In this video, we are going to explain exactly
how to write up the discussion chapter for a dissertation, thesis or any other kind of
formal academic research project. We will walk through the process step by step so that you
can craft your discussion section with confidence. So, go grab a cup of coffee, a cup of tea,
whatever works for you and let us jump into it. Hey, welcome to Grad Coach TV where we demystify
and simplify the oftentimes intimidating world of academic research. My name is Emma, and today
we are going to explore the discussion chapter which follows the results chapter in a typical
dissertation or thesis. If you would like to learn about the results chapter which lays the
foundation for the discussion chapter, we have got another video specifically covering that. I will
include a link in the description below. If you are new to Grad Coach TV, welcome, and be sure to
hit that subscribe button for more videos covering all things research-related. Also, if you are
looking for hands-on help with your research, check out our one-on-one coaching services
where we help you craft your research project step by step. It is like having a friendly
professor in your pocket whenever you need it. If that sounds interesting to you, you
can learn more and book a free consultation at www.gradcoach.com. All right, with
that out of the way let us get into it. Before we get into the nuts and bolts
of how to write up a discussion chapter, it is useful to take a step back and ask the
question what exactly is the discussion chapter, and what purpose does it serve? If you
understand both the what and the why you will have a much clearer direction in terms
of the how. So, what is the discussion chapter all about? Well, the discussion chapter is where
you interpret and explain the analysis results within your thesis or dissertation. If you have
watched our video about the results chapter, you will remember that the results chapter is where
you purely present and describe the findings, not interpret their meaning in relation to your
research questions. So, in the discussion chapter, you will unpack your analysis findings in
terms of their meaning and you will discuss the significance and implications of your results. In
the discussion chapter, you will connect the dots between your analysis findings and your research
aims and research questions. In other words, you will explain exactly how your study's results
help answer your original research questions. In addition to this, you will also link your
findings back to previous studies and literature which you would have covered in your literature
review chapter. You will discuss whether your findings align with the existing research or not.
If not, you will explore potential reasons why this might be. Simply put, the discussion
chapter is there for you to interact with and explain the meaning of your research
findings thoroughly and coherently. A good discussion chapter takes the findings that you
presented and described in the results chapter and explains what they mean in relation to
your research aims and research questions, as well as how they fit into the existing
literature. If you are not sure how this differs from the results chapter remember we
have got a separate video explaining that chapter in detail. I will include the link below. Okay,
with that out of the way it is time to take a look at what you need to include and exclude
in your discussion chapter. Let us do it. Okay, so let us take a look at what goes into
the discussion chapter. An important thing to note up front is that for most studies the
results and discussion are separate chapters. But in some universities and programs, it is
preferred to combine the two into one chapter. So, before you start writing be sure to check with
your university or dissertation supervisor what their structural norms and
expectations are. In this video, we will treat the results and discussion as
separate chapters as this is the most common. So, what goes into the discussion chapter? Basically,
your discussion chapter needs to analyse, explore the meaning and identify the importance
of the data you presented in your results chapter. In the discussion chapter, you will
give your results some form of meaning by evaluating and interpreting them. This will
in turn help answer your research questions, achieve your research aims, and lay the foundation
for your conclusions. In practical terms, this means that your discussion chapter needs
to focus on the findings that are directly related to your research aims and research
questions. In other words, the core contents of the chapter should directly address the research
problem you have set out to solve. Nothing more, nothing less. Do not waste precious time and
word count on findings that are not central to the purpose of your study. If you are not sure
whether to include or exclude a particular point, ask yourself whether it directly relates to the
research aims or not. This is the simplest way to assess what to include and what to exclude from
this chapter. Since the discussion chapter is based on the findings presented in the results
chapter it is vital that you do not report any new findings here. In other words, you
cannot present claims in the discussion chapter if you did not present the relevant data in the
results chapter first. So, make sure that for every discussion point you raise in this chapter
you have covered the respective data analysis in the results chapter. If you have not you will
need to go back and revise your results chapter accordingly so that you have a firm foundation for
discussion. If you are struggling to get started, try writing down a bullet point list of
everything you found in your results chapter. At the same time take this opportunity to assess
whether each finding is relevant. In other words, that it directly addresses or connects to
the research aims and research questions. From there you can craft a list of points you
need to cover in your discussion chapter. Right, with that out of the way we need to look at how to actually go about writing up the
discussion chapter, let us jump into it. Now that you have got a clear idea of what the
discussion chapter is and what it needs to cover, we can look at how to go about structuring
and writing up this important chapter. Broadly speaking, six core components need to be included.
Let us take a look at each of them step by step. Step one, restate your research aims and
questions. The first step in writing up your discussion chapter is to remind the reader
of your research aim or aims and research questions. If you have any hypotheses,
you can also briefly mention them here. Do not stress if you do not have any hypotheses
though, every study is different. This reminder for your reader is very important because
after reading dozens of pages they may have forgotten the original point of your research.
In other words, your research problem and purpose or become distracted by something and digressed
in another direction. It is also likely that some readers will skip straight to your discussion
chapter from the introduction chapter so this little reminder helps create a smooth flow and
connection between the two chapters. In practical terms, this section should not be lengthy. It
is just a reminder, not a full explanation. So, a paragraph or two should be ample, do not
waffle on it or it will start to feel repetitive. Step two, summarize your key findings. Next,
you will want to summarize your key findings from your analysis. In other words, the findings
that directly relate to your research questions. What this looks like will depend on whether
your methodology was qualitative, quantitative or mixed. For example, qualitative research
may report on themes, whereas quantitative research may report on potential relationships
regardless of the methodology. In this section, you need to highlight the key analysis findings
in relation to your research questions. Typically this section only requires one or two paragraphs
depending on how many research questions you have. Try to be as concise as possible here as you
will unpack these findings in more detail later in the discussion chapter. For now, a few lines
that directly address your research questions should be ample. To help you visualize what this
section might look like here are some examples of the kind of language you would typically use to
present your key findings. The data suggests that the data support or oppose the theory that, the
analysis identifies X and Y as key factors in, these are purely examples. What you present here
will largely depend on your original research questions. So, you may consider using those
to structure this section of your discussion. Step three, interpret your results. Once you have
restated your research aims and research questions and briefly presented your key findings, you
can unpack them by interpreting your results in detail. Remember you can only discuss findings
that you reported in your results section, do not introduce new information in your discussion
chapter. From a structural perspective, it can be a wise approach to follow a similar structure in
this section as you did in your results chapter. This will help improve readability and make it
easier for the reader to follow your arguments. For example, if you structured your results
by qualitative themes in the results chapter, it could make sense to do the same here. As an
alternative, you could consider structuring this discussion by research questions or based on
an overarching theoretical framework that your study centred on. Every study is different, so
you will need to assess what structure works best for your situation. Whatever the case, craft
an outline structure before you start writing and make sure that you apply it consistently. Do not
dive into the writing without a clear structural outline. When interpreting your results you will
also need to assess how your findings compare to those of the existing research which you would
have covered in your literature review chapter. Even if your findings contrast with the existing
research, you need to include these in your discussion. In fact, these contrasts are often
the most interesting findings and can make for valuable discussion points. In these cases, you
will need to think about the potential reasons why you did not find what you were expecting and
what the significance of this contrast is. Here are a few questions to think about and address
in your discussion chapter. How do your results help answer your research questions, how do your
results compare to those of previous studies? If your results differ from those of previous
studies, why may this be the case? What do your results contribute to your field of research?
When you interpret your findings, be careful not to draw conclusions that are not substantiated
or that are reaching a little too far. Every claim you make needs to be backed up with evidence or
findings from the data. This can look different for different studies. Qualitative studies may
require interview quotes as evidence, whereas quantitative studies would rely on statistical
analysis and tests. Whatever the case, every claim you make needs to be strongly backed up by data
which should be covered in the results chapter. Step four, acknowledge the limitations of
your study. The fourth step in writing up your discussion chapter is to acknowledge
the limitations of the study. A quick side note though, for some universities and programs
this limitations discussion will feature in the conclusion chapter which is typically the next
chapter rather than the discussion chapter. Each institution has its own structural norms, so
be sure to check with your research supervisor or faculty what their preference is. The limitations
discussion can cover any part of your study from the scope or theoretical basis to the analysis
method or sampling strategy. For example, you may find that you ended up collecting data from
a very small sample with unique characteristics, which would mean that you are unable to
generalize your results to the broader population. For some students discussing
the limitations of their work can feel a bit self-defeating, why highlight your weaknesses,
right? This is a misconception though, as a hallmark of high-quality research is its
ability to identify its own shortcomings. In other words, accurately stating the limitations
of your work is a strength, not a weakness. It shows that you understand the ins and outs of
research design, it shows that you can think critically about your methodology and provide a
foundation for future researchers to build on. Every study has limitations, that is the nature
of research. At the same time be careful not to undermine your research, it is no use talking
your project down to the point of uselessness. So, tell the reader what the limitations are and
that they exist, and what improvements could be made. But also be sure to remind them of the
value of your study despite its limitations. Step five, make your recommendations. Now that you
have unpacked your findings and acknowledged the limitations thereof, the next thing you will
need to do is reflect on your study in terms of two factors. Number one, the practical
application of your findings. Number two, suggestions for future research. Again,
some universities and programs may prefer that you cover this content in the conclusion
chapter rather than the discussion chapter. So, be sure to double-check what their preference is.
The first thing to discuss is how your findings can be used in the real world. In other words,
what contribution can they make to the field or industry? For example, if your study explores
communication and health settings, how can your findings be applied to the context of a hospital
or medical clinic. Make sure that you spell this out for your reader in practical terms, do not
assume they will connect the dots. But also be realistic and make sure that any applications you
propose are feasible. The next discussion point is the opportunity for future research. In other
words, how can other researchers build on what you found and also improve the findings by overcoming
some of the limitations in your study which you discussed a little earlier? In doing this you
will want to investigate whether your results fit in with the findings of previous research and
if not, why this may be the case? For example, are there any factors that you did not consider
in your study, what future research can be done to remedy this? When you write up your suggestions
make sure that you do not just say that more research is needed on the topic, be specific
about how researchers can build on your study. Step six, provide a concluding summary. Finally,
you have reached the home stretch. In this section, you will need to provide a brief
recap of the key findings. In other words, the findings that directly address your research
questions. Basically, your conclusion should tell the reader what your study has found and what
they need to take away from reading your report. Brief is the keyword for this section, it need not
be a lengthy review of everything you discussed in the chapter, you just need to highlight
the key takeaways so that you can lay a firm foundation for the final chapter. A paragraph
or two should be enough, do not ramble on. Now that you understand what the discussion
chapter is about, what to include and exclude and how to structure and write it up, here are
some closing tips to help you craft a quality discussion chapter. Number one, when you write up
your discussion chapter, try to keep it consistent with your introduction chapter as some readers
will skip from the introduction chapter directly to the discussion chapter. So, revisit your
introduction chapter to make sure that there is a good flow from that chapter to this one. Number
two, do not make assumptions about your readers. As the researcher, you have hands-on experience
with the data and so it can be easy to present it in an oversimplified manner. Make sure that
you spell out your findings and interpretations for the intelligent layman. Connect the dots for
your reader to ensure they pick up what you are putting down. Number three, have a look at other
theses and dissertations from your university, especially the discussion sections. This will help
you understand the standards and conventions of your university and you will also get a good idea
of how others have structured their discussion chapters. Number four, avoid using absolute
terms such as the results prove, rather use softer terms such as suggest or indicate. It
is quite unlikely that a single dissertation will scientifically prove something due to the
numerous resource constraints involved in these types of projects. So, be humble in your language.
Number five, use well-structured and consistently formatted headings to ensure that your reader can
easily navigate between sections and so that your chapter flows logically and coherently. It is
generally a good idea to make use of Microsoft Word's predefined styles for your headings
and subheadings. This will also allow you to use Word's automatic table of contents generator
which is really handy. If you incorporate these five tips into your writing process and follow
the structure we have discussed in this video, you can rest assured that your discussion
chapter will be headed in a good direction. Alright, so that wraps it up for today. If you
enjoyed the video, hit the like button and leave a comment if you have any questions. Also, be sure
to subscribe to the Grad Coach channel for more research-related content. Also, if you need a
helping hand with your research, be sure to check out our private coaching service where we work
with you on a one-on-one basis, chapter by chapter to help you craft a winning dissertation, thesis
or research project. If that sounds interesting to you, book a free consultation with a friendly
coach at www.gradcoach.com. As always, I will include a link below. That is all for this episode
of Grad Coach TV. Until next time, good luck.
