As an International student, I find this
book very useful. To a person who is totally new to the British way of
learning, this book explains how things are done out here. It’s a must
have for all students as its written with experience and I find it
really amazing.
Mr Gopinath RAJENDRAN (BSc Biological Science)
Everything you need
to know to write your COURSEWORK
SO WHAT?
The first complaint you would receive if
your discussion is not written properly even after including several
references is that you haven’t explained the most important question ‘SO
WHAT?’
Adding more reliable and relevant reference to compare and
contrast your study or experiment would show the evaluator that you
actually made some effort to write your Coursework BUT if you don’t
answer the most important question ‘SO WHAT?’ all
the time spent for collecting those references would go in vain.
In simple terms, you are required to make an inference whenever you
include a reference in your discussion part.
Rule: You should make
an inference from the references you add in your discussion part only
and not in Introduction part or methodology part as you would probably
just make a statement and not an argument. Literature review and
Critical review are also no exceptions because here again you make a
statement and very rarely you may write ‘SO WHAT?’
Remember: Arguably in
most cases discussion part of your Coursework carries
maximum marks when compared to any other part of your Coursework
so spend some extra time while writing discussion part of your Coursework
.
Example:
The XYZ Company is making ABC products with cheap raw materials
(Orange, 2009)
If you leave the above reference as it is in your discussion
part, YOU are making a BIG mistake.
What you should do is to write what you infer from the above reference,
otherwise it becomes a statement and most of the times begs the
question “SO WHAT?”
A reference in the discussion part makes sense only when the above
mentioned question “SO WHAT?” is answered.
For the above reference the inference could be like any of the following
·The cost of production is reduced
·The quality of the product is compromised
·The brand value is compromised
·The company could sell more products
·It’s a measure of maximising the profits
·It’s a measure of competing with the existing competitors
·To attract the middle class income people and buy the product etc…..
The inference you could probably make are endless and it all depends on
the context of your discussion. Just imagine a reference statement
without any inference and think whether it would make any sense (please
read the reference above again)
So, next time when you discuss something make sure that your discussion
answers the most important question “SO WHAT?”
Please note: Sometimes the reference statement could
be someone’s inference in relation to the context of your discussion,
in such case you don’t need to write any inference as it is already an
inference.
Please note: A
separate chapter on “How to write Discussion” is
written in the book.