How to write the Dissertation findings and discussion sections
The finding and discussion section of your dissertation can be the most fulfilling part of the work. It is where you can express your thoughts instead of others' opinion on the topic. Definitely, you may have to reference your sources at some point; however, you will forever be proud of contributing to the area.
Writing of your findings and discussion can take several forms. Mostly, readers expect these three components, Description-Analysis-Synthesis, in these chapters. When working on a shorter dissertation, it is best to combine them chapters in one section. However, you may have to separate them in longer works. Let’s now go through some critical aspects of writing the findings and discussion section of your dissertation.
Preparation stage
Before you decide how to write thesis outline or findings section, make sure you’ve completed the analysis. Also, be sure to have organized all your findings manually or with the help of software. The above needs to be done to prevent messing up your work with random and inconsistent information.
Most students also encounter the dilemma of which information or data to use in their findings. During the research process, colossal data is collected, and obviously, not all can be used in the final work. Therefore, you need to choose which is essential or required by the reader.
This can be easier if you prepare an outline, which will give you the structure to follow. Your outline must then follow two key points
- Answer the research questions
- Adding exciting findings during the research
How to introduce your findings
Your findings can take about 40 percent of your dissertation. As such, you need to be organized with a concise introduction. Your introduction should include these four components,
- Setting the tone for readers
- Describe the approach towards your write-up
- Contextualize your research
- Make the appendix easily accessible
Your findings chapter should be straight to the point to enable readers to have a clear idea about what it is about and what to expect. In doing this, you should know how to
- Organize and present your data
- Present your qualitative data
- Introduce your quantitative data
Analysis and synthesis
The discussion section/chapter of your dissertation is one of the most important aspects of your work. This section tells the reader how you’ve answered the research questions and the extensiveness of your research.
How you structure your discussion chapter must relate to how the findings chapter was done and what you intend to do. You can also choose to structure it per the research questions. The discussion section interprets whatever was highlighted in your findings. Hence, the introduction of it should throw light on the contents to be covered in the subsections.
In concluding your discussion, summarises all the key points of your work, so that even a quick glance can afford the reader what the work is about.
Conclusion
By now, you have acquired more knowledge on how to go about your dissertation findings and discussion chapters. Following the above steps and others in subsequent write-ups would make your work enjoyable and stress-free.