Discussion and Conclusions

Function

• Turn data into knowledge

• How do your results inform the research question you identified?

• How does that research question fit into the discipline?

• What comes next?

Informing the Research Question

• Goal: Claim the strongest and broadest interpretation you can argue

• Within scientific constraints!

• You can speculate about possible interpretations – what results might mean

  • be cautious
  • this is a way to identify future research

• “Hedges” are common to avoid overstating

  • “likely”, “suggest”, “an alternative interpretation”, etc.

Writing Order

Most people find that it’s easier to write in this order:

• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Introduction

This allows you to make the Introduction a mirror/inversion of the Discussion

Organization

Discussion

vs. 

Introduction

Interpret Results

• 1st paragraph of the Discussion

• Restate the most important results briefly

• Comment on whether results were expected or not

  • Use this to tie in literature

Consider Limitations

• Statistical power
• Sampling and generalizing to a target population
• Limitations of data (collection, source, measurement method, …)
• Alternative explanations

Use the opportunity to argue why this limitation isn’t a big deal, if possible.

In a business report, you may want to use this section to identify situations where your results may no longer hold – market shifts, pending legislation, etc.

Relate to Bigger Picture

• Fit your answer into broader contexts

• Identify areas of consensus and/or disagreement

• What new questions arise?

• How does the problem relate to other problems in the research area or facing the company?

Future Work

• Specific case -> more general case?

• New hypotheses?

• Different methods which may yield more interesting results?

Activity

• Look at your IgNobel article Discussion

  • Highlight “hedge” words/phrases

  • What limitations are discussed? Separate out:

    • limitation statements
    • statements to minimize the limitation
    • statements that mitigate the limitation

  • How is the last “thought” in the Discussion supported by the rest of the section?