Results and Discussions

Results and Discussions
Results
The Results should answer the following questions:
1. What did I find?

2. What did I not find?
3. What did I find that I was not expecting to find? (e.g. that contradicts my
hypotheses)
A typical structure is to follow the order you used for the protocols or procedures
in your Methods. You then use figures and tables to sequence the answers to the
above questions.
The most common way to begin results is to simply go directly to your

results, often by inviting readers to look at one of your figures or tables,
either in the first sentence or very shortly after:
e.g. Figure 1 shows the mass spectra obtained from an analysis of the two
residues. The first residue reveals a .. (Fig. 1a)
A total of 34 wheat genotypes (Table 1) were screened for
To make a self-assessment of your Results section, you can ask yourself the
following questions.
* Have I expressed myself as clearly as possible, so that the contribution that my

results give stands out for the referees and readers?
* Have I limited myself to only reporting the key result or trends that each figure
and table conveys, rather than reiterating each value?
* Have I avoided drawing conclusions? (this is only true when the Results is an
independent section)
* Have I chosen the best format to present my data (e.g. figure or table)? Have I
ensured that this is no redundancy between the various figures and tables?
* Have I ensured that my tables of results are comprehensive in the sense that
they do not exclusively include points that prove my point?
* Have I mentioned only what my readers specifically need to know and what I
will subsequently refer to in the Discussion?
* Have I mentioned any parts of my methodology (e.g. selection and sampling
procedures) that could have affected my results?
* Have I used tenses correctly? past simple for your findings (in the passive
form), present simple (descriptions of established scientific fact)
Discussion
The following questions form the template to follow in discussion:
Do my data support what I set out to demonstrate at the beginning of the

paper?
How do my findings compare with what others have found? How consistent
are they?
What is my personal interpretation of my findings?
What other possible interpretations are there?
What are the limitations of my study? What other factors could have
influenced my findings? Have I reported everything that could make my
findings invalid?
Do any of the interpretations reveal a possible flaw (i.e. defect, error) in my

experiment?
Do my interpretations contribute some new understanding of the problem

that I have
investigated? In which case do they suggest a shortcoming in, or an
advance on, the work of others?
What possible implications or applications do my findings have? What

support can I give for such implications?
How to begin discussion:
(1) Remind readers of your goals, preferably in a single sentence:

i.e. One of the main goals of this experiment was to attempt to find a way to
predict who shows more task persistence.
(2) Refer back to the questions (hypotheses, predictions etc.) that you posed in
your
introduction:
i.e. These results both negate and support some of the hypotheses. It was
predicted that greater perfectionism scores would result in greater task
persistence, but this turned out not to be the case.
(3) Refer back to papers you cited in your Review of the Literature:
i.e. Previous studies conflict with the data presented in the Results: it was more
common for any type of feedback to impact participants than no feedback
(Shanab et al., 1981; Elawar &
Corno, 1985).
(4) Briefly restate the most important points from your Results:
i.e. While not all of the results were signifiant, the overall direction of results
showed trends that could be helpful to learning about who is more likely to
persist and what could influence
persistence.
How to end discussion
what your findings imply?
what your recommendations are?
how your research could be continued?
How can I assess the quality of my Discussion?
Is my contribution to the knowledge gap clear? Have I underlined the

significance of my findings? Have I explained what I believe to be new and
important very clearly but without exaggerating? Have I ensured that I
have not over-interpreted my results (i.e. attributed interpretations to
them that cannot actually be supported)?
Have I truly interpreted my results, rather than just reiterating them? Have
I shown the relationship (confirmation or rejection) between my results and
my original hypothesis? Have I generated new theory rather than simply
giving descriptions?
Is there a good balance, rather than being a one-sided version? Have I

really offered alternative explanations?
Have I clearly distinguished fact from speculation? Will the reader easily be
able to understand when I am merely suggesting a possible interpretation
rather than providing conclusive evidence for something?
Have I ensured that there is no bias in my research? (i.e. I have not hidden
any of my data or any unexpected results, simply because they do not
confirm what I was hoping to find)
Have I included those works in the literature that do not corroborate my

findings? Likewise, have I avoided distorting the magnitude or direction of
the data of the literature that I have selected? (i.e. I have made sure that I
have not committed publication bias)
Have I discussed my findings in the context of what I said in the
Introduction? Have I exploited my Review of the Literature?
Have I integrated my results with previous research (including my own) in

order to explain what I observed or found?
Have my criticisms of the literature been justified and constructive?
Have I ensured that I have not introduced any new findings (i.e. findings
not mentioned in the Results)?
Are all the statements I have made in the text supported by the data
contained in my figures and tables?
Have I removed any trivial information? Have I been as concise as

possible?

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Results and Discussions

The Results should answer the following questions:

1. What did I find?

The most common way to begin results is to simply go directly to your

* Have I expressed myself as clearly as possible, so that the contribution that my

The following questions form the template to follow in discussion:

Do my data support what I set out to demonstrate at the beginning of the

What is my personal interpretation of my findings?

What other possible interpretations are there?

Do any of the interpretations reveal a possible flaw (i.e. defect, error) in my

Do my interpretations contribute some new understanding of the problem

What possible implications or applications do my findings have? What

How to begin discussion:

(1) Remind readers of your goals, preferably in a single sentence:

How to end discussion

what your findings imply?

what your recommendations are?

how your research could be continued?

How can I assess the quality of my Discussion?

Is my contribution to the knowledge gap clear? Have I underlined the

Is there a good balance, rather than being a one-sided version? Have I

Have I included those works in the literature that do not corroborate my

Have I integrated my results with previous research (including my own) in

Have my criticisms of the literature been justified and constructive?

Have I removed any trivial information? Have I been as concise as

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