Writing Analytically, 6th Edition - Rosenwasser, David & Stephen, Jill.original_ [236]
I should note that professional papers oft en indicate the tentativeness of their conclusions by stressing the need for future research and indicating what these research needs might be. Although I haven’t tried this, maybe it would be useful to have students conclude papers with a section entitled “For Further Consideration” in which they would indicate those things that they would have liked to have known but couldn’t, given their time constraints, the availability of information, and lack of methodological sophistication. This would serve as a reminder of the tentativeness of conclusions and the need to revisit and revise arguments in the future (which, aft er all, is a good scholarly habit).
—Jack Gambino, Professor of Political Science
CONCLUSIONS IN THE SCIENCES: THE DISCUSSION SECTION
As is the case with introductions, the conclusions of reports written in the natural and in some social sciences are regulated by formalized disciplinary formats. Conclusions, for example, occur in a section entitled “Discussion.” There, the writer analyzes conclusions and qualifies them in relation to some larger experimental context, “the big picture.”
First, specific results are interpreted (but not restated), and then their implications and limitations are discussed. At the end, the writer should rephrase the original research question and discuss it in light of the results presented. It is at this point that alternative explanations may be considered and new questions posed.
Writing Conclusions in the Sciences: Two Professors Speak
In the following Voices from Across the Curriculum, a psychology professor and a biochemistry professor explain how the discussion section of a scientific paper locates its conclusions in the context of other research—that which came before and that which will follow.
Voices from Across the Curriculum
The conclusion occurs in a section labeled “Discussion” and, as specified by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, is guided by the following questions:
What have I contributed here?
How has my study helped to resolve the original problem?
What conclusions and theoretical implications can I draw from my study?
In a broad sense, a particular research report should be seen as but one moment in a broader research tradition that preceded the particular study being written about and that will continue aft er this study is published. And so the conclusion should tie this particular study into both previous research considering implications for the theory guiding this study and (when applicable) practical implications of this study. One of the great challenges of writing a research report is thus to place this particular study within that broader research tradition. Th at’s an analytical task.
—Alan Tjeltveit, Professor of Psychology
The Discussion section is where the scientist finally gets to analyze the data. The previous two sections of a science paper—Methods and Results—report rather than analyze. In the Discussion section, the writer makes claims and backs them with evidence (data). Analysis of the data tells readers what the study found in the context of current knowledge in the field and the researcher’s expectations. The paper’s conclusions, which usually appear in the last paragraph of the Discussion, always look back and then forward—first back to previous research and then forward to remaining questions.
—Keri Colabroy, Professor of Biochemistry
Conclusions in Scientific Papers: A Brief Example
As you read this sample Discussion/Conclusion section of a scientific paper, refer back to Dr. Colabroy’s preceding comments.
The rapid and sustained elevations in 2-AG induced by JZL 184 were accompanied by an array of CB1-dependent behavioral effects, including analgesia, hypomotility