PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

QUARTER 4 MODULE 8
WRITING CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND REFERENCES

Conclusions
The conclusion is intended to help the reader appreciate why the research should matter to them after they have
finished reading the paper. A conclusion is a synthesis of key points. For most essays, one well-developed paragraph is
sufficient for a conclusion; although in some cases, a two- or three-paragraph conclusion may be required (USC Libraries,
2014).

You need to draw together the threads of research to arrive at some general conclusions. In other words, you
summarize the ideas of the research in terms of research problem, or objectives and tie up both ends neatly. The
conclusions are drawn by logical inference from findings (Mutai, 2001).

The conclusion culminates the research report and is of utmost importance to one’s readers because it answers the
questions that sparked the collected data and its analysis in the first place. In concluding one’s report, it is important to
discuss the practical application and implications of one’s findings in the real world. Although one is supposed to have
interpreted evidence at every step of one’s analysis, one’s conclusions pull the strands together in a broader perspective
and indicate possible action, where appropriate (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003).

In the main text of the conclusion section, one needs to draw together the threads of the research to arrive at some
general conclusions and, perhaps, suggest some ways forward. Rather than let the report fizzle out as it reaches the end,
this part of the report should be constructive and positive. Conclusions should not contain any ideas not previously raised
in the report. It should state in unqualified terms what the findings are. The findings should then be related to other
evidences or hypotheses as described in the main body, including a comparison with other similar studies. Where
appropriate, a variety of options arising from the study should be explained. The content of the conclusion logically
precedes it. In tying these materials together, the conclusion can perform the three functions, as follows:

1) Recapitulate the ideas of the paper: This is done in the manner where the researcher returns to the first paragraph or so,
review, summarize and ties up both ends neatly.
2) Extend a challenge: This is usually reserved for the problem-solving paper. Such a conclusion may call on the reader
himself to help make the solution to take effect by telling him/her what to do.
3) Draw inferences: If opposing ideas have been presented, the conclusions may challenge the reader to accept one or
other ideas, or at least to consider their relative value (Mutai, 2001).

Problems to Avoid in Making Conclusions

The following problems should be avoided in writing the conclusion (Ebrahim, 2018):

1) Failure to be concise: The conclusion section should be concise and to the point. Conclusions that are too long have
unnecessary details. The conclusion section is not the place for details about the methodology or results. Although one
should give a summary of what was learned from the research, this summary should be relatively brief, since the emphasis
in the conclusion is on the implications, evaluations, insights, and others that one makes.
2) Failure to comment on larger or more significant issues: In the introduction, one’s task is to move from general (the
field of study) to specific (the research problem). However, in the conclusion, one’s task is to move from specific (the
research problem) back to general or field – i.e., how the research contributes new understanding or fills an
important gap in the literature. In other words, the conclusion is where one places the study research within a larger
context.
3) Failure to reveal problems and negative results: Negative aspects of the research process should never be ignored.
Problems, drawbacks, and challenges encountered during the study should be included as a way of qualifying the overall
conclusions. If one encountered negative results of findings that are validated outside the research context in which they
were generated, one must report them in the results section of the paper. In the conclusion, use the negative results as an
opportunity to explain how they provide information in which future research can be based on.
4) Failure to provide a clear summary of what was learned: In order to be able to discuss how the research fits back into
the field of study and possibly the world at large, one needs to summarize it briefly and directly. Often, this element of the
conclusion is only a few sentences long.
5) Failure to match the objectives of the research: Often, research objectives change while the research is being carried
out. This is not a problem unless one forgets to go back and refine the original objectives in the introduction. As these
changes emerge, they must be documented so that they accurately reflect what one was trying to accomplish in the
research and not what one thought might be accomplished when one began.

Recommendations
One’s summary and conclusions should lead logically to one’s recommendations. Recommendations must be
consistent with the purpose of the study, its objectives, the evidence presented by the data, and the interpretations given.
Recommendations should be practical and achievable (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). The recommendations concerning
the action to be taken follow the conclusions. Where recommendations involve policy decisions, state them completely as
possible including who should do what, when and why (Mutai,2021)

Common recommendations that researchers often make include the following:

1) Areas of further research: Emphasizing the questions in the study that remain unanswered and therefore ought to be
explored further.
2) Methodological issues: These could be addressed and refined to improve future research in the areas of study.
3) Actions that should be taken to address the problem based on the research findings: Solving specific problems could
involve designing and implementing an intervention of a project (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003)

Writing the References

As per the considerations of research ethics, the researchers should identify and acknowledge various sources they
have used in their work/write up. Referencing is a system used by the academicians to indicate the source of the ideas,
theories, quotes, facts or any other evidence, data, and information that have been used for any write up or assignment. It
is an essential part of any scientific writing and one must do this in all the academic assignments. It is the accepted way of
giving credit to the ideas and evidence on which one’s argument is based. References are listed in an organized,
structured, and consistent way, at the end of the write up/assignment. In thesis, the list of references appears before the
appendices.
Commonly Used Referencing System or Style of Writing References

Vancouver style
Most journals in medical sciences use the Vancouver system to write the references. In this system, the citation in
the text is done by reference number. In the list, the references are in a numeric order (Arabic) in which they are first cited
in the manuscript. References are numbered consecutively in the order that they are first mentioned in the text. Each
reference number is placed in parentheses or superscripted throughout the text, tables, and legends.

In Vancouver style, the names of all the authors are written when there are six authors. If there are more than six authors,
“et al.” is used after writing the first six authors. While using the Vancouver style, if an author’s name is used in the text,
it is mandatory to use the citation number as well. For example, “as Kaur emphasized the high prevalence of depression in
elderly...”

APA style

The APA style is a structured format for all sorts of academic writings, including the journal articles, books, and
other commentaries devised by the American Psychological Association (APA) Table 1. The style guide titled as
‘Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association’ was first published in 1929 as a seven-page document.
After eighty years, the sixth edition of the manual was published in 2009. This style is very widely used in social and
behavioral sciences like psychology, sociology, social work, nursing, and education.

While citing reference in text, where one needs to cite one work by one author, the following format is used:
“Author’s Surname (year)”. For example, “Sharma (2014) reported that 43% of antenatal females experience
intimate partner violence.” When the citation has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors when the reference appears
for the first time; in the subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.” and the year.
For example: “Kaur, Sharma, Bakshi and Sinha (2012) reported high prevalence of
stress among nurses…” (used as first citation in the text) “Kaur et al. (2012) also found…” (used in the subsequent
citation per paragraph thereafter).
For a web page with no author, cite the first few words of the title and the year using double quotation marks
around the title. The government documents, books, technical/research reports, or brochures can also be considered for
writing the references. If a person is named on the title page, use him or her as author. If no person is named, use the
government agency, department, or branch as a group author.

The reference list is written at the end of the article. The list provides the necessary information required to
identify and retrieve each source. In APA style, the reference list should include only those references which are
actually used in the preparation of article. Hence, the APA style requires the use of reference list, not bibliography. The
order of the reference list is prepared by arranging all entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author
followed by the initials of the author’s given name. The rule is to alphabetize letter by letter. When there are several works
by the same author, they are to be arranged by year of publication; the earliest comes
first. For example, “Sharma N (2010)” precedes “Sharma N (2014)”. Oneauthor entries precede multiple-author entries
beginning with the same surname even if the multiple-author work was published earlier. For example, “Kaur (2014)”
shall precede “Kaur, Singh, and Sharma (2010)”.
This style mandates writing the names of all the authors in the reference list up to seven authors. If there are more than
seven authors, the following format is used: Kaur, S., Sharma, N., Sharma, S., Thakur, M., Agnihotri, N. Thakur
M,.…Saini, S. (2015). Effectiveness of peer evaluation in nursing training. Education and Research Journal, 6, 167-177.
For government agency with no author, it can be written as U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004.
Harvard style
This is also known as Author and Date system. The Harvard system puts the authors and the date of work being
referred to at the appropriate point in the text rather than using a number. This is called a “citation”. All the works cited
are then listed at the end of the report/paper in an alphabetical order according to the authors’ surname. The reader can
then refer from the text to the reference. The reference list must contain all the works cited in the text.

It is economical in terms of time. It is very flexible as entries can be added, deleted, or changed with a minimum
of disruption to the rest of the document. In addition, the reader can tell immediately who the author is
and when the study was published. It emphasizes the name of the author and the publication year in the text with full
bibliographic details in a reference list.

While using Harvard style, if a citation is to be used in text, depending on the style of your sentence, you will
either include both the author and year in brackets or just the year in brackets, with the author forming part of your
sentence. For example, “interpersonal stress is very common in first year students (Sharma, 2010),” or “in a descriptive
study by Sharma (2010), interpersonal stress was emphasized in first year students.” Further, the style mandates the use of
specific page number as well if one is using a direct figure or idea from a particular page, for example “(Kaur, 2014)”. For
a work done by more than one author, the name of all authors is to be given in text up to three authors. If there are more
than three authors, then write the name of the first author followed by “et al.”