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Reporting and Sharing the Findings

Because research leads to more research, the conclusions you reach from your study are crucial. They form a relationship with your fellow researchers, requiring you to continually strive for truth and clarity while avoiding deception and falsehood. As researchers, we rely on the integrity of the research that came before us to make legitimate conclusions, and we rely on one another to do so. Consider what the world would be like now if researchers had not challenged the medieval conclusion that the world was flat because ships appeared to drop from its edge.

Here's a checklist to help guide you in writing your conclusions

01

Does the evidence in my paper evolve from a stated thesis? From subtheses? From topic sentences?

02

​Do all of my sources for evidence agree with each other? Are there conflicts, and have I identified them as conflicts? If I have presented conflicting opinions, have I distinguished them clearly?

03

Have I offered enough evidence for every conclusion I have drawn? Are my conclusions based on empirical studies, expert testimony, or data, or all of these? Have I included any unsubstantiated opinions or hearsay as the basis for my conclusions?

04

​Are all of my sources credible? Is anyone in my audience likely to challenge them?

05

Have I presented circular reasoning or illogical conclusions?

06

​Am I confident that I have covered most of the major sources of information on my topic? If not, have I stated this as a limitation of my research?

07

Have I discovered further areas for research and identified them in my paper?

08

Have others to whom I have shown my paper perceived the validity of my conclusions?

09

​Are my conclusions strong? If not, what causes them to be weak? Do I myself believe them to be true?

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