The time has come to show and discuss the findings of your research. How to structure this part of your dissertation?
Dissertations can have different structures, as you can see in the dissertation structure guide.
Dissertations with sections undertaking certain functions
Many dissertations are organised with sections undertaking certain functions. In this case, we suggest three options. Note that, if within your course you have been instructed to use a specific structure, you should do that. Also note that sometimes there is considerable freedom on the structure, so you can come up with other structures too.
A) More common for scientific dissertations and quantitative methods:
- Results chapter
- Discussion chapter
Example:
if you write a scientific dissertation, or anyway using quantitative methods, you should have some relatively objective results that you will present in the Results chapter. You will then interpret the results in the Discussion chapter. This type of dissertation structure resembles the structure of an IMRaD report.
B) More common for qualitative methods
- Analysis chapter. This can have more descriptive/thematic subheadings.
- Discussion chapter. This can have more descriptive/thematic subheadings.
Example:
C) More common for qualitative methods
- Analysis and discussion chapter. This can have more descriptive/thematic titles.
Example:
If your dissertation uses qualitative methods, it is harder to identify and report objective data. Instead, it may be more productive and meaningful to present the findings in the same sections where you also analyse, and possibly discuss, them. You will probably have different sections dealing with different themes. The different themes can be subheadings of the Analysis and Discussion (together or separate) chapter(s).
Dissertation with sections covering certain themes
If the structure of your dissertation is "thematic", you will have several chapters analysing and discussing the issues raised by your research. The chapters will have descriptive/thematic titles. This type of dissertation structure resembles a long essay.
Example:
