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Section 3

Positioning your Research in the Field

Findings, Evaluation, Implications, and Recommendations for Research: Positioning your Research in the Field

The third section of your dissertation is where you show how your work fits in the existing field of literature and establishes your position as a scholar and practitioner in the field. This is the culmination of all your work and effort. The results of your research will show how your findings relate to those existing studies about your topic.

Think of the topic you investigated as a giant crossword puzzle. Your work is one piece that will help provide a better understanding of the reasons behind the problem. What does your work mean for others in the field? Your findings may complement existing studies or present new ideas about the problem. What needs to be addressed or changed about how things are being done? Based on your findings and the implications from those findings, what specific things can be done to improve practice? What actions can be taken to make things better?

Your recommendations for others in the field will provide ways to apply the results of your work. Based on your results and implications, they provide examples of practical actions and suggestions for additional research to add to the understanding of the problem you investigated. As a scholar, these are your contributions to the field.

Findings
  • What did your data reveal?
  • What did you find related to the problem?
Evaluation of the Outcomes
  • How do your findings confirm or contradict the existing literature? 
  • What new things did you discover?
Implications
  • Where does your work fit?
  • What do your findings suggest to those working in the field?
Recommendations for Practice
  • Based on your Findings and Implications, what specific actions should be taken to address the problem?