Writing Chapter 5 –

Summary, Discussion
and Recommendations
The Components of Chapter 5

• Writing Chapter 5 has been titled in different ways. Here, it is

suggested that the chapter be titled as follows: Summary,
Discussion and Recommendation.

• Preamble
• Summary
• Discussion
• Recommendation
• In Chapter 5, you are required to evaluate your own work and
provide personal insights and interpretation of the results.
However, this does not mean that you give your opinions as you
wish. Insights and interpretation should be based on the
constraints of scholarly writing in which you mention what the
study means to you and what it means to the field of practice, to
previous research and people interested in your study.
Preamble

• You do not need to give a title to this this section, such as

‘Preamble’ or ‘Introduction’
• Like stipulated in all the earlier chapters (except for Chapter 1),
begin with a preamble stating briefly the objectives of the study,
the problem statement, the research questions (or hypothesis),
the sample and data collection techniques.
• This is followed by telling the reader the:
A. purpose of the chapter,
B. the main sections of the chapter
SUMMARY

• The objective of this section is to refresh the reader’s

understanding of the ‘findings’ or ‘results’.
• Highlight the main or major findings that you had stated  in
Chapter 4. There is no need to explain in detail the findings or
results and avoid the temptation to copy and paste from
Chapter 4.
• Keep it simple and do not include too much research jargon so
that someone who is not be in the field can understand.
• In the case of quantitative research, use simple non-statistical
language to summarise.
SUMMARY

• Remember to write in the past tense. For example, “Job

satisfaction as expressed by staff did not vary according to
leadership styles of the senior manager”.  
• For quantitative research, to ensure flow, it is suggested that
you use the research questions or hypotheses as a guide. 
• For qualitative research you could use the research
questions, themes or categories. 
• Synthesize the findings and show how they converge to
answer the research questions.
• Alvior (2014) suggests the use of semantic markers such as
the following to avoid repeating the same words or
phrases: additionally, also, further, in addition
to, moreover, contrary to, with regard to, as
regards, however, finally, during the past ___ years, from 1996
to 2006, after 10 years, as shown in, as presented
in, consequently, nevertheless, in fact, on the other
hand, subsequently, nonetheless.
DISCUSSION

• The ‘Summary’ of the findings you had stated earlier is not

sufficient as you have to go beyond the findings and
share “your” beliefs and explanation on what you got and did not
get. 
• The key word is ‘discussion’.
• This is the part where you ‘sell’ your research.
• You use the present tense because you are making statements that are
derived from the study.
• Take a few steps back and try to see the big picture focusing on the
significant findings. Decide on which of the findings or results that
you want to highlight. Be careful not to sell yourself short!
• State the possible reasons, causes and factors for the findings
or results stated in the ‘Summary’ section. For example, a
significant finding from your study was that ‘More women leaders
exhibited a democratic leadership style compared to men leaders
in the banking sector’. What do you think produced such a
finding?
• Even you did not get the results you were expecting, you should
explain why – For example, the experiment to test the
effectiveness of a particular intervention did not show significant
differences –  you should explain why the method did not produce
the results you were expecting. 
• Also, in cases where your findings differ from those of
others, it is useful to indicate possible reasons for such
variation. If you findings or results are controversial,  you should
explain why you think you got such results. This is where you
compare your findings against previous findings whether they
be different or similar – did the findings agree with previous or it
did not. When discussing the findings keep in mind the
limitations of your study and how they may affect the findings.
• You also show how the findings of your study has contributed to
existing understanding of concepts identified in the works of
other people – important to acknowledge the views of others who
share similar positions as those identified by your research. Compare
and contrast your findings or results with those of other
researchers: How are your findings/results similar or different from
other studies?What do the results mean for them? For example, if
your study did not strongly confirm results that had been predicted to
be fairly strong in the previous research. Assuming there are no
design weaknesses to account for the finding, then perhaps the
finding challenges previously held held. As such, its failure to support
a hypothesis may be very important finding indeed.
• If you want to show that the findings of your study has policy
implication, you must present a brief description of the policy and
how the findings from your study are relevant or relate to the policy
• If you want to show how your study contributed towards your
theoretical framework then show how your work could influence
the theoretical debate.
• If someone only reads the ‘Discussion’ section, they will get a good
understanding of what you found and why it matters. You should
explain to the reader clearly, in a narrative, without restating your
results. 
Recommendations

This section should be:

• First, it must be logical, specific, attainable and relevant.
• Second, it should be addressed to persons, organizations, or
agencies directly concerned with the issues or to those who can
immediately implement the recommended solutions.
• Third, present another topic which is very relevant to the
present study that can be further investigated by future
researchers. But never recommend anything that is not part of
your study or not being mentioned in your findings.
After organizing your thoughts as to what would be the contents
of your recommendations, you should write it in simple present
tense.
Recommendations for Future
Research – Ask yourself:
• What area of interest would you have liked to explore but which
was outside the scope of your study?
• What other perspectives could be explored to illuminate aspects
of the subjects which were only merely uncovered?
• What follow-up studies would you like to conduct given your
results/findings?
• How could your study be extended?
Recommendations for Future Practice
• How can the professionals in your field be impacted by the
findings of this study?
• What recommendations can you make to professionals,
policymakers, stakeholders, government leaders etc?
•