One of the most difficult parts of writing an article based on your research is the discussion section. My PhD students struggle with it, but established researchers have difficulty with it as well because the discussion section is where you have to put your money where your mouth is, so to speak. You did the background research, you designed and conducted the study, and you wrote up your findings; now you have to explain why all of that mattered, how it all fits into the existing landscape, and what should be done because of it. In this post, I go over some tips for writing a strong discussion section.

Reporting the findings from a qualitative study in a way that is interesting, meaningful, and trustworthy can be a struggle. Those new to qualitative research often find themselves trying to quantify everything to make it seem more “rigorous,” or asking themselves, “Do I really need this much data to support my findings?” In this post, I’m going to outline a few ways to structure qualitative findings, and a few tips and tricks to develop a strong findings section.

Each year, my Ph.D. students struggle with writing in one way or another. Academic writing is an adjustment for almost everyone, and many students think it has to be unnecessarily complicated. As a way to set my expectations and minimize anxiety, I give them a list of tips that I call “Writing for Dr. Bingham,” though of course, it could simply be called “Tips for Academic Writing.”