Psychology Research Papers: Discussion Section Advice

The discussion part of a research paper is the part of the composition where the author addresses both sides of an issue and raises some new questions that have arisen from there research. The discussion, has the most “narrative” to it because it is the part of the paper where the writer breaks down and summarizes the main points. When you compose this particular part of your writing assignment, you want to make this part of the paper interesting and insightful. However, it is all very important to stay on topic when composing a “discussion”. Let us explain;

Say you were writing a psychology research paper for your entry level psych class about abnormal psychology. It would be appropriate to raise some questions about a particular area of abnormal psychology, for example: Psychological disorder diagnosis. However, you do not want to stray away from your thesis or add new details that do not make sense in the context of your paper. The commentary that you include even in the discussion part of the research paper should be focused and add to the papers quality, not detract to the quality by introducing new elements. This is especially important to remember when writing a short form essay or research report. Even the discussion body paragraphs need to be short, and to the point raising only strong arguments that can be proven with strong evidence examples. When we talk about addressing the other side of the issue, the writer should find a way to do this in one sentence or less.

The Purpose of A Discussion Section

The best way to make sure that you are correctly approaching the discussion element of your research paper is to aggressively edit the composition with an unbiased perspective. Re-read your paper once it is complete while trying to adopt the mindset of an first time reader. Carefully examine each paragraph: Is the sentence coherent? Is it true? Does it reflect on thesis? Does it detract from the papers quality? These are the kind of hard questions you need to ask yourself when editing your paper while “trimming the fat”. Although it may be difficult to cut back your paper and take out ideas and creative thoughts that you came up with, your paper will get a better evaluation if it is extremely well focused especially in the discussion segment.