Health Professions Division Dissertation Guide

39 your completed study. Use the present tense and future tense for implications and recommendations. study. Chapter 5: Discussion It is time for the candidate to speak from experience. Remember the purpose of the Summary of the Findings Provide a succinct summary of the results. The candidate steps out of the details and speaks more globally about the findings of the study and their implications. It is less about the findings and more about the meaning of the findings. Integration of the Findings with Previous Literature Compare the findings to those reported by other researchers, which will take the candidate back to the studies reviewed in Chapter 2. Do not re-state these studies in the depth as previously done; simply recall these studies for comparison to the candidate’s study. Use both those studies in which the candidate’s findings converged (similar findings) and those from which the candidate’s findings diverged (different findings). Provide an explanation as to why the candidate’s results may have been different. Implications of the Findings Now, the implications that were discussed in Chapter 1 are brought forward. The candidate had anticipated implications in various arenas. Now the candidate can provide some concrete discussion as to how these findings might be put in to practice or inform future researchers. Do not invent new implications. All implications must have come from the findings or the experience of the study. Implications for Education Implications for Practice Implications for Research Implications for Public Policy Limitations and Recommendations Limitations were originally presented in Chapter 3 in the proposal. Move that section into this location. As the study progressed, the candidate likely found that it did not proceed as optimally as had been planned. Be candid. Do not negate the efforts made, but stand back and realistically consider anything that could have been done differently that would have improved the study and the considerations that should be made for the next time. The recommendations should offer possibilities for future research that may improve knowledge about the topic the candidate studied.