Research Design: Conclusions and Recommendations

• The learning session focuses on describing research design.
• Activities include forming logical conclusions, making recommendations, and writing clear reports.
• The expected output is Chapter 5, including a summary of findings, conclusions, recommendations, and a list of references.

Development

• After data analysis, the next step is to form logical conclusions and make recommendations.
• Conclusions should provide a lasting impression and act as the "final chord" of the research.
• This section includes a comprehensive summary of findings and highlights key points based on the results.
• Significant implications that apply to practice are noted, pointing out what was factually learned from the inquiry.
• It should be written clearly and simply, with the value of the research described.

Conclusions

• Conclusions should stress the importance of the thesis statement and give the work a sense of completeness.
• They should leave a final impression on the reader and demonstrate good organization.
• Strategies for making conclusions include echoing the introduction, challenging the reader to apply the research, and emphasizing the paper's importance for future considerations.

Recommendations

• Recommendations should formulate after the conclusion, giving support to the findings, and conclusions.
• A recommendation for a preferred alternative should include the following:
  • What should be done, the implementation steps, and needed resources.
  • Discussion of benefits as well as problems addressed, corrected, avoided, or improved.
  • Analysis of proposed recommendations and a general statement.
  • Evaluation plan timing to identify the recommendation effectiveness.
• Recommendations should have the following characteristics:
  • Brief (concise)
  • Clear
  • Precise (not vague)
  • Logical
  • Relevant
• The recommendation section should aim to solve problems and ensure continuous benefit to individuals and society.

References

• The list of references is an alphabetic list of sources cited in the report, and it is before the appendix section.
• The reference section allows the reader to find more information from the cited sources.
• Referencing is important including:
  • Adding authority by using evidence from previous research.
  • Demonstrating understanding of relevant literature.
  • Providing an opportunity to check the quality of cited materials.
  • Ensuring ethics by giving credit to original sources.

Reference List

• When constructing a reference list, lines after the first line of each entry should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.
• Author's names are indented, with the last name first.
• Entries should be alphabetized by the first author's last name.
• List multiple articles by the same author in chronological order (earliest to most recent).
• Journal titles should be presented in full, with all major words capitalized, maintaining the original journal's punctuation and capitalization.
• Do not capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
• Italicize titles of longer works like books and journals, and maintain consistent capitalization.
• References credit the works of others, influencing the present work and documenting facts that are not common knowledge.

Appendix

• The last section of the research report is the Appendix, which will include a copy of instruments, photos of conduct of research should be included.