Generally, students’ biggest mistake in a research paper is presenting the discussions as a superficial interpretation of the findings.

Generally, students’ biggest mistake in a research paper is presenting the discussions as a superficial interpretation of the findings. That is, basically restating the results.

Purpose

The purpose of the DISCUSSION section of a research paper is to

Provide an interpretation of the results in appropriate depth.

Structure of the “Discussion Section”

Have a “First level Heading” (this means that the heading is centralized) stating “Discussion.”

Have an introductory sentence or sentences (MAXIMUM OF 2 SENTENCES) that sequentially presents all the “Major Findings” (you do not need to cite the information in these sentences).

Use the sequence in the introductory sentence to discuss your results.

For each of the findings

Use the findings (MAJOR THEMES) as “Second Level Headings” and organize your discussion around these major headings.

Use the minor themes as “Third Level Headings” within the major theme section. The analysis of the minor themes should reinforce the central theme as a key finding.

When interpreting the findings, you should follow the following structure in writing the paragraphs.

Begin your discussion of each major theme by

An introductory statement that identifies the finding as a factor that answers your research question and the “N” (cite all the data (articles) that support this finding).

For example:Sample 1: Factor one, discussed by N=4 (insert %), impacted community recovery (cite).Sample 2: Twenty-five percent of the data (N=4) shows that factor one impacted community recovery (cite).

explain how the results answer your research question

If your results differ from your research expectations, explain why that may have happened

If your results agree with your research expectation, explain why

explain the significance of the findings to your research question

Try to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist.

Remember

It is recommended that you use the same subheadings in your findings/results sections to guide your discussion

When you refer to information,

distinguish your findings from information obtained from other sources

Refer to work done by specific individuals in the past tense.

Remember to use specific citations to emphasize how SPECIFIC results address specific parts of your research question or hypothesis.

NOTE: IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE to state that the findings agreed with your research expectations.