Saint James Academy

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for
Reseach Project

GUTIERREZ, Yna Marie Z.

SACRISTAN, Kaecy Lynn

2020

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I. Objectives

1. Discuss the findings of summary, conclusions, and

recommendations.

2. Define summary, conclusions, and recommendations list of several

of its most important characteristics

3. Determining on how to write the summary, conclusions, and

recommendations.

II. Discussion

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.

In this chapter, you are required to evaluate your own work and provide

personal insights and interpretation of the results. However, this does not mean

that you give your opinions as you wish. Insights and interpretation should be

based on the constraints of scholarly writing in which you mention what the study

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means to you and what it means to the field of practice, to previous research and

people interested in your study.

In starting the chapter V, you should first write a brief introduction or

preamble for this chapter. Like stipulated in all the earlier chapters (except for

Chapter 1), begin with a preamble telling the reader the: purpose of the chapter,

the main sections of the chapter.

A. Writing the Summary of Findings

The objective of this section is to refresh the reader's understanding of the

study especially the 'findings' or 'results of the study. It must look like a miniature

of the entire research paper.

Your summary may include the following: (1) objectives of the study; (2)

statement of the problem; (3) respondents; (4) sampling procedures; (5) method/s

of research employed; (6) statistical treatment/s applied or hypotheses tested, if

there is any; (7); and results. If you notice, all the parts mentioned above are

already included in the previous chapters. So, the challenge is on how you are

going to briefly write and present it.

Example: Teaching science in the high schools of Province A

This was conducted for the purpose of determining the status of teaching

science in the high schools of Province A. The descriptive method is used of

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research was utilized and the nominative survey technique was used for gathering

data. The questionnaire served as the instrument for collecting data. All the

teachers handling science and a 20 percent representative sample of the students

were the respondents. The inquiry was conducted during the school year 1989-’90.

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.

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.

In writing research summary there are points to remember. First, you must

go direct to the point in highlighting the main statements in Chapter I-III and

major findings that you had stated in Chapter IV. Only the important should be

included. There is no need to thoroughly explain the details. Avoid the temptation

of copying and pasting what you have written before. Do not include too much

research jargon so that someone who is not be in the field can understand. Also, no

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new data should be introduced in the summary of findings. Remember to just

KISS (keep it short and simple).

In the case of quantitative research, use simple non-statistical language to

summaries. Remember to write in the past tense. For example, "Job satisfaction as

expressed by staff did not vary according to leadership styles of the senior

manager".

For quantitative research, to ensure flow, it is suggested that you use the

research questions or hypotheses as a guide. For qualitative research you could use

the research questions, themes or categories. Synthesize the findings and show

how they converge to answer the research questions.

Write sentences in simple past and use always the passive voice

construction rather than the active voice. You must be familiar with the different

semantic markers. Alvior (2014) suggests the use of semantic markers such as the

following to avoid repeating the same words or phrases: additionally, also, further,

in addition to, moreover, contrary to, with regard to, as regards, however, finally,

during the past ___ years, from 1996 to 2006, after 10 years, as shown in, as

presented in, consequently, nevertheless, in fact, on the other hand, subsequently,

nonetheless.

Next, you may use the following guide questions to check that you have not

missed anything in writing the summary:

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 What is the objective of the study?;

 Who/what is the focus of the study?;

 Where and when was the investigation conducted?;

 What method of research was used?;

 How were the research data gathered?;

 How were the respondents chosen?;

 What statistical tools were applied to treat the gathered data? ; and

 Based on the data presented and analyzed, what findings can you

summarize?

Finally, organize the summary of the results of your study according to the

way the questions are sequenced in the statement of the problem.

B. Writing the Conclusions

The 'Summary' of the findings you had stated earlier is not sufficient as you

have to go beyond the findings and share "your" beliefs and explanation on what

you got and did not get. The key word is 'discussion'. This is the part where you

'sell' your research. You use the present tense because you are making statements

that are derived from the study. So, don’t be confused because in your summary,

you use past tense while in conclusion, you use present tense.

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In writing a conclusion, take a few steps back and try to see the big picture

focusing on the significant findings of the study. Decide on which of the findings

or results that you want to highlight. Be careful not to sell yourself short!

State the possible reasons, causes and factors for the findings or results

stated in the 'Summary' section. For example, a significant finding from your study

was that 'More women leaders exhibited a democratic leadership style compared

to men leaders in the banking sector'. To conclude your conclusion, you must

answer What do you think produced such a finding?

Even you did not get the results you were expecting, you should explain

why - For example, the experiment to test the effectiveness of a particular

intervention did not show significant differences - you should explain why the

method did not produce the results you were expecting. Also, in cases where your

findings differ from those of others, it is useful to indicate possible reasons for

such variation. If your findings or results are controversial, you should explain

why you think you got such results. This is where you compare your findings

against previous findings whether they be different or similar - did the findings

agree with previous or it did not. When discussing the findings keep in mind the

limitations of your study and how they may affect the findings.

You must also show how the findings of your study has contributed to

existing understanding of concepts identified in the works of other people -

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important to acknowledge the views of others who share similar positions as those

identified by your research. Compare and contrast your findings or results with

those of other researchers: How are your findings/results similar or different from

other studies? What do the results mean for them? For example, if your study did

not strongly confirm results that had been predicted to be fairly strong in the

previous research. Assuming there are no design weaknesses to account for the

finding, then perhaps the finding challenges previously held. As such, its failure to

support a hypothesis may be very important finding indeed.

If you want to show that the findings of your study have policy implication,

you must present a brief description of the policy and how the findings from your

study are relevant or relate to the policy If you want to show how your study

contributed towards your theoretical framework then show how your work could

influence the theoretical debate. If someone only reads the 'Discussion' section,

they will get a good understanding of what you found and why it matters. You

should explain to the reader clearly, in a narrative, without restating your results.

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

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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: 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. Therefore, the conclusion is: 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

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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, yet

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,

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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:

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

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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 ensure the accuracy of the conclusion based upon

the data under consideration.

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

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

While the other one, only 1 graduate took the CPA and passed.

C. Writing the Recommendations

The recommendations must contain practical suggestions that will improve

the situation or solve the problem investigated in the study. First, it must be

logical, specific, attainable and relevant. Second, it should be addressed to

persons, organizations, or agencies directly concerned with the issues or to those

who can immediately implement the recommended solutions. Third, present

another topic which is very relevant to the present study that can be further

investigated by future researchers. But never recommend anything that is not part

of your study or not being mentioned in your findings.

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Moreover, research recommendations are based on the conclusions of the

study. It gives a detailed description of the suggestion for future action based on

the significance of the findings. It includes implications for future used of findings

and recommendation for future research.

Recommendations should solve the problem or provide answers to

questions asked in the study. Have recommended course of action based on your

conclusions. All suggestions must be in line with them. Each recommendation is

separate point/ paragraph. It should also follow a descending order of importance,

arrangement as in conclusion.

After organizing your thoughts as to what would- be the contents of your

recommendations, you should write it using the imperative mood of the verb.

Imperative mood is to express a request or a command. So, the tense is also simple

present tense. However, there are universities especially in the Philippines that

require a specific thesis format to be followed by students. Thus, as a student, you

must conform to the prescribed format of your college or university.

Recommendations for Future Research - Ask yourself:

 What area of interest would you have liked to explore but which was

outside the scope of your study?

 What other perspectives could be explored to illuminate aspects of the

subjects which were only merely uncovered?

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 What follow-up studies would you like to conduct given your

results/findings?

 How could your study be extended?

 Recommendations for Future Practice

 How can the professionals in your field be impacted by the findings of this

study?

 What recommendations can you make to professionals, policymakers,

stakeholders, government leaders etc.?

III. References

https://simplyeducate.me/2014/07/29/thesis-writing-what-to-write-in-chapter-
5/http://valmikiacademy.com/module-five-writing-chapter-5/

http://thesisadviser.blogspot.com/2013/02/thesis-writing-summary-conclusions-and.html

https://www.slideshare.net/JhenieRelampagos/how-to-make-research-paper-chapter-5-
summary-consclusion-and-recommentation

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