Reading a discussion section’s opening first improves comprehension of a research report

Evidence

Some readers find it useful to read the first few paragraphs of the discussion section before reading any other part of a research report. Like the abstract, these few paragraphs usually contain all of the main ideas of a research report: what the hypotheses were, the major findings and whether they supported the original hypotheses, and how the findings relate to past research and theory. Having this information before reading a research report can guide your reading, allowing you to focus on the specific details you need to complete your understanding of a study. The description of the results, for example, will alert you to the major variables that were studied. If they are unfamiliar to you, you can pay special attention to how they are defined in the introduction, and how they are operationalized in the Method section. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4576

Categorization

• XREF: A reading-strategy tip that could complement the reader’s broader work on attention and deep engagement with texts, echoing habits from A Memoir of My Former Self on how to read.