14 Conclusion & Discussion
The conclusion and discussion chapter is the final section of your thesis. It is where you step back from the data and reflect on the meaning, implications, and limitations of your findings.
Descriptions of your findings → past tense (“The results showed that…”) But theoretical implications and conclusions → present tense (“This suggests that…”)
14.1 Standard structure (use max. 3 subheadings)
14.1.1 1. Summary and conclusion
Opening paragraph:
- Restate the main focus and purpose of the study
- Briefly mention the approach (design)
- Give a clear, concise overall summary of the answer to your research question
Middle part — detailed summary and discussion of findings:
For each hypothesis or sub-question:
- Summarize the finding
- Relate it to the specific literature used to motivate the hypothesis
- Explain whether it is consistent or inconsistent with prior work and why
- For unexpected findings: introduce possible explanations, potentially drawing on additional literature or theories
- Offer multiple interpretations where relevant
- Make cross-connections between findings
The following are illustrative examples of what good discussion paragraphs look like. They are not taken from actual publications.
Example — supported hypothesis:
“H1 was supported: higher exposure to peer disclosures increased participants’ own disclosure intentions (b = 0.34, SE = 0.08, p < .001, β = .24). This is consistent with the behavioral contagion hypothesis (e.g., Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004; Masur et al., 2021), which predicts that observed disclosures function as descriptive social norm signals that increase perceived pressure to disclose. The effect size (β = .24) aligns with prior work on norm-based social influence online (Lapinski & Rimal, 2005), though it is somewhat smaller than found in a controlled laboratory setting (d = 0.44; Masur et al., 2021), which may reflect the more naturalistic conditions of the current survey.”
Example — unexpected null result:
“Contrary to H3, privacy literacy was not significantly associated with protective privacy behavior (b = 0.07, SE = 0.08, p = .38, β = .06). This is inconsistent with prior studies that found a positive link between privacy knowledge and protective action (Bartsch & Dienlin, 2016; Masur & Scharkow, 2020). One possible explanation is that knowledge alone is insufficient to motivate behavior change — a pattern documented in the privacy paradox literature (Acquisti et al., 2015). The null finding may also reflect limited variance in privacy literacy scores in the current student sample, which may have reduced statistical power to detect a small effect. Future research should replicate this test in more heterogeneous samples.”
Common mistakes to avoid:
- Saying “This finding is in line with previous research (ref1, ref2)”, also explain how and why
- Ignoring non-significant findings. Instead, discuss them and consider limitations, e.g., whether the study was adequately powered
Middle part — broader implications:
- Theoretical implications: What does your study contribute to theory? Does it extend, refine, or challenge existing frameworks?
- Practical implications: What do your findings mean for practitioners, policymakers, or society?
- Connect back to the relevance you established in the Introduction
Closing of the first section:
- Consider the broader picture — what has your study contributed to the field?
- Do the findings yield new insights?
14.1.2 2. Strengths, limitations, and future research
Strengths:
- What methodological or conceptual strengths does your study have? (These give meaning to the limitations. There are always trade-offs)
Limitations:
- Be thorough and honest
- Address methodological limitations (e.g., sampling, measurement, generalizability)
- For qualitative research: discuss applicability of findings (situations, variations)
Future research:
- Suggestions must go beyond just fixing the limitations
- Propose new, theoretically interesting research questions that follow from your conclusions
- These suggestions should be grounded in your theoretical implications
14.1.3 3. Closing paragraph / final conclusion
End with a strong, clear and short paragraph:
- Concisely restate the goal of the study
- State a clear and well-founded conclusion
- Provide a direct answer to the research question and hypotheses
- End with a strong take-home message
A weak final paragraph is memorable for the wrong reasons. End confidently with a clear statement of what your study has contributed.