How to form conclusions

1. How to form conclusions (Convincing, perceptive ones)

2. The goal • Now that you’ve got a whole lot of information that answers your questions, it’s time to form your own ideas about the issue. Based on the info you found, you’ll express an opinion or suggest a solution to the questions you started with.

3. They must be your own conclusions. Listing all the things you read is not the point here!

4. For example: • Information: • Children who get alcohol from people who are not their parents were more likely to binge drink at the age of 15 or 16. • http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/cheers-dad-how-getting-booze-from-your-folks-affects-drinking-habits Conclusion: An article from The Wireless lists the findings from a recent Australian study. The study found that young people who get alcohol from people other than their parents are more likely to binge drink at 15 or 16. We know that this is a crucial age for brain development. If a parent thinks their child is likely to get alcohol somewhere else, it could be better to supply them with a limited number of low alcohol drinks. That way, parents can model responsible drinking and discuss the long term dangers of binging.

5. A “conclusion”… Means that you’re creating NEW ideas or knowledge based on what you found. So taking the previous example, “Children who get alcohol from people who are not their parents were more likely to binge drink at the age of 15 or 16,”: NOT a conclusion. You need to process the information and present it in an organised way. As in the example before, summarise your findings and then develop a conclusion around it. Tip: Keep the question ‘so what?’ in the back of your mind while reading through your notes.

6. “Convincing” conclusions… ...are required for Merit. That means your conclusions must be clear and connected to the purpose of the inquiry. Conclusions must link directly to the information you found!

7. Example of a ‘convincing conclusion’ Inquiry question: How might parents play a role in a young person’s decision to drink alcohol? “An article from The Wireless lists the findings from a recent Australian study. The study found that young people who get alcohol from people other than their parents are more likely to binge drink at 15 or 16. We now know that this is a crucial age for brain development. If a parent thinks their child is likely to get alcohol somewhere else, it could be better to supply them with a limited number of low alcohol drinks. That way, parents can model responsible drinking and discuss the long term dangers of bingeing. However the same study also found that children who got alcohol from their parents were more likely to be drinking full serves of alcohol by the age of 15 or 16. So clearly, parents have an important role in helping their child make decisions about alcohol. Drinking full serves of alcohol at that age has a negative effect on the brain’s development but may be better than bingeing. If the child definitely wants to drink then they need to work together to find the least harmful solution.

8. “Perceptive” conclusions… ...are required for Excellence. That means your conclusions must be clear and connected to the purpose of the inquiry and original. You need to make thoughtful or insightful comments about what you’ve found out. Questioning or challenging the information you found is one way to do this but don’t stray too far from answering your questions!

9. Example of a ‘perceptive conclusion’ • Inquiry question: How might parents play a role in a young person’s decision to drink alcohol or not? • “An article from The Wireless lists the findings from a recent Australian study. The study found that young people who get alcohol from people other thantheir parents are more likely to binge drink at 15 or 16. We now know that this is a crucial age for brain development. If a parent thinks their child is likely to get alcohol somewhere else, it could be better to supply them with a limited number of low alcohol drinks. That way, parents can model responsible drinking and discuss the long term dangers of bingeing. • However, the same study also found that children who got alcohol from their parents were more likely to be drinking full serves of alcohol by the age of 15 or 16. So it seems that parents are in a tough spot. If they provide us with alcohol, they are condoning something that is proven to be bad for their child. If they don’t, we may choose to drink in more dangerous ways. But I see now that there are a number of other factors that could encourage binge drinking. Just because our parents gave us alcohol doesn’t mean we’re not going to binge drink once we get older. (Especially when we get to the ages of 18 - 24, which according to another study is when problem drinking is worst). It’s more important that we look at why people want to binge drink in the first place.

10. Evaluate your findings You can also reflect on the knowledge you’ve created and comment on it. Maybe you needed more information to reach a definite opinion or maybeyou couldn’t find enough different viewpoints for some reason: discuss it in your report!