6 In addition, the improvements noted in our study were unrelated to age, gender or ethnic background. 7 Th is study therefore indicates that the benefi ts gained from stress-management intervention may address QoL needs across a wide range of patients. In Sentence 8 'Most notably, this is the fi rst study to our knowledge to investigate the eff ectiveness of extended psychosocial intervention in patients whose disorder is itself thought to be stress-related.' the writer notes that one of the achievements or contributions of this work is its novelty. Th is sentence demonstrates that in some cases MAPPING and ACHIEVEMENT are very similar, since one of the signifi cant achievements of this work is precisely the fact that a study of this type has not been done before. It is diffi cult to be absolutely sure that no-one has ever done a particular type of study until now, so before you make such a statement
Discussion/Conclusion — Writing Task 177 you should check as thoroughly as possible. Don't rely only on the Internet. Th e information you get from the Internet will only be as good as your skill in looking for it, and it is unprofessional to make a mistake in a sentence like this. As we can see in Sentence 8, even aft er every eff ort has been made, the writer nevertheless includes the phrase to our knowledge in case a study has been overlooked accidentally. In Sentence 9 'Our results provide compelling evidence for long-term involvement with such patients and suggest that this approach appears to be eff ective in counteracting stress that may exacerbate the disorder.' the writer refi nes the implications of the results, including possible applications. Developing the implications of your work includes looking at ways in which your results might be implemented or lead to applications in the future. In this case, the results imply that long-term involvement should be an aspect of future treatment. Suppose my work doesn't have any obvious applications? Many research studies don't have obvious applications. However, it's a good idea to check in two places before you give up on the idea that your work can be applied or implemented. First, look at the beginning of your Introduction, and the fi rst sentences and paragraphs of related work in your fi eld. Th is may help you see in what way the fi ndings in your paper can be used, because as we saw in the Introduction, the fi rst sentence oft en shows in what way this research area is important or useful. Another possible source is the Discussion section of published work in this fi eld. It is, however, possible that the work you're involved in doesn't have a clear application at this stage — or ever. Some fi elds, such as engineering, are more practical than others and research can have many functions — it may be intended to clarify a theory rather than seek an applicable method. You don't need to search for or try to create applications where there are none. In Sentences 10 and 11 'However, some limitations are worth noting. Although our hypotheses were supported statistically, the sample was not reassessed once the programme was over.' the writer describes the limitations which should direct future research.
178 Science Research Writing Th is is the third time that I mention limitations — fi rst in the Methodology, then in the Results, and now again here. How do I decide which limitations to focus on here? Th e reason for mentioning the limitations of your study in the Discussion is to point out a direction for future work. You should therefore examine your study for limitations which can be addressed in future work, rather than limitations which are inherent to your research fi eld or problems which are unlikely to be solved in the near future. Try to approach this as an invitation to the research community to continue and make progress with the topic you have investigated. Notice that, as on previous occasions where limitations were mentioned, positive outcomes (our hypotheses were supported statistically) are mentioned close to the limitation in order to lessen its negative impact — in this case the positive outcome is mentioned in the same sentence. In Sentence 12 'Future work should therefore include follow-up work designed to evaluate whether the skills are retained in the long term and also whether they continue to be used to improve QoL.' the writer suggests a specifi c area to be addressed in future work. Notice the use of therefore in Sentence 12 to link the limitation with future research. Why should I try to fi x the direction of future work — why not encourage people to decide for themselves? One paper will not answer all possible questions in your research area, so when you are writing the Discussion, you should keep the broader picture in mind. Where should the research go next? Th e best studies open up directions for research. Inviting the research community to follow your work in a specifi c way has many functions. First, it provides researchers with a clearly defi ned project, which is more attractive than a vague suggestion and therefore more likely to be carried out. Second, it encourages a line of direct continuity from your research and studies that follow directly from your own will cite your paper, which enhances the status of your study. In addition, a study which responds to the diffi culties
Discussion/Conclusion — Writing Task 179 or limitations of your work may provide you with useful data for your own current and future work. 4.3.3 Th e model Here are the sentence descriptions we have collected: In Sentence 1 the writer revisits previous research. In Sentence 2
the writer revisits the Introduction to recall specifi c weakness in the methodology used in previous studies. In Sentence 3
the writer revisits the methodology used in this study. In Sentence 4
the writer revisits and summarises the results. In Sentence 5
the writer shows where and how the present work fi ts into the research 'map' in this fi eld. In Sentence 6
the writer recalls an aspect of the results that represents a positive achievement or contribution of this work. In Sentence 7
the writer focuses on the meaning and impli- cations of the achievements in this work. In Sentence 8
the writer notes that one of the achievements or contributions of this work is its novelty. In Sentence 9
the writer refi nes the implications of the results, including possible applications. In Sentences 10 and 11
the writer describes the limitations which should direct future research. In Sentence 12
the writer suggests a specifi c area to be addressed in future work. We can streamline these so that our model has FOUR basic components. 1 REVISITING PREVIOUS SECTIONS SUMMARISING/REVISITING GENERAL OR KEY RESULTS 2 MAPPING (RELATIONSHIP TO EXISITING RESEARCH)
180 Science Research Writing 4.3.4 Testing the model Th e next step is to look at the way this model works in a real Discussion (but remember it may be called 'Summary and Conclusions' instead) and in the target articles you have selected. Here are some full-length Discussions and Conclusions from real research articles. Read them through, and mark the model components (1, 2, 3 or 4) wherever you think you see them. For example, if you think the fi rst sentence corresponds to number 1 in the model, write 1 next to it, etc. On combining classifi ers