Writing a discussion chapter

Your discussion chapter ties everything together. However, it is important to consider whether you need a separate section for your discussion.

In some disciplines, it may be more organic for the discussion to be integrated with the results or findings, and if your supervisor recommends it, you may find that you need a discussion section at the end of many of your thesis chapters.

A standard discussion chapter will:

• interpret what your results mean
• compare your results with previous studies
• evaluate the importance of your research
• highlight the limitations of your research
• point out possible questions or avenues for future research.

Try these practical exercises that demonstrate how the above key purposes can be incorporated into your writing:

• thesis discussion exercises
• key features of a discussion or conclusion chapter

Check out this video for tips on effective strategies for writing the discussion chapter, with examples from published articles: