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Mentored Research II - Discussion Questions | BIOL 465, Assignments of Biology

Material Type: Assignment; Class: Mentored Research III; Subject: Biology; University: Christian Brothers University; Term: Unknown 1989;

Typology: Assignments

Pre 2010

Uploaded on 08/13/2009

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DISCUSSION
The function of the Discussion is to interpret your results in light of what was already known about the
subject of the investigation, and to explain our new understanding of the problem after taking your results
into consideration.
What do your observations mean?
The Discussion will always connect to the Introduction by way of the question(s) or hypotheses you posed
and the literature you cited, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the Introduction. Instead, it tells
how your study has moved us forward from the place you left us at the end of the Introduction.
1. Do your results provide answers to your testable hypotheses? If so, how do you interpret your
findings? Did the study achieve the goal (resolve the problem, answer the question, support the
hypothesis) presented in the Introduction?
2. Do your findings agree with what others have shown? If not, do they suggest an alternative
explanation or perhaps an unforeseen design flaw in your experiment (or theirs?)
3. Given your conclusions, what is our new understanding of the problem you investigated and
outlined in the Introduction?
Use the active voice whenever possible in this section.
Watch out for wordy phrases; be concise and make your points clearly.
Use of the first person is okay, but too much use of the first person may actually distract the reader from
the main points.
Move from specific to general: your finding(s) → literature → theory → practice.
Organize the Discussion to address each of the experiments or studies for which you presented results;
discuss each in the same sequence as presented in the Results, providing your interpretation of what
they mean in the larger context of the problem.
What conclusions can you draw?
What patterns, principles, relationships do your results show?
How do results relate to expectations and to literature cited in Introduction (agreement,
contradiction, and exceptions)?
How do your results fit into a broader context?
What theoretical implications do your results have?
What plausible explanations are there?
What practical applications might your results have?
Can you extend your findings to other situations, other species? Do they help us understand a
broader topic?
What additional research might resolve contradictions, explain exceptions?
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DISCUSSION

The function of the Discussion is to interpret your results in light of what was already known about the subject of the investigation, and to explain our new understanding of the problem after taking your results into consideration.  What do your observations mean? The Discussion will always connect to the Introduction by way of the question(s) or hypotheses you posed and the literature you cited, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the Introduction. Instead, it tells how your study has moved us forward from the place you left us at the end of the Introduction.

  1. Do your results provide answers to your testable hypotheses? If so, how do you interpret your findings? Did the study achieve the goal (resolve the problem, answer the question, support the hypothesis) presented in the Introduction?
  2. Do your findings agree with what others have shown? If not, do they suggest an alternative explanation or perhaps an unforeseen design flaw in your experiment (or theirs?)
  3. Given your conclusions, what is our new understanding of the problem you investigated and outlined in the Introduction? Use the active voice whenever possible in this section. Watch out for wordy phrases; be concise and make your points clearly. Use of the first person is okay, but too much use of the first person may actually distract the reader from the main points. Move from specific to general: your finding(s) → literature → theory → practice. Organize the Discussion to address each of the experiments or studies for which you presented results; discuss each in the same sequence as presented in the Results, providing your interpretation of what they mean in the larger context of the problem.  What conclusions can you draw?  What patterns, principles, relationships do your results show?  How do results relate to expectations and to literature cited in Introduction (agreement, contradiction, and exceptions)?  How do your results fit into a broader context?  What theoretical implications do your results have?  What plausible explanations are there?  What practical applications might your results have?  Can you extend your findings to other situations, other species? Do they help us understand a broader topic?  What additional research might resolve contradictions, explain exceptions?

Avoid redundancy between the discussion and the results. Do not waste entire sentences restating your results; if you need to remind the reader of the result to be discussed, use "bridge sentences" that relate the result to the interpretation. You must relate your work to the findings of other studies - including previous studies you may have done and those of other investigators. You may find crucial information in someone else's study that helps you interpret your own data, or perhaps you will be able to reinterpret others' findings in light of yours. In either case you should discuss reasons for similarities and differences between yours and others' findings. Do not introduce new results in the Discussion. Make explanations complete. Give evidence for each conclusion. Discuss possible reasons for expected and unexpected findings. End the discussion with a summary of the points you want the reader to remember. This is the appropriate place to suggest specific studies that will serve some purpose. Finish stating your conclusions.