Research Basics
Writing the Research Paper
Writing the Research Paper (or Proposal)
Conclusion “What did we learn from this research?”
The last section of your paper summarizes your main findings and brings your research question back to the center of the paper. So after reading past research on your topic, collecting and analyzing your data, what do you have say? Here are some guidelines for to write this section. Be careful not to simply restate your introduction. You will certainly restate some ideas, but the key here is the move the state of the field forward. In other words, now that we have your findings, how does this shape our understanding of the social phenomena at hand?
- Summarize your main findings
- Relate your findings to the conceptual ideas or past research that you discussed in the literature review
- Highlight insights learned and how it contributes to our sociological knowledge
- Address limitations of current research
- Offer specific suggestions for future research
- Suggest policy implications, if applicable
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