The conclusion is the final section of a paper, summarizing the key findings, emphasizing the validation of hypotheses, and addressing limitations and future research directions. Rather than merely repeating the content of the main body, the conclusion should synthesize the research's significance and explain its academic and practical implications.
6-1. Structure of a Conclusion
1. Emphasizing Validated Hypotheses
- Purpose: Reaffirm how the research questions and hypotheses have been addressed and validated.
- How to Write:
- Link the paper's main achievements to the hypotheses being tested.
- Explain how the findings contribute to the field.
Examples:
- "This study proposed a novel model for learning contextual information in multilingual translation and demonstrated significant improvements over existing models through experimental validation."
- "The observed improvement in BLEU scores empirically supports the hypothesis that the proposed Multi-Head Attention mechanism effectively learns contextual similarity."
2. Clearly Stating Research Limitations
- Purpose: Acknowledge the potential weaknesses or limitations of the research to enhance its credibility and objectivity.
- How to Write:
- Describe the limitations encountered during the study.
- Discuss how these limitations might affect the results.
Examples:
- "While the proposed model performed well on large-scale datasets, its performance on small-scale datasets was somewhat limited, indicating potential sensitivity to data size."
- "The computational complexity of the model is a limitation, posing challenges for real-time applications."
3. Proposing Future Research Directions
- Purpose: Suggest actionable paths to address limitations and extend the research.
- How to Write:
- Provide concrete research directions to address the identified limitations.
- Explore new areas or applications where the findings can be applied.
Examples:
- "Future research will focus on designing a lightweight Attention mechanism to reduce computational complexity."
- "The proposed model can also be extended to other applications, such as multi-domain text processing beyond multilingual translation."
6-2. Key Points for Writing a Conclusion
1. Avoid Repetition and Provide New Insights
- The conclusion should not simply restate the main body but offer a fresh synthesis of the findings in the research context.
2. Reiterate the Novelty and Contributions
- Highlight the academic and practical contributions of the study.
Examples:
- "This research introduces a novel approach for effectively learning contextual information in multilingual translation, offering significant advancements in NLP."
3. Acknowledge Limitations While Suggesting Positive Outlooks
- Acknowledge limitations transparently while providing solutions or future directions to maintain a constructive tone.
4. Discuss Practical Implications
- Address how the research findings can be applied in real-world contexts to emphasize their value.
Examples:
- "The proposed model can be utilized not only in translation systems but also in multi-domain data processing applications."
6-3. Example of a Conclusion
1. Emphasizing Hypothesis Validation
"This study proposed a transformer-based model for integrating contextual similarity in multilingual translation. Experimental results showed that the proposed model achieved an average of 15% higher BLEU scores compared to existing models, empirically validating the hypothesis that incorporating contextual information enhances translation quality."
2. Stating Research Limitations
"However, the study revealed that the model's high computational complexity and slightly reduced performance on small-scale datasets could limit its applicability in certain scenarios."
3. Proposing Future Directions
"Future work will explore designing efficient Attention mechanisms to address computational challenges and improve performance on smaller datasets. Additionally, the proposed model could be extended to other NLP applications, such as multi-domain data processing, to further investigate its versatility."
6-4. Tips for Writing an Effective Conclusion
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Align with Research Questions and Hypotheses:
- Clearly connect the findings to the research questions and hypotheses to demonstrate the study's success.
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Maintain Objectivity and Credibility:
- Acknowledge limitations openly but frame them positively by suggesting future work.
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Propose Specific and Feasible Directions:
- Avoid overly broad or vague suggestions; focus on actionable and concrete research topics.
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Reinforce Academic and Practical Contributions:
- Summarize how the research advances the field academically or provides practical value.