Goal Four: Present Research Results

When it comes to Presenting Research Results, one must represent the very main discoveries, findings and outcomes of their study. The Present Research Findings Goal is as important as Describing Study Intentions and Describe Methods, without which the Abstract will not draw the readers in. However, researchers always run the risk of presenting their findings in a detailed manner that takes away space from other components of an Abstract. To avoid this, it is important to know what the principal outcomes of your research are. The inclusion of the main findings must eventually persuade readers to read your article and know more. You must be cautious, however, that you do not bog readers down with unnecessary details while cutting out other important sections from your Abstract. In general, there are three important formatting and language use features that you may frequently find in presenting research results in Abstracts; the presentation of general findings and moving towards more specific findings using words such as specifically; the sequencing of the main findings using listing words such as first, second, third, last and so on; and/or describing the most important findings by using words such as significantly (Swales & Feak, 2009).

• Compile several research Abstracts from your own field; Do you see any of the three strategies above used in them? What findings and how are presented in those samples?  

• What verb tense is used to present the research findings?