DISCUSSION – What you think about it? (Max 50 marks):

This is the section in which you interpret the results of the study and discuss their meaning. It is important that your discussion relates to the issues and research hypotheses raised in the introduction and the results must provide details of these issues.
In particular:
How do your results compare with your research questions and/or predictions?
How do your results compare with relevant published results?
What are the implications for future research?
It is a good idea to start with a clear statement of what your study found. When you do this, you will often need to remind the reader of the main goals of the study, so that the results make sense in this context. Then comment on your results in relation to the predictions or research questions that your study addresses. If appropriate say which predictions are supported by your findings, and identify any unexpected results.
In the next part of the discussion, consider the possible explanations for your findings.
Discuss your findings in relation to previous research on the same or related research questions, which must be referenced. The most important thing is to say how your results shed light on the theory or theories that you outlined in your introduction. If relevant, this can begin with a comparison between your findings and those of other studies. It is in this part of the discussion where you should discuss some of the studies mentioned in your introduction. One suggestion is to look at the methods of other studies as a possible source of any discrepancies between your results and theirs. These comparisons with previous research may provide insight into your results, or may suggest alternative explanations for your findings. Remember, everything that you discuss should be relevant to the theoretical questions that your study set out to address. Make sure that you state which theories are supported by your results, and say how theories may have to be modified in order to account for your findings.

Now that you have stated and discussed your findings, you should link them to clinical practice. Discuss the practical implications of introducing changes and how the newly discovered information might be disseminated to clinical colleagues.
Finally, you should identify what unanswered questions remain and what new questions have arisen. This leads into what future research might be carried out. If there are alternative explanations for your findings, this will provide a good reason for suggesting new studies that could be conducted to clarify the issues. You should try to be as specific as you can: Say what kind of study should be done, and why it will help to determine which explanation is better. If there are ways that your study could be extended to address new related questions – for instance, by adapting one of the conditions, or modifying the dependent variable(s) – you can discuss these here. Be wary of being too speculative: always make clear the possible consequences and benefits of any changes you propose, backed up with suitable sources.
CONCLUSION – What have you decided? (Max 5 marks):

Never simply conclude that further research is required, lamely leaving your reader to guess what the further research possibly could be. Never simply list a series of possible shortcomings, and say that these could have affected your results in some (unspecified) way. Always make sure that, whatever you say, it is highly specific to the study that you have done and not simply a discussion of general factors that apply to all or most psychological research.