WRITING YOUR PhD FINDINGS CHAPTER | Should you refer back to the literature review or not?

When writing up your PhD dissertation findings chapter, should you refer back to the academic literature, or should you focus only on your own findings? It’s one of the most common questions I encounter from PhD students, and the truth is - there is no right answer that applies across the board. Whether or not you should refer back to the literature in your findings depends first and foremost on the standard practices within your subject discipline. It also relates to the type of research you are doing – qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. The first thing you should do is ask your thesis advisor or supervisor this question. They will either answer firmly about one way or the other, or they’ll say, “It’s up to you, what do you think?”. Whatever response you receive, you need to know exactly what you should be doing in your PhD findings chapter, and in this video, I explain the three key elements of findings chapters: description; analysis synthesis. Description is simply about outlining your findings, telling the reader what you discovered. Analysis is about commenting upon the findings, with reference to your own data and interpretations. Synthesis involves situating your findings within the literature, considering the extent they support or refute what the literature says, or whether they add something entirely new to the scholarly conversation altogether. If you are going to refer back to the literature in your dissertation findings chapter, you should do all three – description, analysis and synthesis. If you are NOT going to refer back to the literature in your findings chapter, you should only describe and analyse, saving the synthesis until you get to the discussion chapter of your thesis. Let me explain how it all works and give you some examples! Chapters 0:00 - 1:29 Introduction and overview 1:30 - 3:22 Should I refer back to my findings chapter or not? 3:23 - 8:05 Describe, analyse, synthesise 8:06 - 9:32 Summary // Other helpful videos // How to structure your thesis chapters https://youtu.be/g0cb9tyyBYw How to structure your literature review https://youtu.be/x1Ai7YYRF4A Methodology chapter, structure and key points https://youtu.be/WyxfXsZvpnQ Writing your discussion chapter https://youtu.be/N57UpjRr2BA Writing your conclusion chapter https://youtu.be/taLnJ5tuxlY Best study habits for PhD students https://youtu.be/T5imXt8G4Ww If you don't do THIS, habits won't work https://youtu.be/CKBO5iDO3xQ // See my videos BEFORE everyone else does! // For early access to my videos and whole load of other cool things, become a Degree Doctor channel member! https://www.youtube.com/@DegreeDoctor/join // Get free weekly reassurance that you’re COMPLETELY NORMAL! // The PhD journey can be a tough one, and my weekly emails are written with that in mind! They’re full of practical advice and easy-to-implement tips, as well as, “It’s okay, the way you’re feeling is completely valid” type stuff. If that sounds good to you, sign up here and grab yourself a free guide on how to fix a messy literature review too: https://www.thedegreedoctor.com/how-to-structure-your-phd-literature-review // I sell lots of great stuff! Take a look at what you can buy! // Want to see some of the resources and courses you can buy to help you on your PhD journey? Here are a few that you might like if you enjoyed this video: Want to get confident with paradigms? Check out my course, Paradigms for Beginners https://www.thedegreedoctor.com/paradigms-for-beginners Need some quick wins? Try my Cheat Sheet Library https://www.thedegreedoctor.com/cheat-sheet-library Want me to walk you through each of your PhD chapters, step-by-step? Check out my PhD Survival Guides https://www.thedegreedoctor.com/phd-survival-guides