Conclusion

The conclusion serves as a call to action for further research, rather than as a summary of the study and monograph. The authors trace the significant lacunae still present in research on missing persons appeals, especially from literary and forensic linguistic vantages. To gain further data, the authors must expand their pilot study with a larger corpus of appeals, as well as introducing ideas around causation (conducting surveys and interviews with appeal writers, examining audience response data, and the outcomes of cases).