How to Write Chapter 5 for Thesis Writing

HOW TO WRITE CHAPTER 5
Chapter 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, & RECOMMENDATION

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 solutions 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 a brief statement about the main purpose of the study, the population of respondents, the period of the study, method of research used, the research instrument, and the sampling design. There should be no explanations made.
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 be followed by the findings that would answer it. The specific questions should follow the order they are given under the statement of the problem.
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 deduction, nor inference nor interpretation should be made otherwise it will only be duplicated in the conclusion.
4. Only the important findings, the highlights of the data, should be included in the summary, especially those upon which the conclusions should be based.
5. Findings are not explained nor elaborated upon anymore. They should be stated as concisely as possible.
6. No new data should be introduced in the summary of findings.

Conclusions:

1. Conclusions are inferences, deductions, abstractions, implications, interpretations, general statements, and/or generalizations based upon the findings. They should not contain any numerical because numerical generally limit the forceful effect or impact and scope of a generalization. No conclusions should be made that are not based upon the findings.
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.
3. Conclusions should point out what were factually learned from the inquiry. However, no conclusions should be drawn from the implied or indirect effect of the findings. The conclusion should be based upon the responses to the questions.
4. Conclusions should be formulated concisely, that is, brief and short, yet they convey all the necessary information resulting from the study as required by the specific questions.
5. Without any strong evidence to the contrary, conclusions should be stated categorically. They should be worded as 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.
6. Conclusions should refer only the population, area, or subject of the study.
7. 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
This is so important 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 –usually present or manipulate figure of their surveys or respondents of a certain business establishments, agencies, or organizations in their favor.
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. This is the result of built-in sampling bias.
3. Incorrect deduction – this happens when a general rule is applied to a specific case.
4. Incorrect comparison – a basic error in statistical work is to compare two things that are not really comparable.
5. Abuse of correlation data – a correlation study may show a high degree of association between two variables. They may move in the same direction at 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.
6. Limited information furnished by nay one ratio – a ratio shows only a partial picture in most analytical work. Avoid as much as possible making conclusions not sufficiently and adequately supported by facts.
7. 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. To avoid making false impressions by making conclusions using ratios concerning variables of very small magnitudes, use the original data because the relationship is clear even without the use of a ratio.

Recommendations:
Guidelines in writing the recommendations. Recommendations are appeals to people or entities concerned to solve or help solve the problems discovered in the inquiry. They should have the following characteristics:
1. As mentioned above, the recommendations should aim to solve or help solve problems discovered in the investigation
2. No recommendations should be made a problem, or any thing for that matter, that has not been discovered or discussed in the study. Recommendations for things not discussed in the study are irrelevant.
3. There may also be recommendations for the continuance of a good practice or system, or even recommendation for its improvement. This is to insure a continuous benefit being accorded to the universe involved.
4. Recommendations should aim for the ideal but they must be practical, feasible, and attainable. It is useless to recommend the impossible.
5. Recommendations should be logical and valid.
6. Recommendations should be addressed to the persons, entities, agencies, or offices who or which are in a position to implement them.
7. There should be a recommendation for further research on the same topic in other places to verify, amplify, or negate the findings of the study. This is necessary so that if the findings are the same, generalizations of wider application can be formulated.

For recommending similar researches to be conducted, the recommendation should be: It is recommended that similar researches should be conducted in other places.
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. The following are offered to be the general criteria in judging the worthiness of a thesis or dissertation:
For 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?
For 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 unfavourable condition discovered)
4. Are they limited only to the subject of the study but recommend further research on the same subject?