through how you can reach a ‘say it once, say it right’ pattern
of chapter organization. If you still have a methods chapter
embedded in the main sequence of your chapters, consider
whether it is really necessary, or whether some or all of its ma-
terial might be better handled in a Research Methods Appendix.
Try to ensure that your sequence of chapters makes sense in a
designed way, and does not just follow a ‘What I did in my
PhD’ pattern. Check carefully that the ‘need to know’ criterion
is being met in terms of the order of chapters so that contextual
information arrives in the right sequence for readers to follow
the analysis at all points.
The final chapter
The end of the thesis needs to have a clear character. It cannot
just be a ‘tell ’em what you’ve told ’em’ section that only
repeats points already made. It must first of all reprise each of
the same themes or theory ideas used to structure the first chap-
ter (and any other lead-in chapter). But this time the discussion
of each theme should be grounded securely in the experience of
the middle chapters. The focus should be on establishing
clearly what has been shown by your research, and how it is rel-
evant to your central thesis question and the themes set out at
the start. The last chapter should answer the twin questions:
What has been achieved by your research? How much has your
thesis moved professional discussion along? Its discussion
should not go again into detailed accounts from the middle
chapters. Instead it should compare across those chapters,
pulling together their themes and connecting up their key
messages. As you move towards a close, use the second part of
the final chapter to group its themes together under broader
labels or higher-order issues. From there you can open out into
a discussion of relevant wider professional debates and contro-
versies. It is often useful to conclude this closing ‘debate’ sec-
tion by considering some viable directions in which future
research might go from where your work leaves off.
There are a few final checks to make at this stage also. You must
ensure that your overall main text is still the right length, around
four-fifths of any formal university limit, that is 80,000 words
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