ASSIGNMENT: RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION
The final substantial written component of your paper is (or at this stage, should be) the Conclusion. Operating under the premises that 1) you have been able to make your case through the background of the problem, 2) you are not analyzing research data per se (enough, for example, to warrant a section on "Results"), and 3) the design project as a demonstration of principles is only a suggestion for this course, you complete the paper by bringing closure to the research process here.
Included are a variety of things; indeed, Fred von Borstel refers to the last section (or chapter, in a thesis) as "Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations" in his book Research for the Design Professions. For our purposes, however, you will "Summarize, Observe and Suggest" (the "SOS method") by including the following:
• Summarize. Briefly recap the topic, the problem, the research findings and the (proposed) design project.
• Observe. Here, discuss the limitations of the study. Describe the scope of the investigation into the problem and the potential limits of the design project. If there was an issue with finding source material, discuss this. In retrospect, how did things turn out?
• Suggest Discuss what future work might be done based on your paper or perhaps how it might be extended. If you did not have the limitations described in the second part, what might have been accomplished?
Speculate.
The Conclusion does not have to be lengthy. It may be possible to cover the material in two pages or so (one is probably too brief). If your conclusion is longer than, say, five dense pages you may be too detailed in your summary or too critical in your assessment!
Format: Prepare a typed draft of the Conclusion containing all elements listed above, 8-1/2" x 11", portrait format, 1-1/2-line spacing, with the usual identifying items on front.