PR 3 | Writing the Discussion Section

Discussion Section

• opportunity to evaluate and interpret the results of your study or paper

• where you draw inferences and conclusions

• presentation of its contributions to science and/or society

• shows how it relates to the literature review

• makes an supporting argument of your overall conclusion

• generally uses the present tense

Parts of a Discussion Section

1. Summary

2. Interpretations

3. Implications

4. Limitations

5. Recommendations

Summary in Discussion Section

• A brief recap of key results

• Reiteration of research problems and concise summary of major findings

• Use a clear overall statement of the results that directly answers the main research question. 

• At most one paragraph

Summary Starters in the Discussion Section

• The results indicate that…

• The study demonstrates a correlation between…

• This analysis supports the theory that…

• The data suggest that…

• The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of ...

• The results of the present study support the hypothesis that ...

• The results of this research provide supporting evidence that ...

• There are three key findings of the present research. First ... Second ... Third ...

Interpretations in Discussion Section

• discusses the meaning of the results

• shows how the results directly answer the research questions

• organized based on key themes, hypotheses, or research questions, follow the same structure as the results section

Interpretation Approaches in Discussion Section

• 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

Interpretation Starters in Discussion Section

• In line with the hypothesis…

• Contrary to the hypothesized association…

• The results contradict the claims of Smith (2022) that…

• The results might suggest that x. However, based on the findings of similar studies, a more plausible explanation is y.

• This pattern of results is consistent with the previous literature ... (citation).

• These results are consistent with the claim that ...

• The present results are consistent with Author et al.’s (year) work that deals with ...

• Whereas past researchers have found ... (citation; citation; citation), the present study has shown ...

• These results represent the first direct demonstration of ...

Implications in Discussion Section

• shows why the results matter

• Relate results back to the scholarly work surveyed in the literature review.

• show how your findings fit with existing knowledge, what new insights they contribute, and what consequences they have for theory or practice

• Show the reader what your research has contributed and why they should care

Implication Starters in Discussion Section

• 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 contribute a clearer understanding of…

• While previous research has focused on x, these results demonstrate that y.

Limitations in Discussion Section

• provides an accurate picture of what can and cannot be concluded

• might be due to your overall research design, specific methodological choices, or unanticipated obstacles that emerged during your research process

Limitation Examples

• Limited generalizability due to small or contained sample size

• Influences of encountered problems during data gathering and analysis

• Effects of confounding variables

Limitation Starters

• The generalizability of the results is limited by…

• The reliability of these 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…

• There are at least three potential limitations concerning the results of this study. A first limitation concerns ... A second potential limitation is that ...

• One limitation of this study is that ... It is possible that ... Although the present research cannot rule out these explanations, it seems useful to point out issues that may conflict with these results.

• Although the present results clearly support ..., it is appropriate to recognize several potential limitations.

• Besides our own interpretation of the data, an additional explanation warrants comment. For example, researchers have suggested ... (citation).

• Certain limitations of this study could be addressed in future research. For example ...

• The present study represents a first attempt to address these issues. We feel that further research examining ... may shed light on ...

Recommendations in the Discussion Section

• avenues for further studies or analyses

• suggestions for practical implementation or further research

• give concrete ideas for how future work can build on unaddressed areas

Recommendation Starters in the Discussion Section

• Further research is needed to establish…

• Future studies should take into account…

• Avenues for future research include…

• Although these studies support ... , their most important contribution may be that they raise a variety of intriguing questions for future study.

• In terms of future research, it would be useful to extend the current findings by examining ...

• If, as the present study suggests, ... then there is a need for research that explores ...

Closing Statement/Paragraph Samples in the Discussion Section

• Despite these limitations, this research can be seen as a first step towards integrating two lines of research, [x and y], that, to our knowledge, have not been directly linked.

• Despite these limitations, the present study has enhanced our understanding of the relationship between [x and y]. We hope that the current research will stimulate further investigation of this important area.

• The present research, therefore, contributes to a growing body of evidence suggesting that …

• In summary, our research replicates (citation) …

• The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence …

• Although the generality of the current results must be established by future research, the present study has provided clear support for ... Not only was ... Furthermore ...

What to Avoid in the Discussion Section

1. New results

2. Exaggerated Claims

3. Undermining of Research

4. Restatement of Results

5. Repetition of recommendations (assuming they appear in the conclusion)

6. Overuse of the first-person pronoun