(If you wish to raise the price, I can make the necessary adjustments. The primary concern is to ensure the task is done correctly.)
My dissertation currently stands at 880 words, so feel free to edit or rephrase any sections as needed.
Guidelines for the discussion chapter and its essential steps in crafting it.
How to write the discussion chapter
The first step in writing up your discussion chapter is to remind your reader of your research problem, as well as your research aim(s) and research questions. If you have hypotheses, you can also briefly mention these. This “reminder” is very important because, after reading dozens of pages, the reader may have forgotten the original point of your research or been swayed in another direction. It’s also likely that some readers skip straight to your discussion chapter from the introduction chapter, so make sure that your research aims and research questions are clear.
Next, you’ll want to summarise your key findings from your results chapter. This may look different for qualitative and quantitative research, where qualitative research may report on themes and relationships, whereas quantitative research may touch on correlations and causal relationships. Regardless of the methodology, in this section you need to highlight the overall key findings in relation to your research questions.
Typically, this section only requires one or two paragraphs, depending on how many research questions you have. Aim to be concise here, as you will unpack these findings in more detail later in the chapter. For now, a few lines that directly address your research questions are all that you need.
Some examples of the kind of language you’d use here include:
The data suggest that…
The data support/oppose the theory that…
The analysis identifies…
These are purely examples. What you present here will be completely dependent on your original research questions, so make sure that you are led by them.
It depends
Once you’ve restated your research problem and research question(s) and briefly presented your key findings, you can unpack your findings by interpreting your results. Remember: only include what you reported in your results section – don’t introduce new information.
From a structural perspective, it can be a wise approach to follow a similar structure in this chapter as you did in your results chapter. This would help improve readability and make it easier for your reader to follow your arguments. For example, if you structured you results discussion by qualitative themes, it may make sense to do the same here.
Alternatively, you may structure this chapter by research questions, or based on an overarching theoretical framework that your study revolved around. Every study is different, so you’ll need to assess what structure works best for you.
When interpreting your results, you’ll want to assess how your findings compare to those of the existing research (from your literature review chapter). Even if your findings contrast with the existing research, you need to include these in your discussion. In fact, those contrasts are often the most interesting findings. In this case, you’d want to think about why you didn’t find what you were expecting in your data and what the significance of this contrast is.
Here are a few questions to help guide your discussion:
How do your results relate with those of previous studies?
If you get results that differ from those of previous studies, why may this be the case?
What do your results contribute to your field of research?
What other explanations could there be for your findings?
When interpreting your findings, be careful not to draw conclusions that aren’t substantiated. Every claim you make needs to be backed up with evidence or findings from the data (and that data needs to be presented in the previous chapter – results). This can look different for different studies; qualitative data may require quotes as evidence, whereas quantitative data would use statistical methods and tests. Whatever the case, every claim you make needs to be strongly backed up.
Every claim you make must be backed up
The fourth step in writing up your discussion chapter is to acknowledge the limitations of the study. These limitations can cover any part of your study, from the scope or theoretical basis to the analysis method(s) or sample. For example, you may find that you collected data from a very small sample with unique characteristics, which would mean that you are unable to generalise your results to the broader population.
For some students, discussing the limitations of their work can feel a little bit self-defeating. This is a misconception, as a core indicator of high-quality research is its ability to accurately identify its weaknesses. In other words, accurately stating the limitations of your work is a strength, not a weakness. All that said, be careful not to undermine your own research. Tell the reader what limitations exist and what improvements could be made, but also remind them of the value of your study despite its limitations.
Now that you’ve unpacked your findings and acknowledge the limitations thereof, the next thing you’ll need to do is reflect on your study in terms of two factors:
The practical application of your findings
Suggestions for future research
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? Where are these contributions applicable, how and why? For example, if your research is on communication in health settings, in what ways 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, but also be realistic and make sure that any applications are feasible.
The next discussion point is the opportunity for future research. In other words, how can other studies build on what you’ve 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’ll want to investigate whether your results fit in with findings of previous research, and if not, why this may be the case. For example, are there any factors that you didn’t consider in your study? What future research can be done to remedy this? When you write up your suggestions, make sure that you don’t just say that more research is needed on the topic, also comment on how the research can build on your study.
Finally, you’ve reached your final stretch. In this section, you’ll want 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.
When writing up your concluding summary, bear in mind that some readers may skip straight to this section from the beginning of the chapter. So, make sure that this section flows well from and has a strong connection to the opening section of the chapter.