How to Write a Discussion Section | Tips & Examples

Published on August 21, 2022 by Shona McCombes. Revised on January 14, 2025.

The discussion section is where you delve into the meaning, importance, and relevance of your results.

It should focus on explaining and evaluating what you found, showing how it relates to your literature review and paper or dissertation topic, and making an argument in support of your overall conclusion. It should not be a second results section.

There are different ways to write this section, but you can focus your writing around these key elements:

• Summary: A brief recap of your key results
• Interpretations: What do your results mean?