1. What you should know The purpose of the discussion section is to give the reader a summary of the main findings and to put them into context by comparing with previous work and discussing future implications and any shortcomings of the research design. Although the structure of the introduction can be visualized as a funnel, the discussion can be visualized as an inverted funnel. Thus, the introduction and discussion together form an hourglass shape. The discussion starts with the narrowest part by answering the research question in the summary of main findings, and it then gradually widens out to comparisons with other studies and the interpretation of the study findings in the wider context of the study topic. Although the results section merely presents data, the discussion section offers an interpretation of the data, and should never present new results.
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