The final text section of your
paper is the Discussion, similar to the dissertation's Chapter 5. In your
discussion, you will evaluate, interpret the results, and draw conclusions
about them. Emphasize the theoretical or practical consequences of your
findings. Be very careful that you are not misinterpreting or misrepresenting
your findings (e.g., "the results are clear that older adults…" Did
you examine ALL older adults? No? Then do not over generalize).
Begin your discussion with a
clear statement of support or nonsupport for original hypotheses (it can also
be structured in term of your research questions). Relate the findings to the
previous literature, how do your results fit in with others' work? Your
interpretations should take into account sources of bias and threats to
internal validity. Also, consider limitations or weakness or your study. Bring
in the theoretical implications of the study; does it fit with previous
theories- why or why not? If not, could the theory be modified to account for
your findings? Finally, end with problems remain unsolved, and what future
areas of research have you identified?
Now you should have a draft of
your paper, in a future post we will consider polishing the paper before
submitting it to a journal.
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