Discussion

Function

  • Interpret your results in light of what was already known about the subject of the investigation

  • Explain our new understanding of the problem after taking your results into consideration.

  • It tells how your study has moved us forward from the place you left us at the end of the Introduction.

Fundamental questions to answer

  • Do your results provide answers to your testable hypotheses? If so, how do you interpret your findings?
  • Do your findings agree with what others have shown? If not, do they suggest an alternative explanation or perhaps a unforseen design flaw in your experiment (or theirs?)
  • Given your conclusions, what is our new understanding of the problem you investigated and outlined in the Introduction?
  • If warranted, what would be the next step in your study, e.g., what experiments would you do next?

Style

  • Use the active voice whenever possible

  • Watch out for wordy phrases; be concise and make your points clearly.

  • Use of the first person is okay, but too much use of the first person may actually distract the reader from the main points.

Approach

  • Organize the Discussion to address each of the experiments or studies for which you presented results

  • Discuss each in the same sequence as presented in the Results, providing your interpretation of what they mean in the larger context of the problem.

  • Do NOT waste entire sentences restating your results

  • If you need to remind the reader of the result to be discussed, use “bridge sentences” that relate the result to the interpretation

  • Do NOT introduce new results in the Discussion.