(Family Dollar and Dollar Tree)
16,278
Family Dollar: $1.50
Dollar Tree: $1
$50
Kroger Co.
(incl. Kroger, Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, Pick ‘n Save, and other brands)
2,722
Harris Teeter brand:
75 cents for ≤ $100; $3.00 for >$100
Other brands:
50 cents for ≤$100, $3.50 for >$100
Harris Teeter brand: $200
Other brands: $300
Albertsons Brand
2,271
No
$200
Walmart
5,214
No
$100
Target
1,956
No
$40
Walgreens
8,600
No
$20
CVS
7,500
No
$60
Source : CFPB analysis of the retail cash-back market. See Table and Figure Notes for methodology .
Beyond these national chains, there are other providers offering cash back as a free service to their customers. Through its market monitoring activities, the CFPB observed that many local independent grocers offer the service, but do not charge a fee. They do not charge a fee even though they are likely to have thinner profit margins and less bargaining power than national chains to negotiate on pricing on costs they incur from wholesalers or fees for payment processors. The U.S. Postal Service also offers cash back on debit transactions, in increments of $10 up to a $50 maximum, free of charge. 16
Among the merchants sampled, Dollar General and Dollar Tree Inc. charge the highest fees for withdrawal amounts under $50. These fees combined with the constrained withdrawal amount may mean that the fee takes up a hefty percentage relative to the amount of cash withdrawn, and people may be less able to limit the impact of the fee by taking out more cash.
Additionally, the geographic distribution of dollar store chains and their primary consumer base raises concerns that these fees may be borne by economically vulnerable populations and those with limited banking access. Dollar stores are prevalent in rural communities, low-income communities, and communities of color – the same communities who may also face challenges in accessing banking services. 17 For example, Dollar General noted that in 2023 “approximately 80% of [its] stores are located in towns of 20,000 or fewer people,” 18 while Dollar Tree Inc. operated at least 810 dual-brand combination stores (Family Dollar and Dollar Tree in a single building) designed specifically “for small towns and rural communities…with populations of 3,000 to 4,000 residents.” 19
Though they are open to and serve consumers of all income levels, dollar stores report that they locate stores specifically to serve their core customers: lower-income consumers. 20 In urban communities, one study shows, “proximity to dollar stores is highly associated with neighborhoods of color even when controlling for other factors.” 21 These same communities may also face challenges in accessing banking services. Low-income communities and communities of color often face barriers to access to banking services, and rural communities are 10 times more likely to meet the definition of a banking desert than urban areas. 22
Though the dollar store concept existed as far back as the 1950s, it has experienced significant expansion and consolidation since the 2000s. 23 Dollar Tree Inc. acquired Family Dollar in 2015. 24 From 2018 to 2021, nearly half of all retail locations opened in the U.S. were dollar stores. 25 In research examining the impact of dollar store expansion, studies indicate that the opening of a dollar store is associated with the closure of nearby local grocery retailers. 26
In its scan of current market practices, the CFPB found variations in fee charges among store locations and brands owned by the same company. For example, as reflected in Table 2, Dollar Tree charges consumers $1 for cash back at Dollar Tree branded stores, but $1.50 in its Family Dollar stores. Similarly, Kroger Co. has two different fee tiers for its brands. In 2019, Kroger Co. rolled out a $0.50 cash-back fee for amounts of $100 or less, and $3.50 for amounts between $100 and $300. This took effect at brands such as Kroger, Fred Meyers, Ralph’s, QFC, Pick ‘N Save, and others. At the time of the rollout, the company noted two exceptions: Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card users would not be charged a fee, and customers using their Kroger Plus card would not be charged for amounts under $100 but would be charged $0.50 for larger amounts. Kroger Co. acquired the southern grocery chain Harris Teeter in 2014, but it did not begin charging a cash-back fee at those stores until January 2024, at $0.75 for amounts of $100 or less, and $3 for larger amounts. 27
In its engagement with stakeholders, the CFPB learned that Dollar General’s fees appeared to vary in different locations. To better understand this potential variation, in December 2022, the CFPB mystery shopped at nine locations in one state, across a mix of rural, suburban, and urban communities. The CFPB acknowledges this is a small sample and is not intended to be representative. The data collected is based on the knowledge of the store associates at the time of each interaction.
In these findings, the CFPB learned of a range of fee variations across store locations: five of the nine respondents noted that the fee varies depending on the type of card used for the transaction. When probed for the meaning of “type of card,” most noted that it is dependent on the customer’s bank, though it is not exactly clear what fees will be triggered by what card type prior to initiating the transaction. Additionally, reported fees range from $1 to $2.50, with some stores reporting a flat fee structure of $1.50 and others reporting a range that tiered up with larger withdrawal amounts (with a cap of withdrawal amounts at $40). Most stores in this sample had a range of fees between $1.00 and $1.50, although two stores located in small, completely rural counties had a higher range of fees. The store located in the smallest and most isolated county within the sample, with only about 3,600 people, had the highest reported fee amount of $2.50.
One of the market dynamics likely contributing to retailers’ ability to charge these fees is the high fees also charged to consumers for using out-of-network automated teller machines (ATMs). One source estimates that the average out-of-network ATM fee is $4.77, accounting for both the surcharge fee charged by the ATM owner and the foreign fee charged by the consumer’s financial institution. 28 By comparison, a $2 fee for cash back at a retailer may appear cheaper, and usually does not trigger an additional fee by the consumers’ financial institution or prepaid card issuer. Notwithstanding the high ATM fees, there are reasons for focused attention on the consumer risk of cash-back fees charged by retailers, primarily the amount of the fee relative to the value of the cash withdrawal and the distribution of the fee burden across income groups.
In a typical ATM transaction, a consumer has a greater ability to distribute the cost of the fee across a larger amount of cash than with cash back. There may be some exceptions to this for consumers who have only $10 or $20 in their bank account, but as shown in Table 3, low-income consumers and others withdraw greater amounts at ATMs than via cash-back, on average. In cash-back transactions, lower withdrawal limits are in place, and consumers do not have that option to withdraw larger amounts. CFPB analysis of the Diary and Survey of Consumer Payment Choice from 2017 to 2022 show that even among consumers with incomes below $50,000, the amount withdrawn at an ATM is more than double the typical cash-back withdrawal amount. Additionally, for the average and median amounts, across all incomes the ATM withdrawal amounts are larger than cash-back withdrawal amounts. (Table 3).
Income | Average ATM Withdrawal | Average Cash-back Withdrawal | Median ATM Withdrawal | Median Cash-back Withdrawal |
---|---|---|---|---|
Less than $25,000 | $144 | $45 | $65 | $20 |
$25,000 to $49,999 | $113 | $35 | $60 | $25 |
$50,000 to $74,999 | $113 | $29 | $84 | $20 |
$75,000 to $99,000 | $114 | $45 | $100 | $26 |
$100,000 or more | $146 | $33 | $100 | $20 |
|
|
|
|
|
Source: CFPB tabulations of the Diary and Survey of Consumer Payment Choice. See Table and Figure Notes for methodology .
Further, while merchants limit the amount of a single withdrawal, there is no limit on the number of withdrawals. So, if a consumer needs $100 cash at a store which limits a single withdrawal to a maximum amount of $50 with a $2 fee, the consumer would have to make two $50 withdrawals for a $4 fee plus the cost of any otherwise unwanted purchase required to access the cash-back service.
Finally, the burden of cash-back fees may be distributed differently than ATM fee burdens. The share of borrowers who pay ATM fees for cash withdrawals is relatively evenly distributed across income levels, according to a study based on the Diary and Survey of Consumer Payment Choice. 29 The study found little variation in the percentage of consumers who encountered a fee for an ATM cash withdrawal by income quintile, though the study did not look at the amount of the ATM fees paid. Analogous data are not available for cash-back fees, but a similarly even distribution across incomes is unlikely given the demographics of the consumer base served by the largest retailers which charge fees (dollar stores).
While the use of digital payment methods is on the rise, cash accessibility remains a critical component of a resilient financial infrastructure and dynamic economy. Bank mergers, branch closures, and bank fee creep have reduced the supply of free cash access points for consumers. In this void, people may be more reliant on retailers for certain financial services historically provided by banks and credit unions, such as cash access. In this context, we observe that some retailers provide cash back as a helpful service to their customers, while other retailers may be exploiting these conditions by charging fees to their consumers for accessing their cash.
This spotlight examines the presence of retailer cash-back fees and impact to consumers. Cash-back fees are being levied by just a small handful of large retail conglomerates (Dollar General, Dollar Tree Inc., and Kroger Co.) amidst a backdrop of consolidation in these segments. Meanwhile, other larger retailers continue to offer cash-back services free. The CFPB estimates cash-back fees cost consumers about $90 million a year.
The CFPB is concerned that reduced access to cash undermines the resilience of the financial system and deprives consumers of a free, reliable, and private means of engaging in day-to-day transactions. The CFPB will continue to monitor developments related to the fees consumers pay for accessing cash, and work with agencies across the federal government to ensure people have fair and meaningful access to the money that underpins our economy.
Notes for figure 1.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s annual Diary and Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (Survey) tracks consumers’ self-reported payment habits over a three-day period in October using a nationally representative sample. The survey includes a question about whether and how consumers access cash, such as where they made the withdrawal, the source of the cash, and the amount of the withdrawal. Figure 1 provides a percentage of all cash-back withdrawal transactions from a bank account, checking account, or prepaid card reported between 2017 and 2022, by location (ATM, Retail point-of-sale, Bank teller, and Other). The number of observations during this time is 192 transactions. It does not include cash-back transactions made using a credit card cash advance feature or other form of credit.
This model assumes that 80 percent of the merchant transaction cost is due to interchange fees, 15 percent due to network fees, and 5 percent due to payment acquirer fees. It also includes a $0.01 fee for fraud protection. For regulated transactions, the interchange fees are $0.22 + 0.05% of the transaction amount. Regulated transactions are those where the debit card used is issued by a bank with more than $10 billion in assets, and subject to 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2. Exempt transactions are those not subject to this statutory cap on interchange fees. While Mastercard does not publish its fees for exempt transactions, Visa does. This model uses Visa’s published fees as of October 2023 for card-present transactions: for the National Discount Chain, the fees for Exempt Retail Debit ($0.15 + 0.80%), and for the National Grocery Chain, Exempt Supermarket Debit ($0.30 flat fee). An October 2023 Federal Reserve report on interchange fee revenue found that in 2021, the most recent data available, 56.21 percent of debit transactions were regulated and 43.79 percent were exempt. This composition is reflected in the table.
The storefront counts for each of the retailers come from their websites, last visited on March 28, 2024, or their most recent reports to investors. Fee information was gathered either through publicly available information such as the merchant’s website, and/or verified through the CFPB’s market monitoring activities.
Dollar Tree Inc. announced on March 13, 2024 that it will close 1,000 of its Family Dollar and Dollar Tree brands stores over the course of the year. If those closures occur, Dollar Tree, Inc. will still have over 15,000 storefronts across the country.
In October 2022, Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies announced their proposal to merge, though on February 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and nine state attorneys general sued to block this proposal, alleging that the deal is anti-competitive. On April 22, 2024, Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies announced a revised plan in which, if the merger is approved, the combined entity would divest 579 stores to C&S Wholesalers. If the divestiture occurs, the combined entity will still have over 4,400 stores across the country.
See above notes for Figure 1 about the Diary and Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (Survey). Table 3 provides mean and median amounts of ATM and Retail point-of-sale cash withdrawal transactions by income. In the Survey, participants were asked to report the total combined income of all family members over age 15 living in the household during the past 12 months. From these responses, we constructed five income brackets – four of $25,000 each plus a fifth bin for any respondents reporting more than $100,000 in annual household income for each respondent in each year.
See e.g., Jay Lindsay, A Fatal Cash Crash? Conditions Were Ripe for It After the Pandemic Hit, but It Didn’t Happen , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Boston (Nov. 2, 2023), https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/news/2023/11/cash-crash-pandemic-increasing-credit-card-use-diary-of-consumer-payment-choice.aspx
Kevin Foster, Claire Greene, & Joanna Stavins, The 2023 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice , Fed. Rsrv Bank of Atlanta (June 2024), https://doi.org/10.29338/rdr2024-01
See e.g., Hilary Allen, Payments Failure, Boston College Law Review, Forthcoming, American University, WCL Research Paper No. 2021- 11, (Feb. 21, 2020) available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3539797
See e.g., Scarlett Heinbuch, Cash Is Critical in Times of Crisis , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Atlanta (Mar. 7, 2022), https://www.atlantafed.org/blogs/take-on-payments/2022/03/07/cash-in-crisis
See e.g., Carly Page, Square Says It Has Resolved Daylong Outage , TechCrunch, (Sept. 8, 2023), https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/08/square-day-long-outage-resolved/ . See also Caroline Haskins, The Global CrowdStrike Outage Triggered a Surprise Return to Cash , Wired, (July 19, 2024), https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-crowdstrike-outage-cash/ .
See Berhan Bayeh, Emily Cubides and Shaun O’Brien, 2024 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice , Fed. Rsrv. (May 13, 2024), https://www.frbservices.org/binaries/content/assets/crsocms/news/research/2024-diary-of-consumer-payment-choice.pdf (findings related to low-income consumers and older Americans use of cash); Emily Cubides and Shaun O’Brian, 2023 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice , Fed. Rsrv., (May 19, 2024), https://www.frbsf.org/cash/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023-Findings-from-the-Diary-of-Consumer-Payment-Choice.pdf (findings related to unbanked households use of cash), and Michelle Faviero, , More Americans are Joining the ‘Cashless’ Economy ,” Pew Rsch. Ctr, (Oct. 5, 2022), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/10/05/more-americans-are-joining-the-cashless-economy/ (findings related to use of cash by race and other demographics).
Similarly, the average cash-back withdrawal amount was $33 in 2012, the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve Payments Study. The study was based on self-reported information from financial institutions surveyed by the Federal Reserve. Of the reported transactions, 73 percent were debit cards with an average amount of $33 and 27 percent on general purpose prepaid cards with an average withdrawal amount of $19. 2013 Federal Reserve Payments Study: Recent and Long-Term Payment Trends in the United States: 2003 – 2012 , Fed. Rsrv. Bd. (July 2014), https://www.frbservices.org/binaries/content/assets/crsocms/news/research/2013-fed-res-paymt-study-summary-rpt.pdf
The amounts in the Survey are lower than the average ATM withdrawal amounts reported in 2022 Federal Reserve Payments study, which utilizes data from surveying financial institutions. Per this study, in 2021, the average ATM withdrawal was $198. The Federal Reserve Payments Study: 2022 Triennial Initial Data Release , Fed. Rsrv. Bd. (Apr. 21, 2023), https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/fr-payments-study.htm
Claire Green and Oz Shy, How Consumers Get Cash: Evidence from a Diary Survey , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Atlanta, (Apr. 2019), at 5, https://www.atlantafed.org/-/media/documents/banking/consumer-payments/research-data-reports/2019/05/08/how-consumers-get-cash-evidence-from-a-diary-survey/rdr1901.pdf (finding, “For the largest amounts of cash, respondents mostly turned to employers, with an average dollar value of cash received of $227. At bank tellers and ATMs, consumers also received average dollar values greater than the overall average: $159 and $137, respectively. Consumers received smaller amounts from family or friends ($93) and, notably, cash back at a retail store ($34). All these dollar amounts are weighted. The amount of cash received at a retail store is constrained by the store’s limits, so the amount of cash received in this way is not necessarily at the discretion of the consumer.”)
Neil Mitchell and Ann Ramage, The Second Participant in the Consumer to Business Payments Study , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Richmond (Sept. 15, 2014), https://www.richmondfed.org/~/media/richmondfedorg/banking/payments_services/understanding_payments/pdf/psg_ck_20141118.pdf
Id. at 8, Figures 7 and 8.
See e.g., Stan Sienkiewicz, The Evolution of EFT Networks from ATMs to New On-Line Debit Payment Products , Discussion Paper, Payment Cards Ctr. of the Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Philadelphia (Apr. 2002), https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/consumer-finance/discussion-papers/eftnetworks_042002.pdf?la=en&hash=88302801FC98A898AB167AC2F9131CE1 (“The cash back option became popular with supermarket retailers, since store owners recognized savings as a result of less cash to count at the end of the day, a chore that represented a carrying cost to the establishment.”).
These market segments and retailers for purposes of markets analysis are similar to those used in other academic literature related to dollar store locations in the context of food access or impact on other market dynamics, such as on local grocers. See e.g., El Hadi Caoui, Brett Hollenbeck, and Matthew Osbourne, The Impact of Dollar Store Expansion on Local Market Structure and Food Access ,” (June 22, 2022), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=4163102 (finding "In 2021, there were more of these stores operating than all the Walmarts, CVS, Walgreens, and Targets combined by a large margin.”) and Yue Cao, The Welfare Impact of Dollar Stores ,” available at https://yuecao.dev/assets/pdf/YueCaoDollarStore.pdf (last visited Aug. 23, 2024) (using the categories of dollar stores, groceries, and mass merchandise (such as Walmart) for comparisons across retail segments and noting that dollar stores regard these other segments as competitors).
Estimate based on information voluntarily provided in the CFPB's market monitoring activities.
What Forms of Payment are Accepted? U.S. Postal Serv., https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-Forms-of-Payment-are-Accepted (last visited Aug. 23, 2024).
See generally, Stacy Mitchell, Kennedy Smith, and Susan Holmberg , The Dollar Store Invasion , Inst. for Local Self Reliance (Mar. 2023), https://cdn.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ILSR-Report-The-Dollar-Store-Invasion-2023.pdf . There is also extensive research on dollar store locations in other contexts such as food access and impact on consumer spending habits. El Hadi Caoui, Brett Hollenbeck, and Matthew Osbourne, The Impact of Dollar Store Expansion on Local Market Structure and Food Access ,” at 5, (June 22, 2022), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=4163102
Dollar General Annual Report (Form10-K) at 7 (Mar. 25. 2024), https://investor.dollargeneral.com/websites/dollargeneral/English/310010/us-sec-filing.html?format=convpdf&secFilingId=003b8c70-dfa4-4f21-bfe7-40e6d8b26f63&shortDesc=Annual%20Report .
Dollar Tree, Inc. Annual Report (Form 10-K) at 7 (Mar. 20. 2024), https://corporate.dollartree.com/investors/sec-filings/content/0000935703-23-000016/0000935703-23-000016.pdf
See e.g., Dollar General Annual Report (Form10-K) at 7 (Mar. 25. 2024) (“We generally locate our stores and plan our merchandise selections to best serve the needs of our core customers, the low and fixed income households often underserved by other retailers, and we are focused on helping them make the most of their spending dollar.” And, Dollar Tree, Inc. Annual Report (Form 10-K) at 6 (Mar. 20. 2024), (“Family Dollar primarily serves a lower than average income customer in urban and rural locations, offering great values on everyday items.”)
Dr. Jerry Shannon, Dollar Stores, Retailer Redlining, and the Metropolitan Geographies of Precarious Consumption , Ann. of the Am. Assoc. of Geographers, Vol. 111, No. 4, 1200-1218 (2021), (analyzing over 29,000 storefront locations of Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar locations across the three largest MSA in each of the nine U.S. Census Bureau-defined divisions.)
Kristen Broady, Mac McComas, and Amine Ouazad, An Analysis of Financial Institutions in Black-Majority Communities: Black Borrowers and Depositors Face Considerable Challenges in Accessing Banking Services ,” Brookings Inst., (Nov. 2, 2021), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/an-analysis-of-financial-institutions-in-black-majority-communities-black-borrowers-and-depositors-face-considerable-challenges-in-accessing-banking-services/ and Drew Dahl and Michelle Franke, Banking Deserts Become a Concern as Branches Dry Up , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of St. Louis, https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/second-quarter-2017/banking-deserts-become-a-concern-as-branches-dry-up (July 25, 2017).
El Hadi Caoui, Brett Hollenbeck, and Matthew Osbourne, The Impact of Dollar Store Expansion on Local Market Structure and Food Access ,” (June 22, 2022), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=4163102 .
Dollar Tree Completes Acquisition of Family Dollar , Dollar Tree Inc., (July 6, 2015), available at https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/detail/120/dollar-tree-completes-acquisition-of-family-dollar
El Hadi Caoui, Brett Hollenbeck, and Matthew Osbourne, The Impact of Dollar Store Expansion on Local Market Structure and Food Access ,” (June 22, 2022), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=4163102 and Yue Cao, The Welfare Impact of Dollar Stores, https://yuecao.dev/assets/pdf/YueCaoDollarStore.pdf (last visited Aug. 23. 2024).
Evan Moore, Harris Teeter Introduces New Fees that Have Customers Upset. What To Know Before You’re Charged , Charlotte Observer, (Mar. 14, 2024), https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article286627340.html
Karen Bennett and Matthew Goldberg, Survey: ATM fees Reach 26-year High While Overdraft Fees Inch Back Up , Bankrate.com (Aug. 21, 2024), https://www.bankrate.com/banking/checking/checking-account-survey/
Oz Shy and Joanna Stavins, Who Is Paying All These Fees? An Empirical Analysis of Bank Account and Credit Card Fees , Fed. Rsrv. Bank of Boston, Working Paper No. 22-18, at Table 2, (Aug. 2022), https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper/2022/who-is-paying-all-these-fees-an-empirical-analysis-of-bank-account-and-credit-card-fees .
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The type of research paper conclusion you choose depends on the nature of your study, your goals, and your target audience. I provide you with three common types of conclusions: Summarizing Conclusion. A summarizing conclusion is the most common type of conclusion in research papers. It involves summarizing the main points, reiterating the ...
Table of contents. Step 1: Restate the problem. Step 2: Sum up the paper. Step 3: Discuss the implications. Research paper conclusion examples. Frequently asked questions about research paper conclusions.
6 Conciseness. Above all, every research paper conclusion should be written with conciseness. In general, conclusions should be short, so keep an eye on your word count as you write and aim to be as succinct as possible. You can expound on your topic in the body of your paper, but the conclusion is more for summarizing and recapping.
Step 1: Restate the problem. Always begin by restating the research problem in the conclusion of a research paper. This serves to remind the reader of your hypothesis and refresh them on the main point of the paper. When restating the problem, take care to avoid using exactly the same words you employed earlier in the paper.
Begin your conclusion by restating your thesis statement in a way that is slightly different from the wording used in the introduction. Avoid presenting new information or evidence in your conclusion. Just summarize the main points and arguments of your essay and keep this part as concise as possible. Remember that you've already covered the ...
In a short paper—even a research paper—you don't need to provide an exhaustive summary as part of your conclusion. But you do need to make some kind of transition between your final body paragraph and your concluding paragraph. This may come in the form of a few sentences of summary.
If possible, learn about the guidelines before writing the discussion to ensure you're writing to meet their expectations. Begin with a clear statement of the principal findings. This will reinforce the main take-away for the reader and set up the rest of the discussion. Explain why the outcomes of your study are important to the reader.
Here are some steps you can follow to write an effective research paper conclusion: Restate the research problem or question: Begin by restating the research problem or question that you aimed to answer in your research. This will remind the reader of the purpose of your study. Summarize the main points: Summarize the key findings and results ...
The conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of the main topics covered or a re-statement of your research problem, but a synthesis of key points derived from the findings of your study and, if applicable based on your analysis, explain new areas for future research.
Summarize the findings/argument. Your research paper conclusion should also revisit the evidence, findings, and limitations of your research, but as an overview, not in detail. State only the most important points, what they mean, and how they illustrate the main idea you want the reader to take away. 3. Look toward the future.
Offer a Fresh Perspective: Use the conclusion as an opportunity to provide a fresh perspective or offer insights that go beyond the main body of the paper. This will leave the reader with something new to consider. Leave a Lasting Impression: End your conclusion with a thought-provoking statement or a call to action.
The point of a conclusion to a research paper is to summarize your argument for the reader and, perhaps, to call the reader to action if needed. 5. Make a call to action when appropriate. If and when needed, you can state to your readers that there is a need for further research on your paper's topic.
A good conclusion will review the key points of the thesis and explain to the reader why the information is relevant, applicable, or related to the world as a whole. Make sure to dedicate enough of your writing time to the conclusion and do not put it off until the very last minute. Organize your papers in one place. Try Paperpile.
Step 2: Summarize and reflect on your research. Step 3: Make future recommendations. Step 4: Emphasize your contributions to your field. Step 5: Wrap up your thesis or dissertation. Full conclusion example. Conclusion checklist. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about conclusion sections.
The conclusion is where you describe the consequences of your arguments by justifying to your readers why your arguments matter (Hamilton College, 2014). Derntl (2014) also describes conclusion as the counterpart of the introduction. Using the Hourglass Model (Swales, 1993) as a visual reference, Derntl describes conclusion as the part of the ...
A conclusion is the final paragraph of a research paper and serves to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them. The conclusion of a conclusion should: Restate your topic and why it is important. Restate your thesis/claim. Address opposing viewpoints and explain why readers should align with your position.
Writing a strong conclusion for your research paper can be tricky, but there are tips and tricks that can help. One great technique is to restate the thesis in different terms. Doing so allows you to emphasize the main points of your paper and tie them all together into one appealing conclusion. Additionally, it needs to follow from the content ...
Step 1: Return to your thesis. To begin your conclusion, signal that the essay is coming to an end by returning to your overall argument. Don't just repeat your thesis statement —instead, try to rephrase your argument in a way that shows how it has been developed since the introduction. Example: Returning to the thesis.
Conclude your research paper with a strong and memorable statement that reinforces the key message you want readers to take away. This could be a call to action, a proposal for further investigation, or a reflection on the broader significance of your findings. Leave your readers with a lasting impression that emphasizes the importance of your ...
Tips for writing a conclusion. 1. Don't include new data or evidence. Your conclusion should provide closure to your paper, so introducing new information is not appropriate and will likely confuse your reader. 2. Don't simply restate your thesis. You should never simply copy and paste your thesis statement into your conclusion.
The conclusion of a research paper has several key objectives. It should: Restate your research problem addressed in the introduction section. Summarize your main arguments, important findings, and broader implications. Synthesize key takeaways from your study. The specific content in the conclusion depends on whether your paper presents the ...
Key Takeaways. Because research generates further research, the conclusions you draw from your research are important. To test the validity of your conclusions, you will have to review both the content of your paper and the way in which you arrived at the content. Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783.
Conclusions wrap up what you have been discussing in your paper. After moving from general to specific information in the introduction and body paragraphs, your conclusion should begin pulling back into more general information that restates the main points of your argument. Conclusions may also call for action or overview future possible research.
Reading the conclusion will help you understand the main points of the article and what the authors are attempting to prove. 3. Read the Introduction Section Now that you have an overview of the article from the abstract and understand the main points the authors are trying to prove from the conclusion, you will want to read the introduction. 4.
How Do You Cite an Academic Research Paper? Any time you use an original quote or paraphrase someone else's ideas, you need to cite that material, according to Geary. ... at the end of the paper. "In-text citations immediately acknowledge the use of external source information and its exact location," Geary said. While each style uses a ...
Conclusion. While the use of digital payment methods is on the rise, cash accessibility remains a critical component of a resilient financial infrastructure and dynamic economy. Bank mergers, branch closures, and bank fee creep have reduced the supply of free cash access points for consumers. ... American University, WCL Research Paper No. 2021 ...