📖 Discussion & Conclusions – Q&A Study Guide

Purpose & Structure

Q: What is the main purpose of the discussion section?

A: To interpret results, relate them to research questions, methods, and prior studies, and explain their implications for theory, practice, and future research

Purpose & Structure

Q: What should every discussion section include?

A: Summary of results, interpretation, comparison to prior research, limitations, implications (clinical/theoretical), and future directions

Purpose & Structure

Q: What is the role of the conclusions section?

A: To restate the main findings, tie them back to the research question, highlight contributions, acknowledge limitations, and suggest future directions

Key Evaluation Questions

Q: How do you know if hypotheses were supported?

A: By examining whether results align with predictions stated in the research question and hypothesis

Key Evaluation Questions

Q: Why is it important to avoid overstating conclusions?

A: Over-interpretation can misrepresent findings, weaken credibility, and mislead clinical practice

Key Evaluation Questions

Q: How can results contribute to the literature?

A: By advancing theory, refining methods, or suggesting new clinical practices

Common Discussion Points

Q: What are common points included in a discussion?

A: Relating results to research questions, comparing to prior studies, discussing methodological issues, explaining limitations, and presenting implications for practice, theory, and future research

Common Discussion Points

Q: Why are limitations necessary to include?

A: They help readers interpret findings realistically and guide improvements in future studies

Common Discussion Points

Q: What three domains should implications address?

A: Clinical practice, theoretical understanding, and research methodology

Examples from Studies

Q: What did Morrisette & Gierut (2002) show about lexical organization in phonological treatment?

A: High-frequency words promoted broad generalization, while low-frequency and low-density words triggered narrower effects. Clinical implication: word choice in therapy can influence generalization

Examples from Studies

Q: What was a methodological issue in Kagan et al. (2001) on aphasia partner training?

A: Difficulty blinding raters, since strong treatment effects made group status easier to guess

Examples from Studies

Q: What was a key finding in Logan & LaSalle (1999) on disfluency clusters?

A: Syntactic structure influenced clusters more than utterance length, supporting fluency research on linguistic/motor planning

Examples from Studies

Q: What limitation did Conley & Coehlo (2003) identify in their Broca’s aphasia study?

A: It was unclear which training component caused the improvement; future research should separate approaches and examine phonological influences

Future Research

Q: What are common areas for future research across studies?

A: Larger/more diverse samples, qualitative outcome measures, long-term follow-up, testing across severity levels, and examining specific treatment components

Future Research

Q: Why is future research necessary?

A: To generalize findings, refine methods, and better understand clinical implications for varied populations