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Discussion. It\u2019s a word that immediately comes to mind when we think about communicating research. First we report the results, and then we discuss them. Discussion might be a separate thesis chapter just before the conclusion, or the end of a series of chapters each featuring a different key result, or the discussion might morph into a conclusion (as often happens in a PhD by publication).<\/p>\n
Discussion is not a very helpful word. Its vagueness may be why many PhDers find discussion a hard chapter to write.<\/p>\n
The word discussion can mean many things \u2013 its dictionary definition is often something like \u201ca detailed treatment of a topic in speech or writing\u201d. That actually doesn\u2019t take us any further \u2013 what is meant here by treatment? Synonyms for discussion include argument, analysis and consideration. Perhaps these are slightly more helpful.<\/p>\n
If you google \u201cHow do you write a discussion\u201d, you get a lot of \u201cDon\u2019t be repetitive, Avoid using jargon. Be concise. Follow a logical thought process\u201d, followed by \u201cIdentify patterns in the data, discuss whether your results met your expectations or supported your hypothesis, contextualise your findings within previous research and theory, and explain unexpected results and evaluate their significance\u201d. This seems pretty helpful but it may still not be enough.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been thinking about how to provide additional advice about discussions and \u2013 well it\u2019s hard. But I\u2019ve come to think that one step might be to understand the point of discussion. If you get the purpose of academic discussion first of all, then you can begin to think about what needs to be covered.<\/p>\n
The discussion is not a summary. There might be some summary involved at the start of a discussion if you are bringing some results or key themes together. But that is only the beginning. The discussion is not d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. It must not simply repeat what has gone before. (See what I did there.)<\/p>\n
The discussion has to move your analysis forward. The discussion has to establish what your results add up to. The discussion works\u00a0from<\/em>\u00a0your specific research results\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0a bigger picture.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s a metaphor that might help a bit. Your research is analogous to building your own car with some existing material and some new pieces. You have to carefully put the old and your new pieces together so that they amount to something substantial and innovative. Your research\u00a0results<\/em>\u00a0establish the new pieces. The research\u00a0discussion<\/em>\u00a0assembles the car, starts the engine and moves forward.<\/p>\n An academic discussion is thus where you do very particular work:<\/p>\n The idea of\u00a0moving forward<\/strong>\u00a0is key to understanding academic discussion.<\/p>\n Moving forward extends what is known. It offers a creative remix in which the known and\/or established is combined with the new (your results) to offer something novel \u2013 something that can be seen as a contribution to general scholarly understanding about your particular topic. You stretch what is already understood, perhaps countering some of what is taken for granted. You offer a different perspective, a different application, a provocation, a theoretical challenge or insight.<\/p>\n But moving forward is not something that is accomplished in a page or two. Careful construction is needed. And here is where we go back to those dictionary definitions \u2013 the discussion is always an argument for a particular construction \u2013 your interpretation of all of your results put together, in conversation with the literatures, anticipating objections, acknowledging blank and blind spots.<\/p>\n And discussion is of course not all that matters at the end of your thesis text. The conclusion is where you explain how your new car, well I\u2019ll keep going with this somewhat clumsy metaphor, moves the whole field forward. Your research not only answers your question, but it is a significant contribution. You have moved not only your own thinking, but also that of at least some others in the field, you\u2019ve reached a new destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n