GOAL
Present your interpretation of the results within the context that you established in the introduction.
CHARACTERISTICS
A common order for the information in the discussion is to move from the specific to the general.
The discussion starts with the interpretation of what your results mean within the specific context of the study conducted, including a discussion of which hypotheses were or were not supported and an explanation of what you can conclude from the results. This part of the discussion usually follows the order in which you presented the results (and, thus, the order in which you presented your hypotheses in the introduction).
The discussion then moves on to an explanation of the significance of the work and how it fits into the specific research context. Your contribution to existing knowledge should be clear.
Depending on the nature of the research and the discipline, the discussion might also include an explanation of how the work fits into some bigger picture.
Most discussion sections end with an acknowledgment of the limitations of the research and suggestions for future research.
There are typically fewer references to outside sources in the discussion, but you might reconnect with sources referenced in the introduction to establish your findings’ place in the research context specific to your particular study as well as some bigger picture. You might also turn to outside sources to help explain unexpected results, to acknowledge limitations, or to introduce ideas for future research.
NOTE:
The advice to keep the results and discussion sections separate has long been a standard in scientific writing with the results section presenting the statistical interpretation of the data and the discussion section presenting the conceptual interpretation of those statistical analyses. However, in some fields, it has become common practice to merge the results and discussion into one section. Nevertheless, even when the results and discussion are merged, you will still find a final section of the paper, typically called “Conclusions,” that considers the findings of the study in the larger context of the field. If you are uncertain about expectations for the paper you are writing, you should ask your instructor.
DON’TS
Don’t simply recap or restate the results. Instead, use the discussion to bring the reader to a higher level of understanding than presented in the results section.
Don’t assume the importance of the findings is obvious.
Don’t present any new results.
Don’t ignore unsupported hypotheses.
Don’t extend your interpretations too far beyond your actual findings.
Don’t overdo it when describing the limitations of your research. While it is important to demonstrate that you can consider your work with a critical eye, you do not want to undermine your work by devoting more space to its limitations than its findings.
Don’t quote from your sources. Instead, when referring to other research and sources in the discussion, continue to paraphrase or summarize the findings and ideas presented in those sources.
STYLE
Discussions contain a mix of present and past tense depending on depending on the what you are trying to communicate at that moment in the discussion. You should generally write discussions in the active voice.
PAST TENSE
When simply summarizing the results, you should use past tense.
PRESENT TENSE
When interpreting the results, explaining their significance, and considering larger implications, you should use present tense.
PRESENT OR FUTURE TENSE
When describing future directions, you should use present or future tense.
ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE
Whenever possible in the discussion, you should write in active voice rather than passive voice. Active voice is often easier to read because the subject of the sentence is clear. It also gives your writing more energy and power. You should always be mindful in your choice to use active or passive voice. For example, if you want to focus the reader’s attention on the object being acted upon and not the actor, then passive is the right choice.