Introduction and conclusion: How do you capture audience attention when introducing or concluding a thesis? The answer is to create authoritative and trustworthy content for the opening and closing chapters of your dissertation. The introductory chapter, combined with the conclusions and recommendations, provide structured opportunities to promote your research. The introduction should outline your research problem, background to the study and the reason the topic is of interest to your readers. The conclusion should summarise what you have found about each research question or hypothesis
How textbook helps: The book is a useful resource offering guidance on introducing and concluding a thesis or dissertation. It explains that the purpose of an introduction is to establish the backdrop to a study. This is achieved by setting out aims and objectives, a research statement, and the study’s research questions or hypotheses. The purpose of a conclusion is to describe the principal findings of the study. This is achieved by drawing out the key contributions from the research. Furthermore, the conclusion should include a discussion about the recommendations from the study for scholarship, practice and further research.
Student story: Seamus felt his findings were of real value. He was not, however, confident his draft dissertation conveyed the import of his findings. Reading the book impressed upon Seamus that his initial draft lacked coherence and cohesion. In particular, it highlighted the need to review the core messaging from his opening and closing chapters. Following the book’s advice, Seamus wrote an authoritative introductory chapter that contextualised and rationalised his study. In addition, he penned a conclusions chapter that summarised and substantiated his trustworthy contributions.
“Using the book helped me make my thesis more logical by improving the structure. My examiners commented on how well my arguments flowed and linked together; from start to finish.” Seamus McGraw, MSc Marketing and Branding Management.