A conclusion fits its evidence when it covers no more people, places or times than the evidence does. This lesson shows you how to shrink a sweeping conclusion to size, a skill that completes the work of claims, reasons and evidence.
Why do conclusions get too big?
A small sample is easy to collect and its result is easy to remember. The jump to “students prefer” or “people always” feels natural, but the evidence only covers the group that was actually studied.
Overgeneralising is not dishonesty. It is a habit, and revising it is a matter of checking the scope words in the conclusion against the evidence.
Step by step
- Underline the scope words in the conclusion: “all”, “students”, “always”, “most”, “in general”.
- Write the evidence in full: who, how many, where, when.
- Compare the two. Where the conclusion reaches beyond the evidence, mark it.
- Rewrite the conclusion to name the real group and the real figure.
- Add one limit where it truly applies, then stop.
Worked example
An invented project note (fictional school, Sekolah Contoh) says: “Students prefer paper textbooks to digital ones.” The evidence: the writer interviewed 8 students from Class 4B, and 6 said they prefer paper.
Step 1, scope words: “students” (all students) and the present-tense general “prefer”.
Step 2, evidence: 8 students, one class (4B), one school, interviewed once. 6 out of 8 preferred paper. 6 ÷ 8 = 0.75, or 75%.
Step 3, compare: the conclusion covers all students. The evidence covers 8 people in one class.
Step 4, rewrite: “In one class at a fictional school, 6 of the 8 students interviewed (75%) said they prefer paper textbooks.”
Step 5, add one limit: “This is too small a group to say whether students in other classes feel the same.”
Notice that the revised conclusion still says something real. It states the finding plainly and puts the limit in one place.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to over-correct, so the conclusion becomes so cautious it says nothing.
Mistaken answer: “Perhaps some students might possibly prefer paper, but it is hard to say anything.”
This throws away the finding that 6 of 8 said paper.
The correction is to keep the exact finding and attach the limit to it. A fitted conclusion is specific: it gives the group and the figure. A vague one gives the reader nothing to evaluate.
Check yourself
1. Evidence: 15 of 20 students surveyed in the canteen queue one Monday said they eat breakfast. Conclusion: “Most students eat breakfast.” Rewrite it to fit.
Show answer
For example: “Of 20 students surveyed in the canteen queue on one Monday, 15 (75%) said they eat breakfast.” 15 ÷ 20 = 0.75. A limit could note that people in the canteen queue may not represent everyone.
2. Evidence: on the two rainy days a student observed, the school bus arrived late. Conclusion: “Buses are always late in the rain.” Rewrite it to fit.
Show answer
For example: “On the two rainy days observed, the school bus arrived late.” Two days cannot support “always”, so the revision names the days and drops the word.
3. Which conclusion fits a survey of 30 students in which 18 chose video? (a) “All teenagers prefer video.” (b) “In this survey of 30 students, 18 (60%) preferred video.”
Show answer
(b). 18 ÷ 30 = 0.6, or 60%, and the sentence names the group. Option (a) covers every teenager, which a 30-student survey cannot show.
Where this leads next
You now have the full toolkit for this module: naming a claim, testing its evidence, finding the assumption and fitting the conclusion. Bring them together in the integrated practice set, or revisit the assumption lesson if the rewrite step felt shaky.
Rewriting your own conclusions is easier with someone reading them back to you. That is the kind of support we offer in online one-to-one Global Perspectives tuition, working from your own research notes without writing any assessed work.