Discussion

Thesis >> Discussion

The Discussion chapter in a thesis usually appears after, or may be combined with, the Results chapter. The Discussion consolidates and gives meaning to the results both in terms of answering the research questions and in the wider context of their contribution to the field of research. It is in this chapter that the writer makes claims about the significance and implications of the results.

Summary of key aspects of the Results and Discussion chapters

Results

Discussion

Report of what was found or achieved during the study with a focus on factual reporting to provide evidence for Discussion chapter
Reference to the methods or analytical procedures followed to obtain the results
Key experimental and numerical results
Description, observation and explanation of results
Tables, graphs and figures to highlight key results with meaningful text to describe what is shown
No speculation or evaluation of the results

Discussion of results in terms of fulfilling the research gap and wider context of their contribution to the field
Reference to the objectives of the study, approach and key results to support the discussion
Comparison of results with existing research
Interpretation of the findings presented in the Results chapter and explanation of their significance and whether the objectives of the research have been achieved
Discussion of the limitation and implications of the results
Recommendations for improvement in methodology and directions for future research

Depending on the complexity of the research, the number of experiments or studies conducted, or the field, the Discussion can be combined with the Results and may not appear as a stand-alone Discussion.

Read the extract from the Discussion of a Computer Engineering Thesis about continuous collision detectio

Use the colour palette below to paint the sentences which address the following purposes.

Approach followed to obtain the results.
The writer’s claim about the significance (the importance of the findings and what they mean) of the results.
Reference to experimental and numerical results.
The key application of the results of the experiment.
Recommendations for directions for future research.

Based on the algebraic formulation, robust and efficient numerical algorithms were devised to solve the continuous collision detection (CCD) problems. The algebraic approach to deal with the collision detection of ellipses and ellipsoids demonstrated results that could be extended to solve the collision problems of other conic curves and quadric surfaces.

The robustness and effectiveness of our algorithms is shown with experiments and numerical examples, whose results demonstrate that they are practical for collision detection in relation to quadrics or conics primitives. Ellipsoidal CCD should be applied to special cases where ellipsoids provide tighter fit to freeform objects, possibly undergoing deformations that can locally be approximated by affine deformations. To this end, the recent trend in 3D modeling for the next generation GPU architecture is quite promising, where 3D shapes are directly represented using parametric surfaces to alleviate the bottleneck of bus bandwidth. Exact contact time and contact point of two ellipsoids would provide good initial solutions for further processing of the underlying parametric surfaces.

Adapted from: Y. K. Choi, “Collision detection for ellipsoids and other quadrics,” Ph. D. dissertation, Dept. Comput. Sci., HKU, Hong Kong, 2008. [Online]. Available: The HKU Scholars Hub.

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The purpose of the Discussion is to interpret the findings reported in the Results and explain what they mean and whether the objectives of the study have been achieved. Areas of discussion may include the usefulness, relevance, limitations and possible applications of the research. To demonstrate the advances made, the writer should position the results within the context of the existing literature and broader knowledge base. The writer may need to explain whether the results extend, agree with, or conflict with previous studies.

The Discussion includes the writer’s interpretation of the results and their opinion about the significance of their studies. Whereas the Results reports what was found in the study, the Discussion explains what these results mean. For this reason, a brief summary of the results may be included, but the writer should avoid too much repetition, as describing the results is not the purpose of the Discussion.

The Discussion may typically include the features below.

A brief overview of the study with references to the objectives, key results and approach used in the study.
Explanation, interpretation and evaluation of the results.
Writer’s claim about the significance of the results and how they address the research gap.
Comparison with previous work to support the discussion and to show how the results agree with, contradict or contribute to established knowledge.
Limitations of the results or study with possible explanation to show how the limitations would affect the validity of the results.
Suggestions for further research and practical applications of the research findings.

Activity 1

Activity 1

Read the sentences below taken from an Electronic Engineering thesis and decide which ones would fit the purpose of a Discussion section.

Show your answer by clicking on √ or X in each box.

Examples	√ or X	√ or X
In our future computations, GPUs and FPGAs will be adopted to accelerate the computation of binding free energies.1. In our future computations, GPUs and FPGAs will be adopted to accelerate the computation of binding free energies.	√ or X This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is referring to future studies. Check	√ This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is referring to future studies.
As one of our future works, more accurate and powerful approaches will be explored to predict the 3D structure of a specific mutation, based on its sequential information.2. As one of our future works, more accurate and powerful approaches will be explored to predict the 3D structure of a specific mutation, based on its sequential information.	√ or X This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is referring to future studies. Check	√ This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is referring to future studies.
Personalized medicine/therapy proposes customization of healthcare to individual patients, and the use of genotypic information plays an important role. Our method can be regarded as a personalized prediction model for drug resistance based on both the mutation feature and the personal features of a patient.3. Personalized medicine/therapy proposes customization of healthcare to individual patients, and the use of genotypic information plays an important role. Our method can be regarded as a personalized prediction model for drug resistance based on both the mutation feature and the personal features of a patient.	√ or X This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is highlighting the significance and contribution of their work. Check	√ This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is highlighting the significance and contribution of their work.
With a high prediction rate for drug resistance, our model encourages the development of personalized medicine/therapy design. 4. With a high prediction rate for drug resistance, our model encourages the development of personalized medicine/therapy design.	√ or X This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is highlighting the significance and contribution of their work. Check	√ This falls within the purpose of the Discussion as the writer is highlighting the significance and contribution of their work.
For the 37 mutation types of our patients, we carried out statistics and derived that mutation types L858R (80 cases), delE746 A750 (38 cases) and delL747 P753- insS (10 cases) occupied the majority of the patients, while the others were considered as rare mutations.5. For the 37 mutation types of our patients, we carried out statistics and derived that mutation types L858R (80 cases), delE746 A750 (38 cases) and delL747 P753- insS (10 cases) occupied the majority of the patients, while the others were considered as rare mutations.	√ or X This fits the purpose of the Results as the author is presenting the key results, followed by more details of the results. Check	X This fits the purpose of the Results as the author is presenting the key results, followed by more details of the results.
We display the statistics for the mutation types on our 168 patients in part A of Figure 2.4, where the three peaks are L858R, delE746 A750 and delL747 P753insS respectively, as aforementioned.6. We display the statistics for the mutation types on our 168 patients in part A of Figure 2.4, where the three peaks are L858R, delE746 A750 and delL747 P753insS respectively, as aforementioned.	√ or X This does not fall within the purpose of the Discussion as the focus here is presenting the results. Check	X This does not fall within the purpose of the Discussion as the focus here is presenting the results.
Future studies will bring more benefits to the investigation of mutation-induced drug resistance and innovative drug design.7. Future studies will bring more benefits to the investigation of mutation-induced drug resistance and innovative drug design.	√ or X This falls within the purpose of the Discussion section as the writer is referring to future research. Check	√ This falls within the purpose of the Discussion section as the writer is referring to future research.
Adapted from: D. Wang, “Deciphering Inter- and Intra-molecular Interactions Based on the Dynamic and Structural Properties of Molecules”, Ph.D dissertation, Dept. of Elec. Eng., CITYU, Hong Kong, 2014. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository. *GPU- Graphics processing unit, FGPA- field programmable gate array

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The structure of the Discussion will depend on the purpose of the study and whether it is combined with the Results. For theses involving multiple studies, there may be a Discussion chapter after each Results chapter, meaning that a thesis may have several Results and Discussion chapters. Some writers may choose to include an introductory section to preview the content of the Discussion and a concluding section which reiterates the main points.

In order to contextualise and integrate the Discussion with preceding chapters, the author may begin by referring to the key findings, the objectives or research gap of the study as outlined in the Introduction, and methods followed, so that the reader does not need to go back to these chapters. The remainder of the chapter is typically structured around the author’s discussion of the significance and implications of the results.

The Discussion is structured around the logical development of the writer’s evaluation and reasonable claims about the results. This is done by briefly referring to the results and then explaining what they mean in terms of their significance and implications. There may also be figures and tables illustrating key results that help to underpin the writer’s argument. Throughout this section, the logical flow of the writer’s argument is key, rather than the presentation of results, which is the purpose of the Results.

The Discussion may be presented as one stand-alone chapter and divided into subsections to reflect their content and areas of analysis. Examples of these include limitations, implications and applications.

Example 1
Below is an extract from the Table of Contents of a Systems Engineering and Engineering Management thesis which shows an example of a generic Discussion title with specific names, containing key words from the thesis title for the sub-sections to indicate the content.

Chapter 8 Discussion 8.1 *ESR Model and Unique Characteristic of Embedded Software 8.2 Application of ESR Model to Different Size of Companies 8.3 Important Initial Steps for ESR Model Implementation 8.4 Limitation of the Research and ESR Model	Generic title Specific sub sections
Adapted from: W. L. Ha, “Improving Embedded Software Development Performance through Modular Reuse” Ph.D dissertation, Dep. of Systems Eng. and Eng. Mgt., CITYU, 2013. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository. *ESR- Embedded software reuse

Note: In Example 1, the discussion chapter is divided into four sections: the development of the ESR model, its application, implementation and limitations.

Moves in the Discussion
The Discussion may include the following three communicative moves or features and the steps that help to achieve them. Authors may not include all the steps depending on the nature of their studies.

Moves	Steps
Review of the present study	A brief overview of the study with reference to the research gap or objectives of the study Reference to key results and methodological approach.
Discussion of results	Evaluation and interpretation of the results Statements expressing significance and implications of the results Examples of results to support the discussion Comparison with previous studies to support the discussion and show how the results agree, contradict or contribute to established knowledge Generalizations (if any) that can be made
Limitations and recommendations	Limitations of the results or methodology with possible explanation to indicate how the limitations may affect the validity of the results Practical applications of the research findings Recommendations for possible directions for future research

Other possible moves include:

Introductory statements to preview the content of the chapter
Writer’s comment on anomalous or unexpected results
Concluding statements to reiterate the main points and claims

If more than one set of results is discussed, the moves may be repeated.

Example 2
Below is an extract from the Discussion of a Systems Engineering and Engineering Management thesis with the key moves explained.

Click on the numbers in brackets to read an explanation of each part.

4.4 Discussion

(1) This study successfully demonstrated the existence of resource competition and significant spatial *S-R compatibility effects on reaction times under dual-task working environments. (2) With respect to the tracking performance, the average *RMSTE for responses to the compatible * BC condition was significantly lower than that of the other three incompatible conditions, (3) indicating participants were able to align the cursor with the target with smaller deviations and hence greater accuracy under the BC condition.

(4) The results here were in line with previous studies showing that discrete manual responses affect performance on a continuous flow tracking task (Wickens 2008, Salvucci and Taatgen 2008).(…). (5) Figure 4.8 depicts the processing timeline for the two tasks and indicates that the tracking task was delayed when participants were attending and responding to a stimulus circle as required by the spatial mapping task. (…) (6) Among the four mapping conditions, BC was by far the most direct and natural condition, enabling participants to relatively easily encode the stimulus and swiftly produce the corresponding response. (7) However, for the other three incompatible conditions, an extra process was needed to retrieve information about the indirect non compatible mapping between the stimulus and response from the cognitive declarative resource (responsible for long-term storage of information) so as to make a correct response. (8) Therefore, it may be hypothesized that the significantly better tracking performance obtained from BC was due to the low demand that the compatible configuration made on the declarative resource, resulting in less delay and hence less interference with the tracking task (hypothesis 1).

(9) It is hoped that the results of this study will facilitate human-machine/computer system design and improve overall system performance.

Adapted from: N. H. Tsang, “Multi-task performance in processing four-choice spatial stimulus-response (S-R) mappings: Implications for multimodal human-machine interface design”, Ph. D. dissertation, Dept. Syst. Eng. & Eng. Mgt., CITYU, Hong Kong, 2014. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository.
*S-R- stimulus response, RMSTE- root mean square foot tracking errors, RT – reaction time, BC- both transverse and longitudinal compatible.
Note: (…) indicates that parts of the text have been removed due to space constraints.

Linking ideas to improve structure
Linking devices show the logical connection between ideas and help to improve the structure and logical flow of the text. Although they are an essential element of any piece of extended writing, they should not be overused as this can make the writing seem mechanical and unnatural.

As well as using linking devices, the author should use other techniques to help the flow of ideas, such as organising sentences so they begin with given information before moving to new, using the definite article “the” and pronouns to refer to what has been mentioned.

Below is a table containing some commonly used linking devices with examples taken from an Electrical Engineering thesis investigating the fabrication of novel optical fibers.

Table 1
Function	Linking Devices	Example
Purpose	in order to so that	An ultrahigh birefringence PCF with an elliptical core was fabricated in order to evaluate its efficiency. The proposed microfluidic flowmeter contains two micro-channels so that separate measurements can be taken.
Comparison and Contrast	however in contrast conversely regardless of nevertheless	High sensitivity and detectability make this a promising and potential device for microfluidics, regardless of connection with external microfluidics devices. However, one drawback is that the environmental temperature may affect the entire measurement. Nevertheless, this is not an issue in biomedical analysis where the environmental temperature is strictly controlled.
Cause and effect	because owing to since therefore due to as a result thus consequently	Because the length of the FBG is very short, the temperature along the grating can be assumed to be uniform Owing to the* pure silica used, almost no dissolution by the solvents happens compared with the channels made of polymer. The change of 100 °C in temperature only causes a fluctuation of 3×10-5 RIU. Therefore*, in practical applications, the temperature compensation is not desirable if the temperature variation is not large.
Emphasis	in particular in fact	In fact, this device can effectively integrate the microfluidic flowmeter in one chip and measure the flow rate of the fluids in micro-channels. Higher viscosity and surface tension make it difficult to fill the micro-channels, which slows down the rate of convection. In particular, the process of convection with low efficiency reduces the sensitivity of the flowmeter.
Adapted from: Z. Liu. “Fabrication of Novel Optical Fibres and Their Sensing Applications”, Ph.D dissertation, Elec. Eng., POLYU Hong Kong, 2015. [Online]. Available: PolyU Electronic Theses. *FBG- fibre Bragg grating

Strategies for Improving Idea Flow
Below is a table containing alternative language strategies to improve the flow of ideas, with examples taken from an Architectural and Civil Engineering thesis.

Table 2
Language Strategy	Example
Referring back to results obtained	The results of the research interview show that the housing price models developed in Stage 2 of this research are merely an indication for the transaction data collected in 2006. As verified in the research interview, the results of questionnaires survey and developed housing price models can provide different information for the study. Regarding accuracy of the results, regression analysis is extensively used to determinate the relationship between the unit price and the independent factors
This These + noun those	Triangulation was used in this research so as to deliver a more reliable result The influence of all these aspects on housing price were investigated in this research. The apartment sizes in Hong Kong collected for the research varied from 289 to 2,586 sq. feet, while those in Macau ranged from 830 to 2236 sq. feet.
Repetition of key words to connect sentences	It is true that the regression analysis conducted in this research is a case study in the relative steady period. However, Fellows and Liu (2008:110), point out that case study is suitable for in-depth investigation of an incident.
Starting a sentence with old information or reference to subject of previous sentence	It can be seen that the coefficients of the recalibrated models are different from that of the developed models. The difference can be explained by two reasons.
Recalling previous sections to connect the overall chapter	In the previous section, comparisons were made of the differences between the ‘Survey Results in Stage ‘1 and ‘Housing Price Model developed in Stage 2’. As mentioned in the research methodology, a relatively steady period was selected.
Previewing content	The research findings demonstrate that the residential unit price models in Hong Kong and Macau have a high level of similarity. The above phenomenon is further discussed in this chapter.
Adapted from: K. To “An Analysis of the Determinants of Housing Transaction Prices in Hong Kong and Macau”, Ph. D dissertation, Dept. of Civil and Arch. Eng., CITYU, 2014. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository.

Example 2
Below is an extract from the Discussion chapter from an Electronic and Information Engineering thesis which shows an example of how different strategies for improving ideas flow are used.

Click on the numbers in brackets to read an explanation.

(1)To demonstrate the superiority of GOASVM over other state-of-the-art *GO methods, experiments were conducted on the EU16 dataset and the HUM12 dataset, respectively. Table 9.4 compares the performance of GOASVM against three state-of-the-art GO-based methods on the EU16 dataset and the HUM12 dataset, respectively. (…)

(2) Results in Table 9.4 show that the performance of (3) this approach is significantly poorer than that of other machine learning approaches, suggesting that homologous information alone is not sufficient for subcellular localization prediction. (…)

(4) Although all the datasets mentioned in this paper were cut off at 25% sequence similarity, the performance of GOASVM increased from 72.20% (Table 9.2) on the novel dataset to more than 90% (Table 9.4) on both the EU16 dataset and the HUM12 dataset. (5) This is mainly because in Table 9.4, the training and testing sets were constructed at the same time, whereas there are 6 years apart between the creation of the training set and the testing set in Table 9.2, (6) which causes the latter to have less similarity in GO information between the training set and test sets to have less similarity in GO information between the training set and test sets than the former. (7) This in turn implies that the performance of GOASVM on our novel dataset (Table 9.2) can more objectively reflect the classification capabilities of the predictors.

Adapted from: S. Wan, “Protein Subcellular Localization: Gene Ontology Based Machine Learning Approaches”, Ph.D dissertation, Elec. and Inf. Eng., POLYU Hong Kong, 2014. [Online]. Available: PolyU Electronic Theses.
*GO- Gene Ontology
Note: (…) indicates that parts of the text have been removed due to space constraints.

Activity 1>> 2>> 3

Below is an extract from the Discussion of a Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering thesis.
Read each part and select the best label. Click on check to see the answer.

Extract	Moves	Correct Answer
In this work, we developed a computational model to transfer the genotypic data to phenotypic data for specialized subjects, by characterizing the *EGFR-inhibitor interaction patterns and taking personal features into consideration. (…)	Reference to results with author’s evaluation of what they mean Directions for future research Reference to the objective and the methodological approach of the study Significance of the results “In this work” and the verbs “we developed” and “to transfer” express the objective of the study. The approach used in this study is indicated in the expression “by characterizing the EGFR-inhibitor interaction patterns and taking personal features into consideration” Check	Reference to the objective and the methodological approach of the study Note: “In this work” and the verbs “we developed” and “to transfer” express the objective of the study. The approach used in this study is indicated in the expression “by characterizing the EGFR-inhibitor interaction patterns and taking personal features into consideration”
*ELMs were adopted in this work, and the combination of ELMs and leave-one-out cross-validation produced a successful identification of resistant subjects with high accuracy. (…) Results are shown in Table 2.11, where the prediction accuracies underperform those produced by ELMs, indicating the effectiveness of ELMs in this prediction work.	Reference to results with author’s evaluation of what they mean Directions for future research Reference to the objective and the methodological approach of the study Significance of the results The author refers to a key result of the study which is the “high accuracy” of the identification of resistant subjects and supports this by referring to a table showing the results. Evaluative language “indicating the effectiveness of…” expresses the author’s evaluation of what the results mean. Check	Reference to results with writer’s evaluation of what they mean Note: The author refers to a key result of the study which is the “high accuracy” of the identification of resistant subjects and supports this by referring to a table showing the results. Evaluative language “indicating the effectiveness of…” expresses the author’s evaluation of what the results mean.
Our method can be regarded as a personalized prediction model for drug resistance, based on both the mutation feature and the personal features of a patient. With a high prediction rate for drug resistance, our model encourages the development of personalized medicine/therapy design.	Reference to results with author’s evaluation of what they mean Directions for future research Reference to the objective and the methodological approach of the study Significance of the results “Our method can be regarded as …” indicates the author is commenting on the contribution of the model to highlight the significance of this part of study. Check	Significance of the results Note: “Our method can be regarded as …” indicates the author is commenting on the contribution of the model to highlight the significance of this part of study.
Future research will include exploring more accurate and powerful approaches to predict the 3D structure of a specific mutation, based on its sequential information. This will improve the prediction model and help us update the library based on the new data. Future studies will bring more benefits to the investigation of mutation-induced drug resistance and innovative drug design.	Reference to results with author’s evaluation of what they mean Directions for future research Reference to the objective and the methodological approach of the study Significance of the results “Future research will include…” indicates directions of the research with the potential benefits to the wider community indicated by “this will help to advance…” Check	Directions for future research Note: “Future research will include…” indicates directions of the research with the potential benefits to the wider community indicated by “this will help to advance…”
Adapted from: D. Wang, “Deciphering Inter- and Intra-molecular Interactions Based on the Dynamic and Structural Properties of Molecules”, Ph.D dissertation, Dept. of Elec. Eng., CITYU, Hong Kong, 2014. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository. *EGFR – Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, ELM – Extreme Learning Machine Note: (…) indicates that parts of the text have been removed.

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Read the extract from a combined Results and Discussion of a Civil Engineering thesis and highlight the sentences that match the labels. Note that they may appear more than once if more than one set of results is reported.

Click on the palette below to colour your choices.

Reference to a table which illustrates the results and highlighting results presented in it
Examples of results to support the discussion
Significance of the results
Comparison with previous studies

4.2.1. Ultrasonic Frequency Optimization

The dimethyl phthalate (DMP) degradation performance for different ultrasonic frequencies (400, 800, and 1200 kHz) and powers is shown in Figure 4-1. The results suggest that the DMP sonodegradation follows pseudo first-order kinetics. The greatest degradation performance was obtained from the 400 kHz process using its maximum input power (available) of 120 W. A reaction rate constant (k) of 6.7 × 10-3 min-1 was observed and 87.2% of DMP was removed in 300 min. At the same frequency, the degradation rate decreased substantially when the input power reduced only moderately to 100 W, indicating that the power supplied to the ultrasound system was also a major factor affecting the compound degradation efficiency.(…)

The observation from these tests that the most effective frequency for degrading DMP was 400 kHz, agrees with the results reported in other studies (Inoue et al. 2006). The ultrasonic frequency plays an important role in determining the efficacy of the process by influencing the cavitation performance. The results show that the number of acoustic cycles and bubble collapse increases as the frequency increases. (…)

Thus, a higher frequency may compensate for the lower energy release per single bubble explosion by occurring more frequently. However, an above optimal frequency only leads to a small energy release for a single bubble, which could not be accumulated sufficiently by the repeating frequency. The optimal frequency is determined by the comprehensive performance of energy release (bubble sizes and repeating frequency). From the results of these initial tests, the most effective frequency was found to be 400 kHz and this was used in all further tests in this chapter.

Adapted from: L. Xu, “Degradation of refractory contaminants in water by chemical-free radicals generated by ultrasound and UV irradiation”, Ph. D. dissertation, Dept. Civil & Environ. Eng., POLYU, Hong Kong, 2014. [Online]. Available: PolyU Electronic Theses.
Note: (…) indicates that parts of the text have been removed due to space constraints.

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Below is an extract of the Discussion from an Architectural and Civil Engineering Management Thesis about fibre-reinforced polymers in concrete columns.

Some phrases have been removed. Read through the text and fill the gaps by dragging and dropping the phrases from the table into the correct spaces.

this identical value

interestingly

but

in order to evaluate

those

furthermore

(1) the non-homogeneity coefficient of FRP jackets, two sets of data from the test results in Chapter 3 and (2) from Teng’s group (Lam and Teng 2004; Lam et al. 2006) were analyzed. The average values of ε_aveand ε_maxfor different FRP thicknesses are calculated and compared in Fig. 4.5. (3) , the gaps between the two curves for ε_aveand ε_maxare constant for both sets of data when the thickness of FRP jackets changes. (4) demonstrates that the strain variation along the perimeter is less affected by the workmanship of jacketing and FRP properties (which could be different for the two series), (5) largely results from the non-homogeneity of concrete (which was similar for the two series). (6) Table 4.4 shows that the value of SD or c_vfor both series is small, which confirms the general belief that the ultimate confinement for circular columns is approximately uniform along the perimeter.

Adapted from: J. Jiang, “Plasticity Modeling and Experimental Study of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP)-Confined Concrete Columns”. Ph. D dissertation, Dept. of Arch. And Civil, Eng., CITYU, 2012. [Online]. Available: CityU Institutional Repository.
* FRP- Fibre-Reinforced Polymer, ε_ave – average value of lateral strain in non-overlap zone, ε_max – maximum strain in FRP jacket, SD- standard deviation, c_v– cumulative variance, μ/SD

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Abstract >> Introduction >> Literature review >> Methodology >> Results >> Discussion >> Conclusion

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Purpose	Phrase	Example
Confidently stating the significance and implications of the results	The results confirm… The results clearly show that… can significantly The results demonstrate that… The results support	The results clearly show that O2 enhancement can significantly expand the reaction zone of LPG IDF.
Cautiously making comments about the significance and implications of the results	This result indicates that … The results imply that … This result suggests that …	This result indicates thatLPG IDF can be stable under a very fuel-lean condition, that in the early stage of combustion, hydrogen This result implies that for 50% LPG-50%H2, LPG still dominates the LBV under various equivalence ratios.
Accounting for unexpected or anomalous results	The … might be attributed to … Note: Use of modal verb “might be” indicates caution	The difference in results might be attributed to the difference in burner geometries and fuel properties.
Cautious explanation of results Modal verb may be could be might be	The effect of … may be due to… The reason for … may be due to… One possible reason of this phenomenon may be … Note: Use of modal verb “may be” indicates caution	The reason for the flame to be stable with a smaller energy supply rate after adding H2 may be due to an improved air/fuel mixing caused by the high burning velocity and diffusivity of hydrogen. One possible reason of this phenomenon may be the mass ratio of LPG to H2 in a 10%LPG-90%H2 gas mixture is 2.68:1, and LPG is dominating gas in terms of mass and hence the LBV of the mixture is much lower than that of pure H2.
Comparing results with previous research	Several researchers also found that … Numerical and experimental results in the literature show that …	Several researchers also found that H2 can effectively reduce the fuel-lean blowout limits of flames (Burguburu et al., 2011; Frenillot et al., 2009; Karbasi, 1998; Schefer, 2003). Numerical and experimental results in the literature show that the peak OH concentration region is close to the stoichiometric location in non-pre-mixed flames (Panoutsos et al., 2009; Donbar et al., 2000).
Drawing conclusions from data	It may be concluded that … Note: Use of modal may be indicates caution	It may be concluded from the data and experimental phenomenon that LPG IDF is able to maintain the form of incomplete flame for a narrow range of fuel flow velocity, and a complete extinction usually occurs almost immediately when fuel flow velocity reaches the critical level.
Adapted from: J. Miao, “Combustion, Thermal and Emission Characteristics of Gas-fired Inverse Diffusion Flames Burning Mixed LPG- Hydrogen Fuel”, Ph.D dissertation, Dept. of Mech. Eng, POLYU. [Online]. Available: PolyU Electronic Theses.