Controlling the temporal structure of the Discussion
At this point in the thesis the whole research process is now in the recent past and can be referred to using the present perfect so that the relevance of the research to the time of reading is maintained. At this point also, the findings of the thesis must be compared with other previous research by pointing out any similarities and/or contradictions. The findings are also compared with the initial hypothesis as stated in the Introduction chapter.
Considerable skill is required at this point to maintain the distinction between your research and that of others. In order to do this, reference to each must differ temporally and this difference must be maintained so as not to cause the reader any confusion. One way of distinguishing between your research and that of others is by using different tenses. Your very recent and relevant findings are most appropriately placed in a present perfect frame, while the findings of other researchers might be placed in the simple past. This contrasting of your research (in the recent present perfect) and that of others (in the simple past) is, however, set within the present tense framework of the current discussion, e.g.
- The findings presented in this research have demonstrated a higher prevalence of female achievement in the areas of... This contrasts markedly with the findings of Marks and Macleod who showed females to have lower levels of achievement in....
- The findings of this study support the hypothesis outlined in the Introduction of this thesis. This hypothesis stated that females students were more likely to achieve..... As demonstrated by the data presented in Table 3 and 4 and in the graphs presented in Figures 7 and 8, female participants in the study have performed considerably better than....