How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation

98 ◆ AUTHORING A PHD
a first-order section. The first paragraph (or part) of the Conclusions
should gather up the key points previously pulled out
in each of the final paragraphs for each section, and re-present
them so as to draw together the end points of each section. It is
worth writing the opening sentence of the Conclusions carefully,
preferably in a general way which clearly breaks away
from the ending of the last section and instead encourages
readers to look back across the chapter as a whole and to assess
what they have learnt.
The second paragraph (or second part) of the Conclusions
should ‘open out’ to briefly consider one or two broader issues
raised. It should always end by establishing a forward link of
some kind to the next chapter. With a descriptive sequence of
chapters the link will normally be easy to make – for instance,
in a historical or narrative sequence, what happened next? And
in a ‘guidebook’ pattern, what links A to B? Where the chapters
discuss a sequence of analytic or argumentative topics the link
across will usually take the form of pointing to some open
issues raised by this chapter, one of which the next chapter will
address. Sometimes there are more tricky transitions, when
a series of connected chapters ends and you have to link forward
to a new grouping of chapters. In these circumstances you
may want to leave a couple of blank lines to indicate that the
conclusions for this chapter alone have finished, and that some
more general comments follow. Then write a separate paragraph
or two just of linking text, drawing the connected chapters
together and possibly referring back to your opening
chapter plan and the sequence outlined there.
Conclusions
In the UK’s difficult and lengthy driving test there is a muchdreaded
element called the ‘emergency stop’. At the beginning
of the test your examiner tells you that at a certain random
point she will tap on the dashboard of the car with her folder,
as a signal that you must bring the car to a halt as quickly as
you can, under control and safely. Then the test starts and you
drive off, usually quite quickly forgetting about this whole idea
under the stresses and strains of negotiating traffic. Later on, as