Findings

1. Writing your Findings and
Discussion Chapters
You will be able to…
Explain what your dissertation's findings and discussion chapters should
include
Analyse how these chapters find your research ‘story’
Write a plan for a discussion

2. What are they?
• What goes in each? Make a list
of the type of item or
comment you would expect to
find.
• How do they relate to each
other, and to other chapters of
your dissertation?

3. What are they?
Findings/Results Chapter
• What was found as a result of your study
• Use summary data
• Graphs and tables
• Extracts from transcripts
• Calculations
• Details of thematic analyses
• If there is an analysis of the errors or
uncertainties, include them here
• Identification of themes and trends
• Restatement of aims/objectives/hypothesis
Discussion Chapter
• A summary of the main results of the study
• How your results prove or disprove your
hypothesis
• Comparison of your results with other
investigations or literature
• Factors which may have influenced your results
• Implications of the results
• Interpretation of what you think the findings
mean/show
• Suggestions for why you got the results you did
• Restatement of aims/objectives/hypothesis

4. Results/Findings Chapter
Your results/findings chapter
will vary enormously depending
on your subject and the type of
research you are doing.
What could effect the way you
present your findings?

5. Results/Findings Chapter
Your findings and discussion chapter ‘tell the story’ of your research. So, your findings
chapter needs to find that story: you will have a mass of material and ideas in your
head that you need to turn into a text that makes sense.
Find your focus: what have you learnt?
- write a sentence for each
- organise them into groups
- check them against your aims and objectives (are they relevant?)
- plan how to order them
(following your objectives/develop new themes)
But keep sight of the BIG PICTURE: significance and patterns identified. What will help
you support your argument/points?

6. Quantitative results:
Table 5 shows the most common modes of computer infection
in Australian businesses. As can be seen in the table, home
disks are the most frequent source of infection.
The influents to filter A and B were analysed fully on a number
of occasions, and the averaged results are presented in Table
6.1. It can be seen from the table that the wastewaters from
plants A and B and of similar composition.
Usually presented in figures and tables:
Think about these key features:
• location
• summary of information given in the figure
• highlighting statement to point out the
significance, e.g. trends, patterns, results
Look at these examples. Where are the key
elements?

7. 6.4.3 Themes from the Interview Data
In analysing the interview data, two themes emerged which will be discussed in this section.
These themes were: the complexity and challenges of working with families and the
professional satisfaction and challenges of program planning for children in preschool or
childcare.
For each of these graduates, their work with children was clearly the area of their
professional lives that was bringing the most satisfaction, although there were some
challenges identified. In the interviews, the data reveal that they were all seeking ways to
improve their pedagogy and achieving success in different ways…
Angela suggested that in her second year of teaching she had changed in that she was
programming in a "more child oriented" way. She discussed this change:
‘One of the things I've changed is this idea of herding children through the Kinder day: they
go from indoor play to snack time to the mat and so on. How I do it now is that I have a lot of
different things happening at once. I'll have a small group on the mat and there might be
some children sitting down and having a snack and there's still some children in home corner
playing.’
These comments seem to provide evidence that Angela is growing professionally for two
reasons. First, the ability to identify changes in her program suggests to me that she has
deeper pedagogical knowledge gained through critical reflection on her practice, and second,
there is congruence between her expressed beliefs and the practice she describes.
Qualitative
results:
Text-based, and rarely would
have tables or graphs.
Refer to specific words and
phrases
Think about how careful
introductions of sections and
subsections can help you ‘find
the story’

8. Discussion Chapter
• Whether you are writing your discussion as a
separate chapter or blending your findings and
discussion chapters, you need to think about what
it is and what it is for:
• It’s where you show what you think your findings
mean.
• It’s like a conversation between your research and
the research of others.
• You could think of it like an essay answering your
research question with your evidence.
Read through the extracts from some discussion
chapters. How are they similar? How are they
different? What do these tell you about how you can
develop your argument in this chapter?

9. A summary of one of your findings, which you will
have presented more fully in your Findings Chapter.
Phrase to show analysis of that finding. See how it
acts as a link to the themes you highlighted in the
literature review
Makes a connection between the analysis and a key
definition from the literature. This starts to show the
connections between your findings and the
literature.
Second connection to literature. See how they have
used theories and analysis from the literature to start
trying to explain the links between their findings and
key writers on the topic.
Key findings from this research indicate that England
scored the highest for rational decision-making style,
and that it was a statistically significant difference to
India’s score. The results indicate that England agreed
mostly with the following rational decision-making
items on the GDMS; ‘Q8 - I double check my
information sources to be sure I have the right facts
before making decisions’ and ‘Q13 - I make decisions
in a logical and systematic way’, suggesting that the
English prefer to have reviewed all options
systematically when making difficult decisions. This
corresponds to Scott & Bruce’s (1995, p. 820)
definition of rational decision-making style as
‘characterised by a thorough search for and logical
evaluation of alternatives’. Furthermore, when
looking for a cultural explanation for this difference,
in reference to Hofstede’s (2010) research, England’s
high score for individualism (89), when compared to
that of India (48) could be used as a potential
explanation; as from these scores Hofstede (2010)
defines England as an individualistic culture and India
as a collectivistic culture.

10. • Introducing a possible reason for the findings.
Notice the use of the word ‘could’ to demonstrate
caution. This is because you are suggesting
possible explanations, not giving a definite reason.
This is good academic writing for a discussion.
• Referring back again to specifics from the Findings
Chapter.
• Developing the explanation and starting to draw a
conclusion about their findings.
• More from the findings.
• Using literature to offer more possible explanations
and draw conclusions.
Other factors in the current study that could have
potentially influenced these results include the low
percentage of female respondents for the England
sample. Section 4.6.1 highlights that males scored
higher than females for rational decision-making style
in the sample from England, but as the percentage of
male respondents was significantly higher than
females, the high national result could have been
artificially high, and many have been lower if there
were an equal number of males to females in the
sample. Table x also highlights that there were more
respondents in the older age ranges for England that
India. Loo (2000) and Baiocco, Laghi & D’Allesio
(2009) found that adults or older age ranges showed
a more rational decision-making style than younger
age ranges. Therefore, the larger number of older
respondents in the England sample could also have
artificially increased the mean score for rational
decision-making style.

11. • A direct reference to one of the research questions or
aims, showing the intention to answer it.
• Signposting what this section of the chapter will do.
Use a brief introduction like this for each section of
your chapter to show the reader which question or
aim, or which theme, you are discussing.
• This section links research findings to previous
literature and is drawing a conclusion from that link.
Notice how it specifically refers to the research
question introduced in the first section.
• Directly drawing a conclusion and proposing an
answer to the research question of how far
organisational supports for work-life balance affects
employee’s decision to leave an organisation.
In order to address the research question of how far
organisational supports for work-life balance affects
employee’s decision to leave an organisation, theoretical
explanations taken from the Literature Review and data
collected from interviews, as was presented in the
previous chapter, will be discussed and analysed.
As well as confirming the direct correlations between
work-life supports and employees’ work attitudes, trust
was found as a factor that mediated the relationship
between employees’ perceived organisational support
and employee outcomes. If we looked back at Chapter 2,
where previous research proposed that the provision of
work-life supports from management leads to
employees trusting that the organisation takes care of
their well-being and values their contributions, it can be
seen that employees are more committed to the
organisation and are less likely to leave when that trust is
present (Lambert, 2000; Eisenberger, et al., 2001;
Scholarios & Marks, 2004). The present findings
therefore provide further evidence for this proposition.
This introduction must be followed by paragraphs
discussing and analysing the research findings that
relate directly to this question and theme,
comparing them to the literature and considering
their implications, as we have shown you how to do

12. • Yet again, referring back to the literature.
• Reporting an unexpected finding from this study.
• Drawing another conclusion from it.
The literature discussed in Chapter 2 indicated that a
high proportion of female employees often leave
organisations due to childcare commitments
(Davenport, 2007; Hennessey-Murdoch, 2013; Wyn-
Williams, 2014). However, surprisingly, 93% of the
female respondents within the age range of 30-40
stated that they had not considered leaving work to
improve their work-life balance after having children.
This suggests that the type of supports put in place in
the organisation studied, were sufficient.

13. This means that you need to think about
where your findings link to the literature
Aim Objective Findings Link to reading Critical Analysis
Do your findings
challenge what
you have read, or
offer further
evidence for
established
arguments? How
do they compare?
What these
findings mean to
you in relation to
your research aim
and objectives?
Find reasons for
them and draw
conclusions.

14. Useful academic language: hedging
In the academic world nothing is a 100% certain so try
to be cautious rather than assertive when discussing
your findings:
• use impersonal subjects (It is believed that ..., it can
be argued that ...)
• use verbs such as would, could, may, might, which
‘soften’ what you’re saying.
• use qualifying adverbs such as some, several, a
minority of, a few, many to avoid making
overgeneralisations.
• Globalisation is a positive development
for nations. 
• Globalisation is perhaps beneficial for a
number of countries (Smith, 2006;
Chen, 2008). 

15. Have a go….
On your handout, you have:
• the aim
• a paragraph from the literature
review
• some findings
from one of last year’s dissertations.
You also have a version of the planning
grid with one of this student’s objectives
to focus on already filled in.
In your groups, use the grid to firstly
discuss and then plan and write a
paragraph that could have been in this
dissertation’s discussion.
You need to decide which of the results
relate to that objective and which pieces
of literature you want to select for this
discussion (you don’t need to use all of
the literature all the time).

16. The real one…..
Another multiplier is the job opportunities that derive from events (Gursoy et al, 2004; Djaballah et al, 2015) such
as major events hiring host residents (Yolal et al, 2016). Consequently it was found this was similarly available in
smaller style events; the majority of the hotel’s staff lived locally, with 40 minutes being the furthest distance for
one participant. This highlighted how events at the hotel created job opportunities for the locality residents.
Additionally, Participant S’s comments on the attraction of transport links into the local town being a determining
factor in bookings, could suggest that the hotel’s hosting of events can lead to job stimulation in the wider
community by the guests’ engagement with the immediate locality (Djaballah et al, 2015; Yolal et al, 2016),
although this would need further exploration to demonstrate a fuller causal link. However, as 58% of the staff were
young local residents on zero hour contracts, their hours would fluctuate and could lower if the hotel did not have
an event on. This demonstrates that events held in the subject hotel did not necessarily create permanent job
opportunities and supports the critique concerning mega-events’ job creation (Taylor, 2005; Lorde et al, 2011;
Mathurin et al, 2013; Dwyer et al, 2016). Conversely, there was some evidence of an opportunity for job stimulation
(Djaballah et al, 2015) as members of staff could be promoted to supervisory roles through training programmes,
leading to contracted regular working hours and income. Along with this it was recorded that the annual budget for
events was over £14,000 more than for the restaurant alone, which would indicate more consistent hours for those
on zero hour contracts because this budget included staffing, confirming past research that wages were the largest
multiplier in events (Lee et al., 2017). Therefore, perhaps due to the hotel investing regularly in hosting events and
having further routes for training and promotion meant that it was more likely to lead to permanent job creation
in both the event environment and the wider community than mega-events are able to achieve.
Directly comparing
to literature
Links to objective –
contributes to answering
the research
aim/objectiveFinds reasons for findings
Refers back to findings as supporting
evidence. If you are blending the
chapters, you will present and analyse
them more fully.

17. The real one…..see all the critical analysis: seeing meaning, drawing
conclusions and making connections
Another multiplier is the job opportunities that derive from events (Gursoy et al, 2004; Djaballah et al, 2015) such
as major events hiring host residents (Yolal et al, 2016). Consequently it was found this was similarly available in
smaller style events; the majority of the hotel’s staff lived locally, with 40 minutes being the furthest distance for
one participant. This highlighted how events at the hotel created job opportunities for the locality residents.
Additionally, Participant S’s comments on the attraction of transport links into the local town being a determining
factor in bookings, could suggest that the hotel’s hosting of events can lead to job stimulation in the wider
community by the guests’ engagement with the immediate locality (Djaballah et al, 2015; Yolal et al, 2016),
although this would need further exploration to demonstrate a fuller causal link. However, as 58% of the staff were
young local residents on zero hour contracts, their hours would fluctuate and could lower if the hotel did not have
an event on. This demonstrates that events held in the subject hotel did not necessarily create permanent job
opportunities and supports the critique concerning mega-events’ job creation (Taylor, 2005; Lorde et al, 2011;
Mathurin et al, 2013; Dwyer et al, 2016). Conversely, there was some evidence of an opportunity for job stimulation
(Djaballah et al, 2015) as members of staff could be promoted to supervisory roles through training programmes,
leading to contracted regular working hours and income. Along with this it was recorded that the annual budget for
events was over £14,000 more than for the restaurant alone, which would indicate more consistent hours for those
on zero hour contracts because this budget included staffing, confirming past research that wages were the largest
multiplier in events (Lee et al., 2017). Therefore, perhaps due to the hotel investing regularly in hosting events and
having further routes for training and promotion meant that it was more likely to lead to permanent job creation in
both the event environment and the wider community than mega-events are able to achieve.

18. • These findings support the assertions of Roberts (2018)
• More surprisingly are the differences between the
responses at interview to those expressed on the
questionnaires. This seems to support Davenport’s (2017)
statistical work outlined earlier.
• There are similarities between the attitudes expressed in
this study and those described in previous studies (Fox
2014; Beaumont,2017) in relation to students’ perception
of progress.
• Thus, it can be suggested on the basis of these findings,
that there is a difference in perception between staff and
students in relation to the effectiveness of Directed Study
Week (Doran, 2018).
• It may be argued that this study has presented some
unusual findings.
• It is apparent from this table that…….
• Overall it can be seen that there is no
difference in perception of effectiveness
between male and female participants.
• A significant number of the respondents
argued that LJMU should provide more
Directed Study Weeks.
• The interviews with academic staff suggest
that there is a link between their enthusiasm
for additional classes and students’
perceptions of effectiveness. This is clearly
demonstrated in Table 3, which shows the
frequency of positive language markers in the
interview tape scripts; within individual
faculties and between students and staff.
In summary: further examples of language
Findings Discussion

19. In summary
• Relate your findings directly to your objectives. You
could use them as a basic structure.
• Identify where your findings support or contradict
the literature. Remember, it’s a conversation
between your research and their research.
• Ask questions all the time: How? Why? So what?
What if? What does it all mean? This will help you to
write with critical analysis and avoid description.
Is there a strategy you will now adopt
when you are planning and writing your
findings and discussion chapters?