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Writing Chapter 5: Discussion of The Results

The discussion chapter of a dissertation interprets the results, relates them to previous research, and acknowledges limitations. It should include: interpretations of what the results mean; implications for why the results are important; limitations of what the results cannot show; and recommendations for future research and applications. The discussion section summarizes key findings, gives the author's interpretations, discusses implications for existing knowledge, acknowledges limitations, and states recommendations.

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1K views3 pages

Writing Chapter 5: Discussion of The Results

The discussion chapter of a dissertation interprets the results, relates them to previous research, and acknowledges limitations. It should include: interpretations of what the results mean; implications for why the results are important; limitations of what the results cannot show; and recommendations for future research and applications. The discussion section summarizes key findings, gives the author's interpretations, discusses implications for existing knowledge, acknowledges limitations, and states recommendations.

Uploaded by

Wendy Teo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Writing Chapter 5: Discussion of the results

The discussion chapter is where you delve into the meaning, importance and
relevance of your results. It should focus on explaining and evaluating what you
found, showing how it relates to your literature review and research questions, and
making an argument in support of your overall conclusion. There are many different
ways to write this section, but you can focus your discussion around four key
elements:

 Interpretations: what do the results mean?


 Implications: why do the results matter?
 Limitations: what can’t the results tell us?
 Recommendations: what practical actions or scientific studies should follow?

There is often overlap between the discussion and conclusion, and in some
dissertations these two sections are included in a single chapter. Occasionally, the
results and discussion will be combined into one chapter. 

Summarize your key findings


Start this chapter by reiterating your research problem and concisely summarizing
your major findings. Don’t just repeat all the data you have already reported – aim for
a clear statement of the overall result that directly answers your main research
question. This should be no more than one paragraph.

Examples

 The results indicate that…


 The study demonstrates a correlation between…
 This analysis supports the theory that…
 The data suggests that…

Give your interpretations


The meaning of the results might seem obvious to you, but it’s important to spell out
their significance for the reader and show exactly how they answer your research
questions.

The form of your interpretations will depend on the type of research, but some typical
approaches to interpreting the data include:

 Identifying correlations, patterns and relationships among the data


 Discussing whether the results met your expectations or supported
your hypotheses
 Contextualizing your findings within previous research and theory
 Explaining unexpected results and evaluating their significance
 Considering possible alternative explanations and making an argument for
your position
You can organize your discussion around key themes, hypotheses or research
questions, following the same structure as your results section. You can also begin by
highlighting the most significant or unexpected results.

Examples

 In line with the hypothesis…


 Contrary to the hypothesized association…
 The results contradict the claims of Smith (2007) that…
 The results might suggest that X. However, based on the findings of similar
studies, a more plausible explanation is Y.

Discuss the implications


As well as giving your own interpretations, make sure to relate your results back to
the scholarly work that you surveyed in the literature review. The discussion should
show how your findings fit with existing knowledge, what new insights they
contribute, and what consequences they have for theory or practice. Ask yourself
these questions:

 Do your results agree with previous research? If so, what do they add to it?
 Are your findings very different from other studies? If so, why might this be?
 Do the results support or challenge existing theories?
 Are there any practical implications?

Your overall aim is to show the reader exactly what your research has contributed and
why they should care.

Examples

 These results build on existing evidence of…


 The results do not fit with the theory that…
 The experiment provides a new insight into the relationship between…
 These results should be taken into account when considering how to…
 The data contributes a clearer understanding of…
 While previous research has focused on X, these results demonstrate that Y.

Acknowledge the limitations


Even the best research has some limitations, and acknowledging these is important to
demonstrate your credibility. Limitations aren’t about listing your errors, but about
providing an accurate picture of what can and cannot be concluded from your study.

Limitations might be due to your overall research design, specific methodological


choices, or unanticipated obstacles that emerged during the research process. You
should only mention limitations that are directly relevant to your research objectives,
and evaluate how much impact they had on achieving the aims of the research.

For example, if your sample size was small or limited to a specific group of people,
note that this limits its generalizability. If you encountered problems when gathering
or analyzing data, explain how these influenced the results. If there are
potential confounding variables that you were unable to control, acknowledge the
effect these may have had.

After noting the limitations, you can reiterate why the results are nonetheless valid for
the purpose of answering your research questions.

Examples

 The generalizability of the results is limited by…


 The reliability of this data is impacted by…
 Due to the lack of data on X, the results cannot confirm…
 The methodological choices were constrained by…
 It is beyond the scope of this study to…

State your recommendations


Based on the discussion of your results, you can make recommendations for practical
implementation or further research. Sometimes the recommendations are saved for
the conclusion.

Suggestions for further research can lead directly from the limitations. Don’t just state
that more studies should be done – give concrete ideas for how future work can build
on areas that your own research was unable to address.

 Further research is needed to establish…


 Future studies should take into account…

What to leave out of the discussion


There are a few common mistakes to avoid when writing the discussion section of
your dissertation.

 Don’t introduce new results – you should only discuss the data that you have
already reported in the results chapter.
 Don’t make inflated claims – avoid overinterpretation and speculation that
isn’t supported by your data.
 Don’t undermine your research – the discussion of limitations should aim to
strengthen your credibility, not emphasize weaknesses or failures.

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