What to Know About the Research Paper Results Discussion

Writing a research paper takes lots of time and effort. After your research is complete, you have to start writing your paper. One of the most important parts of the assignment is the results discussion section. This section should be brief. However, make sure to include all the relevant results that are coherent with your study goals and objectives.

Typically, this section includes two subsections: results and discussion. The former subsection usually just answers the research questions and provides all the relevant findings. Keep in mind the following suggestions when writing the results subsection:

• Present the results in a logical order. Usually, you can describe the obtained materials according to your research plan.


• Organize information in the form of tables and figures if possible, so it’ll be easier for your readers to understand and compare the main findings.


• Provide trends and general conclusions based on analyzed data. However, if the paper is based on statistical data, the results should be statistically significant.


• Stay honest about your output. Even if you can’t reject the null hypothesis, you may help other researchers by providing a trend that they can further explore.


• Avoid long comments about the outcomes. Although brief comments and explanations are required, long comments and discussion should be written in the discussion subsection.

The two main components included in the discussion section are a brief part looking back and another looking forward. The following tips will help you write a strong section:

• Don’t repeat the results, as they should be provided before the discussion. However, you can generalize the material.


• Make sure to answer your research question in a clear manner. It’s also important to explain why your findings are important.


• Think about an alternative explanation for your outcomes. You should be critical about your study and provide counterarguments to your thesis statement.


• Analyze how your findings agree with previous research in the field and try to explain why they don’t agree, if applicable. In this part of the paper, you can emphasize what was new about your research methods and what were the limitations.


• Provide suggestions for further study. These suggestions should be specific and represent your point of view. However, it’s fine to also include an expert’s opinion.

The suggestions and tips mentioned above contain information that you need to bear in mind in order to compose the results discussion section of your paper. Your conclusions should be appropriate and related to your study. It’s important to format the section correctly, and remember to insert all the necessary citations.