Summary: Re-establish the Territory

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Now, let us recap the first Goal in D/C sections. Re-establishing the Territory brings in relevant background information that may be needed to “set the scene” or contextualize the discussion. This information quite commonly includes important details from the Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, or Results. By setting the scene, readers can better understand the interpretations of results that follow. To achieve this goal, there are three main Strategies: Provide Background, Restate Study-specifics, and Outline Structure.

1. Provide Background is used to present theoretical, empirical or informational background about the study topic. In a D/C section, this primes your reader for thinking about how the results of your study fit into your discipline at large.
2. Restate Study-specifics is used to reiterate, synthesize, or summarize key methods or findings of the study. Not all details are equally important, so emphasize information that is important for understanding the key take-home messages.
3. Finally, Outline Structure is used to indicate the structure or the content of the section. This Strategy is not common in short manuscripts but can be helpful when the discussion is extensive and involves multiple studies.

As stated before, you are not obligated to use all of these Strategies, but you will see which are frequently used by analyzing writing in your discipline.