WRITING CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION &

RECOMMENDATIONS
CONTENTS:
In Chapter 5, you present a summary of the findings you reported in Chapter 4, followed by a discussion
of the findings and relating it to what others discovered and the theoretical framework. Finally, you
make recommendations based on the findings.

Writing Chapter 5 has been titled in different ways. Here, it is suggested that the chapter be titled as
follows: Summary, Discussion and Recommendation. Check with your institution on their preferred title
for Chapter 5. It is suggested that this chapter consist of the following sub-sections:

 Preamble
 Summary
 Discussion
 Recommendation

In Chapter 5, you are required to evaluate your own work and provide personal insights and
interpretation of the results. However, this does not mean that you give your opinions as you wish.
Insights and interpretation should be based on the constraints of scholarly writing in which you mention
what the study means to you and what it means to the field of practice, to previous research and people
interested in your study.

Preamble

You do not need to give a title to this this section, such as 'Preamble' or 'Introduction'

Like stipulated in all the earlier chapters (except for Chapter 1), begin with a preamble stating briefly the
objectives of the study, the problem statement, the research questions (or hypothesis), the sample and
data collection techniques.

This is followed by telling the reader the:

purpose of the chapter,

the main sections of the chapter

SUMMARY

The objective of this section is to refresh the reader's understanding of the 'findings' or 'results'.

Highlight the main or major findings that you had stated in Chapter 4. There is no need to explain in
detail the findings or results and avoid the temptation to copy and paste from Chapter 4.

Keep it simple and do not include too much research jargon so that someone who is not be in the field
can understand.

In the case of quantitative research, use simple non-statistical language to summarise.

Remember to write in the past tense. For example, "Job satisfaction as expressed by staff did not vary
according to leadership styles of the senior manager".

 For quantitative research, to ensure flow, it is suggested that you use the research questions or
hypotheses as a guide.
 For qualitative research you could use the research questions, themes or categories.

DISCUSSION

The 'Summary' of the findings you had stated earlier is not sufficient as you have to go beyond the
findings and share "your" beliefs and explanation on what you got and did not get.

The key word is 'discussion'.

This is the part where you 'sell' your research.

You use the present tense because you are making statements that are derived from the study.

Take a few steps back and try to see the big picture focusing on the significant findings. Decide on which
of the findings or results that you want to highlight. Be careful not to sell yourself short!

State the possible reasons, causes and factors for the findings or results stated in the 'Summary' section.
For example, a significant finding from your study was that 'More women leaders exhibited a democratic
leadership style compared to men leaders in the banking sector'. What do you think produced such a
finding?

Even you did not get the results you were expecting, you should explain why - For example, the
experiment to test the effectiveness of a particular intervention did not show significant differences
- you should explain why the method did not produce the results you were expecting.

Also, in cases where your findings differ from those of others, it is useful to indicate possible reasons for
such variation. If you findings or results are controversial, you should explain why you think you got
such results. This is where you compare your findings against previous findings whether they be
different or similar - did the findings agree with previous or it did not. When discussing the findings keep
in mind the limitations of your study and how they may affect the findings.

You also show how the findings of your study has contributed to existing understanding of
concepts identified in the works of other people - important to acknowledge the views of others who
share similar positions as those identified by your research. Compare and contrast your findings or
results with those of other researchers: How are your findings/results similar or different from other
studies? What do the results mean for them? For example, if your study did not strongly confirm results
that had been predicted to be fairly strong in the previous research. Assuming there are no design
weaknesses to account for the finding, then perhaps the finding challenges previously held held. As
such, its failure to support a hypothesis may be very important finding indeed.

Recommendations

This section should be:

First, it must be logical, specific, attainable and relevant.

Second, it should be addressed to persons, organizations, or agencies directly concerned with the issues
or to those who can immediately implement the recommended solutions.

Third, present another topic which is very relevant to the present study that can be further investigated
by future researchers. But never recommend anything that is not part of your study or not being
mentioned in your findings.

After organizing your thoughts as to what would be the contents of your recommendations, you should
write it in simple present tense.

Recommendations for Future Research - Ask yourself:

What area of interest would you have liked to explore but which was outside the scope of your study?

What other perspectives could be explored to illuminate aspects of the subjects which were only merely
uncovered?

What follow-up studies would you like to conduct given your results/findings?

How could your study be extended?

Recommendations for Future Practice

How can the professionals in your field be impacted by the findings of this study?

What recommendations can you make to professionals, policymakers, stakeholders, government

leaders etc?

SOURCE: http://valmikiacademy.com/module-five-writing-chapter-5/