Features of Effective Conclusions &
Recommendations Chapters
• Provide a succinct summary of key
findings
• Have directly-stated recommendations
that stand out at the beginning of each
paragraph or section
• Use formatting that makes it easy for
readers to quickly find specific
conclusions and recommendations
• Make clear who the recommendations
are directed toward
• Show consistency with Background,
Methodology, and
Findings chapters
• Do more than recommend
something; they provide a roadmap
for implementation: What methods?
What criteria should be used? What
sources should be consulted? What
obstacles might come up?
any claims that you make. For example, you could include some quotations from interviews and
present summaries of your data in tables or figures.
• Remember that when you include Figures and Tables, you do so to reinforce points you’re
making in the narrative, not to replace narrative. Never present a figure or table unless you refer
to it in the text, explain it, and interpret it for the reader. For example: “Table 2 (not ‘The table
below’) shows a summary of the results of interviews with the various stakeholder groups,
divided into the areas of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Note that grass-roots
contacts and interpersonal connections were a theme among strengths identified by both groups A
and B…, whereas …” Then Table 2 should be included in the next available space following this
paragraph, and the table should have a fully descriptive caption that is also included in the List of
Tables and Figures following the Table of Contents at the front of the report.
• If you are producing some stand-alone documents as part of your work (manual, website, or other
materials), plan on placing them in an appendix. In the Findings chapter, you would describe the
findings and principles that guided the development of those documents, and point the reader to
them. The audience for those stand-alone documents is whoever will be using them. The
audience for the report is other researchers.
Example: Following is a sample organization for a Findings chapter that illustrates some of the
points above.
By analyzing the information gathered from our site visits and interviews, we developed the following
findings concerning the tree planting projects in Heredia province, and the various stakeholders and
principles which affect their success:
1. Most of the thirteen tree planting sites we visited contained trees that were correctly placed and
watered, but were harmed by pests or other isolated incidents
Summary of evidence, explanation, and analysis
2. Tree maintenance programs varied among the sites and the quality of tree maintenance in the
private planting sites was superior to the quality of tree maintenance in the public planting sites
Summary of evidence, explanation, and analysis
3. Participation was low among business owners, developers, and the ordinary community members
but was high among community leaders and schools
Summary of evidence, explanation, and analysis
4. Community members do not participate in their community’s tree planting projects because there
is no confidence in the national government’s reforestation efforts, sense of ownership, or
opportunity for social interactions
Summary of evidence, explanation, and analysis
5. There were three cases where community members were being empowered, but it appears this is
not a widespread occurrence
Summary of evidence, explanation, and analysis
The Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter
Often a reader will want to skim through this final
chapter and be able to pick out quickly your specific
conclusions and recommendations, so this chapter
should be persuasive on its own.
Content: Conclusions can be thought of as a
summary of the key findings of your project. In this
sense, it may seem a bit repetitive from your
Findings chapter. That’s OK, because sometimes
people read only this chapter and not the Findings
chapter. This chapter, however, should be MUCH
MORE SUCCINCT. Instead of giving complete
evidence to back up your findings, just suggest the
nature of the evidence.
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