How to write a discussion

for a research paper

Goal

learn about the purpose and pitfalls of a Discussion section
use a tool for how to compose a Discussion section

Writing a Discussion

Worksheet

This workshop’s activities take about 30 to 50 minutes to complete

Warm-up activity ‘hopes and concerns’ (2 minutes)
Information about writing: Purpose and pitfalls of the Discussion section (5 minutes)
Writing activity: writing your Discussion section in seven moves (10 to 30 minutes)
Reflection: sharing strengths and growth areas around writing (10 to 15 minutes)

Instructions

meme from TV series The Office showing the manager (Scott) screaming, captioned "I don't know what I am writing about"

1. hopes and concern

Warm-up Activity

Share your hopes and concerns for the Discussion section of your manuscript

post by Inspirational Skeletor "It will never be as easy as you hope; but you'll find it is rarely as hard as you fear"

2. purpose and pitfalls of a Discussion

Information

Learn what advisors and PhD students expect and dread about the Discussion section

Venn diagram captioned "Writing" with two non-overlapping circles, one circle labeled "where the magic happens", the other "your comfort zone"

3. draft your discussion

Activity

Write the Discussion section following a guide that splits the Discussion into seven moves

18th century portrait of an English aristrocrat gazing at the viewer with an arrogant facial expression captioned "Me, an intellectual, judging people for making the same mistake I recently learned to stop making'

4. reflection

Activity

what from this workshop can you use or implement right away?

return to overview of all 'self-guided workshops'

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