4 Tips for Writing Your Dissertation’s Discussion Chapter

Although most people include a discussion section in their dissertation or thesis, some end up missing out key issues. The discussion section should be where your paper comes together, so it’s vital to consider the following.

1. Have a Clear Structure

Organise the discussion into separate sections, moving from specific results to their implications. Depending on your topic, you could use the following structure:

Summarise your key findings (if your discussion chapter is separate from the results)

Discuss how the results relate to the literature review

Discuss how this affects your original hypothesis

Discuss what this means in practice

2. Tense Usage

When discussing your findings, use the past and present tenses consistently. Which one to use depends on the context. When referring to specific data or describing what results mean in practice, the present tense should be used

3. Evaluate Your Results

Rather than simply describing your results, think about what they mean. Consider what any relationships and patterns in your findings imply. And ask how this relates to the theories used in your research.

It’s also important to be objective when discussing results. If your findings weren’t what you expected, mention this in the discussion. Don’t be afraid to recognise inconsistencies, anomalies or other limitations.

4. Refer to the Hypothesis and Literature Review

Referring to previous parts of your paper gives the discussion context.

For example, if you introduce a theory in the literature review that claims that speed cameras have no impact on road fatalities, you can describe how your findings relate to this.

The same applies to your hypothesis: do the results prove or disprove your predictions? Doing this makes your paper feel coherent. Get supreme-essay.com discount code