Learn – Results Sections

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After establishing a sound Methodology, readers can build confidence that your research will contribute new knowledge to the field. However, that confidence is not solidified until you highlight the new knowledge that your research offers and how that knowledge is noteworthy in your Discussion/Conclusion. To this end, the Results section is where you report findings of your study, with emphasis on what is new. These findings should have a direct connection to the methodology or methodologies outlined in the manuscript, and they should be organized in a logical manner, usually by research question, research hypothesis, hierarchical themes, or chronology. Before we delve into the purpose, format, and communicative tools for writing Results, let’s start by asking a few questions to help you evaluate your current knowledge:

The Purpose

Prior to Results, you have been arguing for the value and rigor of your work. In the Results section, you have the chance to display the fruits of that work. Without surprise, the Results section is used to report research results or findings, but let us view the purpose of Results in a more analytical manner. Here, we remind you of the blue sky that we introduced in Chapter Two to indicate metaphorically the big picture of recent and relevant literature on the research topic. The Results add clouds to the sky to construct a new view of the current knowledge in the field. Thus, the purpose of results is to transform dry data, facts, and/or measurements into an eloquent and sound presentation of study outcomes. This presentation may be through visuals (e.g., tables and figures) that enable you to display the data and/or results with crystal clarity. In some disciplines, you may communicate your own understanding and interpretation of the results. This level of evaluation is appropriate when Results and Discussions are combined but should otherwise be held at a minimum, if included at all. In fact, some disciplines strongly discourage any interpretation of the Results in the actual Results section. We will explore conventions of your discipline as we continue in this chapter.

If you have a combined Results and Discussion section, interpretation of Results is more likely to happen along with reporting your Results. But, if you are just writing a Results section as unmerged with the discussion of your research, you will need to analyze your model articles carefully. Often, the results are left only to an objective reporting of results, leaving out any potentially subjective interpretations.

With that said, in this chapter, we focus on Results as a separate section from Discussion and Conclusion sections, but the same goals and strategies will apply regardless. We’ll talk more about the similarities and differences as we go along.

The Format

Before discussing the overall format of the Results section, choose a model article within your area of interest. A model article should represent strong research writing and ideally reflect a similar organization as the manuscript you are currently writing. Once you have chosen that model Results section, answer the following questions:

1. Where are the Results sections typically located?
2. How are the Results sections and subsections in your discipline named?
3. How are the Results sections in your discipline organized
4. What is the average length in pages of the Results sections in your discipline?

It is best to extend this analysis to all the articles in your Choose a Model Article and Compile a Corpus activity from Chapter One. In this way, you can get a general idea of patterns in your field rather than relying on knowledge from a single article.

Now that you have a general idea of the Results section, we can use the hourglass metaphor to better illustrate where it is located in a research article. The Results section is right at the center where all the information is still specific to your study. This section is the part of your argument where you build a case for the value of your work from credible evidence—your Results. To do this, we provide you with some general advice. First, focus on relevant results; if you’ve collected an expansive amount of data, it is possible that not all of your findings are directly relevant to your research question(s). Part of writing a good Results section is drawing your readers’ attention to the most important outcomes and findings.

Second, information organization in the Results section should be the same as the Methods section. Organize your information in the order presented in the Methods section (usually chronological) or from most to least important. In some disciplines, especially in the Social Sciences, the organization will be determined by the order of variables investigated. Taken together, your outcomes should clearly connect to your take-home messages.