The ‘Results’ chapter is usually the fourth chapter of your dissertation and it is indeed a vital one. In your Results chapter, the goal is to acquaint your audience with the vital parts of your research. Keep in mind that, in this chapter, you do not interpret the meaning behind these results or connect them to the literature. You simply present the most important data and results. The interpretation of this data is reserved for the next Discussion chapter. Unless your school requires it, the Results and Discussion chapters are not combined.
Ensure your results are displayed in an orderly sequence. Create an outline to help you with this. You can organize the results according to priority (usually most-important to least-important), or according to the sequence of the methods chapter which your results are based upon or your research questions.
For every result you present, you must make sure it is aligned with a particular method in your Methods chapter. It is also imperative you carefully plan the presentation of your tables & figures in a way that will help you tell your story and support the examination of your research questions or hypotheses.
Six Steps for an Organized and Well Written Results Chapter
Here are 6 essential elements that will help you create an exceptional Results chapter:
1. Only display results linked to your research questions – Including unneeded results is a mistake often repeated by doctoral students. You must determine which of your findings/results to display and which to keep out of your chapter. Exclude the results that are not directly linked to your research questions. For the applicable, make sure you include them regardless of whether they support your hypotheses. You do not need to include every single result you come by, just the relevant ones.
2. Organize the Results chapter in one of two ways – The best way to organize your data in the Results chapter is either chronologically or by research question. To organize your data chronologically, simply organize the particular results as they were discovered according to the sequence of methods you outlined previously in your project. The results should be organized from general (e.g., descriptive statistics and tests of assumptions, if applicable) to more specific (testing of hypotheses). The other way is to organize your data according to research question or hypothesis.
3. Select the best forms to present your data – It is important for your audience to insert tables, figures, and text into the Results chapter. This will depend on what appeals to your particular audience and on the type of data you’ve gathered. However you choose to display your data, make sure it is easy to understand and clearly displays the salient aspects of your findings.
4. Clearly Summarize your findings – Here, make sure to summarize the most important results and also make sure that your text compliment your tables & figures nicely (avoid repeating the same information). Describe the results and refer to any tables/figures to show the validity of these results. If there is no table or figure for a particular result, include details about how you obtained the result from the data you’ve gathered.
5. Clearly label your tables and figures – Make sure your tables & figures are 100% accurate and consistent throughout your dissertation. Summarize your statistical analysis methods to show how you jumped from the data you’ve gathered to the findings you’re displaying. Make sure to also report the actual p values for all your primary analyses if you are completing quantitative analyses and using test of statistical significance.
6. Stay within the correct English language guidelines – Since your Results chapter discusses results you’ve already analyzed and confirmed, you should make sure to use the past tense. Refer to this article for more information on using other English language tools for academic purposes.
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