Discussion
Discussion at a Glance
The discussion chapter or section is the big 'So What?' of your dissertation. Not only will you discuss how the results of your study answers your research questions, you also must interpret your results vis-à-vis the literature your reviewed in Chapter 2, relate the results to the theoretical or conceptual framework of your study, discuss limitations of your study, and proposes avenues for future research that builds on your study. The implications and recommendations for future research are often glossed-over aspects of a dissertation, but in fact, they are the most important from a scholarly and academic perspective.
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If you are doing a PhD with a focus of building an academic career, you want to use your discussion chapter to position your dissertation to be a source for a new stream of literature that continues to research the gap you identified from various theoretical and methodological angles. If you are doing an applied degree like a EdD or DBA, the discussion chapter should be focused on informing best practices in your professional field.
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No matter what specific doctoral degree you are pursuing, the structure of a discussion should mirror that of the literature review. Whereas the literature 'funnels down' to your research gap, the discussion should be a 'reverse funnel' where you begin with discuss how your research questions were answered and then expand your discussion relating your dissertation study's relevant and implications for your field of study in general.
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How will Dissertation Demystified help me?
Dissertation Demystified sets you up for success in writing your discussion by coaching you on how to interpret and optimally write up your results in a dedicated module. This results-centric module will assist you in answering your research questions giving that first crucial 'So What?' moment of your discussion.
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Our module structure also allows you to leverage the diligent work we coach you through when doing the literature review module. Because our approach involves distilling the content of research articles into a more easily-digestible spreadsheet, you can quickly compare the results of your study to past literature, making it more efficient to write discussion content that shows how your dissertation fits into the wider research picture in your field.
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Of course, access to your peers in Skool and our weekly office hours, gives you ample opportunities to brainstorm how to interpret your results and to get feedback on your discussion at it develops as you complete the Discussion module.