《硕士博士英语毕业论文写作》Chapter9FindingsandDiscussion.ppt

Hedging “Hedging allows writers to ‘suggest’ explanations, make interpretations of their data and draw tentative conclusions. In essence, the writer seeks through the use of hedging devices to moderate their claims by anticipating and/or rebutting any potential challenges to their methodology and the interpretation of their data.” Cautious and appropriately humble language Hedging is “notoriously problematic” for second-language speakers (Hyland 1996: 253). Examples of Hedging Findings The main findings of the research DO Use figures and tables to summarize data Show the results of statistical analysis Compare “like with like” DONT Duplicate data among tables, figures and text Use graphics to illustrate data that can easily be summarized with text Discussion The function of this section is to analyze the data and relate them to other studies. Principles: ①The Discussion should contain at least: ---the relationship between the results and the original hypothesis ---an integration of your results with those of previous studies ---possible explanations for unexpected results and observations ② Trends that are not statistically significant can still be discussed if they are suggestive or interesting, but cannot be made the basis for conclusions as if they were significant. ③ Avoid redundancy between the Results and the Discussion section. ④ End the Discussion with a summary of the principal points you want the reader to remember. Functions of Discussion Rudestam and Newton (2001) point out that the Discussion chapter is where the student should move beyond their data and integrate the results of their study with existing theory and research. In the Discussion chapter, the student’s study is the primary focus and previous research the secondary focus. Here, previous research is used for confirmation, comparison or contradistinction (Swales 2004). Organization of Discussions: Swales and Feak (1994) Move 1 Points to consolidate the research space –