This assignment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your knowledge in the following areas:
- evaluating evidence in support of a hypothesis,
- linking original research to other studies and broader themes, and
- effectively communicating caveats and unexpected findings of original research.
For this assignment, you will draft a Discussion section that will be incorporated into an original research paper. Using notes from in-class discussion and appropriate papers from your annotated bibliography assignment, you will write a discussion section for your research paper. The content in the discussion should
- evaluate the evidence presented in the results to support or refute your hypothesis and expectations,
- effectively communicate any caveats, limitations, and generalizations about your work,
- link your findings to broader themes in the literature using similar papers and big picture topics.
Overall, this section should evaluate evidence presented in the results to your specific hypothesis, and link these findings to broader themes in the scientific literature. The discussion should begin with an evaluation of support for your hypothesis, explain any unexpected findings and caveats, compare your findings with similar studies, and link your findings to broader research themes. As always, organize writing within each paragraph starting with a topic sentence followed by supporting details and a transition to the next paragraph. A minimum of five references are required, however, more references are likely needed to provide adequate discussion of your results. The discussion should be approximately 500– 1000 words. Include appropriate in-text and bibliographic citations for all scientific literature that is referenced. Check all spelling, grammar, and punctuation for accuracy.
For details on how to go about writing a discussion section, refer to class notes. Please read the “Discussion” section (pages 14 – 15) of The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper reading. You may also refer to the example research paper included in the Resources folder. Refer to the handout Scientific Style and Format Citation Quick Guide for details on format for in-text and bibliographic citations.
| Topic | Criteria | Points possible |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Clear conclusions drawn from data | 2 |
| Discuss whether results support or refute hypothesis | 1.5 | |
| Explain unusual and unexpected findings | 1.5 | |
| Relate findings from your study to similar studies | 3 | |
| Discuss caveats, unknowns, and avenues for future research | 2 | |
| Concludes with "big picture" implications (link findings back to introductory material) | 2 | |
| Writing cohesiveness | Writing organized around a central thesis, with clear topic sentences and transitions | 2 |
| Caveats and unknowns discussed without undermining findings | 0.5 | |
| Smoothly expand narrow results to broader field of research (hourglass structure) | 2 | |
| Includes minimum of 3 peer-reviewed articles | 1.5 | |
| Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation | 1 | |
| References incorporated smoothly | 1 | |
| Total | 20 |