It is now Easter holidays here in the United Kingdom but I am not at all in the position to relax during these holidays. I am running against the time, as I need to finish writing my Ph.D. thesis. At the beginning of the holiday season, my children and I went to Saudi Arabia so they could spend their vacation in the Kingdom and I could get a little time to recharge my batteries. I had to return early so as to make best use of my time while the kids were away. Of course, in their absence I would be spared from the motherly chores that sometimes eat up all my time leaving me too tired to focus on my studies.
These days I am working on the core or the most important part of my research, which is “the discussion.”
It is very important for any researcher to have a very well written and convincing discussion chapter as it is the part that places your work within the existing body of knowledge and it determines your contribution to the field.
Another advantage of having a strong and critical discussion is that it helps in getting through the viva smoothly. Researchers need to budget enough time and resources for this part and should never underestimate it. My problem with the discussion is that I started writing it after I finalized my findings chapter, which was based entirely on my own data analysis. My study is inductive, so it was my coffee, my data and I. I have done a comprehensive review of the literature to help me in preparing my interview scripts but that was two years ago. Now going back to report the voice of others was very hard and challenging.
On the other hand, writing discussion is very interesting especially when you realize your contribution and feel the importance and significance of your study. I think to spare us this struggle; it might be worth trying to write the discussion part along with the findings. I know researchers do their writing in different styles and what works for me might not work for the others, but doing discussion in parallel with findings will keep us with the literature so we don’t struggle when we go back to it. I wish for any
researcher a very smooth writing up and a smoother viva.
