How to Write a Discussion Section for a Research Paper

What is a Discussion Part in a Research Paper? 

When you are working on a research paper or a team project, the discussion section of a research paper is essential to help your target audience understand your objectives and the limitations that you have encountered.

It is exactly where you must provide a description of your methodology, your findings, and the importance of your work. You should also interpret what you could find with the objectives that have been set. Talk about the significance of your research work and do not forget to mention what has already been available as you started with your research. It's always possible to provide information regarding innovative methods or new facts that have been discovered as you have consulted more than one discipline.

The purpose is to provide information that will help others understand the significance of your research and add an explanation for the practical implementation. 

How long should a discussion section be? 

It is recommended to keep the length of your discussion section within the limitations of the final word count. It means that this part of your research paper should not exceed the volume of your other paper sections. While your discussion may get quite extensive when you are dealing with Sociology, Healthcare, Law, or Psychology where this section plays vital importance, do your best to stay within 7-8 paragraphs of 200-300 words. If you can keep it within 1,500 words, it will be the most efficient word count as your message should be clear and not too long. Remember to keep things connected to your prior and the following sections! 

Discussion Section Structure 

When you seek assistance with the discussion section, you need to know how to structure your discussion part and what must be included in the correct order. In the majority of research papers, you should divide your discussion into three parts: an introduction with the importance of your research, body paragraphs that include a piece of explanatory information, and a conclusion paragraph where you lead to the upcoming sections. The paragraphs in the middle should provide a description of the key points that you have implemented in your work. Let's break the discussion in research paper parts into more details: 

  • Introduction. Talk about the analysis of your subject and discuss any unexpected findings or limitations related to your course of work. You must always start with a description of your methodology and a brief explanation regarding the reasons why it has been chosen. Do not repeat the methodology part though by keeping relevant discussion paper part unique! 
  • Body Paragraphs. Here is where you must talk about each element of your research paper like your sample group, budget, schedule, the specifics of the work, lab research (if applicable), and the endpoints that will help you to reach the deadline. 
  • Conclusion. It should become a brief summary that will help the readers have a strong message. If you are unsure how to sort this part of your discussion, you may suggest additional research or publications that will help to justify your research. You may also consider online research paper help since approaching an expert can be a suitable solution, especially when you cannot narrow things down. 

How to Write the Discussion Section for an Excellent Research Paper 

The discussion section should serve the role of an introduction to your research process that works like a research paper abstract where you create something like a description of a book. Keep things inspirational and provide the implications in research list to help your readers understand the peculiarities. The most important is to collect information in advance and take notes to mention them later as you write. Here is what you have to do as you work on your discussion part of a research paper: 

Step 1: Compose an introductory part where you explain what your research is about. 

Step 2: Provide a summary of your key findings that will lead to your main thesis or research idea. 

Step 3: Explain how your study relates to the general context of what has been studied in the past. This is where you can provide some references. 

Step 4: Discuss how your research will help to address those aspects that have not been studied before. 

Step 5: The conclusion part should help your target audience to connect the dots and see your research at a greater scope as you present your results section. 

Step 6: Edit your discussion part and see how it relates to the other sections of your research paper. 

Step 7: Proofread and check the readability. Do not repeat the parts that you have provided in the methodology section but keep things related. Your discussion must be concise and contain information that has been used for your paper. Do not introduce any new ideas unless they will help to understand what you would like to achieve in the future. 

Example of a Discussion Section in a Research Paper 

It is always good when you can work with a sample or a template that relates to your subject. Still, even when your topic for discussion differs, you will benefit from one of the examples like the one we have provided below: 

The research results that have been achieved by the study of the social peculiarities of the Amish community in Montreal show that it is not limited in terms of technical achievements. The reliability of the sample analysis has been achieved by surveys and personal interviews. The bias has been eliminated with the help of cultural discourse based on previous studies. The keynotes have been provided in the introductory section of the research. The chosen methodology of the social integration for three months has helped to study the social factors in a deeper way as the bonding has taken place.

As you can see, it is important to provide an explanation of how the research process happened. As you write, the use of these phrases will be helpful for your research paper discussion part: 

  • - The research results are limited by the lack of research in X social group...
  • - The reliability factor has been affected by social pressure and domestic violence...
  • - The limited data that is available on Z makes it relatively challenging to state that...
  • - The chosen methodology has been supported by the prior research conducted by...
  • - The scope of this study does not cover...  

If this part sounds too challenging to you, do not forget that you can get in touch with a research paper writer and share your notes, key findings, and general objectives. This way, you will be able to keep things inspiring and sorted! 

The List of Important Things to Consider and Avoid 

Take your time to see what aspects must be followed as you compose your discussion paper and what to avoid. Taking a closer look at the past research paper writing, our experts have outlined the key elements. 

✅ Do's:

❌ Things to avoid:

  • Reiterate your research problem and mention your major research discoveries. 
  • Explain how your findings will help the scientific community or address a particular problem. 
  • Discuss what has been researched in the past.
  • Consider how you can make your research findings accessible. 
  • Mention the limitations of your study and explain why they have been encountered. 
  • Make suggestions for future research. 
  • Avoid using an apologetic tone in the discussion part of a research paper. Still, you must keep honest and mention the challenges. 
  • Do not introduce any new results or findings that do not relate to your work. 
  • Do not make odd claims that can be interpreted differently. 
  • Do not add speculation that is not supported by at least one piece of evidence. 
  • Do not mention other researchers without a reference. 
  • Do not keep your discussion section overly lengthy or focused on a single research problem. 

The most important is to achieve greater clarity. It is the exact purpose of this section in your research paper. Discuss your objectives, talk about your thesis, and make things clear as if you are talking to a good friend who doesn’t know anything about your research. 

Keep Things Original!

The majority of college students often forget about the originality of the discussion section as they write. When you share do my research paper request, you must use the information and helpful notes based on your initial instructions. It will help to connect the sections of your research paper and avoid possible plagiarism risks. When you mention related research or repeat something that has already been written, you may risk dealing with self-plagiarism. It confirms the importance of originality and paraphrasing as you keep things more concise and accessible. Even if something has already been mentioned in the methodology part or you describe the samples part the way you did it before, think about a different writing style that will help to increase the overall originality. The key is to discuss by making your research paper even more accessible! 

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