Many people have little trouble writing their methods and results, but falter when they get to
the discussion. In a previous video, I provided a simple formula for structuring the discussion
section. In this video, I'd like to talk about more specific methods for discussing your work.
Perhaps you've listed the main results from your study but don't know how to flesh out
the discussion of those points. Here are four ways to do this.
Compare and contrast with previous work.
Compare and contrast with previous work. Drill down to give more detail about each point. Illustrate your points by
providing examples. And explain your logic. Let s look at a paper to see how these four
approaches work. In this study, our objective was to determine if hurricane sedimentation
in a subtropical salt marsh-mangrove community was influenced by vegetation type. Here s the first
main section of the discussion. It starts out by restating our objective and reviewing what previous work has found. And we list studies that found vegetation could influence sediment
deposition during daily tidal action. We expand upon that overview by giving a couple of examples,
one in China and another in Australia. These specific examples go beyond just listing citations
to support a point and instead give the reader a more detailed picture of what other investigators
found. So in this first paragraph, we use comparison as well as examples to illustrate
what others have reported. In the next few paragraphs, the discussion is further expanded
by drilling down to consider what is it about vegetation that might affect sedimentation
in marshes. We review how vegetation may slow water flow or dissipate wave energy, allowing
sediment particles to settle. Drilling down even further, we review studies showing which specific
features of the vegetation affect water flow velocity or wave dissipation. Canopy structure,
stem density, plant height, and so forth. Again, individual studies are described in more detail
to provide a sharper picture of how plants might affect sediment deposition. Then we describe
studies that directly compared salt marsh and mangrove vegetation and contrast those
studies with ours, in which we found no effect of vegetation on hurricane sediment deposition.
In other words, we acknowledge all the studies that had apparently found vegetation effects on
sedimentation in preparation for discussing why our study found something different.
Such an approach is much stronger than just listing studies that agreed with our work.
That comprehensive review prepares the reader for the next part of the discussion,
which is the interpretation of our results. We list three possible reasons why there was
no effect of vegetation on sedimentation in the ecosystem we studied. These three explanations
then become the topic sentences for the next three paragraphs. In each of those paragraphs, we give
those explanations. So, the fourth way to expand your discussion is through an explanation of your
logic. In other words, explain why you think your study turned out the way it did. You can do this
by spelling out the logic of your interpretation and citing any data, yours or others, that support
this interpretation. Novice writers often shy away from this fourth approach because they either
have not thought deeply about their results or they lack the confidence to state an opinion.
It s a bit scary to stick your neck out and say, here s what I think is going on
and this is why I think I m right. But to become an accomplished writer and publish in
the top journals in your field, you must have the knowledge and confidence to form an opinion
and the writing skills to articulate that opinion in a way that is convincing to readers.
In most of my papers, I wrote the discussion in a way that leads the reader through the steps
I took to form an opinion about the outcome of my studies.
Doing so typically involved the four approaches I ve covered in this video. Compare and contrast.
Drill down to give greater detail. Describe specific examples. And explain your logic.
These approaches can be used in any order or combination. Whatever works best with your
material. Thanks for watching and please like my video if you found this information useful.