The purpose of the Discussion is to state your interpretations and opinions, explain the implications of your findings, and make suggestions for future research. Its main function is to answer the questions posed in the Introduction, explain how the results support the answers and, how the answers fit in with existing knowledge on the topic. The Discussion is considered the heart of the paper and usually requires several writing attempts.
A) Decide if the following statements are true or false:
| Statement
| True/False
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| 1. Organize the Discussion from the specific to the general: your findings to the literature, to theory, to practice.
2. Use the same key terms, the same verb tense (present tense), and the same point of view that you used when posing the questions in the Methods.
3. Begin by re-stating the hypothesis you were testing and answering the questions posed in the introduction.
4. Support the answers with the results. Explain how your results relate to expectations and to the literature, clearly stating why they are acceptable and how they are consistent or fit in with previously published knowledge on the topic.
5. Describe the patterns, principles, and relationships shown by each major finding/result and put them in perspective. The sequencing of providing this information is important; first state the answer, then the relevant results, then cite the work of others. If necessary, point the reader to a figure or table to enhance the “story”.
6. Don’t mention conflicting explanations of the results.
7. Discuss any unexpected findings. When discussing an unexpected finding, begin the paragraph with the finding and then describe it.
8. Identify potential limitations and weaknesses and comment on the relative importance of these to your interpretation of the results and how they may affect the validity of the findings. Apologize for it.
9. Provide recommendations (at least fifteen) for further research.
10. Explain how the results and conclusions of this study are important and how they influence our knowledge or understanding of the problem being examined.
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