How to Write a Discussion – A Complete Guide to Help You Understand

You have probably heard it from numerous people by now, but we’ll reiterate it: dissertations are an important element in your academic journey. Some people think writing one will be as easy as it is to complete other assignments. That’s a misconception that can cost you valuable grades! The discussion section is where you dive into the validity, significance, and relevance of your findings. It should concentrate on the discussion and assessment of what you discovered. Aside from that, your paper’s discussion should demonstrate how it pertains to previous studies and current empirical objectives. Finally, when you write one, do it to present the reasoning in favor of your eventual conclusion.

There are several approaches to “How to Write a Discussion.” However, we’d advise you to center your explanation on these four essential points:

• Interpretations: What do the findings imply?
• Implications: Why are the results important?
• Limitations: What are the constraints of the results?
• Recommendations: What practical steps or scientific investigations should be taken next?

The discussion and conclusion sections frequently intertwine — in some studies, these two components are combined into a single dissertation discussion chapter. At other times, researchers will integrate the findings and commentary into a single chapter. If you’re unsure what framework to use for your study, check our sample dissertations in your discipline. You could also ask your supervisors or get dissertation help online.

Outline Your Significant Observations

Begin this chapter by stating your research challenge and describing your significant results succinctly. Instead of just repeating the material you’ve reported, try for a concise summary of the overall outcome. Said summary should address your primary research question and limit it to one paragraph.

Share Your Observations in the Dissertation Discussion Chapter

The relevance of your data might seem clear to you, but it is critical to explain it to the audience. You’d also need to demonstrate how well your results address your research objectives.

How you conduct your observations will vary depending on the sort of study you’re doing. Even so, some common procedures leading to statistical interpretation include:

• Analyzing data linkages, patterns, and linkages
• Whether the outcomes fulfilled your assumptions or validated your hypothesis
• Setting your results in the perspective of existing research and thinking
• Explanation of unexpected outcomes and assessment of their relevance
• Consider other explanations and make a case for your point of view

You can build your discussion in dissertation around important concepts, assumptions, or study objectives in the same way you did in the section about your findings. You might also start by emphasizing the most notable or surprising outcomes. Wondering how? Check below:

Examples

• In accordance with the hypothesis…
• In contrast to the hypothesized relationship between…
• The findings contradict X’s (2007) statements…
• The findings might imply that X is true. However, based on the outcomes of comparable investigations, Y appears to be a more rational explanation.

Discuss the Implications – With Dissertation Discussion Examples

In addition to providing your views, make sure to connect your findings to the scientific material you discovered during the literature review. Your explanation should also demonstrate how your results relate to the current views on the subject. Then add in the fresh perspectives and their implications on theoretical positions. Take a moment to think:

• Do your findings corroborate past research? If so, what will they bring to the table?
• Are your outcomes different from those in other research? If that’s the case, what may be causing such variation?
• Do these findings confirm or refute existing theories?
• Are there any practical ramifications?

Your overarching goal should be demonstrating what your study provides and what makes it essential and engagement-worthy for your discussion section dissertation. These phrases can serve as hooks for this section:

Examples

• These findings add to the body of data, suggesting…
• The findings contradict the assumption that…
• The experiment sheds fresh light on the interaction between…
• These findings should be considered while deciding how to…
• The information allows us a better grasp on…
• While X earlier study has emphasized on Z, current findings show Y…

Accept Your Limitations

Even the finest studies have limits, and it is critical to acknowledge these to establish your credibility. The purpose of these restrictions is not to highlight your mistakes. Instead, they will accurately depict what a reader can and cannot infer from your research.

Restrictions might result from the general analysis approach you used, particular methodological decisions, or unexpected difficulties that arose throughout the conduction of your research project. While it’s true you should be mentioning limits, only bring them up if they are relevant to your research goals. Then, elaborate on the kind of influence they exerted while you were attaining your research goals.

As per some dissertation discussion examples, if your sampling size was limited or confined to a certain group of individuals, keep in mind this can restrict the universal applicability of your findings. Counter that by describing how issues faced during acquiring or evaluating data affected the outcomes. Then add you recognize the impact such potentially complicating elements had on your research since you were incapable of regulating them.

After mentioning the restrictions, you can explain why the data is still valid for addressing your research objective. How? Look below:

Examples

• The results’ applicability is hampered by…
• The dependability of this knowledge is influenced by…
• The findings cannot be confirmed due to an absence of material on X…
• The methodological decisions were hampered by…
• It is over and above the scope of this research to…

If you have difficulty figuring out your limitations, you can get assistance from a renowned dissertation writing service.

State Your Recommendations

You can provide suggestions for practical application or future research depending on the evaluation of your findings. Usually, these recommendations are mentioned right before the end of your paper.

Derive suggestions for more study straight from the restrictions. Don’t just declare additional research is required. Instead, provide clear examples of how subsequent studies could expand on the regions your work was insufficient to explore.

How to Arrange the Discussion Section – With Discussion Section Examples

It is not sufficient to employ charts and tables in your outcomes portion to persuade your audience of the significance of your discoveries. It would help you if you backed up your findings with more. All such information will be a part of the discussion area.

Just as if you were presenting a story about your study, think of the discussion part as the most creative component of your research. Depending on your results, you can also justify the responses to your research queries and develop reasons to validate your claims in this part.

As an example, the best way to organize your discussion section is into these three parts:

• The Beginning – describes the significance of your study and its unique discoveries
• The Middle – includes the explanations about your findings to back up your responses
• The End – summarizes the analysis and the relevance of your research

FAQs

• What should a discussion section include?

In this section, you’ll analyze the significance and impact of your research findings. You’ll also be describing how they connect with previous research and studies. So, discuss:

Interpretations: What do the findings imply?

Implications: Why are the results important?

• Limitations: What are the constraints of the results?

• What is the main focus of the discussion section?

The discussion section’s objective is to evaluate and characterize the relevance of your results in respect to what was previously known about your topic of study. It also clarifies any relevant information or discoveries that can develop as a consequence of your study.

• How do you structure a discussion section?

The best way to organize your discussion section is into three parts:

• The Beginning – describes why your study and its unique discoveries matter
• The Middle – explains your findings in light of the literature you reviewed in the previous section
• The End – a summary of your research’s analysis and its relevance

This is all you need to know about writing a discussion section for a dissertation. If you find yourself in deep waters while writing your dissertation proposal, hire a dissertation proposal writing expert to get you out of this stressful situation.