Best Examples of Thesis Conclusion Format Examples for 2024

Examples of Thesis Conclusion Format Examples (Start Here)

Before any theory, let’s look at examples of thesis conclusion format examples you can actually model. These are short, realistic patterns you can stretch into a full conclusion chapter.

Imagine a master’s thesis in education that tested a new reading program in middle school:

Example of a short conclusion paragraph (Education thesis)
This study examined the impact of the ReadForward program on sixth‑grade reading comprehension in two public schools in Texas. The findings show that students using ReadForward improved their average reading scores by 18% over one semester, compared with 7% in the control group. These results suggest that structured, daily reading workshops can significantly improve comprehension for students reading below grade level. Future research should investigate how the program performs in schools with different demographic profiles and explore its long‑term effects on reading motivation.

In less than 150 words, this conclusion:

• Reminds the reader of the research focus
• Highlights the main result
• Interprets why it matters
• Points to future research

That’s the basic pattern you’ll see repeated—just adapted for different fields and formatting rules.

Classic Chapter-Style Conclusion: Best Examples for Long Theses

Longer theses (especially in PhD programs) often use a whole Conclusion chapter with clear subsections. One of the best examples of thesis conclusion format examples in this style usually follows this order:

• Brief restatement of the research problem and purpose
• Concise summary of key findings
• Discussion of implications (the “so what?”)
• Limitations of the study
• Recommendations for practice or policy
• Suggestions for future research
• Final closing reflection or statement

Here is a condensed example of how this looks in practice for a public health PhD thesis on telehealth use during COVID‑19:

Sample structure for a chapter-style conclusion
1. Restating the purpose
This thesis investigated how telehealth adoption influenced continuity of care for adults with chronic conditions in three large urban hospital systems between 2020 and 2023.

2. Summary of key findings
Across the three systems, telehealth visits increased by 240% in the first year of the pandemic and remained 160% above pre‑pandemic levels by 2023. Patients with diabetes and hypertension who used telehealth at least once every three months had significantly fewer emergency department visits than those who relied solely on in‑person care.

3. Implications
These findings indicate that telehealth can support continuity of care and reduce acute care utilization when integrated into routine chronic disease management. However, unequal access to devices and stable internet connections continues to limit benefits for low‑income patients.

4. Limitations
This study relied on electronic health record data from three hospital systems in one metropolitan area, which may limit generalizability to rural or smaller healthcare settings.

5. Recommendations and future research
Hospital systems should prioritize telehealth infrastructure and digital literacy support for patients with chronic conditions. Future research should examine patient experiences with telehealth over longer time periods and in more diverse geographic regions.

6. Final statement
Overall, this thesis demonstrates that telehealth, when implemented equitably, can be a durable component of chronic disease care beyond the immediate context of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

If your university expects a full conclusion chapter, this is one of the best examples of thesis conclusion format examples to follow: clear subsections, logical order, and a confident final statement.

For more on expectations in research writing, universities like Harvard share useful guidance on writing effective endings to academic work.

APA and MLA: Examples of Thesis Conclusion Format by Style

Formatting styles like APA and MLA mostly affect citations and headings, but they still shape how your conclusion looks on the page.

APA-Style Conclusion: Example of Chapter Layout

In APA (7th edition), especially in psychology, education, and social sciences, the conclusion often appears as the final section of a Discussion chapter or as a short, separate Conclusion section.

Here’s an example of an APA‑style conclusion paragraph for a psychology thesis:

APA-style conclusion example (Psychology)
In summary, this study provides evidence that a brief, app‑based mindfulness intervention can reduce self‑reported stress in first‑year college students over an eight‑week period. Participants who used the app at least four days per week reported significantly lower perceived stress scores compared with the waitlist control group. Although the sample was limited to a single university and relied on self‑report measures, the results suggest that low‑cost, technology‑based interventions may be a practical tool for campus mental health services. Future studies should incorporate physiological stress markers and examine whether benefits are sustained over longer periods.

Notice the features:

• Past tense for describing what the study did
• Present tense for describing what the results “mean” now
• No new citations or data introduced in the conclusion

You can find detailed APA guidance at the official APA Style site.

MLA-Style Conclusion: Example for Humanities

In MLA, common in literature, languages, and some humanities fields, the conclusion is often more interpretive and less data‑heavy.

Here’s a humanities‑style conclusion example of MLA‑friendly writing for a thesis on climate change narratives in contemporary fiction:

MLA-style conclusion example (Literature)
This thesis has argued that contemporary climate fiction shifts the focus from distant catastrophe to intimate, everyday experiences of environmental change. By centering characters who navigate slow, cumulative disruptions rather than sudden disasters, the novels examined here challenge readers to recognize climate change as a present reality rather than a future threat. While this study focused on Anglophone novels published between 2010 and 2022, its findings suggest that literary narratives can shape not only how readers imagine climate futures, but also how they understand their own responsibility in the present. Further research might compare these Anglophone texts with climate narratives from regions already experiencing severe climate impacts, expanding our understanding of how fiction participates in global environmental conversations.

Same basic structure, but with more emphasis on argument, interpretation, and cultural impact.

Field-Specific Examples of Thesis Conclusion Format Examples

Different disciplines expect different tones and emphases. Here are real examples of thesis conclusion format examples adapted to several fields.

STEM Thesis: Engineering / Computer Science

STEM conclusions often:

• Emphasize results and performance metrics
• Highlight technical contributions
• Mention scalability, limitations, and future improvements

Engineering-style conclusion example
This thesis presented a low‑cost sensor network for real‑time air quality monitoring in urban environments. Field tests across four neighborhoods in Chicago showed that the system accurately detected PM2.5 concentrations within a 5% margin of error compared with reference‑grade monitors. By combining off‑the‑shelf components with open‑source software, the proposed design reduces deployment costs by approximately 60% relative to existing commercial systems. However, long‑term durability and data security concerns remain. Future work should investigate weatherproof housing materials, encrypted data transmission, and integration with public health dashboards to support community‑level decision making.

Social Sciences: Sociology / Education

Social science conclusions typically:

• Connect findings to theory and policy
• Acknowledge limitations clearly
• Emphasize social impact

Education thesis conclusion example
The findings of this study indicate that project‑based learning can increase engagement and conceptual understanding in high school physics classes, particularly for students who previously reported low interest in science. Students in the project‑based sections not only scored higher on conceptual assessments but also described physics as more “relevant” and “connected to real life” in post‑unit interviews. While the study was limited to two schools in one district, the results support ongoing district‑level efforts to redesign science curricula around inquiry and application. Future research should explore how project‑based learning interacts with teacher experience, class size, and access to laboratory resources.

Health and Medical Research

Health‑related theses often need a careful, evidence‑based tone. Organizations like the National Institutes of Health and CDC model this style in their reports.

Public health thesis conclusion example
This thesis adds to the growing body of evidence that school‑based vaccination campaigns can increase influenza vaccination rates among children in low‑income neighborhoods. Schools that implemented on‑site vaccination clinics in collaboration with local health departments achieved vaccination rates 22 percentage points higher than comparison schools. Although this study did not examine long‑term health outcomes directly, higher vaccination coverage is likely to reduce community transmission and protect medically vulnerable populations. Future studies should consider cost‑effectiveness analyses and parent perspectives to inform sustainable program design.

These field‑specific models give you several examples of thesis conclusion format examples you can adapt depending on your discipline and topic.

Short vs. Long: Examples Include One-Paragraph and Full-Chapter Conclusions

Not every program allows a long conclusion chapter. Some universities (especially at the undergraduate level) want a very short conclusion—sometimes just one or two paragraphs.

Here’s a one‑paragraph example of a concise conclusion for a senior thesis in business:

Short conclusion example (Business)
This study analyzed the impact of remote work policies on employee retention in three mid‑sized tech companies between 2021 and 2024. The results suggest that flexible hybrid models—rather than fully remote or fully in‑office arrangements—are associated with the highest retention rates and employee satisfaction scores. While the sample was limited and cannot be generalized to all industries, the findings indicate that employees value both autonomy and opportunities for in‑person collaboration. Companies designing post‑pandemic work policies should consider hybrid structures that allow teams to coordinate in‑office days while preserving individual flexibility.

And here’s a longer, multi‑section example of thesis conclusion format for a master’s thesis in environmental science:

Longer conclusion structure (Environmental science)
Restatement of aim: This thesis examined how urban green roofs contribute to temperature regulation and stormwater management in a mid‑sized U.S. city.
Key findings: Results showed that buildings with green roofs experienced surface temperatures up to 20°F lower than conventional roofs during peak summer months and reduced stormwater runoff by an average of 35% during heavy rainfall events.
Implications: These findings suggest that municipal incentives for green roof installation could play a meaningful role in local climate adaptation strategies.
Limitations: The study focused on a limited number of buildings and did not account for long‑term maintenance costs.
Future research: Future studies should explore cost‑benefit analyses over longer time frames and examine how different plant species affect performance.

Both are valid; the format you choose depends on your institution’s guidelines and the scale of your project.

How to Build Your Own Conclusion Using These Examples

Now that you’ve seen several examples of thesis conclusion format examples, here’s a simple way to build your own, step by step.

Start by writing three short pieces of text:

• One sentence that restates your research question or main goal in plain language.
• Three to five sentences that summarize your most important findings or arguments.
• Two to four sentences that explain why those findings matter for your field, practice, or future research.

Once you have those, you can expand into a full conclusion by adding:

• A short paragraph on limitations (what your study could not do)
• A short paragraph on recommendations (what others should do with your findings)
• A final sentence that leaves the reader with a clear takeaway

Here is a blended example of how those pieces come together for a psychology thesis on social media and sleep:

This thesis investigated how late‑night social media use relates to sleep quality among college students at a large public university. Survey and actigraphy data from 312 participants indicated that students who used social media after midnight at least five nights per week slept, on average, 42 minutes less per night and reported poorer sleep quality than peers who limited use to earlier hours. These findings suggest that late‑night social media habits may meaningfully disrupt sleep duration and perceived restfulness during a key developmental period. However, the cross‑sectional design of this study prevents firm conclusions about causality. Future research should employ longitudinal and experimental designs to determine whether reducing late‑night social media use leads to measurable improvements in sleep. For campus health services, these results highlight the value of including digital behavior in sleep education and wellness programming.

If you compare this with earlier models, you’ll see the same underlying format repeated in different words. That’s the real value of collecting several examples of thesis conclusion format examples—you start to see the pattern.

FAQ: Examples of Thesis Conclusion Format Examples

How long should a thesis conclusion be?
It depends on your degree level and discipline. Undergraduate theses might use a one‑ to two‑page conclusion. Master’s theses often use 3–5 pages or a short chapter. PhD dissertations can have a full conclusion chapter of 5–15 pages, especially when they integrate multiple studies. Check your department’s thesis manual or recent theses in your program for real examples.

Can you give an example of a strong final sentence for a thesis conclusion?
Here are a few:

• “Taken together, these findings indicate that early intervention is not only beneficial but necessary if schools hope to close persistent achievement gaps.”
• “By reframing climate change as a present reality rather than a distant threat, these narratives invite readers to recognize their own role in shaping the future.”
• “Ultimately, this thesis argues that meaningful reform will require not just new policies, but a fundamental shift in how we understand responsibility and risk.”

Should I include new data or citations in my conclusion?
In most cases, no. The conclusion is for synthesizing, not introducing new evidence. If you absolutely must mention a new reference (for example, a major study published while you were writing), keep it minimal and check your advisor’s preference. Many graduate writing centers, such as those at major universities like UNC, advise against adding new arguments here.

What are good examples of visual or structural signposts in a conclusion?
Even without headings, you can guide the reader with phrases like “This study has shown that…”, “These results suggest…”, “However, this research was limited by…”, and “Future studies should…” These signals help your reader follow the standard conclusion format without needing bold section titles.

Where can I find more real examples of thesis conclusion format examples?
Look at your university’s online thesis or dissertation repository. Many institutions, especially in the U.S. and U.K., make theses publicly available through their libraries. Skim the last chapter or final section of 3–5 theses in your field. That will give you the most accurate, local examples of thesis conclusion format examples your committee is used to seeing.

If you use the patterns and examples of thesis conclusion format examples in this guide as a template—then adjust them to match your field, length requirements, and personal voice—you’ll be able to write a conclusion that feels confident, organized, and genuinely finished.