How to make Results and Discussion Chapter

At my university, Chapter 4 is titled Results and Discussion, or sometimes Findings and Discussion.

Results typically refer to the direct answers to your research questions (problem statements), based on the data you've collected.
Discussion, on the other hand, is about interpreting your findings. When you discuss your study’s results, you connect your findings to previous studies (Chapter 2 — the “mother of all chapters”); this is where you contextualize your study’s contribution.

In terms of presentation, some researchers or students prefer to present their results first and then follow with the discussion. This strategy allows the researcher to focus solely on presenting findings in direct relation to the research questions and objectives. Others prefer to combine the results and discussion, since both are closely linked. This is really a matter of choice.

For quantitative research, it’s ideal to separate the two because there’s usually a lot of numerical data, and combining them can make it feel overwhelming or messy. A dedicated discussion section makes things clearer.
For qualitative research, which often includes a lot of interview quotes and narrative-style analysis, it’s better to combine results and discussion—it flows more like a story or novel. But again, this is just my opinion. Whether to separate or combine the sections depends on your supervisor and examiners.

Can Chapter 4 be completed in a month?
Yes, it’s possible—especially in the humanities and social sciences—under the following conditions:

• You have already collected all your field data and just need to analyze and process it.

• You wrote Chapter 2 with strong critical thinking, including tables or charts summarizing previous studies (what they focused on, their findings, etc.), which you will refer to during the discussion.

• Your discussion starts with a strong, one-paragraph summary of your main findings, then moves on to place those findings within a broader context.

Key points to address in the Discussion:

• What experiments or investigations did you conduct, and what were the results?

• What do these results mean?

• What are the most important findings from your study?

• How do the results answer your research questions/problem statements?

• Do your results support or reject your hypothesis?

• What variables or factors may have influenced your findings?

• What are the strengths and limitations of your research?

• Which journal articles or authors support your findings?

• Which journal articles or authors contradict your findings?

• What factors might explain why your findings differ from others?

• How significant is your research overall?

• What new research questions emerge based on your findings?

If you work on all of this with passion, you can complete it within a month—even without supervision :)

To simplify, Chapter 4 is:

• Results: Just show what you found.

• Discussion: Explain what those results mean and how they relate to the literature (your literature review).

For more details, stay tuned for my book — this is just the trailer and teaser! I’ll explain in full how to properly structure your results and discussion. Hehehe 😄

HOPE THIS HELPS!