HOW TO PRESENT THE RESULTS

OF THE RESEARCH

The 'Results' often may be the shortest section of your paper. If your method section has described clearly how the investigation or tests were conducted, the results section has only to present the findings and briefly comment on them.

Some writers call this section ‘Results and Discussion’, thus indicating more extensive comments on the findings of the study. In this unit we will analyze:

· ways of presenting the findings and information elements conventionally included in this section

· language conventions of describing the findings

· ways to avoid gender-offensive language in your writing

Information Conventions

The results section of the report presents the findings of the study in both figures and in written text. Figures (graphs, tables and diagrams) present the complete findings in numerical terms, while the accompanying text helps the reader to focus on the most important aspects of the results and to interpret them. Computers have radically changed the world of graphics. Now, almost anyone with a keyboard, a mouse and the right software can quickly produce illustrations that used to take hours to construct. Because readers expect graphics to accompany text, you must respond to this need. When designing the illustrations that will make the strongest contribution to your paper, be certain to select the most effective form. When you use tables or figures, be certain to mention all of them in the text. Refer to all tables as tables and to all graphs, pictures or drawings as figures. Tables and figures supplement the text; they cannot do the entire job of communication. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures, and provide explanation.

Illustrations come in many forms. Among the many types, these six are often used in presenting research findings: (1) pie charts, (2) bar charts, (3) line charts, (4) flowcharts, (5) organization charts, (6) tables (guidelines for using each type see Pfeiffer, 1994). In this unit we concentrate on text mainly, which usually consists of three main information elements.

In the following selection from the field of foreign language education, the conventional information elements of the text have been identified for you. Look through the text and answer the questions that follow.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

A COMPARISON OF ACHIEVEMENT

Findings

Percentile Scores

Figure 1. Mean percentile scores by MLA subtest: French

(Weissberg. & Buker, 1990, p. 137)

1. Which sentences present the most important findings?

2. Which findings from the study are described numerically in the text?

3. Do you find bar charts illustrating the findings helpful?

The example just shown is typical of results sections in research reports in many fields. As you can see, this section consists of three basic elements of information:

Element 1:a statement that locates the figure(s) where the results can be found

Element 2:statements that present the most important findings