schools of province A?

Of the 59 teachers, 31 or 53.54 percent were BSE graduates and three or 5.08 percent were MA degree holders. The rest, 25 or 42.37 percent, were non-BSE baccalaureate degree holders with at least 18 education units. Less than half of all the teachers, only 27 or 45.76 percent were science majors and the majority, 32 or 54.24 percent were non-science majors.

3. The findings should be textual generalizations, that is, a summary of the important data consisting of text and numbers. Every statement of fact should consist of words, numbers, or statistical measures woven into a meaningful statement. No deductions, nor inference, nor interpretation should be made otherwise it will only be duplicated in the conclusion. See the example in No. 2 just above.

Only the important findings, the highlights of the data, should be included in the summary, especially those upon which the conclusions should be based.

Findings are not explained nor elaborated upon anymore. They should be stated as concisely as possible.

Conclusions

No new data should be introduced in the summary of findings for your Thesis

Guidelines in writing the conclusions. The following should be the characteristics of the conclusions.

1. Conclusions are inferences,deductions,abstractions,implications, interpretations, general statements, and/or generalizations based upon the findings. Conclusions are the logical and valid outgrowths upon the findings. They should not contain any numeral because numerals generally limit the forceful effect or impact and scope of a generalization. No conclusions should be made that are not based upon the findings.

Example: The conclusion that can be drawn from the findings in No. 2 under the summary of findings is this: All the teachers were qualified to teach in the high school but the majority of them were not qualified to teach science.

2. Conclusions should appropriately answer the specific questions raised at the beginning of the investigation in the order they are given under the statement of the problem. The study becomes almost meaningless if the questions raised are not properly answered by the conclusions.

Example. If the question raised at the beginning of the research is: “How adequate are the facilities for the teaching of science?” and the findings show that the facilities are less than the needs of the students, the answer and the conclusion should be: “The facilities for the teaching of science are inadequate”.

3. Conclusions should point out what were factually learned from the inquiry. However, no conclusions should be drawn from the implied or indirect effects of the findings.

Example: From the findings that the majority of the teachers were non-science majors and the facilities were less than the needs of the students, what have been factually learned are that the majority of the teachers were not qualified to teach science and the science facilities were inadequate.

It cannot be concluded that science teaching in the high schools of Province A was weak because there are no data telling that the science instruction was weak. The weakness of science teaching is an indirect or implied effect of the non-qualification of the teachers and the inadequacy of the facilities. This is better placed under the summary of implications.

If there is a specific question which runs this way “How strong science instruction in the high schools of Province A as is perceived by the teachers and students?”, then a conclusion to answer this question should be drawn. However, the respondents should have been asked how they perceived the degree of strength of the science instruction whether it is very strong, strong, fairly strong, weak or very weak. The conclusion should be based upon the responses to the question.

4. Conclusions should be formulated concisely, that is, brief and short, ye they convey all the necessary information resulting from the study as required by the specific questions.

Without any strong evidence to the contrary, conclusions should be stated categorically. They should be worded as if they are 100 percent true and correct. They should not give any hint that the researcher has some doubts about their validity and reliability. The use of qualifiers such as probably, perhaps, may be, and the like should be avoided as much as possible.

Conclusions should refer only to the population, area, or subject of the study. Take for instance, the hypothetical teaching of science in the high schools of Province A, all conclusions about the faculty, facilities, methods, problems, etc. refer only to the teaching of science in the high schools of Province A.

Conclusions should not be repetitions of any statements anywhere in the thesis. They may be recapitulations if necessary but they should be worded differently and they should convey the same information as the statements recapitulated.

Some Dangers to Avoid in Drawing up Conclusions Based on Quantitative Data

There are some pitfalls to avoid in the use of quantitative data. (Bacani, et al., pp. 48-52) researchers should not accept nor utilize quantitative data without questions or analysis even if they are presented in authoritative-looking forms. This is so because in some instances quantitative data are either inaccurate or misleading either unwittingly or by design. The data should be analyzed very critically to avoid misleading interpretations and conclusions. Among the factors that a researcher should guard against are the following:

1. Bias. Business establishments, agencies, or organizations usually present or manipulate figures to their favor. For instance, an advertisement may quote statistics to show that a given product is superior to any other leading brand. We should be wary of the use of statistics in this case because of the obvious profit motive behind. An individual may also do the same. A respondent to a questionnaire or in an interview may commit the same bias o protect his own interests. Like the case of the science teachers in the high schools of Province A, they may respond that the science facilities in their respective schools are adequate although they are not just to protect the good names of their own schools. A respondent, if asked how many science books he has read, may say that he has read many although he has read only a few to protect his name. Hence, if there is a way of checking the veracity of presented data by investigation, observation, or otherwise, this should be done to insure the accuracy of the conclusion based upon the data under consideration.

2. Incorrect generalization. An incorrect generalization is made when there is a limited body of information or when the sample is not representative of the population. Take this case. The Alumni Association of a big university would like to conduct a survey to determine the average income of the alumni during their first ten years after graduation. Though the total number of returns may meet the sample size requirement, the population may not be properly represented by the actual composition of the sample. This is likely to happen because chances are that a great majority of the alumni in the high income bracket will respond readily but the great majority of those who are not doing well may ignore the survey by reason of pride. In such a case, the high income group is over represented and low income group is under represented in the sample resulting in the overestimate of the average

income of the entire alumni group. This is the result of a built-in sampling bias.

3. Incorrect deduction. This happens when a general rule is applied to a specific case. Suppose there is a finding that the science facilities in the high schools of Province A are inadequate. We cannot conclude at once that any particular tool or equipment is definitely inadequate. Suppose there is an over-supply of test tubes. Hence, to make the conclusions that all science equipment and tools in the high schools of Province A are inadequate is an incorrect deduction in this case.

Incorrect comparison. A basic error in statistical work is to compare two things that are not really comparable. Again, let us go to high schools of Province A. Suppose in the survey, School C has been found to have 20 microscopes and School D has only eight. We may conclude that School C is better equipped with microscopes than School D. However, upon further inquiry, School C has 1,500 students while School D has only 500 students. Hence, the ratio in School C is 75 students is to one microscope while in School D the ratio is 63 students is to one microscope. Hence, School D is better equipped with microscopes than School C. to conclude that School C is better equipped with microscopes than School D based on the number of microscopes owned by each school is incorrect comparison.

Abuse of correlation data. A correlation study may show a high degree of association between two variables. They may move in the same rate but it is not right to conclude at once that one is the cause of the other unless confirmed so by other studies. In no case does correlation show causal relationship. When the government increases the price of gasoline, the prices of commodities also starts to rise. We cannot conclude immediately that the increase in price of gasoline is the sole cause of the increase in the prices of commodities. There are other causes to consider such as shortage or undersupply of the commodities, increased cost of production, panic buying, etc. To be able to make a conclusive statement as to what is or what are the real causes of the increases in prices of commodities, an intensive investigation is needed.

Limited information furnished by any one ratio. A ratio shows only a partial picture in most analytical work. Suppose the only information that we have about a certain establishment is that the ratio does not show the kinds of employees leaving and why they are leaving. We do not know whether the losses of employees are caused by death, retirement, resignations, or dismissals. We can only surmise but we cannot conclude with definiteness that the causes of the 20% employee turnover are death, retirement, poor working conditions, poor salary, etc. Avoid as much as possible making conclusions not sufficiently and adequately supported by facts.

Misleading impression concerning magnitude of base variable. Ratios can give erroneous impressions when they are used to express relationships between two variables of small magnitudes. Take the following examples. A college announced that 75% of its graduates passed he CPA examination at a certain time. Another college also advertised that 100% of its graduates who took that same examination passed. From these announcements we may form the impression that the standard of instruction in the two colleges is high. Actually only four graduates from the first college took the CPA licensing examination and three happened to pass.

For recommending similar researches to be conducted, the recommendation should be: It is recommended that similar researches should be conducted in other places. Other provinces should also make inquiries into the status of the teaching of science in their own high schools so that if similar problems and deficiencies are found, concerted efforts may be exerted to improve science teaching in all high schools in the country.

Evaluation of a Thesis or Dissertation

Generally, a thesis or dissertation has to be defended before a panel of examiners and then submitted to the proper authorities for acceptance as a piece of scholarly work. Hence, there should be some guidelines in evaluating a thesis or dissertation. The following are offered to be the general criteria in judging the worthiness of a thesis or dissertation:

I. The subject and the Problems 1.Is the subject significant, timely and of current issue? 2.Is it clearly delimited but big enough for making valid generalizations? 3.Is the title appropriate for the subject? 4.Are the sub problems specific, clear, and unequivocal?

II. The Design of the Study 1.Is the research methodology appropriate? 2.Is the design clear and in accordance with the scientific method of research? 3.Is the report prepared carefully following acceptable format and mechanics? 4.Are the documentation adequate and properly done?

III. The Data (Findings) 1.Are the data adequate, valid and reliable? 2.Are they analyzed carefully and correctly treated statistically? 3.Are they interpreted correctly and adequately?

IV. Conclusions (Generalizations) 1.Are the conclusions based upon the findings? 2.Do they answer the specific questions raised at the beginning of the       investigation? 3.Are they logical and valid outcomes of the study? 4.Are they stated concisely and clearly and limited only to the subject of the study?

V. Recommendations 1.Are the recommendations based upon the findings and conclusions? 2.Are they feasible, practical, and attainable? 3.Are they action-oriented? (They recommend action to remedy unfavorable      condition discovered) 4.Are they limited only to the subject of the study but recommend further research on the same subject?

Written By:

Prof. Erwin M. Globio, MSIT
Thesis/Dissertation Consultant
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erwinglobio.sulit.com.ph - Saturday, July 31, 2010

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