This webinar covers the essentials of writing the introduction and conclusion of a dissertation, or extended piece of writing: how to structure both chapters or sections, what to include and not include, and the symbiotic relationship between the two. This is a recording of a live webinar delivered by the University of Southampton's Academic Skills Service.
Our guide on writing your dissertation's conclusion will help you further with FAQs, what to avoid, and an annotated example to check out: https://library.soton.ac.uk/writing_the_dissertation/conclusion.
0:48 - Aims/overview of webinar
2:45 - Story cards activity
9:48 - Introduction structure with SPRE (Structure, Problem, Response, Evaluation)
11:56 - Introduction structure via CARS (Creating A Research Space)
19:29 - Example introduction with commentary
29:56 - Flow and closing narrative gaps
35:05 - Introduction tips (word count, repetition, etc.)
36:55 - Conclusion structure
40:17 - Example conclusion with commentary
48:07 - Relationship between intros and conclusions (circling back)
52:52 - Conclusion tips (word count, avoiding cliche, etc.)
54:52 - Summary of main points