reporting for research results

• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• 7. The Results
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Applying Critical Thinking
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

The results section is where you report the findings of your study based upon the methodology [or methodologies] you applied to gather information. The results section should state the findings of the research arranged in a logical sequence without bias or interpretation. A section describing results should be particularly detailed if your paper includes data generated from your own research.

Annesley, Thomas M. "Show Your Cards: The Results Section and the Poker Game." Clinical Chemistry 56 (July 2010): 1066-1070.

Importance of a Good Results Section

When formulating the results section, it's important to remember that the results of a study do not prove anything . Findings can only confirm or reject the hypothesis underpinning your study. However, the act of articulating the results helps you to understand the problem from within, to break it into pieces, and to view the research problem from various perspectives.

The page length of this section is set by the amount and types of data to be reported . Be concise. Use non-textual elements appropriately, such as figures and tables, to present findings more effectively. In deciding what data to describe in your results section, you must clearly distinguish information that would normally be included in a research paper from any raw data or other content that could be included as an appendix. In general, raw data that has not been summarized should not be included in the main text of your paper unless requested to do so by your professor.

Avoid providing data that is not critical to answering the research question . The background information you described in the introduction section should provide the reader with any additional context or explanation needed to understand the results. A good strategy is to always re-read the background section of your paper after you have written up your results to ensure that the reader has enough context to understand the results [and, later, how you interpreted the results in the discussion section of your paper that follows].

Bavdekar, Sandeep B. and Sneha Chandak. "Results: Unraveling the Findings." Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 63 (September 2015): 44-46; Brett, Paul. "A Genre Analysis of the Results Section of Sociology Articles." English for Specific Speakers 13 (1994): 47-59; Go to English for Specific Purposes on ScienceDirect;Burton, Neil et al. Doing Your Education Research Project . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2008; Results. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Kretchmer, Paul. Twelve Steps to Writing an Effective Results Section. San Francisco Edit; "Reporting Findings." In Making Sense of Social Research Malcolm Williams, editor. (London;: SAGE Publications, 2003) pp. 188-207.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Organization and Approach

For most research papers in the social and behavioral sciences, there are two possible ways of organizing the results . Both approaches are appropriate in how you report your findings, but use only one approach.

• Present a synopsis of the results followed by an explanation of key findings . This approach can be used to highlight important findings. For example, you may have noticed an unusual correlation between two variables during the analysis of your findings. It is appropriate to highlight this finding in the results section. However, speculating as to why this correlation exists and offering a hypothesis about what may be happening belongs in the discussion section of your paper.
• Present a result and then explain it, before presenting the next result then explaining it, and so on, then end with an overall synopsis . This is the preferred approach if you have multiple results of equal significance. It is more common in longer papers because it helps the reader to better understand each finding. In this model, it is helpful to provide a brief conclusion that ties each of the findings together and provides a narrative bridge to the discussion section of the your paper.

NOTE:   Just as the literature review should be arranged under conceptual categories rather than systematically describing each source, you should also organize your findings under key themes related to addressing the research problem. This can be done under either format noted above [i.e., a thorough explanation of the key results or a sequential, thematic description and explanation of each finding].

II.  Content

In general, the content of your results section should include the following:

• Introductory context for understanding the results by restating the research problem underpinning your study . This is useful in re-orientating the reader's focus back to the research problem after having read a review of the literature and your explanation of the methods used for gathering and analyzing information.
• Inclusion of non-textual elements, such as, figures, charts, photos, maps, tables, etc. to further illustrate key findings, if appropriate . Rather than relying entirely on descriptive text, consider how your findings can be presented visually. This is a helpful way of condensing a lot of data into one place that can then be referred to in the text. Consider referring to appendices if there is a lot of non-textual elements.
• A systematic description of your results, highlighting for the reader observations that are most relevant to the topic under investigation . Not all results that emerge from the methodology used to gather information may be related to answering the " So What? " question. Do not confuse observations with interpretations; observations in this context refers to highlighting important findings you discovered through a process of reviewing prior literature and gathering data.
• The page length of your results section is guided by the amount and types of data to be reported . However, focus on findings that are important and related to addressing the research problem. It is not uncommon to have unanticipated results that are not relevant to answering the research question. This is not to say that you don't acknowledge tangential findings and, in fact, can be referred to as areas for further research in the conclusion of your paper. However, spending time in the results section describing tangential findings clutters your overall results section and distracts the reader.
• A short paragraph that concludes the results section by synthesizing the key findings of the study . Highlight the most important findings you want readers to remember as they transition into the discussion section. This is particularly important if, for example, there are many results to report, the findings are complicated or unanticipated, or they are impactful or actionable in some way [i.e., able to be pursued in a feasible way applied to practice].

NOTE:   Always use the past tense when referring to your study's findings. Reference to findings should always be described as having already happened because the method used to gather the information has been completed.

III.  Problems to Avoid

When writing the results section, avoid doing the following :

• Discussing or interpreting your results . Save this for the discussion section of your paper, although where appropriate, you should compare or contrast specific results to those found in other studies [e.g., "Similar to the work of Smith [1990], one of the findings of this study is the strong correlation between motivation and academic achievement...."].
• Reporting background information or attempting to explain your findings. This should have been done in your introduction section, but don't panic! Often the results of a study point to the need for additional background information or to explain the topic further, so don't think you did something wrong. Writing up research is rarely a linear process. Always revise your introduction as needed.
• Ignoring negative results . A negative result generally refers to a finding that does not support the underlying assumptions of your study. Do not ignore them. Document these findings and then state in your discussion section why you believe a negative result emerged from your study. Note that negative results, and how you handle them, can give you an opportunity to write a more engaging discussion section, therefore, don't be hesitant to highlight them.
• Including raw data or intermediate calculations . Ask your professor if you need to include any raw data generated by your study, such as transcripts from interviews or data files. If raw data is to be included, place it in an appendix or set of appendices that are referred to in the text.
• Be as factual and concise as possible in reporting your findings . Do not use phrases that are vague or non-specific, such as, "appeared to be greater than other variables..." or "demonstrates promising trends that...." Subjective modifiers should be explained in the discussion section of the paper [i.e., why did one variable appear greater? Or, how does the finding demonstrate a promising trend?].
• Presenting the same data or repeating the same information more than once . If you want to highlight a particular finding, it is appropriate to do so in the results section. However, you should emphasize its significance in relation to addressing the research problem in the discussion section. Do not repeat it in your results section because you can do that in the conclusion of your paper.
• Confusing figures with tables . Be sure to properly label any non-textual elements in your paper. Don't call a chart an illustration or a figure a table. If you are not sure, go here .

Annesley, Thomas M. "Show Your Cards: The Results Section and the Poker Game." Clinical Chemistry 56 (July 2010): 1066-1070; Bavdekar, Sandeep B. and Sneha Chandak. "Results: Unraveling the Findings." Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 63 (September 2015): 44-46; Burton, Neil et al. Doing Your Education Research Project . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2008;  Caprette, David R. Writing Research Papers. Experimental Biosciences Resources. Rice University; Hancock, Dawson R. and Bob Algozzine. Doing Case Study Research: A Practical Guide for Beginning Researchers . 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press, 2011; Introduction to Nursing Research: Reporting Research Findings. Nursing Research: Open Access Nursing Research and Review Articles. (January 4, 2012); Kretchmer, Paul. Twelve Steps to Writing an Effective Results Section. San Francisco Edit ; Ng, K. H. and W. C. Peh. "Writing the Results." Singapore Medical Journal 49 (2008): 967-968; Reporting Research Findings. Wilder Research, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Services. (February 2009); Results. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Schafer, Mickey S. Writing the Results. Thesis Writing in the Sciences. Course Syllabus. University of Florida.

Writing Tip

Why Don't I Just Combine the Results Section with the Discussion Section?

It's not unusual to find articles in scholarly social science journals where the author(s) have combined a description of the findings with a discussion about their significance and implications. You could do this. However, if you are inexperienced writing research papers, consider creating two distinct sections for each section in your paper as a way to better organize your thoughts and, by extension, your paper. Think of the results section as the place where you report what your study found; think of the discussion section as the place where you interpret the information and answer the "So What?" question. As you become more skilled writing research papers, you can consider melding the results of your study with a discussion of its implications.

Driscoll, Dana Lynn and Aleksandra Kasztalska. Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University.

• << Previous: Insiderness
• Next: Using Non-Textual Elements >>
• Last Updated: Aug 13, 2024 12:57 PM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Generate accurate APA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• APA Style 7th edition
• Reporting Statistics in APA Style | Guidelines & Examples

Reporting Statistics in APA Style | Guidelines & Examples

Published on April 1, 2021 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on January 17, 2024.

The APA Publication Manual is commonly used for reporting research results in the social and natural sciences. This article walks you through APA Style standards for reporting statistics in academic writing.

Statistical analysis involves gathering and testing quantitative data to make inferences about the world. A statistic is any number that describes a sample : it can be a proportion, a range , or a measurement, among other things.

When reporting statistics, use these formatting rules and suggestions from APA where relevant.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Numbers and measurements, decimal places and leading zeros, formatting mathematical formulas, formatting statistical terms, reporting means and standard deviations, reporting chi-square tests, reporting z tests and t tests, reporting analysis of variance (anovas), reporting correlations, reporting regressions, reporting confidence intervals, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about apa style statistics.

In general, APA advises using words for numbers under 10 and numerals for 10 and greater . However, always spell out a number that appears at the start of a sentence (or rephrase).

You should always use numerals for:

• Exact numbers before units of measurement or time
• Mathematical equations
• Percentages and percentiles
• Ratios, decimals, and uncommon fractions
• Scores and points on scales (e.g., 7-point scale)
• Exact amounts of money

Units of measurement and time

Report exact measurements using numerals, and use symbols or abbreviations for common units of measurement when they accompany exact measurements. Include a space between the number and the abbreviation.

When stating approximate figures, use words to express numbers under 10, and spell out the names of units of measurement.

• The ball weighed 7 kg.
• The ball weighed approximately seven kilograms.

Measurements should be reported in metric units. If you recorded measurements in non-metric units, include metric equivalents in your report as well as the original units.

Percentages

Use numerals for percentages along with the percent symbol (%). Don’t insert a space between the number and the symbol.

Words for “percent” or “percentage” should only be used in text when numbers aren’t used, or when a percentage appears at the start of a sentence.

• Of these respondents, 15% agreed with the statement.
• Fifteen percent of respondents agreed with the statement.
• The percentage was higher in 2020.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The number of decimal places to report depends on what you’re reporting. Generally, you should aim to round numbers while retaining precision. It’s best to present fewer decimal digits to aid easy understanding.

The following guidelines are usually applicable.

Use two or three decimal places and report exact values for all p values greater than .001. For p values smaller than .001, report them as p < .001.

Leading zeros

A leading zero is zero before the decimal point for numbers less than one. In APA Style, it’s only used in some cases.

Use a leading zero only when the statistic you’re describing can be greater than one. If it can never exceed one, omit the leading zero.

• Consumers reported high satisfaction with the services ( M = 4.1, SD = 0.8).
• The correlation was medium-sized ( r = .35).
• Although significant results were obtained, the effect was relatively small ( p = .015, d = 0.11).

Provide formulas only when you use new or uncommon equations. For short equations, present them within one line in the main text whenever possible.

Make the order of operations as clear as possible by using parentheses (round brackets) for the first step, brackets [square brackets] for the second step, and braces {curly brackets} for the third step, where necessary.

More complex equations, or equations that take more than one line, should be displayed on their own lines. Equations should be displayed and numbered if you will reference them later on, regardless of their complexity. Number equations by placing the numbers in parentheses near the right edge of the page.

When reporting statistical results , present information in easily understandable ways. You can use a mix of text, tables, and figures to present data effectively when you have a lot of numbers to report.

In your main text, use helpful words like “respectively” or “in order”  to aid understanding when listing several statistics in a sequence.

The APA manual provides guidelines for dealing with statistical terms, symbols and abbreviations.

Symbols and abbreviations

Population parameters are often represented with Greek letters, while sample statistics are often represented with italicized Latin letters.

Use the population symbol ( N ) for the total number of elements in a sample, and use the sample symbol ( n ) for the number of elements in each subgroup of the full sample.

In general, abbreviations should be defined on first use, but this isn’t always the case for common statistical abbreviations.

Capitalization, italicization and hyphenation

Statistical terms such as t test, z test, and p value always begin with a lowercase, italicized letter. Never begin a sentence with lowercase statistical abbreviations.

These statistical terms should only be hyphenated when they modify a subsequent word (e.g., “ z -test results” versus results of “ z tests”).

You can form plurals of statistical symbols (e.g., M or p ) by adding a non-italicized “s” to the end with no apostrophe (e.g., M s or p s).

In general, the following guidelines apply.

Parentheses vs. brackets

Always aim to avoid nested parentheses and brackets when reporting statistics. Instead, you should use commas to separate related statistics.

• Scores improved between the pretest and posttest ( p < .001).
• Significant differences in test scores were recorded, F (1, 30) = 4.67, p = .003.
• (A previous meta-analysis highlighted low effect sizes [ d = 0.1] in the field).

Are your APA in-text citations flawless?

The AI-powered APA Citation Checker points out every error, tells you exactly what’s wrong, and explains how to fix it. Say goodbye to losing marks on your assignment!

Get started!

Report descriptive statistics to summarize your data. Quantitative data is often reported using means and standard deviations, while categorical data (e.g., demographic variables) is reported using proportions.

Means and standard deviations can be presented in the main text and/or in parentheses. You don’t need to repeat the units of measurement (e.g., centimeters) for statistics relating to the same data.

• Average sample height was 136.4 cm ( SD = 15.1).
• The height of the initial sample was relatively low ( M = 125.9 cm, SD = 16.6).
• Height significantly varied between children aged 5–7, 8–10, and 11–13. The means were 115.3, 133.5, and 149.1 cm, respectively.

To report the results of a chi-square test , include the following:

• the degrees of freedom ( df ) in parentheses
• the chi-square (Χ 2 ) value (also referred to as the chi-square test statistic)
• the p value
• A chi-square test of independence revealed a significant association between gender and product preference, Χ 2 (8) = 19.7, p = .012.
• Based on a chi-square test of goodness of fit , Χ 2 (4) = 11.34, p = .023, the sample’s distribution of religious affiliations matched that of the population’s.

For z tests

To report the results of a z test, include the following:

• the z value (also referred to as the z statistic or z score)
• The participants’ scores were higher than the population average, z = 2.48, p = .013.
• Higher scores were obtained on the new 20-item scale compared to the previous 40-item scale, z = 2.67, p = .007.

For t tests

To report the results of a t test , include the following:

• the t value (also referred to as the t statistic)
• Older adults experienced significantly more loneliness than younger adults, t (32) = 2.94, p = .006.
• Reaction times were significantly faster for mice in the experimental condition, t (53) = 5.94, p < .001.

To report the results of an ANOVA , include the following:

• the degrees of freedom (between groups, within groups) in parentheses
• the F value (also referred to as the F statistic)
• A one-way ANOVA demonstrated that the effect of leadership style was significant for employee engagement, F (2, 78) = 4.58, p = .013.
• We found a statistically significant main effect of age group on social media use, F (3, 117) = 3.19, p = .026.

To report the results of a correlation, include the following:

• the degrees of freedom in parentheses
• the r value (the correlation coefficient)
• We found a strong correlation between average temperature and new daily cases of COVID-19, r (357) = .42, p < .001.

Results of regression analyses are often displayed in a table because the output includes many numbers.

To report the results of a regression analysis in the text, include the following:

• the R 2 value (the coefficient of determination)

The format is usually:

• SAT scores predicted college GPA, R 2 = .34, F (1, 416) = 6.71, p = .009.

You should report confidence intervals of effect sizes (e.g., Cohen’s d ) or point estimates where relevant.

To report a confidence interval, state the confidence level and use brackets to enclose the lower and upper limits of the confidence interval, separated by a comma.

• Older adults experienced significantly more loneliness than younger adults, t (32) = 2.94, p = .006, d = 0.81, 95% CI [0.6, 1.02].
• On average, the treatment resulted in a 30% reduction in migraine frequency, 99% CI [26.5, 33.5].

When presenting multiple confidence intervals with the same confidence levels in a sequence, don’t repeat the confidence level or the word “CI.”

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Chi square test of independence
• Statistical power
• Descriptive statistics
• Degrees of freedom
• Pearson correlation
• Null hypothesis

Methodology

• Double-blind study
• Case-control study
• Research ethics
• Data collection
• Hypothesis testing
• Structured interviews

Research bias

• Hawthorne effect
• Unconscious bias
• Recall bias
• Halo effect
• Self-serving bias
• Information bias

According to the APA guidelines, you should report enough detail on inferential statistics so that your readers understand your analyses.

Report the following for each hypothesis test:

• the test statistic value
• the degrees of freedom
• the exact p value (unless it is less than 0.001)
• the magnitude and direction of the effect

You should also present confidence intervals and estimates of effect sizes where relevant.

Use one decimal place for:

• Standard deviations
• Descriptive statistics based on discrete data

Use two decimal places for:

• Correlation coefficients
• Proportions
• Inferential test statistics such as t values, F values, and chi-squares.

In APA style, statistics can be presented in the main text or as tables or figures . To decide how to present numbers, you can follow APA guidelines:

• To present three or fewer numbers, try a sentence,
• To present between 4 and 20 numbers, try a table,
• To present more than 20 numbers, try a figure.

Since these are general guidelines, use your own judgment and feedback from others for effective presentation of numbers.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Bhandari, P. (2024, January 17). Reporting Statistics in APA Style | Guidelines & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 13, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/numbers-and-statistics/

Is this article helpful?

Pritha Bhandari

Other students also liked, how to write an apa results section, how to write an apa methods section, apa format for academic papers and essays, scribbr apa citation checker.

An innovative new tool that checks your APA citations with AI software. Say goodbye to inaccurate citations!

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 11: Presenting Your Research

Writing a Research Report in American Psychological Association (APA) Style

Learning Objectives

• Identify the major sections of an APA-style research report and the basic contents of each section.
• Plan and write an effective APA-style research report.

In this section, we look at how to write an APA-style empirical research report , an article that presents the results of one or more new studies. Recall that the standard sections of an empirical research report provide a kind of outline. Here we consider each of these sections in detail, including what information it contains, how that information is formatted and organized, and tips for writing each section. At the end of this section is a sample APA-style research report that illustrates many of these principles.

Sections of a Research Report

Title page and abstract.

An APA-style research report begins with a  title page . The title is centred in the upper half of the page, with each important word capitalized. The title should clearly and concisely (in about 12 words or fewer) communicate the primary variables and research questions. This sometimes requires a main title followed by a subtitle that elaborates on the main title, in which case the main title and subtitle are separated by a colon. Here are some titles from recent issues of professional journals published by the American Psychological Association.

• Sex Differences in Coping Styles and Implications for Depressed Mood
• Effects of Aging and Divided Attention on Memory for Items and Their Contexts
• Computer-Assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Child Anxiety: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial
• Virtual Driving and Risk Taking: Do Racing Games Increase Risk-Taking Cognitions, Affect, and Behaviour?

Below the title are the authors’ names and, on the next line, their institutional affiliation—the university or other institution where the authors worked when they conducted the research. As we have already seen, the authors are listed in an order that reflects their contribution to the research. When multiple authors have made equal contributions to the research, they often list their names alphabetically or in a randomly determined order.

In some areas of psychology, the titles of many empirical research reports are informal in a way that is perhaps best described as “cute.” They usually take the form of a play on words or a well-known expression that relates to the topic under study. Here are some examples from recent issues of the Journal Psychological Science .

• “Smells Like Clean Spirit: Nonconscious Effects of Scent on Cognition and Behavior”
• “Time Crawls: The Temporal Resolution of Infants’ Visual Attention”
• “Scent of a Woman: Men’s Testosterone Responses to Olfactory Ovulation Cues”
• “Apocalypse Soon?: Dire Messages Reduce Belief in Global Warming by Contradicting Just-World Beliefs”
• “Serial vs. Parallel Processing: Sometimes They Look Like Tweedledum and Tweedledee but They Can (and Should) Be Distinguished”
• “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Words: The Social Effects of Expressive Writing”

Individual researchers differ quite a bit in their preference for such titles. Some use them regularly, while others never use them. What might be some of the pros and cons of using cute article titles?

For articles that are being submitted for publication, the title page also includes an author note that lists the authors’ full institutional affiliations, any acknowledgments the authors wish to make to agencies that funded the research or to colleagues who commented on it, and contact information for the authors. For student papers that are not being submitted for publication—including theses—author notes are generally not necessary.

The  abstract  is a summary of the study. It is the second page of the manuscript and is headed with the word  Abstract . The first line is not indented. The abstract presents the research question, a summary of the method, the basic results, and the most important conclusions. Because the abstract is usually limited to about 200 words, it can be a challenge to write a good one.

Introduction

The  introduction  begins on the third page of the manuscript. The heading at the top of this page is the full title of the manuscript, with each important word capitalized as on the title page. The introduction includes three distinct subsections, although these are typically not identified by separate headings. The opening introduces the research question and explains why it is interesting, the literature review discusses relevant previous research, and the closing restates the research question and comments on the method used to answer it.

The Opening

The  opening , which is usually a paragraph or two in length, introduces the research question and explains why it is interesting. To capture the reader’s attention, researcher Daryl Bem recommends starting with general observations about the topic under study, expressed in ordinary language (not technical jargon)—observations that are about people and their behaviour (not about researchers or their research; Bem, 2003 [1] ). Concrete examples are often very useful here. According to Bem, this would be a poor way to begin a research report:

Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance received a great deal of attention during the latter part of the 20th century (p. 191)

The following would be much better:

The individual who holds two beliefs that are inconsistent with one another may feel uncomfortable. For example, the person who knows that he or she enjoys smoking but believes it to be unhealthy may experience discomfort arising from the inconsistency or disharmony between these two thoughts or cognitions. This feeling of discomfort was called cognitive dissonance by social psychologist Leon Festinger (1957), who suggested that individuals will be motivated to remove this dissonance in whatever way they can (p. 191).

After capturing the reader’s attention, the opening should go on to introduce the research question and explain why it is interesting. Will the answer fill a gap in the literature? Will it provide a test of an important theory? Does it have practical implications? Giving readers a clear sense of what the research is about and why they should care about it will motivate them to continue reading the literature review—and will help them make sense of it.

Breaking the Rules

Researcher Larry Jacoby reported several studies showing that a word that people see or hear repeatedly can seem more familiar even when they do not recall the repetitions—and that this tendency is especially pronounced among older adults. He opened his article with the following humourous anecdote:

A friend whose mother is suffering symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) tells the story of taking her mother to visit a nursing home, preliminary to her mother’s moving there. During an orientation meeting at the nursing home, the rules and regulations were explained, one of which regarded the dining room. The dining room was described as similar to a fine restaurant except that tipping was not required. The absence of tipping was a central theme in the orientation lecture, mentioned frequently to emphasize the quality of care along with the advantages of having paid in advance. At the end of the meeting, the friend’s mother was asked whether she had any questions. She replied that she only had one question: “Should I tip?” (Jacoby, 1999, p. 3)

Although both humour and personal anecdotes are generally discouraged in APA-style writing, this example is a highly effective way to start because it both engages the reader and provides an excellent real-world example of the topic under study.

The Literature Review

Immediately after the opening comes the  literature review , which describes relevant previous research on the topic and can be anywhere from several paragraphs to several pages in length. However, the literature review is not simply a list of past studies. Instead, it constitutes a kind of argument for why the research question is worth addressing. By the end of the literature review, readers should be convinced that the research question makes sense and that the present study is a logical next step in the ongoing research process.

Like any effective argument, the literature review must have some kind of structure. For example, it might begin by describing a phenomenon in a general way along with several studies that demonstrate it, then describing two or more competing theories of the phenomenon, and finally presenting a hypothesis to test one or more of the theories. Or it might describe one phenomenon, then describe another phenomenon that seems inconsistent with the first one, then propose a theory that resolves the inconsistency, and finally present a hypothesis to test that theory. In applied research, it might describe a phenomenon or theory, then describe how that phenomenon or theory applies to some important real-world situation, and finally suggest a way to test whether it does, in fact, apply to that situation.

Looking at the literature review in this way emphasizes a few things. First, it is extremely important to start with an outline of the main points that you want to make, organized in the order that you want to make them. The basic structure of your argument, then, should be apparent from the outline itself. Second, it is important to emphasize the structure of your argument in your writing. One way to do this is to begin the literature review by summarizing your argument even before you begin to make it. “In this article, I will describe two apparently contradictory phenomena, present a new theory that has the potential to resolve the apparent contradiction, and finally present a novel hypothesis to test the theory.” Another way is to open each paragraph with a sentence that summarizes the main point of the paragraph and links it to the preceding points. These opening sentences provide the “transitions” that many beginning researchers have difficulty with. Instead of beginning a paragraph by launching into a description of a previous study, such as “Williams (2004) found that…,” it is better to start by indicating something about why you are describing this particular study. Here are some simple examples:

Another example of this phenomenon comes from the work of Williams (2004).

Williams (2004) offers one explanation of this phenomenon.

An alternative perspective has been provided by Williams (2004).

We used a method based on the one used by Williams (2004).

Finally, remember that your goal is to construct an argument for why your research question is interesting and worth addressing—not necessarily why your favourite answer to it is correct. In other words, your literature review must be balanced. If you want to emphasize the generality of a phenomenon, then of course you should discuss various studies that have demonstrated it. However, if there are other studies that have failed to demonstrate it, you should discuss them too. Or if you are proposing a new theory, then of course you should discuss findings that are consistent with that theory. However, if there are other findings that are inconsistent with it, again, you should discuss them too. It is acceptable to argue that the  balance  of the research supports the existence of a phenomenon or is consistent with a theory (and that is usually the best that researchers in psychology can hope for), but it is not acceptable to  ignore contradictory evidence. Besides, a large part of what makes a research question interesting is uncertainty about its answer.

The Closing

The  closing  of the introduction—typically the final paragraph or two—usually includes two important elements. The first is a clear statement of the main research question or hypothesis. This statement tends to be more formal and precise than in the opening and is often expressed in terms of operational definitions of the key variables. The second is a brief overview of the method and some comment on its appropriateness. Here, for example, is how Darley and Latané (1968) [2] concluded the introduction to their classic article on the bystander effect:

These considerations lead to the hypothesis that the more bystanders to an emergency, the less likely, or the more slowly, any one bystander will intervene to provide aid. To test this proposition it would be necessary to create a situation in which a realistic “emergency” could plausibly occur. Each subject should also be blocked from communicating with others to prevent his getting information about their behaviour during the emergency. Finally, the experimental situation should allow for the assessment of the speed and frequency of the subjects’ reaction to the emergency. The experiment reported below attempted to fulfill these conditions. (p. 378)

Thus the introduction leads smoothly into the next major section of the article—the method section.

The  method section  is where you describe how you conducted your study. An important principle for writing a method section is that it should be clear and detailed enough that other researchers could replicate the study by following your “recipe.” This means that it must describe all the important elements of the study—basic demographic characteristics of the participants, how they were recruited, whether they were randomly assigned, how the variables were manipulated or measured, how counterbalancing was accomplished, and so on. At the same time, it should avoid irrelevant details such as the fact that the study was conducted in Classroom 37B of the Industrial Technology Building or that the questionnaire was double-sided and completed using pencils.

The method section begins immediately after the introduction ends with the heading “Method” (not “Methods”) centred on the page. Immediately after this is the subheading “Participants,” left justified and in italics. The participants subsection indicates how many participants there were, the number of women and men, some indication of their age, other demographics that may be relevant to the study, and how they were recruited, including any incentives given for participation.

After the participants section, the structure can vary a bit. Figure 11.1 shows three common approaches. In the first, the participants section is followed by a design and procedure subsection, which describes the rest of the method. This works well for methods that are relatively simple and can be described adequately in a few paragraphs. In the second approach, the participants section is followed by separate design and procedure subsections. This works well when both the design and the procedure are relatively complicated and each requires multiple paragraphs.

What is the difference between design and procedure? The design of a study is its overall structure. What were the independent and dependent variables? Was the independent variable manipulated, and if so, was it manipulated between or within subjects? How were the variables operationally defined? The procedure is how the study was carried out. It often works well to describe the procedure in terms of what the participants did rather than what the researchers did. For example, the participants gave their informed consent, read a set of instructions, completed a block of four practice trials, completed a block of 20 test trials, completed two questionnaires, and were debriefed and excused.

In the third basic way to organize a method section, the participants subsection is followed by a materials subsection before the design and procedure subsections. This works well when there are complicated materials to describe. This might mean multiple questionnaires, written vignettes that participants read and respond to, perceptual stimuli, and so on. The heading of this subsection can be modified to reflect its content. Instead of “Materials,” it can be “Questionnaires,” “Stimuli,” and so on.

The  results section  is where you present the main results of the study, including the results of the statistical analyses. Although it does not include the raw data—individual participants’ responses or scores—researchers should save their raw data and make them available to other researchers who request them. Several journals now encourage the open sharing of raw data online.

Although there are no standard subsections, it is still important for the results section to be logically organized. Typically it begins with certain preliminary issues. One is whether any participants or responses were excluded from the analyses and why. The rationale for excluding data should be described clearly so that other researchers can decide whether it is appropriate. A second preliminary issue is how multiple responses were combined to produce the primary variables in the analyses. For example, if participants rated the attractiveness of 20 stimulus people, you might have to explain that you began by computing the mean attractiveness rating for each participant. Or if they recalled as many items as they could from study list of 20 words, did you count the number correctly recalled, compute the percentage correctly recalled, or perhaps compute the number correct minus the number incorrect? A third preliminary issue is the reliability of the measures. This is where you would present test-retest correlations, Cronbach’s α, or other statistics to show that the measures are consistent across time and across items. A final preliminary issue is whether the manipulation was successful. This is where you would report the results of any manipulation checks.

The results section should then tackle the primary research questions, one at a time. Again, there should be a clear organization. One approach would be to answer the most general questions and then proceed to answer more specific ones. Another would be to answer the main question first and then to answer secondary ones. Regardless, Bem (2003) [3] suggests the following basic structure for discussing each new result:

• Remind the reader of the research question.
• Give the answer to the research question in words.
• Present the relevant statistics.
• Qualify the answer if necessary.
• Summarize the result.

Notice that only Step 3 necessarily involves numbers. The rest of the steps involve presenting the research question and the answer to it in words. In fact, the basic results should be clear even to a reader who skips over the numbers.

The  discussion  is the last major section of the research report. Discussions usually consist of some combination of the following elements:

• Summary of the research
• Theoretical implications
• Practical implications
• Limitations
• Suggestions for future research

The discussion typically begins with a summary of the study that provides a clear answer to the research question. In a short report with a single study, this might require no more than a sentence. In a longer report with multiple studies, it might require a paragraph or even two. The summary is often followed by a discussion of the theoretical implications of the research. Do the results provide support for any existing theories? If not, how  can  they be explained? Although you do not have to provide a definitive explanation or detailed theory for your results, you at least need to outline one or more possible explanations. In applied research—and often in basic research—there is also some discussion of the practical implications of the research. How can the results be used, and by whom, to accomplish some real-world goal?

The theoretical and practical implications are often followed by a discussion of the study’s limitations. Perhaps there are problems with its internal or external validity. Perhaps the manipulation was not very effective or the measures not very reliable. Perhaps there is some evidence that participants did not fully understand their task or that they were suspicious of the intent of the researchers. Now is the time to discuss these issues and how they might have affected the results. But do not overdo it. All studies have limitations, and most readers will understand that a different sample or different measures might have produced different results. Unless there is good reason to think they  would have, however, there is no reason to mention these routine issues. Instead, pick two or three limitations that seem like they could have influenced the results, explain how they could have influenced the results, and suggest ways to deal with them.

Most discussions end with some suggestions for future research. If the study did not satisfactorily answer the original research question, what will it take to do so? What  new  research questions has the study raised? This part of the discussion, however, is not just a list of new questions. It is a discussion of two or three of the most important unresolved issues. This means identifying and clarifying each question, suggesting some alternative answers, and even suggesting ways they could be studied.

Finally, some researchers are quite good at ending their articles with a sweeping or thought-provoking conclusion. Darley and Latané (1968) [4] , for example, ended their article on the bystander effect by discussing the idea that whether people help others may depend more on the situation than on their personalities. Their final sentence is, “If people understand the situational forces that can make them hesitate to intervene, they may better overcome them” (p. 383). However, this kind of ending can be difficult to pull off. It can sound overreaching or just banal and end up detracting from the overall impact of the article. It is often better simply to end when you have made your final point (although you should avoid ending on a limitation).

The references section begins on a new page with the heading “References” centred at the top of the page. All references cited in the text are then listed in the format presented earlier. They are listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author. If two sources have the same first author, they are listed alphabetically by the last name of the second author. If all the authors are the same, then they are listed chronologically by the year of publication. Everything in the reference list is double-spaced both within and between references.

Appendices, Tables, and Figures

Appendices, tables, and figures come after the references. An  appendix  is appropriate for supplemental material that would interrupt the flow of the research report if it were presented within any of the major sections. An appendix could be used to present lists of stimulus words, questionnaire items, detailed descriptions of special equipment or unusual statistical analyses, or references to the studies that are included in a meta-analysis. Each appendix begins on a new page. If there is only one, the heading is “Appendix,” centred at the top of the page. If there is more than one, the headings are “Appendix A,” “Appendix B,” and so on, and they appear in the order they were first mentioned in the text of the report.

After any appendices come tables and then figures. Tables and figures are both used to present results. Figures can also be used to illustrate theories (e.g., in the form of a flowchart), display stimuli, outline procedures, and present many other kinds of information. Each table and figure appears on its own page. Tables are numbered in the order that they are first mentioned in the text (“Table 1,” “Table 2,” and so on). Figures are numbered the same way (“Figure 1,” “Figure 2,” and so on). A brief explanatory title, with the important words capitalized, appears above each table. Each figure is given a brief explanatory caption, where (aside from proper nouns or names) only the first word of each sentence is capitalized. More details on preparing APA-style tables and figures are presented later in the book.

Sample APA-Style Research Report

Figures 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, and 11.5 show some sample pages from an APA-style empirical research report originally written by undergraduate student Tomoe Suyama at California State University, Fresno. The main purpose of these figures is to illustrate the basic organization and formatting of an APA-style empirical research report, although many high-level and low-level style conventions can be seen here too.

Key Takeaways

• An APA-style empirical research report consists of several standard sections. The main ones are the abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references.
• The introduction consists of an opening that presents the research question, a literature review that describes previous research on the topic, and a closing that restates the research question and comments on the method. The literature review constitutes an argument for why the current study is worth doing.
• The method section describes the method in enough detail that another researcher could replicate the study. At a minimum, it consists of a participants subsection and a design and procedure subsection.
• The results section describes the results in an organized fashion. Each primary result is presented in terms of statistical results but also explained in words.
• The discussion typically summarizes the study, discusses theoretical and practical implications and limitations of the study, and offers suggestions for further research.
• Practice: Look through an issue of a general interest professional journal (e.g.,  Psychological Science ). Read the opening of the first five articles and rate the effectiveness of each one from 1 ( very ineffective ) to 5 ( very effective ). Write a sentence or two explaining each rating.
• Practice: Find a recent article in a professional journal and identify where the opening, literature review, and closing of the introduction begin and end.
• Practice: Find a recent article in a professional journal and highlight in a different colour each of the following elements in the discussion: summary, theoretical implications, practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

Long Descriptions

Figure 11.1 long description: Table showing three ways of organizing an APA-style method section.

In the simple method, there are two subheadings: “Participants” (which might begin “The participants were…”) and “Design and procedure” (which might begin “There were three conditions…”).

In the typical method, there are three subheadings: “Participants” (“The participants were…”), “Design” (“There were three conditions…”), and “Procedure” (“Participants viewed each stimulus on the computer screen…”).

In the complex method, there are four subheadings: “Participants” (“The participants were…”), “Materials” (“The stimuli were…”), “Design” (“There were three conditions…”), and “Procedure” (“Participants viewed each stimulus on the computer screen…”). [Return to Figure 11.1]

• Bem, D. J. (2003). Writing the empirical journal article. In J. M. Darley, M. P. Zanna, & H. R. Roediger III (Eds.),  The compleat academic: A practical guide for the beginning social scientist  (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ↵
• Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4 , 377–383. ↵

A type of research article which describes one or more new empirical studies conducted by the authors.

The page at the beginning of an APA-style research report containing the title of the article, the authors’ names, and their institutional affiliation.

A summary of a research study.

The third page of a manuscript containing the research question, the literature review, and comments about how to answer the research question.

An introduction to the research question and explanation for why this question is interesting.

A description of relevant previous research on the topic being discusses and an argument for why the research is worth addressing.

The end of the introduction, where the research question is reiterated and the method is commented upon.

The section of a research report where the method used to conduct the study is described.

The main results of the study, including the results from statistical analyses, are presented in a research article.

Section of a research report that summarizes the study's results and interprets them by referring back to the study's theoretical background.

Part of a research report which contains supplemental material.

Research Methods in Psychology - 2nd Canadian Edition Copyright © 2015 by Paul C. Price, Rajiv Jhangiani, & I-Chant A. Chiang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings
• My Bibliography
• Collections
• Citation manager

Save citation to file

Email citation, add to collections.

• Create a new collection
• Add to an existing collection

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search, create a file for external citation management software, your rss feed.

• Search in PubMed
• Search in NLM Catalog
• Add to Search

How to Write an Effective Results Section

Affiliation.

• 1 Rothman Orthopaedics Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
• PMID: 31145152
• DOI: 10.1097/BSD.0000000000000845

Developing a well-written research paper is an important step in completing a scientific study. This paper is where the principle investigator and co-authors report the purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions of the study. A key element of writing a research paper is to clearly and objectively report the study's findings in the Results section. The Results section is where the authors inform the readers about the findings from the statistical analysis of the data collected to operationalize the study hypothesis, optimally adding novel information to the collective knowledge on the subject matter. By utilizing clear, concise, and well-organized writing techniques and visual aids in the reporting of the data, the author is able to construct a case for the research question at hand even without interpreting the data.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• Rules to be adopted for publishing a scientific paper. Picardi N. Picardi N. Ann Ital Chir. 2016;87:1-3. Ann Ital Chir. 2016. PMID: 28474609
• How to Write Effective Discussion and Conclusion Sections. Makar G, Foltz C, Lendner M, Vaccaro AR. Makar G, et al. Clin Spine Surg. 2018 Oct;31(8):345-346. doi: 10.1097/BSD.0000000000000687. Clin Spine Surg. 2018. PMID: 29979216
• The rites of writing papers: steps to successful publishing for psychiatrists. Brakoulias V, Macfarlane MD, Looi JC. Brakoulias V, et al. Australas Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;23(1):32-6. doi: 10.1177/1039856214560180. Epub 2014 Dec 2. Australas Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 25469001
• How to write a research paper. Alexandrov AV. Alexandrov AV. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2004;18(2):135-8. doi: 10.1159/000079266. Epub 2004 Jun 23. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2004. PMID: 15218279 Review.
• How to write an original radiological research manuscript. Bannas P, Reeder SB. Bannas P, et al. Eur Radiol. 2017 Nov;27(11):4455-4460. doi: 10.1007/s00330-017-4879-8. Epub 2017 Jun 14. Eur Radiol. 2017. PMID: 28616726 Free PMC article. Review.
• Essential Guide to Manuscript Writing for Academic Dummies: An Editor's Perspective. Aga SS, Nissar S. Aga SS, et al. Biochem Res Int. 2022 Sep 1;2022:1492058. doi: 10.1155/2022/1492058. eCollection 2022. Biochem Res Int. 2022. PMID: 36092536 Free PMC article. Review.
• Search in MeSH

LinkOut - more resources

Full text sources.

• Ovid Technologies, Inc.
• Wolters Kluwer

• Citation Manager

NCBI Literature Resources

MeSH PMC Bookshelf Disclaimer

The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited.

• Chapter Seven: Presenting Your Results

This chapter serves as the culmination of the previous chapters, in that it focuses on how to present the results of one's study, regardless of the choice made among the three methods. Writing in academics has a form and style that you will want to apply not only to report your own research, but also to enhance your skills at reading original research published in academic journals. Beyond the basic academic style of report writing, there are specific, often unwritten assumptions about how quantitative, qualitative, and critical/rhetorical studies should be organized and the information they should contain. This chapter discusses how to present your results in writing, how to write accessibly, how to visualize data, and how to present your results in person.  

• Chapter One: Introduction
• Chapter Two: Understanding the distinctions among research methods
• Chapter Three: Ethical research, writing, and creative work
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 2 - Doing Your Study)
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 3 - Making Sense of Your Study)
• Chapter Five: Qualitative Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Five: Qualitative Data (Part 2)
• Chapter Six: Critical / Rhetorical Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Six: Critical / Rhetorical Methods (Part 2)

Written Presentation of Results

Once you've gone through the process of doing communication research – using a quantitative, qualitative, or critical/rhetorical methodological approach – the final step is to  communicate  it.

The major style manuals (the APA Manual, the MLA Handbook, and Turabian) are very helpful in documenting the structure of writing a study, and are highly recommended for consultation. But, no matter what style manual you may use, there are some common elements to the structure of an academic communication research paper.

Title Page :

This is simple: Your Paper's Title, Your Name, Your Institutional Affiliation (e.g., University), and the Date, each on separate lines, centered on the page. Try to make your title both descriptive (i.e., it gives the reader an idea what the study is about) and interesting (i.e., it is catchy enough to get one's attention).

For example, the title, "The uncritical idealization of a compensated psychopath character in a popular book series," would not be an inaccurate title for a published study, but it is rather vague and exceedingly boring. That study's author fortunately chose the title, "A boyfriend to die for: Edward Cullen as compensated psychopath in Stephanie Meyer's  Twilight ," which is more precisely descriptive, and much more interesting (Merskin, 2011). The use of the colon in academic titles can help authors accomplish both objectives: a catchy but relevant phrase, followed by a more clear explanation of the article's topic.

In some instances, you might be asked to write an abstract, which is a summary of your paper that can range in length from 75 to 250 words. If it is a published paper, it is useful to include key search terms in this brief description of the paper (the title may already have a few of these terms as well). Although this may be the last thing your write, make it one of the best things you write, because this may be the first thing your audience reads about the paper (and may be the only thing read if it is written badly). Summarize the problem/research question, your methodological approach, your results and conclusions, and the significance of the paper in the abstract.

Quantitative and qualitative studies will most typically use the rest of the section titles noted below. Critical/rhetorical studies will include many of the same steps, but will often have different headings. For example, a critical/rhetorical paper will have an introduction, definition of terms, and literature review, followed by an analysis (often divided into sections by areas of investigation) and ending with a conclusion/implications section. Because critical/rhetorical research is much more descriptive, the subheadings in such a paper are often times not generic subheads like "literature review," but instead descriptive subheadings that apply to the topic at hand, as seen in the schematic below. Because many journals expect the article to follow typical research paper headings of introduction, literature review, methods, results, and discussion, we discuss these sections briefly next.

Introduction:

As you read social scientific journals (see chapter 1 for examples), you will find that they tend to get into the research question quickly and succinctly. Journal articles from the humanities tradition tend to be more descriptive in the introduction. But, in either case, it is good to begin with some kind of brief anecdote that gets the reader engaged in your work and lets the reader understand why this is an interesting topic. From that point, state your research question, define the problem (see Chapter One) with an overview of what we do and don't know, and finally state what you will do, or what you want to find out. The introduction thus builds the case for your topic, and is the beginning of building your argument, as we noted in chapter 1.

By the end of the Introduction, the reader should know what your topic is, why it is a significant communication topic, and why it is necessary that you investigate it (e.g., it could be there is gap in literature, you will conduct valuable exploratory research, or you will provide a new model for solving some professional or social problem).

Literature Review:

The literature review summarizes and organizes the relevant books, articles, and other research in this area. It sets up both quantitative and qualitative studies, showing the need for the study. For critical/rhetorical research, the literature review often incorporates the description of the historical context and heuristic vocabulary, with key terms defined in this section of the paper. For more detail on writing a literature review, see Appendix 1.

The methods of your paper are the processes that govern your research, where the researcher explains what s/he did to solve the problem. As you have seen throughout this book, in communication studies, there are a number of different types of research methods. For example, in quantitative research, one might conduct surveys, experiments, or content analysis. In qualitative research, one might instead use interviews and observations. Critical/rhetorical studies methods are more about the interpretation of texts or the study of popular culture as communication. In creative communication research, the method may be an interpretive performance studies or filmmaking. Other methods used sometimes alone, or in combination with other methods, include legal research, historical research, and political economy research.

In quantitative and qualitative research papers, the methods will be most likely described according to the APA manual standards. At the very least, the methods will include a description of participants, data collection, and data analysis, with specific details on each of these elements. For example, in an experiment, the researcher will describe the number of participants, the materials used, the design of the experiment, the procedure of the experiment, and what statistics will be used to address the hypotheses/research questions.

Critical/rhetorical researchers rarely have a specific section called "methods," as opposed to quantitative and qualitative researchers, but rather demonstrate the method they use for analysis throughout the writing of their piece.

Helping your reader understand the methods you used for your study is important not only for your own study's credibility, but also for possible replication of your study by other researchers. A good guideline to keep in mind is  transparency . You want to be as clear as possible in describing the decisions you made in designing your study, gathering and analyzing your data so that the reader can retrace your steps and understand how you came to the conclusions you formed. A research study can be very good, but if it is not clearly described so that others can see how the results were determined or obtained, then the quality of the study and its potential contributions are lost.

After you completed your study, your findings will be listed in the results section. Particularly in a quantitative study, the results section is for revisiting your hypotheses and reporting whether or not your results supported them, and the statistical significance of the results. Whether your study supported or contradicted your hypotheses, it's always helpful to fully report what your results were. The researcher usually organizes the results of his/her results section by research question or hypothesis, stating the results for each one, using statistics to show how the research question or hypothesis was answered in the study.

The qualitative results section also may be organized by research question, but usually is organized by themes which emerged from the data collected. The researcher provides rich details from her/his observations and interviews, with detailed quotations provided to illustrate the themes identified. Sometimes the results section is combined with the discussion section.

Critical/rhetorical researchers would include their analysis often with different subheadings in what would be considered a "results" section, yet not labeled specifically this way.

Discussion:

In the discussion section, the researcher gives an appraisal of the results. Here is where the researcher considers the results, particularly in light of the literature review, and explains what the findings mean. If the results confirmed or corresponded with the findings of other literature, then that should be stated. If the results didn't support the findings of previous studies, then the researcher should develop an explanation of why the study turned out this way. Sometimes, this section is called a "conclusion" by researchers.

References:

In this section, all of the literature cited in the text should have full references in alphabetical order. Appendices: Appendix material includes items like questionnaires used in the study, photographs, documents, etc. An alphabetical letter is assigned for each piece (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B), with a second line of title describing what the appendix contains (e.g. Participant Informed Consent, or  New York Times  Speech Coverage). They should be organized consistently with the order in which they are referenced in the text of the paper. The page numbers for appendices are consecutive with the paper and reference list.

Tables/Figures:

Tables and figures are referenced in the text, but included at the end of the study and numbered consecutively. (Check with your professor; some like to have tables and figures inserted within the paper's main text.) Tables generally are data in a table format, whereas figures are diagrams (such as a pie chart) and drawings (such as a flow chart).

Accessible Writing

As you may have noticed, academic writing does have a language (e.g., words like heuristic vocabulary and hypotheses) and style (e.g., literature reviews) all its own. It is important to engage in that language and style, and understand how to use it to  communicate effectively in an academic context . Yet, it is also important to remember that your analyses and findings should also be written to be accessible. Writers should avoid excessive jargon, or—even worse—deploying jargon to mask an incomplete understanding of a topic.

The scourge of excessive jargon in academic writing was the target of a famous hoax in 1996. A New York University physics professor submitted an article, " Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity ," to a special issue of the academic journal  Social Text  devoted to science and postmodernism. The article was designed to point out how dense academic jargon can sometimes mask sloppy thinking. As the professor, Alan Sokal, had expected, the article was published. One sample sentence from the article reads:

It has thus become increasingly apparent that physical "reality", no less than social "reality", is at bottom a social and linguistic construct; that scientific "knowledge", far from being objective, reflects and encodes the dominant ideologies and power relations of the culture that produced it; that the truth claims of science are inherently theory-laden and self-referential; and consequently, that the discourse of the scientific community, for all its undeniable value, cannot assert a privileged epistemological status with respect to counter-hegemonic narratives emanating from dissident or marginalized communities. (Sokal, 1996. pp. 217-218)

According to the journal's editor, about six reviewers had read the article but didn't suspect that it was phony. A public debate ensued after Sokal revealed his hoax. Sokal said he worried that jargon and intellectual fads cause academics to lose contact with the real world and "undermine the prospect for progressive social critique" ( Scott, 1996 ). The APA Manual recommends to avoid using technical vocabulary where it is not needed or relevant or if the technical language is overused, thus becoming jargon. In short, the APA argues that "scientific jargon...grates on the reader, encumbers the communication of information, and wastes space" (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 68).

Data Visualization

Images and words have long existed on the printed page of manuscripts, yet, until recently, relatively few researchers possessed the resources to effectively combine images combined with words (Tufte, 1990, 1983). Communication scholars are only now becoming aware of this dimension in research as computer technologies have made it possible for many people to produce and publish multimedia presentations.

Although visuals may seem to be anathema to the primacy of the written word in research, they are a legitimate way, and at times the best way, to present ideas. Visual scholar Lester Faigley et al. (2004) explains how data visualizations have become part of our daily lives:

Visualizations can shed light on research as well. London-based David McCandless specializes in visualizing interesting research questions, or in his words "the questions I wanted answering" (2009, p. 7). His images include a graph of the  peak times of the year for breakups  (based on Facebook status updates), a  radiation dosage chart , and some  experiments with the Google Ngram Viewer , which charts the appearance of keywords in millions of books over hundreds of years.

The  public domain image  below creatively maps U.S. Census data of the outflow of people from California to other states between 1995 and 2000.

Visualizing one's research is possible in multiple ways. A simple technology, for example, is to enter data into a spreadsheet such as Excel, and select  Charts  or  SmartArt  to generate graphics. A number of free web tools can also transform raw data into useful charts and graphs.  Many Eyes , an open source data visualization tool (sponsored by IBM Research), says its goal "is to 'democratize' visualization and to enable a new social kind of data analysis" (IBM, 2011). Another tool,  Soundslides , enables users to import images and audio to create a photographic slideshow, while the program handles all of the background code. Other tools, often open source and free, can help visual academic research into interactive maps; interactive, image-based timelines; interactive charts; and simple 2-D and 3-D animations. Adobe Creative Suite (which includes popular software like Photoshop) is available on most computers at universities, but open source alternatives exist as well.  Gimp  is comparable to Photoshop, and it is free and relatively easy to use.

One online performance studies journal,  Liminalities , is an excellent example of how "research" can be more than just printed words. In each issue, traditional academic essays and book reviews are often supported photographs, while other parts of an issue can include video, audio, and multimedia contributions. The journal, founded in 2005, treats performance itself as a methodology, and accepts contribution in html, mp3, Quicktime, and Flash formats.

For communication researchers, there is also a vast array of visual digital archives available online. Many of these archives are located at colleges and universities around the world, where digital librarians are spearheading a massive effort to make information—print, audio, visual, and graphic—available to the public as part of a global information commons. For example, the University of Iowa has a considerable digital archive including historical photos documenting American railroads and a database of images related to geoscience. The University of Northern Iowa has a growing Special Collections Unit that includes digital images of every UNI Yearbook between 1905 and 1923 and audio files of UNI jazz band performances. Researchers at he University of Michigan developed  OAIster , a rich database that has joined thousands of digital archives in one searchable interface. Indeed, virtually every academic library is now digitizing all types of media, not just texts, and making them available for public viewing and, when possible, for use in presenting research. In addition to academic collections, the  Library of Congress  and the  National Archives  offer an ever-expanding range of downloadable media; commercial, user-generated databases such as Flickr, Buzznet, YouTube and Google Video offer a rich resource of images that are often free of copyright constraints (see Chapter 3 about Creative Commons licenses) and nonprofit endeavors, such as the  Internet Archive , contain a formidable collection of moving images, still photographs, audio files (including concert recordings), and open source software.

Presenting your Work in Person

As Communication students, it's expected that you are not only able to communicate your research project in written form but also in person.

Before you do any oral presentation, it's good to have a brief "pitch" ready for anyone who asks you about your research. The pitch is routine in Hollywood: a screenwriter has just a few minutes to present an idea to a producer. Although your pitch will be more sophisticated than, say, " Snakes on a Plane " (which unfortunately was made into a movie), you should in just a few lines be able to explain the gist of your research to anyone who asks. Developing this concise description, you will have some practice in distilling what might be a complicated topic into one others can quickly grasp.

Oral presentation

In most oral presentations of research, whether at the end of a semester, or at a research symposium or conference, you will likely have just 10 to 20 minutes. This is probably not enough time to read the entire paper aloud, which is not what you should do anyway if you want people to really listen (although, unfortunately some make this mistake). Instead, the point of the presentation should be to present your research in an interesting manner so the listeners will want to read the whole thing. In the presentation, spend the least amount of time on the literature review (a very brief summary will suffice) and the most on your own original contribution. In fact, you may tell your audience that you are only presenting on one portion of the paper, and that you would be happy to talk more about your research and findings in the question and answer session that typically follows. Consider your presentation the beginning of a dialogue between you and the audience. Your tone shouldn't be "I have found everything important there is to find, and I will cram as much as I can into this presentation," but instead "I found some things you will find interesting, but I realize there is more to find."

Turabian (2007) has a helpful chapter on presenting research. Most important, she emphasizes, is to remember that your audience members are listeners, not readers. Thus, recall the lessons on speech making in your college oral communication class. Give an introduction, tell them what the problem is, and map out what you will present to them. Organize your findings into a few points, and don't get bogged down in minutiae. (The minutiae are for readers to find if they wish, not for listeners to struggle through.) PowerPoint slides are acceptable, but don't read them. Instead, create an outline of a few main points, and practice your presentation.

Turabian  suggests an introduction of not more than three minutes, which should include these elements:

• The research topic you will address (not more than a minute).
• Your research question (30 seconds or less)
• An answer to "so what?" – explaining the relevance of your research (30 seconds)
• Your claim, or argument (30 seconds or less)
• The map of your presentation structure (30 seconds or less)

As Turabian (2007) suggests, "Rehearse your introduction, not only to get it right, but to be able to look your audience in the eye as you give it. You can look down at notes later" (p. 125).

Poster presentation

In some symposiums and conferences, you may be asked to present at a "poster" session. Instead of presenting on a panel of 4-5 people to an audience, a poster presenter is with others in a large hall or room, and talks one-on-one with visitors who look at the visual poster display of the research. As in an oral presentation, a poster highlights just the main point of the paper. Then, if visitors have questions, the author can informally discuss her/his findings.

To attract attention, poster presentations need to be nicely designed, or in the words of an advertising professor who schedules poster sessions at conferences, "be big, bold, and brief" ( Broyles , 2011). Large type (at least 18 pt.), graphics, tables, and photos are recommended.

A poster presentation session at a conference, by David Eppstein (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 )], via Wikimedia Commons]

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) has a  template for making an effective poster presentation . Many universities, copy shops, and Internet services also have large-scale printers, to print full-color research poster designs that can be rolled up and transported in a tube.

Judging Others' Research

After taking this course, you should have a basic knowledge of research methods. There will still be some things that may mystify you as a reader of other's research. For example, you may not be able to interpret the coefficients for statistical significance, or make sense of a complex structural equation. Some specialized vocabulary may still be difficult.

But, you should understand how to critically review research. For example, imagine you have been asked to do a blind (i.e., the author's identity is concealed) "peer review" of communication research for acceptance to a conference, or publication in an academic journal. For most  conferences  and  journals , submissions are made online, where editors can manage the flow and assign reviews to papers. The evaluations reviewers make are based on the same things that we have covered in this book. For example, the conference for the AEJMC ask reviewers to consider (on a five-point scale, from Excellent to Poor) a number of familiar research dimensions, including the paper's clarity of purpose, literature review, clarity of research method, appropriateness of research method, evidence presented clearly, evidence supportive of conclusions, general writing and organization, and the significance of the contribution to the field.

Beyond academia, it is likely you will more frequently apply the lessons of research methods as a critical consumer of news, politics, and everyday life. Just because some expert cites a number or presents a conclusion doesn't mean it's automatically true. John Allen Paulos, in his book  A Mathematician reads the newspaper , suggests some basic questions we can ask. "If statistics were presented, how were they obtained? How confident can we be of them? Were they derived from a random sample or from a collection of anecdotes? Does the correlation suggest a causal relationship, or is it merely a coincidence?" (1997, p. 201).

Through the study of research methods, we have begun to build a critical vocabulary and understanding to ask good questions when others present "knowledge." For example, if Candidate X won a straw poll in Iowa, does that mean she'll get her party's nomination? If Candidate Y wins an open primary in New Hampshire, does that mean he'll be the next president? If Candidate Z sheds a tear, does it matter what the context is, or whether that candidate is a man or a woman? What we learn in research methods about validity, reliability, sampling, variables, research participants, epistemology, grounded theory, and rhetoric, we can consider whether the "knowledge" that is presented in the news is a verifiable fact, a sound argument, or just conjecture.

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Broyles, S. (2011). "About poster sessions." AEJMC.  http://www.aejmc.org/home/2013/01/about-poster-sessions/ .

Faigley, L., George, D., Palchik, A., Selfe, C. (2004).  Picturing texts . New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

IBM (2011). Overview of Many Eyes.  http://www.research.ibm.com/social/projects_manyeyes.shtml .

McCandless, D. (2009).  The visual miscellaneum . New York: Collins Design.

Merskin, D. (2011). A boyfriend to die for: Edward Cullen as compensated psychopath in Stephanie Meyer's  Twilight. Journal of Communication Inquiry  35: 157-178. doi:10.1177/0196859911402992

Paulos, J. A. (1997).  A mathematician reads the newspaper . New York: Anchor.

Scott, J. (1996, May 18). Postmodern gravity deconstructed, slyly.  New York Times , http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/specials/sokal-text.html .

Sokal, A. (1996). Transgressing the boundaries: towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity.  Social Text  46/47, 217-252.

Tufte, E. R. (1990).  Envisioning information . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E. R. (1983).  The visual display of quantitative information . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Turabian, Kate L. (2007).  A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago style guide for students and researchers  (7th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Langson Library
• Science Library
• Grunigen Medical Library
• Law Library
• Connect From Off-Campus
• Accessibility
• Gateway Study Center

Email this link

Writing a scientific paper.

• Writing a lab report
• INTRODUCTION

Writing a "good" results section

Figures and Captions in Lab Reports

"Results Checklist" from: How to Write a Good Scientific Paper. Chris A. Mack. SPIE. 2018.

Additional tips for results sections.

• LITERATURE CITED
• Bibliography of guides to scientific writing and presenting
• Peer Review
• Presentations
• Lab Report Writing Guides on the Web

This is the core of the paper. Don't start the results sections with methods you left out of the Materials and Methods section. You need to give an overall description of the experiments and present the data you found.

• Factual statements supported by evidence. Short and sweet without excess words
• Present representative data rather than endlessly repetitive data
• Discuss variables only if they had an effect (positive or negative)
• Use meaningful statistics
• Avoid redundancy. If it is in the tables or captions you may not need to repeat it

A short article by Dr. Brett Couch and Dr. Deena Wassenberg, Biology Program, University of Minnesota

• Present the results of the paper, in logical order, using tables and graphs as necessary.
• Explain the results and show how they help to answer the research questions posed in the Introduction. Evidence does not explain itself; the results must be presented and then explained. 
• Avoid: presenting results that are never discussed;  presenting results in chronological order rather than logical order; ignoring results that do not support the conclusions; 
• Number tables and figures separately beginning with 1 (i.e. Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, etc.).
• Do not attempt to evaluate the results in this section. Report only what you found; hold all discussion of the significance of the results for the Discussion section.
• It is not necessary to describe every step of your statistical analyses. Scientists understand all about null hypotheses, rejection rules, and so forth and do not need to be reminded of them. Just say something like, "Honeybees did not use the flowers in proportion to their availability (X2 = 7.9, p<0.05, d.f.= 4, chi-square test)." Likewise, cite tables and figures without describing in detail how the data were manipulated. Explanations of this sort should appear in a legend or caption written on the same page as the figure or table.
• You must refer in the text to each figure or table you include in your paper.
• Tables generally should report summary-level data, such as means ± standard deviations, rather than all your raw data.  A long list of all your individual observations will mean much less than a few concise, easy-to-read tables or figures that bring out the main findings of your study.  
• Only use a figure (graph) when the data lend themselves to a good visual representation.  Avoid using figures that show too many variables or trends at once, because they can be hard to understand.

From:  https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/imrad-results-discussion

• << Previous: METHODS
• Next: DISCUSSION >>
• Last Updated: Aug 4, 2023 9:33 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/scientificwriting

Off-campus? Please use the Software VPN and choose the group UCIFull to access licensed content. For more information, please Click here

Software VPN is not available for guests, so they may not have access to some content when connecting from off-campus.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Can Commun Dis Rep
• v.42(9); 2016 Sep 1

Scientific Writing

A reporting guide for qualitative studies.

Qualitative studies provide insight into complex phenomena. Unlike measurement-based studies which typically quantify what happens under experimental conditions, qualitative studies often help explain behaviors or perceptions under actual circumstances. Qualitative studies in the field of communicable diseases can be used to provide insight into why people choose high-risk behaviours and to identify the factors that influence their decisions. For example, a qualitative study may address why healthcare practitioners do not practice adequate hand hygiene and whether patients might help by reminding them to do so. The results can be surprising. For example, a recent study identified that inpatients in one hospital who were most dissatisfied with the care they received were also the least likely to ask healthcare professionals if they had washed their hands ( 1 ). Furthermore, the study identified that the decision not to pose this question was linked to patient awareness that staff satisfaction was low.

Qualitative research analyzes data from direct field observations, in-depth, open-ended interviews and written documents. Inductive analyses yield patterns and themes that generate hypotheses and offer a basis for future research. Although qualitative studies do not create generalizable evidence, well-reported studies provide enough information for readers to assess the applicability or transferability of findings to their own context ( 2 ).

There are a variety of checklists about how to report qualitative studies ( 3 - 6 ). The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) has developed a 24-item checklist that synthesizes these including the COREQ checklist noted on the EQUATOR Network ( 6 ). The CCDR checklist identifies the importance of describing how data was gathered and summarized, what trends were determined, exploring corroborative findings, offering alternative explanations and identifying possible next steps or further areas of inquiry ( Table 1 ).

Abbreviation: No., Number

Reports of qualitative studies are usually around 2,500 words in length—excluding the abstract, tables and references. As with all submissions, check CCDR’s Information for authors , published at the beginning of each volume in January of each year for general manuscript preparation and submission requirements ( 7 ).

• Subscribe to journal Subscribe
• Get new issue alerts Get alerts

Secondary Logo

Journal logo.

Colleague's E-mail is Invalid

Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague.

Save my selection

Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research

A synthesis of recommendations.

O’Brien, Bridget C. PhD; Harris, Ilene B. PhD; Beckman, Thomas J. MD; Reed, Darcy A. MD, MPH; Cook, David A. MD, MHPE

Dr. O’Brien is assistant professor, Department of Medicine and Office of Research and Development in Medical Education, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.

Dr. Harris is professor and head, Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Beckman is professor of medicine and medical education, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Reed is associate professor of medicine and medical education, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Cook is associate director, Mayo Clinic Online Learning, research chair, Mayo Multidisciplinary Simulation Center, and professor of medicine and medical education, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

Funding/Support: This study was funded in part by a research review grant from the Society for Directors of Research in Medical Education.

Other disclosures: None reported.

Ethical approval: Reported as not applicable.

Disclaimer: The funding agency had no role in the study design, analysis, interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Supplemental digital content for this article is available at https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218 .

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. O’Brien, Office of Research and Development in Medical Education, UCSF School of Medicine, Box 3202, 1855 Folsom St., Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94143-3202; e-mail: [email protected] .

Purpose 

Standards for reporting exist for many types of quantitative research, but currently none exist for the broad spectrum of qualitative research. The purpose of the present study was to formulate and define standards for reporting qualitative research while preserving the requisite flexibility to accommodate various paradigms, approaches, and methods.

Method 

The authors identified guidelines, reporting standards, and critical appraisal criteria for qualitative research by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Google through July 2013; reviewing the reference lists of retrieved sources; and contacting experts. Specifically, two authors reviewed a sample of sources to generate an initial set of items that were potentially important in reporting qualitative research. Through an iterative process of reviewing sources, modifying the set of items, and coding all sources for items, the authors prepared a near-final list of items and descriptions and sent this list to five external reviewers for feedback. The final items and descriptions included in the reporting standards reflect this feedback.

Results 

The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) consists of 21 items. The authors define and explain key elements of each item and provide examples from recently published articles to illustrate ways in which the standards can be met.

Conclusions 

The SRQR aims to improve the transparency of all aspects of qualitative research by providing clear standards for reporting qualitative research. These standards will assist authors during manuscript preparation, editors and reviewers in evaluating a manuscript for potential publication, and readers when critically appraising, applying, and synthesizing study findings.

Qualitative research contributes to the literature in many disciplines by describing, interpreting, and generating theories about social interactions and individual experiences as they occur in natural, rather than experimental, situations. 1–3 Some recent examples include studies of professional dilemmas, 4 medical students’ early experiences of workplace learning, 5 patients’ experiences of disease and interventions, 6–8 and patients’ perspectives about incident disclosures. 9 The purpose of qualitative research is to understand the perspectives/experiences of individuals or groups and the contexts in which these perspectives or experiences are situated. 1 , 2 , 10

Qualitative research is increasingly common and valued in the medical and medical education literature. 1 , 10–13 However, the quality of such research can be difficult to evaluate because of incomplete reporting of key elements. 14 , 15 Quality is multifaceted and includes consideration of the importance of the research question, the rigor of the research methods, the appropriateness and salience of the inferences, and the clarity and completeness of reporting. 16 , 17 Although there is much debate about standards for methodological rigor in qualitative research, 13 , 14 , 18–20 there is widespread agreement about the need for clear and complete reporting. 14 , 21 , 22 Optimal reporting would enable editors, reviewers, other researchers, and practitioners to critically appraise qualitative studies and apply and synthesize the results. One important step in improving the quality of reporting is to formulate and define clear reporting standards.

Authors have proposed guidelines for the quality of qualitative research, including those in the fields of medical education, 23–25 clinical and health services research, 26–28 and general education research. 29 , 30 Yet in nearly all cases, the authors do not describe how the guidelines were created, and often fail to distinguish reporting quality from the other facets of quality (e.g., the research question or methods). Several authors suggest standards for reporting qualitative research, 15 , 20 , 29–33 but their articles focus on a subset of qualitative data collection methods (e.g., interviews), fail to explain how the authors developed the reporting criteria, narrowly construe qualitative research (e.g., thematic analysis) in ways that may exclude other approaches, and/or lack specific examples to help others see how the standards might be achieved. Thus, there remains a compelling need for defensible and broadly applicable standards for reporting qualitative research.

We designed and carried out the present study to formulate and define standards for reporting qualitative research through a rigorous synthesis of published articles and expert recommendations.

We formulated standards for reporting qualitative research by using a rigorous and systematic approach in which we reviewed previously proposed recommendations by experts in qualitative methods. Our research team consisted of two PhD researchers and one physician with formal training and experience in qualitative methods, and two physicians with experience, but no formal training, in qualitative methods.

We first identified previously proposed recommendations by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Google using combinations of terms such as “qualitative methods,” “qualitative research,” “qualitative guidelines,” “qualitative standards,” and “critical appraisal” and by reviewing the reference lists of retrieved sources, reviewing the Equator Network, 22 and contacting experts. We conducted our first search in January 2007 and our last search in July 2013. Most recommendations were published in peer-reviewed journals, but some were available only on the Internet, and one was an interim draft from a national organization. We report the full set of the 40 sources reviewed in Supplemental Digital Appendix 1, found at https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218 .

Two of us (B.O., I.H.) reviewed an initial sample of sources to generate a comprehensive list of items that were potentially important in reporting qualitative research (Draft A). All of us then worked in pairs to review all sources and code the presence or absence of each item in a given source. From Draft A, we then distilled a shorter list (Draft B) by identifying core concepts and combining related items, taking into account the number of times each item appeared in these sources. We then compared the items in Draft B with material in the original sources to check for missing concepts, modify accordingly, and add explanatory definitions to create a prefinal list of items (Draft C).

We circulated Draft C to five experienced qualitative researchers (see the acknowledgments) for review. We asked them to note any omitted or redundant items and to suggest improvements to the wording to enhance clarity and relevance across a broad spectrum of qualitative inquiry. In response to their reviews, we consolidated some items and made minor revisions to the wording of labels and definitions to create the final set of reporting standards—the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR)—summarized in Table 1 .

To explicate how the final set of standards reflect the material in the original sources, two of us (B.O., D.A.C.) selected by consensus the 25 most complete sources of recommendations and identified which standards reflected the concepts found in each original source (see Table 2 ).

The SRQR is a list of 21 items that we consider essential for complete, transparent reporting of qualitative research (see Table 1 ). As explained above, we developed these items through a rigorous synthesis of prior recommendations and concepts from published sources (see Table 2 ; see also Supplemental Digital Appendix 1, found at https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218 ) and expert review. These 21 items provide a framework and recommendations for reporting qualitative studies. Given the wide range of qualitative approaches and methodologies, we attempted to select items with broad relevance.

The SRQR includes the article’s title and abstract (items 1 and 2); problem formulation and research question (items 3 and 4); research design and methods of data collection and analysis (items 5 through 15); results, interpretation, discussion, and integration (items 16 through 19); and other information (items 20 and 21). Supplemental Digital Appendix 2, found at https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218 , contains a detailed explanation of each item, along with examples from recently published qualitative studies. Below, we briefly describe the standards, with a particular focus on those unique to qualitative research.

Titles, abstracts, and introductory material. Reporting standards for titles, abstracts, and introductory material (problem formulation, research question) in qualitative research are very similar to those for quantitative research, except that the results reported in the abstract are narrative rather than numerical, and authors rarely present a specific hypothesis. 29 , 30

Research design and methods. Reporting on research design and methods of data collection and analysis highlights several distinctive features of qualitative research. Many of the criteria we reviewed focus not only on identifying and describing all aspects of the methods (e.g., approach, researcher characteristics and role, sampling strategy, context, data collection and analysis) but also on justifying each choice. 13 , 14 This ensures that authors make their assumptions and decisions transparent to readers. This standard is less commonly expected in quantitative research, perhaps because most quantitative researchers share positivist assumptions and generally agree about standards for rigor of various study designs and sampling techniques. 14 Just as quantitative reporting standards encourage authors to describe how they implemented methods such as randomization and measurement validity, several qualitative reporting criteria recommend that authors describe how they implemented a presumably familiar technique in their study rather than simply mentioning the technique. 10 , 14 , 32 For example, authors often state that data collection occurred until saturation, with no mention of how they defined and recognized saturation. Similarly, authors often mention an “iterative process,” with minimal description of the nature of the iterations. The SRQR emphasizes the importance of explaining and elaborating on these important processes. Nearly all of the original sources recommended describing the characteristics and role of the researcher (i.e., reflexivity). Members of the research team often form relationships with participants, and analytic processes are highly interpretive in most qualitative research. Therefore, reviewers and readers must understand how these relationships and the researchers’ perspectives and assumptions influenced data collection and interpretation. 15 , 23 , 26 , 34

Results. Reporting of qualitative research results should identify the main analytic findings. Often, these findings involve interpretation and contextualization, which represent a departure from the tradition in quantitative studies of objectively reporting results. The presentation of results often varies with the specific qualitative approach and methodology; thus, rigid rules for reporting qualitative findings are inappropriate. However, authors should provide evidence (e.g., examples, quotes, or text excerpts) to substantiate the main analytic findings. 20 , 29

Discussion. The discussion of qualitative results will generally include connections to existing literature and/or theoretical or conceptual frameworks, the scope and boundaries of the results (transferability), and study limitations. 10–12 , 28 In some qualitative traditions, the results and discussion may not have distinct boundaries; we recommend that authors include the substance of each item regardless of the section in which it appears.

The purpose of the SRQR is to improve the quality of reporting of qualitative research studies. We hope that these 21 recommended reporting standards will assist authors during manuscript preparation, editors and reviewers in evaluating a manuscript for potential publication, and readers when critically appraising, applying, and synthesizing study findings. As with other reporting guidelines, 35–37 we anticipate that the SRQR will evolve as it is applied and evaluated in practice. We welcome suggestions for refinement.

Qualitative studies explore “how?” and “why?” questions related to social or human problems or phenomena. 10 , 38 Purposes of qualitative studies include understanding meaning from participants’ perspectives (How do they interpret or make sense of an event, situation, or action?); understanding the nature and influence of the context surrounding events or actions; generating theories about new or poorly understood events, situations, or actions; and understanding the processes that led to a desired (or undesired) outcome. 38 Many different approaches (e.g., ethnography, phenomenology, discourse analysis, case study, grounded theory) and methodologies (e.g., interviews, focus groups, observation, analysis of documents) may be used in qualitative research, each with its own assumptions and traditions. 1 , 2 A strength of many qualitative approaches and methodologies is the opportunity for flexibility and adaptability throughout the data collection and analysis process. We endeavored to maintain that flexibility by intentionally defining items to avoid favoring one approach or method over others. As such, we trust that the SRQR will support all approaches and methods of qualitative research by making reports more explicit and transparent, while still allowing investigators the flexibility to use the study design and reporting format most appropriate to their study. It may be helpful, in the future, to develop approach-specific extensions of the SRQR, as has been done for guidelines in quantitative research (e.g., the CONSORT extensions). 37

Limitations, strengths, and boundaries

We deliberately avoided recommendations that define methodological rigor, and therefore it would be inappropriate to use the SRQR to judge the quality of research methods and findings. Many of the original sources from which we derived the SRQR were intended as criteria for methodological rigor or critical appraisal rather than reporting; for these, we inferred the information that would be needed to evaluate the criterion. Occasionally, we found conflicting recommendations in the literature (e.g., recommending specific techniques such as multiple coders or member checking to demonstrate trustworthiness); we resolved these conflicting recommendations through selection of the most frequent recommendations and by consensus among ourselves.

Some qualitative researchers have described the limitations of checklists as a means to improve methodological rigor. 13 We nonetheless believe that a checklist for reporting standards will help to enhance the transparency of qualitative research studies and thereby advance the field. 29 , 39

Strengths of this work include the grounding in previously published criteria, the diversity of experience and perspectives among us, and critical review by experts in three countries.

Implications and application

Similar to other reporting guidelines, 35–37 the SRQR may be viewed as a starting point for defining reporting standards in qualitative research. Although our personal experience lies in health professions education, the SRQR is based on sources originating in diverse health care and non-health-care fields. We intentionally crafted the SRQR to include various paradigms, approaches, and methodologies used in qualitative research. The elaborations offered in Supplemental Digital Appendix 2 (see https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218 ) should provide sufficient description and examples to enable both novice and experienced researchers to use these standards. Thus, the SRQR should apply broadly across disciplines, methodologies, topics, study participants, and users.

The SRQR items reflect information essential for inclusion in a qualitative research report, but should not be viewed as prescribing a rigid format or standardized content. Individual study needs, author preferences, and journal requirements may necessitate a different sequence or organization than that shown in Table 1 . Journal word restrictions may prevent a full exposition of each item, and the relative importance of a given item will vary by study. Thus, although all 21 standards would ideally be reflected in any given report, authors should prioritize attention to those items that are most relevant to the given study, findings, context, and readership.

Application of the SRQR need not be limited to the writing phase of a given study. These standards can assist researchers in planning qualitative studies and in the careful documentation of processes and decisions made throughout the study. By considering these recommendations early on, researchers may be more likely to identify the paradigm and approach most appropriate to their research, consider and use strategies for ensuring trustworthiness, and keep track of procedures and decisions.

Journal editors can facilitate the review process by providing the SRQR to reviewers and applying its standards, thus establishing more explicit expectations for qualitative studies. Although the recommendations do not address or advocate specific approaches, methods, or quality standards, they do help reviewers identify information that is missing from manuscripts.

As authors and editors apply the SRQR, readers will have more complete information about a given study, thus facilitating judgments about the trustworthiness, relevance, and transferability of findings to their own context and/or to related literature. Complete reporting will also facilitate meaningful synthesis of qualitative results across studies. 40 We anticipate that such transparency will, over time, help to identify previously unappreciated gaps in the rigor and relevance of research findings. Investigators, editors, and educators can then work to remedy these deficiencies and, thereby, enhance the overall quality of qualitative research.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Margaret Bearman, PhD, Calvin Chou, MD, PhD, Karen Hauer, MD, Ayelet Kuper, MD, DPhil, Arianne Teherani, PhD, and participants in the UCSF weekly educational scholarship works-in-progress group (ESCape) for critically reviewing the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research.

References Cited Only in Table 2

Supplemental digital content.

• ACADMED_89_9_2014_05_22_OBRIEN_1301196_SDC1.pdf; [PDF] (385 KB)
• + Favorites
• View in Gallery

Readers Of this Article Also Read

The distinctions between theory, theoretical framework, and conceptual framework, the positivism paradigm of research, common qualitative methodologies and research designs in health professions..., summary of instructions for authors, the problem and power of professionalism: a critical analysis of medical....

• Privacy Policy

Home » Research Report – Example, Writing Guide and Types

Research Report – Example, Writing Guide and Types

Table of Contents

Research Report

Definition:

Research Report is a written document that presents the results of a research project or study, including the research question, methodology, results, and conclusions, in a clear and objective manner.

The purpose of a research report is to communicate the findings of the research to the intended audience, which could be other researchers, stakeholders, or the general public.

Components of Research Report

Components of Research Report are as follows:

Introduction

The introduction sets the stage for the research report and provides a brief overview of the research question or problem being investigated. It should include a clear statement of the purpose of the study and its significance or relevance to the field of research. It may also provide background information or a literature review to help contextualize the research.

Literature Review

The literature review provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the existing research and scholarship relevant to the research question or problem. It should identify the gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the literature and show how the current study addresses these issues. The literature review also establishes the theoretical framework or conceptual model that guides the research.

Methodology

The methodology section describes the research design, methods, and procedures used to collect and analyze data. It should include information on the sample or participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis techniques. The methodology should be clear and detailed enough to allow other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the study in a clear and objective manner. It should provide a detailed description of the data and statistics used to answer the research question or test the hypothesis. Tables, graphs, and figures may be included to help visualize the data and illustrate the key findings.

The discussion section interprets the results of the study and explains their significance or relevance to the research question or problem. It should also compare the current findings with those of previous studies and identify the implications for future research or practice. The discussion should be based on the results presented in the previous section and should avoid speculation or unfounded conclusions.

The conclusion summarizes the key findings of the study and restates the main argument or thesis presented in the introduction. It should also provide a brief overview of the contributions of the study to the field of research and the implications for practice or policy.

The references section lists all the sources cited in the research report, following a specific citation style, such as APA or MLA.

The appendices section includes any additional material, such as data tables, figures, or instruments used in the study, that could not be included in the main text due to space limitations.

Types of Research Report

Types of Research Report are as follows:

Thesis is a type of research report. A thesis is a long-form research document that presents the findings and conclusions of an original research study conducted by a student as part of a graduate or postgraduate program. It is typically written by a student pursuing a higher degree, such as a Master’s or Doctoral degree, although it can also be written by researchers or scholars in other fields.

Research Paper

Research paper is a type of research report. A research paper is a document that presents the results of a research study or investigation. Research papers can be written in a variety of fields, including science, social science, humanities, and business. They typically follow a standard format that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.

Technical Report

A technical report is a detailed report that provides information about a specific technical or scientific problem or project. Technical reports are often used in engineering, science, and other technical fields to document research and development work.

Progress Report

A progress report provides an update on the progress of a research project or program over a specific period of time. Progress reports are typically used to communicate the status of a project to stakeholders, funders, or project managers.

Feasibility Report

A feasibility report assesses the feasibility of a proposed project or plan, providing an analysis of the potential risks, benefits, and costs associated with the project. Feasibility reports are often used in business, engineering, and other fields to determine the viability of a project before it is undertaken.

Field Report

A field report documents observations and findings from fieldwork, which is research conducted in the natural environment or setting. Field reports are often used in anthropology, ecology, and other social and natural sciences.

Experimental Report

An experimental report documents the results of a scientific experiment, including the hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusions. Experimental reports are often used in biology, chemistry, and other sciences to communicate the results of laboratory experiments.

Case Study Report

A case study report provides an in-depth analysis of a specific case or situation, often used in psychology, social work, and other fields to document and understand complex cases or phenomena.

Literature Review Report

A literature review report synthesizes and summarizes existing research on a specific topic, providing an overview of the current state of knowledge on the subject. Literature review reports are often used in social sciences, education, and other fields to identify gaps in the literature and guide future research.

Research Report Example

Following is a Research Report Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Academic Performance among High School Students

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social media use and academic performance among high school students. The study utilized a quantitative research design, which involved a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 200 high school students. The findings indicate that there is a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance, suggesting that excessive social media use can lead to poor academic performance among high school students. The results of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers, as they highlight the need for strategies that can help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities.

Introduction:

Social media has become an integral part of the lives of high school students. With the widespread use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, students can connect with friends, share photos and videos, and engage in discussions on a range of topics. While social media offers many benefits, concerns have been raised about its impact on academic performance. Many studies have found a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance among high school students (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Paul, Baker, & Cochran, 2012).

Given the growing importance of social media in the lives of high school students, it is important to investigate its impact on academic performance. This study aims to address this gap by examining the relationship between social media use and academic performance among high school students.

Methodology:

The study utilized a quantitative research design, which involved a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 200 high school students. The questionnaire was developed based on previous studies and was designed to measure the frequency and duration of social media use, as well as academic performance.

The participants were selected using a convenience sampling technique, and the survey questionnaire was distributed in the classroom during regular school hours. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.

The findings indicate that the majority of high school students use social media platforms on a daily basis, with Facebook being the most popular platform. The results also show a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance, suggesting that excessive social media use can lead to poor academic performance among high school students.

Discussion:

The results of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers. The negative correlation between social media use and academic performance suggests that strategies should be put in place to help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities. For example, educators could incorporate social media into their teaching strategies to engage students and enhance learning. Parents could limit their children’s social media use and encourage them to prioritize their academic responsibilities. Policymakers could develop guidelines and policies to regulate social media use among high school students.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the negative impact of social media on academic performance among high school students. The findings highlight the need for strategies that can help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities. Further research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms by which social media use affects academic performance and to develop effective strategies for addressing this issue.

Limitations:

One limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other populations. Future studies should use random sampling techniques to increase the representativeness of the sample. Another limitation is the use of self-reported measures, which may be subject to social desirability bias. Future studies could use objective measures of social media use and academic performance, such as tracking software and school records.

Implications:

The findings of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers. Educators could incorporate social media into their teaching strategies to engage students and enhance learning. For example, teachers could use social media platforms to share relevant educational resources and facilitate online discussions. Parents could limit their children’s social media use and encourage them to prioritize their academic responsibilities. They could also engage in open communication with their children to understand their social media use and its impact on their academic performance. Policymakers could develop guidelines and policies to regulate social media use among high school students. For example, schools could implement social media policies that restrict access during class time and encourage responsible use.

References:

• Kirschner, P. A., & Karpinski, A. C. (2010). Facebook® and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1237-1245.
• Paul, J. A., Baker, H. M., & Cochran, J. D. (2012). Effect of online social networking on student academic performance. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 8(1), 1-19.
• Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(10), 652-657.
• Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 948-958.

Note*: Above mention, Example is just a sample for the students’ guide. Do not directly copy and paste as your College or University assignment. Kindly do some research and Write your own.

Applications of Research Report

Research reports have many applications, including:

• Communicating research findings: The primary application of a research report is to communicate the results of a study to other researchers, stakeholders, or the general public. The report serves as a way to share new knowledge, insights, and discoveries with others in the field.
• Informing policy and practice : Research reports can inform policy and practice by providing evidence-based recommendations for decision-makers. For example, a research report on the effectiveness of a new drug could inform regulatory agencies in their decision-making process.
• Supporting further research: Research reports can provide a foundation for further research in a particular area. Other researchers may use the findings and methodology of a report to develop new research questions or to build on existing research.
• Evaluating programs and interventions : Research reports can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and interventions in achieving their intended outcomes. For example, a research report on a new educational program could provide evidence of its impact on student performance.
• Demonstrating impact : Research reports can be used to demonstrate the impact of research funding or to evaluate the success of research projects. By presenting the findings and outcomes of a study, research reports can show the value of research to funders and stakeholders.
• Enhancing professional development : Research reports can be used to enhance professional development by providing a source of information and learning for researchers and practitioners in a particular field. For example, a research report on a new teaching methodology could provide insights and ideas for educators to incorporate into their own practice.

How to write Research Report

Here are some steps you can follow to write a research report:

• Identify the research question: The first step in writing a research report is to identify your research question. This will help you focus your research and organize your findings.
• Conduct research : Once you have identified your research question, you will need to conduct research to gather relevant data and information. This can involve conducting experiments, reviewing literature, or analyzing data.
• Organize your findings: Once you have gathered all of your data, you will need to organize your findings in a way that is clear and understandable. This can involve creating tables, graphs, or charts to illustrate your results.
• Write the report: Once you have organized your findings, you can begin writing the report. Start with an introduction that provides background information and explains the purpose of your research. Next, provide a detailed description of your research methods and findings. Finally, summarize your results and draw conclusions based on your findings.
• Proofread and edit: After you have written your report, be sure to proofread and edit it carefully. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and make sure that your report is well-organized and easy to read.
• Include a reference list: Be sure to include a list of references that you used in your research. This will give credit to your sources and allow readers to further explore the topic if they choose.
• Format your report: Finally, format your report according to the guidelines provided by your instructor or organization. This may include formatting requirements for headings, margins, fonts, and spacing.

Purpose of Research Report

The purpose of a research report is to communicate the results of a research study to a specific audience, such as peers in the same field, stakeholders, or the general public. The report provides a detailed description of the research methods, findings, and conclusions.

Some common purposes of a research report include:

• Sharing knowledge: A research report allows researchers to share their findings and knowledge with others in their field. This helps to advance the field and improve the understanding of a particular topic.
• Identifying trends: A research report can identify trends and patterns in data, which can help guide future research and inform decision-making.
• Addressing problems: A research report can provide insights into problems or issues and suggest solutions or recommendations for addressing them.
• Evaluating programs or interventions : A research report can evaluate the effectiveness of programs or interventions, which can inform decision-making about whether to continue, modify, or discontinue them.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: In some fields, research reports are required to meet regulatory requirements, such as in the case of drug trials or environmental impact studies.

When to Write Research Report

A research report should be written after completing the research study. This includes collecting data, analyzing the results, and drawing conclusions based on the findings. Once the research is complete, the report should be written in a timely manner while the information is still fresh in the researcher’s mind.

In academic settings, research reports are often required as part of coursework or as part of a thesis or dissertation. In this case, the report should be written according to the guidelines provided by the instructor or institution.

In other settings, such as in industry or government, research reports may be required to inform decision-making or to comply with regulatory requirements. In these cases, the report should be written as soon as possible after the research is completed in order to inform decision-making in a timely manner.

Overall, the timing of when to write a research report depends on the purpose of the research, the expectations of the audience, and any regulatory requirements that need to be met. However, it is important to complete the report in a timely manner while the information is still fresh in the researcher’s mind.

Characteristics of Research Report

There are several characteristics of a research report that distinguish it from other types of writing. These characteristics include:

• Objective: A research report should be written in an objective and unbiased manner. It should present the facts and findings of the research study without any personal opinions or biases.
• Systematic: A research report should be written in a systematic manner. It should follow a clear and logical structure, and the information should be presented in a way that is easy to understand and follow.
• Detailed: A research report should be detailed and comprehensive. It should provide a thorough description of the research methods, results, and conclusions.
• Accurate : A research report should be accurate and based on sound research methods. The findings and conclusions should be supported by data and evidence.
• Organized: A research report should be well-organized. It should include headings and subheadings to help the reader navigate the report and understand the main points.
• Clear and concise: A research report should be written in clear and concise language. The information should be presented in a way that is easy to understand, and unnecessary jargon should be avoided.
• Citations and references: A research report should include citations and references to support the findings and conclusions. This helps to give credit to other researchers and to provide readers with the opportunity to further explore the topic.

Advantages of Research Report

Research reports have several advantages, including:

• Communicating research findings: Research reports allow researchers to communicate their findings to a wider audience, including other researchers, stakeholders, and the general public. This helps to disseminate knowledge and advance the understanding of a particular topic.
• Providing evidence for decision-making : Research reports can provide evidence to inform decision-making, such as in the case of policy-making, program planning, or product development. The findings and conclusions can help guide decisions and improve outcomes.
• Supporting further research: Research reports can provide a foundation for further research on a particular topic. Other researchers can build on the findings and conclusions of the report, which can lead to further discoveries and advancements in the field.
• Demonstrating expertise: Research reports can demonstrate the expertise of the researchers and their ability to conduct rigorous and high-quality research. This can be important for securing funding, promotions, and other professional opportunities.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: In some fields, research reports are required to meet regulatory requirements, such as in the case of drug trials or environmental impact studies. Producing a high-quality research report can help ensure compliance with these requirements.

Limitations of Research Report

Despite their advantages, research reports also have some limitations, including:

• Time-consuming: Conducting research and writing a report can be a time-consuming process, particularly for large-scale studies. This can limit the frequency and speed of producing research reports.
• Expensive: Conducting research and producing a report can be expensive, particularly for studies that require specialized equipment, personnel, or data. This can limit the scope and feasibility of some research studies.
• Limited generalizability: Research studies often focus on a specific population or context, which can limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations or contexts.
• Potential bias : Researchers may have biases or conflicts of interest that can influence the findings and conclusions of the research study. Additionally, participants may also have biases or may not be representative of the larger population, which can limit the validity and reliability of the findings.
• Accessibility: Research reports may be written in technical or academic language, which can limit their accessibility to a wider audience. Additionally, some research may be behind paywalls or require specialized access, which can limit the ability of others to read and use the findings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Data Collection – Methods Types and Examples

APA Table of Contents – Format and Example

Research Methods – Types, Examples and Guide

Dissertation vs Thesis – Key Differences

Conceptual Framework – Types, Methodology and...

Research Paper Conclusion – Writing Guide and...

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Part 3: Using quantitative methods

16. Reporting quantitative results

Chapter outline.

• Additional resources for quantitative data analysis (3 minute read)
• Reporting quantitative results (8 minute read)

Content warning: examples in this chapter contain a brief discussion of violence against women.

16.1 Additional resources for quantitative data analysis

Learning objectives.

Learners will be able to…

• Identify open textbooks and resources to assist with statistical analysis.
• Identify open source and commercial software used to perform statistical analysis.

While you are affiliated with a university, it is likely that you will have access to some kind of commercial statistics software. Examples in the previous section uses SPSS, the most common one our authoring team has seen in social work education. Like its competitors SAS and STATA, SPSS is expensive and your license to the software must be renewed every year (like a subscription). Even if you are able to install commercial statistics software on your computer, once your license expires, your program will no longer work. We believe that forcing students to learn software they will never use is wasteful and contributes to the (accurate, in many cases) perception from students that research class is unrelated to real-world practice. SPSS is more accessible due to its graphical user interface and does not require researcher to learn to learn basic computer programming, but it is prohibitively costly if a student wanted to use it to measure practice data in their agency post-graduation.

Instead, we suggest getting familiar with JASP Statistics , a free and open-source alternative to SPSS developed and supported by the University of Amsterdam. It has a similar user interface as SPSS, and should be similarly easy to learn. Moreover, usability upgrades from SPSS like generating APA formatted tables make it a compelling option. While a great many of my students will rely on statistical analyses of their programs and practices in reports to funders, it is unlikely that any will use SPSS. Browse JASP’s how-to guide or consult this textbook Learning Statistics with JASP: A Tutorial for Psychology Students and Other Beginners , written by  Danielle J. Navarro ,  David R. Foxcroft , and  Thomas J. Faulkenberry .

Another open source statistics software package is R (a.k.a. The R Project for Statistical Computing ). R uses a command line interface, so you will need to learn how to program computer code in order to use it. Luckily, R is the most commonly used statistics software in the world, and the community of support and guides for using R are omnipresent online. For beginning researchers, consult the textbook  Learning Statistics with R: A tutorial for psychology students and other beginners by Danielle J. Navarro .

While statistics software is sometimes needed to perform advanced statistical tests, most univariate and bivariate tests can be performed in spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or the free and open source LibreOffice Calc . Microsoft offers a includes a ToolPak to perform complex data analysis as an add-on to Excel. For more information on using spreadsheet software to perform statistics, the open textbook Collaborative Statistics Using Spreadsheets by Susan Dean, Irene Mary Duranczyk, Barbara Illowsky, Suzanne Loch, and Janet Stottlemyer.

Statistical analysis is performed in just about every discipline, and as a result, there are a lot of openly licensed, free resources to assist you with your data analysis. We have endeavored to provide you the basics in the past few chapters, but ultimately, you will likely need additional support in completing quantitative data analysis from an instructor, textbook, or other resource. Browse the Open Textbook Library for statistics resources or look for video tutorials from reputable instructors like this video textbook on statistics by Bryan Koenig .

Key Takeaways

• While the statistics software your school purchases is very expensive, there are free and easy-to-use alternatives you can learn and continue to use post-graduation.
• There are a lot of high quality and free online resources to learn and perform statistical analysis.

16.2 Reporting quantitative results

• Write a comprehensive and reputable quantitative research report

So you’ve completed your quantitative analyses and are ready to report your results. We’re going to spend some time talking about what matters in quantitative research reports, but the very first thing to understand is this: openness with your data and analyses is key. You should never hide what you did to get to a particular conclusion and, if someone wanted to and could ethically access your data, they should be able to replicate more or less exactly what you did. While your quantitative report won’t have every single step you took to get to your conclusion, it should have plenty of detail so someone can get the picture.

Below, I’m going to take you through the key elements of a quantitative research report. This overview is pretty general and conceptual, and it will be helpful for you to look at existing scholarly articles that deal with quantitative research (like ones in your literature review) to see the structure applied. Also keep in mind that your instructor may want the sections broken out slightly differently; nonetheless, the content I outline below should be in your research report.

Introduction and literature review

These are what you’re working on building with your research proposal this semester. They should be included as part of your research report so that readers have enough information to evaluate your research for themselves. What’s here should be very similar to the introduction and literature review from your research proposal, where you described the literature relevant to the study you wanted to do. With your results in hand, though, you may find that you have to add information to the literature you wrote previously to help orient the reader of the report to important topics needed to understand the results of your study.

In this section, you should explicitly lay out your study design—for instance, if it was experimental, be specific about the type of experimental design. Discuss the type of sampling that you used, if that’s applicable to your project. You should also go into a general description of your data, including the time period, any exclusions you made from the original data set and the source—i.e., did you collect it yourself or was it secondary data? Next, talk about the specific statistical methods you used, like t- tests, Chi-square tests, or regression analyses. For descriptive statistics, you can be relatively general—you don’t need to say “I looked at means and medians,” for instance. You need to provide enough information here that someone could replicate what you did.

In this section, you should also discuss how you operationalized your variables. What did you mean when you asked about educational attainment—did you ask for a grade number, or did you ask them to pick a range that you turned into a category? This is key information for readers to understand your research. Remember when you were looking for ways to operationalize your variables? Be the kind of author who provides enough information on operationalization so people can actually understand what they did.

You’re going to run lots of different analyses to settle on what finally makes sense to get a result—positive or negative—for your study. For this section, you’re going to provide tables with descriptions of your sample, including, but not limited to, sample size, frequencies of sample characteristics like race and gender, levels of measurement, appropriate measures of central tendency, standard deviations and variances. Here you will also want to focus on the analyses you used to actually draw whatever conclusion you settled on, both descriptive and inferential (i.e., bivariate or multivariate).

The actual statistics you report depend entirely on the kind of statistical analysis you do. For instance, if you’re reporting on a logistic regression, it’s going to look a little different than reporting on an ANOVA. In the previous chapter, we provided links to open textbooks that detail how to conduct quantitative data analysis. You should look at these resources and consult with your research professor to help you determine what is expected in a report about the particular statistical method you used.

The important thing to remember here—as we mentioned above—is that you need to be totally transparent about your results, even and especially if they don’t support your hypothesis. There is value in a disproved hypothesis, too—you now know something about how the state of the world is not .

In this section, you’re going to connect your statistical results back to your hypothesis and discuss whether your results support your hypothesis or not. You are also going to talk about what the results mean for the larger field of study of which your research is a part, the implications of your findings if you’re evaluating some kind of intervention, and how your research relates to what is already out there in this field. When your research doesn’t pan out the way you expect, if you’re able to make some educated guesses as to why this might be (supported by literature if possible, but practice wisdom works too), share those as well.

Let’s take a minute to talk about what happens when your findings disprove your hypothesis or actually indicate something negative about the group you are studying. The discussion section is where you can contextualize “negative” findings. For example, say you conducted a study that indicated that a certain group is more likely to commit violent crime. Here, you have an opportunity to talk about why this might be the case outside of their membership in that group, and how membership in that group does not automatically mean someone will commit a violent crime. You can present mitigating factors, like a history of personal and community trauma. It’s extremely important to provide this relevant context so that your results are more difficult to use against a group you are studying in a way that doesn’t reflect your actual findings.

Limitations

In this section, you’re going to critique your own study. What are the advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs of what you did to define and analyze your variables? Some questions you might consider include: What limits the study’s applicability to the population at large? Were there trade-offs you had to make between rigor and available data? Did the statistical analyses you used mean that you could only get certain types of results? What would have made the study more widely applicable or more useful for a certain group? You should be thinking about this throughout the analysis process so you can properly contextualize your results.

In this section, you may also consider discussing any threats to internal validity that you identified and whether you think you can generalize your research. Finally, if you used any measurement tools that haven’t been validated yet, discuss how this could have affected your results.

Significance and conclusions

Finally, you want to use the conclusions section to bring it full circle for your reader—why did this research matter? Talk about how it contributed to knowledge around the topic and how might it be used to further practice. Identify and discuss ethical implications of your findings for social workers and social work research. Finally, make sure to talk about the next steps for you, other researchers, or policy-makers based on your research findings.

• Your quantitative research report should provide the reader with transparent, replicable methods and put your research into the context of existing literature, real-world practice and social work ethics.
• Think about the research project you are building now. What could a negative finding be, and how might you provide your reader with context to ensure that you are not harming your study population?

process by which researchers spell out precisely how a concept will be measured in their study

Ability to say that one variable "causes" something to happen to another variable. Very important to assess when thinking about studies that examine causation such as experimental or quasi-experimental designs.

Graduate research methods in social work Copyright © 2021 by Matthew DeCarlo, Cory Cummings, Kate Agnelli is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• University of Michigan Library
• Research Guides

Evidence Syntheses (Scoping, systematic, & other types of reviews)

Reporting results.

• Types of Reviews
• Should You Do a Systematic Review?
• Work with a Search Expert
• Covidence Review Software
• Evidence in a Systematic Review
• Information Sources
• Search Strategy
• Managing Records
• Selection Process
• Data Collection Process
• Study Risk of Bias Assessment

PRISMA Diagram Generators

Other reporting templates, we can help.

• For Search Professionals

PRISMA provides a list of items to consider when reporting results. 

• Study selection:   Give numbers of studies screened, assessed for eligibility, & included in the review, with reasons for exclusions at each stage, ideally with a flow diagram.
• Study characteristics:   For each study, present characteristics for which data were extracted (e.g., study size, PICOs, follow-up period) & provide the citations.
• Risk of bias within studies:   Present data on risk of bias of each study &, if available, any outcome level assessment.
• Results of individual studies:   For all outcomes considered (benefits or harms), present, for each study: (a) simple summary data for each intervention group  (b) effect estimates & confidence intervals, ideally with a forest plot. 
• Synthesis of results:   Present results of each meta-analysis done, including confidence intervals & measures of consistency.
• Risk of bias across studies:   Present results of any assessment of risk of bias across studies.
• Additional analysis:   Give results of additional analyses, if done (e.g., sensitivity or subgroup analyses, meta-regression).

References:

• Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG; PRISMA Group. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Ann Intern Med. 2009 Aug 18;151(4):264-9, W64. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135. Epub 2009 Jul 20. PMID: 19622511.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19622511/
• Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Gøtzsche PC, Ioannidis JP, Clarke M, Devereaux PJ, Kleijnen J, Moher D. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Ann Intern Med. 2009 Aug 18;151(4):W65-94. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00136. Epub 2009 Jul 20. PMID: 19622512. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1962251 2
• Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W,  et al. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Ann Intern Med. 2018 Oct 2;169(7):467-473. doi: 10.7326/M18-0850. Epub 2018 Sep 4. PMID: 30178033.  https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/epdf/10.7326/M18-0850
• Flow Diagram Generator This is an updated version of the original PRISMA flow generator. Includes a downloadable PDF version.
• Flow Diagram (PRISMA) Contains both Word versions of several templates. From PRISMA.

See the EQUATOR network for more guidelines for reporting health research.

As a collaborator on your research team, an informationist can write the methods section of your publication. With an informationist as a co-author you can be confident that the methods section of your paper will meet the relevant PRISMA reporting standards and be replicable by other groups.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

In Spring 2021, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) PubMed® Special Query on this page will no longer be curated by NLM. If you have questions, please contact NLM Customer Support at https://support.nlm.nih.gov/

This chart lists the major biomedical research reporting guidelines that provide advice for reporting research methods and findings. They usually "specify a minimum set of items required for a clear and transparent account of what was done and what was found in a research study, reflecting, in particular, issues that might introduce bias into the research" (Adapted from the EQUATOR Network Resource Centre ). The chart also includes editorial style guides for writing research reports or other publications.

See the details of the search strategy. More research reporting guidelines are at the EQUATOR Network Resource Centre .

Last Reviewed: April 14, 2023

Our content is reader-supported. Things you buy through links on our site may earn us a commission

Join our newsletter

Never miss out on well-researched articles in your field of interest with our weekly newsletter.

• Project Management
• Starting a business

Get the latest Business News

Research insights unveiled: analyzing and reporting findings.

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, Ph.D., Authenticity Consulting, LLC . A Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing, and Evaluation , Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development with Nonprofits , and Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development .

Sections of This Topic Include

Analyzing and interpreting information, reporting results, who should carry out the research, contents of a research report — an example, some pitfalls to avoid.

Also, consider Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Analyzing Research Results

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Analyzing Research Results. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also, see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “Next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

• Library’s Business Planning Blog
• Library’s Building a Business Blog
• Library’s Strategic Planning Blog

Analyzing quantitative and qualitative data is often the topic of advanced research and evaluation methods courses. However, there are certain basics that can help to make sense of reams of data.

Always start with your research goals

When analyzing data (whether from questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, or whatever), always start with a review of your research goals, i.e., the reason you undertook the research in the first place. This will help you organize your data and focus your analysis.

For example, if you want to improve a program by identifying its strengths and weaknesses, you can organize data into program strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions to improve the program. If you wanted to fully understand how your program works, you could organize data in the chronological order in which customers or clients go through your program. If you are conducting a performance improvement study, you can categorize data according to each measure associated with each overall performance result, e.g., employee learning, productivity, and results.

Basic analysis of “quantitative” information

(for information other than commentary, e.g., ratings, rankings, yes’s, no’s, etc.):

• Make copies of your data and store the master copy away. Use the copy for making edits, cutting and pasting, etc.
• Tabulate the information, i.e., add up the number of ratings, rankings, yes’s, and no’s for each question.
• For ratings and rankings, consider computing a mean, or average, for each question. For example, “For question #1, the average ranking was 2.4”. This is more meaningful than indicating, e.g., how many respondents ranked 1, 2, or 3.
• Consider conveying the range of answers, e.g., 20 people ranked “1”, 30 ranked “2”, and 20 people ranked “3”.

Basic analysis of “qualitative” information

(respondents’ verbal answers in interviews, focus groups, or written commentary on questionnaires):

• Read through all the data.
• Organize comments into similar categories, e.g., concerns, suggestions, strengths, weaknesses, similar experiences, program inputs, recommendations, outputs, outcome indicators, etc.
• Label the categories or themes, e.g., concerns, suggestions, etc.
• Attempt to identify patterns, or associations and causal relationships in the themes, e.g., all people who attended programs in the evening had similar concerns, most people came from the same geographic area, most people were in the same salary range, what processes or events respondents experience during the program, etc.
• Keep all commentary for several years after completion in case needed for future reference.

Interpreting information

• Attempt to put the information in perspective, e.g., compare results to what you expected, promised results; management or program staff; any common standards for your products or services; original goals (especially if you’re conducting a program evaluation); indications or measures of accomplishing outcomes or results (especially if you’re conducting outcomes or performance evaluation); description of the program’s experiences, strengths, weaknesses, etc. (especially if you’re conducting a process evaluation).
• Consider recommendations to help employees improve the program, product, or service; conclusions about program operations or meeting goals, etc.
• Record conclusions and recommendations in a report, and associate interpretations to justify your conclusions or recommendations.

Also, consider Analyzing Data and Communicating Results

• The level and scope of content depend on to whom the report is intended, e.g., to funders/bankers, employees, clients, customers, the public, etc.
• Be sure employees have a chance to carefully review and discuss the report. Translate recommendations to action plans, including who is going to do what about the research results and by when.
• Funders/bankers will likely require a report that includes an executive summary (this is a summary of conclusions and recommendations, not a listing of what sections of information are in the report — that’s a table of contents); description of the organization and the program, product, service, etc., under evaluation; explanation of the research goals, methods, and analysis procedures; listing of conclusions and recommendations; and any relevant attachments, e.g., the inclusion of research questionnaires, interview guides, etc. The funder may want the report to be delivered as a presentation, accompanied by an overview of the report. Or, the funder may want to review the report alone.
• Be sure to record the research plans and activities in a research plan which can be referenced when a similar research effort is needed in the future.

Ideally, the organization’s management decides what the research goals should be. Then a research expert helps the organization to determine what the research methods should be, and how the resulting data will be analyzed and reported back to the organization.

If an organization can afford any outside help at all, it should be for identifying the appropriate research methods and how the data can be collected. The organization might find a less expensive resource to apply the methods, e.g., conduct interviews, send out and analyze results of questionnaires, etc.

If no outside help can be obtained, the organization can still learn a great deal by applying the methods and analyzing the results themselves. However, there is a strong chance that data about the strengths and weaknesses of a product, service, or program will not be interpreted fairly if the data are analyzed by the people responsible for ensuring the product, service, or program is a good one.

These people will be “policing” themselves. This caution is not to fault these people, but rather to recognize the strong biases inherent in trying to objectively look at and publicly (at least within the organization) report about their work. Therefore, if at all possible, have someone other than those responsible for the product, service, or program to look at and determine research results.

Ensure your research plan is documented so that you can regularly and efficiently carry out your research activities. In your plan, record enough information so that someone outside of the organization can understand what you’re researching and how. For example, consider the following format:

• Title Page (name of the organization that is being, or has a product/service/program that is being researched; date)
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary (one-page, concise overview of findings and recommendations)
• Purpose of the Report (what type of research was conducted, what decisions are being aided by the findings of the research, who is making the decision, etc.)
• Organization Description/History
• Problem Statement (in the case of nonprofits, description of the community need that is being met by the product/service/program)
• Overall Goal(s) of Product/Service/Program
• Outcomes (or client/customer impacts) and Performance Measures (that can be measured as indicators toward the outcomes)
• Activities/Technologies of the Product/Service/Program (general description of how the product/service/program is developed and delivered)
• Staffing (description of the number of personnel and roles in the organization that are relevant to developing and delivering the product/service/program)
• Overall Evaluation Goals (e.g., what questions are being answered by the research)
• Types of data/information that were collected
• How data/information was collected (what instruments were used, etc.)
• How data/information was analyzed
• Limitations of the evaluation (e.g., cautions about findings/conclusions and how to use the findings/conclusions, etc.)
• Interpretations and Conclusions (from analysis of the data/information)
• Recommendations (regarding the decisions that must be made about the product/service/program)
• Instruments used to collect data/information
• Data, e.g., in tabular format, etc.
• Testimonials, comments made by users of the product/service/program
• Case studies of users of the product/service/program
• Any related literature
• Don’t balk at research because it seems far too “scientific.” It’s not. Usually, the first 20% of the effort will generate the first 80% of the plan, and this is far better than nothing.
• There is no “perfect” research design. Don’t worry about the research design being perfect. It’s far more important to do something than to wait until every last detail has been tested.
• Work hard to include some interviews in your research methods. Questionnaires don’t capture “the story,” and the story is usually the most powerful depiction of the benefits of your products, services, programs, etc.
• Don’t interview just the successes. You’ll learn a great deal by understanding its failures, dropouts, etc.
• Don’t throw away research results once a report has been generated. Results don’t take up much room, and they can provide precious information later when trying to understand changes in the product, service, or program.

For the Category of Business Research:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

Best Crypto Slots in 2024 – Top 10 Bitcoin Slot Sites for BIG Wins

If you’re not playing slots with crypto, you’re doing it wrong. Bitcoin slots have higher payout rates, bigger jackpots, and higher-quality graphics… Need we go on? In this guide, we’ve highlighted some of the best crypto and Bitcoin slots available today, with most of the highest-payout ones available to play at Ignition Casino. However, variety …

Best Sports Betting Sites – Top 10 Online Sportsbooks, Rated by Experts [2024]

Placing a sports bet these days is quick and painless – thanks to the best sports betting sites that make it possible.  Case in point: Bovada. This online sportsbook sets the bar really high with its comprehensive betting market coverage, competitive odds, awesome bonuses, and fast payouts.  That’s just one out of ten options, though. …

2024’s Best Online Blackjack Sites – Where to Play Blackjack Games for Real Money

Slots and roulette are fun, but they’re pure games of luck. If you want the challenge of playing something that takes actual skill, you need to join one of the best online blackjack sites. In this guide, our team of experts has found and reviewed the top 10 blackjack websites. It all starts with Ignition …

8 Best Banks for Small-Business Loans to Consider in 2024

Small business loans provide funding for business owners to run and grow their companies. These loans can be obtained from traditional banks, credit unions, and online lenders. Usually, the funds are given as a lump-sum payment and repaid monthly unless the lender specifies otherwise. In this guide, we’ve reviewed the top banks for small-business loans, …

2024’s Best Online Poker Sites – Where to Play Online Poker for Real Money

High-traffic rooms, millions in GTDs, and anonymous tables? You’ll find all of these at the best online poker sites – and there’s no need to test each one to find the best! All you have to do is pull up a seat so we can deal you in because we have the inside scoop on …

10 Best Bank Account for Etsy Business - Complete Guide

Running a successful Etsy business demands diligent financial management, and selecting the right bank account plays a crucial role in this process. Whether you’re just launching your shop or aiming to enhance your current setup, finding the optimal bank account for your Etsy business can streamline transactions, control expenses, and boost profits. This guide will …

Simply Business Insurance Review 2024 – Is It Legit?

Simply Business is an online insurance brokerage that connects small businesses with over 15 top business insurance providers. It specializes in serving businesses with five or fewer employees, including startups. Licensed to offer insurance in all 50 states, Simply Business provides easy access to policy documents after purchase.  It stands out as one of the …

American Business Insurance: Detailed 2024 Review

American Business Insurance Services (ABIS) stands out in the industry, offering a variety of insurance solutions that cater to the unique needs of different businesses. This blog delves deep into ABIS, exploring their services, gauging customer satisfaction, and assessing their overall performance in the insurance market. >> Get Your American Business Insurance Quote Now! >> …

Top 6 Business Bank Accounts Perfect for Shopify Stores

Running an e-commerce store can be incredibly rewarding. The opportunity to reach customers with fantastic products and generate a healthy profit is undeniably enticing. However, as a business owner juggling a lengthy to-do list, selecting the right bank account could be more exciting, but it can significantly impact your business operations. For Shopify store owners …

10 Best Business Banks Perfect for Amazon FBA in 2024

Finding the right bank for your Amazon FBA business is essential for smooth financial operations and boosting profits. You need a bank that caters specifically to e-commerce, with efficient transaction processing, low fees, strong online banking, and top-notch customer support.  Look for features that help manage cash flow, handle foreign currency, and integrate seamlessly with …

State Farm Small Business Insurance Review 2024

Finding the right insurance for your business can be challenging among the numerous carriers available. While navigating through insurance options can be cumbersome, it remains a crucial step in the early stages of any business. Securing appropriate coverage from a reliable company is essential for your success as a business owner. State Farm stands out …

Allstate Business Insurance Review – Pros, Cons, & Pricing

If you’re searching for a business insurance company to protect you from unexpected events, you’re in the right place. Although Allstate is perhaps best known for its consumer auto insurance, it’s also one of the top ten providers of commercial auto insurance in the U.S., according to the Insurance Information Institute. This review covers all …

American Express Business Checking Review – Is It Legit?

American Express National Bank (Member FDIC) is well-known for its credit cards, but its Business Checking account is equally impressive. This account features low fees, earns interest, and includes Amex’s renowned customer service.  Check out this American Express Business Checking review to see if it’s a good fit for your small business. >> Explore American …

CitiBusiness Checking Review 2024: Pros, Cons, & Features

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or leading a team of employees, a robust business checking account is essential for your small-business financial plan. Citibank, one of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., provides a comprehensive suite of business banking products, including various business checking accounts. This review delves into Citibank’s business checking options, detailing …

Wise Business Account Review 2024: Fees & Features

As businesses embrace globalization, suppliers and customers are no longer confined to domestic markets. Sourcing from international vendors or serving global buyers has become commonplace. It would be advantageous to have a solution that simplifies sending and receiving global payments. Many such solutions are available today, and a Wise Business account is a notable option. …

Privacy Overview

• How to Write a Lab Report: Tips from Academic Researchers

Lab reports bridge the gap between classroom theory and laboratory practice. Writing a solid lab report demonstrates your understanding of the course material to your professor and shows your ability to apply these concepts in a practical setting. Let’s talk about how to write a lab report efficiently!

What is a Lab Report?

A lab report is a detailed playbook that guides you through your experiments in the lab. You don’t just do experiments: you write them up so that readers can see and understand how and why you did it and the results and implications of experimenting. The fundamental goal of lab report writing is to show that you can think critically, apply theories in practice, and effectively communicate your results. Lab reports are essential in Chemistry and Biology and are also required in fields like Sociology, Engineering, Nursing, and Forensic Studies. For example:

• Sociology researchers explore behavioural experiments or surveys
• Engineering students could be testing materials or new designs
• Nursing scholars often delve into clinical studies or simulations
• Forensic Studies are about crime scene investigations and analysis

Each field uses the lab report to force students to apply theory to practice, develop skills outside the lab, and engage in learning and professional growth. The UK writing service is a reliable solution if you have any challenges writing a lab report. It provides expert assistance to guide you through writing complexities, ensuring your reports comply with academic standards.

How Long Should a Lab Report Be?

The length of the report on lab work depends on the complexity of the experiment and the course requirements. However, most lab reports, including figures and graphs, are usually 2 to 10 pages long. The required report length is usually specified in the assignment, as there are no strict limits for this type of work.

What are the Rules For Writing a Lab Report?

A lab report must be clear and concise, written logically, using the past tense and third person, and include all the data and findings. A professional lab report writer can help you enhance the quality of your report by providing a lab report template, making it easier for you to communicate your research effectively and meet academic standards.

What is the Writing Style of a Lab Report?

A lab report should be written formally and objectively, avoiding personal pronouns and always aiming to communicate clearly and precisely. For this type of scientific work, it is better to use passive voice to shift the focus from the researcher to the action or the research subject. For example, " The solution was heated " rather than " We heated the solution. "

What Should Not Be Included In a Lab Report?

Do not add irrelevant details, personal opinions, or speculative statements to a lab report. Ensure the report discusses only factual and supported observations and stays focused on the experiment and its results.

How to Write a Lab Report: Structure with Examples

A proper lab report structure is essential to format it neatly and ensure every part communicates a specific aspect of your experiment. A well-organised lab report can enhance the reception of your scientific investigation by clearly presenting your methods and demonstrating rigorous methodology. Let’s look at each lab report section in detail to understand its purpose and importance.

1. Title Page: Your lab report cover page, front, or title page must present the first impression. The lab report title page has the leading information: you should describe the experimental topic accurately and concisely. This page will have all the contributors to the report (e.g., group members and instructors) and the date when the experiment took place.

2. Abstract: A lab report abstract summarises the whole report in an independent synopsis around 150-200 words. It briefly touches on what the experiment aimed to test, the methodology, the most significant findings, and the main conclusion. Abstracts are helpful because other researchers and students can quickly understand the work’s relevant context, determining whether or not the full report requires a thorough reading. Example:

This experiment investigated the effect of sunlight exposure on the growth of basil plants. It measured the changes in the height and number of leaves per basil plant grown under four different lighting conditions for 14 days. The results suggested that plants exposed to sunlight for at least six hours a day had grown 50 per cent larger than those exposed to less light.

3. Introduction: A lab report introduction explains the background information and sets up the experiment. It describes the scientific theory or principle being tested, lists the specific goals or hypotheses to be confirmed, and defines the experiment’s importance and relevance to the field. With professional report writing help , you can learn how to write lab report introductions that effectively communicate the necessary context. Expert guidance enables you to structure your thoughts coherently, refining your scientific narrative and enhancing the overall quality of your lab report.

4. Methods and Materials (Equipment): This section describes all the materials, tools, and procedures used in the experiment. It should include the precise chemical concentrations, brand models of the instruments, and a detailed description of the set-up that should allow the experiment to be done exactly as before by others. It is another pillar of the scientific method. Transparency is essential for the research process. It serves as a control for checks and validation by the broader scientific community so that results can be trusted and used as a basis for future research. Here’s a lab report example of the Methods and Materials section. For example:

We had four basil plants, a ruler, a light meter, and four environments: full sun, partial shade, indoors with artificial light, and complete darkness, in which we measured how each plant grew every two days.

5. Experimental Procedure: Next to it, in the Experimental Procedure section, comes a day-by-day account of what was done, a chronological record of every action and condition that occurred, from the initial measurement to the final result, all in language that is as detailed as possible. This way, if another researcher wants to repeat the experiment, they can do so under identical conditions. The section of a laboratory experiment report is crucial for verifying scientific findings, troubleshooting issues, and refining experiments through peer review.

6. Results: The Results section of a lab report is carefully structured and presented objectively, using the data collected during the experiment. The lab report format of this section usually includes tables, charts, or graphs to visually condense information. It is a crucial element, as everything that follows is an analysis, discussion, and conclusion based on the empirical findings of this section, which substantiates the report and identifies the work as scientific.

7. Discussion: The Discussion section analyses how the results relate to the original hypothesis and the broader field of research. Here, you interpret the data, assessing how the findings align with or challenge existing knowledge. This section should address any unexpected results, their potential implications, and possible reasons for their occurrence. The lab report discussion extends the impact of the findings, considering their practical or theoretical significance, connecting them to broader scientific concepts, and suggesting areas for further research.

8. Conclusion: The lab report conclusion states the experiment's results, repeating how they work with the hypothesis and discussing general implications. It should summarise the research's accomplishments, critical successes, and limitations shortly. It also generally includes discussing what could be studied next and mentioning how future research could build on the present experiment. This part of the report brings a sense of closure to the study, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of what was done and why this matters to the field. Look at the example:

The experiment results show that the hypothesis that plants exposed to more sunlight will grow more than others is supported. The basil plants exposed to full sunlight grew more than those in the other conditions. More research can be done to find out how different light spectrums may affect plant growth.

9. References: The References section is a crucial element of the report, as it lists all sources the experiment was based on and which informed the report's writing. By accurately citing their sources, readers can follow the origin of ideas or findings introduced in the report, assess the basis and limits of the reporting, and access the sources for further study. The appendix lab report section should be placed after the References section and include supplementary material that isn’t essential to the main text of the report.

In Conclusion

Learning how to write a lab report isn’t just an integral part of your studies – it has a lasting impact on how your scientific investigation is received. If you learn how to write a university lab report, you’ll demonstrate that you grasp the rules of scientific research. It also showcases a valuable skill: your ability to communicate effectively. Getting this skill right can impact your grades and future academic and workplace career prospects.

The more you enhance your ability to write concise, clear, and well-organised lab reports, the better you'll be for success in any job, whether in research, industry, or any field requiring precise and clear communication.

• 6 Tips For Finding The Best Essay Topics
• Presentation Ideas for Students: Easy and Unique Topics
• Business Research Topics: Selected by Experts
• Unique Discursive Essay Topics To Try In 2024

Writers are verified and tested to comply with quality standards.

Work is completed in time and delivered before deadline.

Wide range of subjects and topics of any difficulty covered.

Read testimonials to learn why customers trust us.

See how it works from order placement to delivery.

Client id #: 000229

You managed to please my supervisor on the first try! Whoa, I've been working with him for over a year and never turned in a paper without having to rewrite it at least once, lol I wonder if he thinks something's wrong with me now.

Client id #: 000154

Your attention to details cannot but makes me happy. Your professional writer followed every single instruction I gave and met the deadline. The text itself is full of sophisticated lexis and well-structured. I was on cloud nine when I looked through it. And my professor is satisfied as well. Million thanks!

Client id #: 000234

I contacted their call-center to specify the possible custom deadline dates prior to making an order decision and it felt like they hadn't even considered a possibility of going beyond the standard urgency. I didn't even want an additional discount for the extended time, just want to make sure I'll have enough time for editing if necessary. Made an order for standard 14 days, we'll see.

Client id #: 000098

I have no idea how you managed to do this research paper so quickly and professionally. But the result is magnificent. Well-structured, brilliantly written and with all the elements I asked for. I am already filling out my next order from you.

Higgins Releases Preliminary Investigative Report

Aug 15, 2024 | Law & Crime , Media , Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), a member of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, released his preliminary investigative report, candidly discussing some of his objective findings following his “boots on the ground” trip to Butler, PA on August 4th, 5th and 6th.

The preliminary investigative report was submitted to Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA) on August 12, 2024. The document was intended to foster discussion amongst Task Force members. It has been embargoed for several days pending authorization to release from the Task Force chain of command.

“As I have said, every question will be answered, every theory explored, and every doubt erased. The American people deserve the full truth on the attempted assassination of President Trump,” said Congressman Higgins. “Our investigative efforts are moving forward in good faith. The release of my preliminary investigative report is reflective of my desire to deliver transparency and reassurance to the American people.”

The preliminary report details some of Congressman Higgins’ findings thus far. However, it is not exhaustive, nor final.

Notable observations include:

• “U.S. Secret Service did not retrieve the radios that had been set aside for them by Butler County tactical command. The radio comms were properly and perfectly arranged during the extensive pre-mission planning.”
• “All 8 casings (from shots fired by Crooks) were recovered and are allegedly in proper possession of the FBI.”
• “The 9th shot fired on J13 was from a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards away from the AGR building. Shot 9 hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face/neck/right shoulder area from the stock breaking up.”
• “The 10th (and, I believe, final) shot was fired from the southern counter-sniper team.”
• “My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact… the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13.”
• “The water tower was cleared by drone J13 AM by the County tactical commander, ESU Commander Lenz himself.”

Read Congressman Higgins’ preliminary investigative report here.

Signup to receive our Email Newsletters

The Latest News

Higgins Announces Additional $2.9M in Hurricane Recovery Efforts

Aug 1, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced today that FEMA is awarding an additional $2,991,177.90...

Higgins to Serve on Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of President Trump

Jul 29, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) will serve on the bipartisan House Task Force charged with...

Higgins Announces $3.7M for 3rd District Airports

Jul 24, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced today that three airports in Louisiana’s 3rd District...

More From Forbes

Ufc 305 results: bonus winners, highlights and reaction.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 18: (R-L) Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa punches Israel Adesanya of ... [+] Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight championship on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.

In a back-and-forth battle with Israel Adesanya, the champion ultimately dug deep and scored a win via fourth-round submission to settle one of the most bitter feuds in UFC history.

Here is a look at the finish:

Adesanya had several moments during the fight. His shots to the body, jabs, and some well-placed uppercuts appeared to take a toll on du Plessis.

However, the heavy-handed champion appeared to make a more significant impact when he landed, and in the second round, his wrestling helped secure two takedowns. Adesanya had his best round in the fourth, seemingly battering the champion with combinations.

Still, a burst from du Plessis resulted in a hard left hand that momentarily disoriented the challenger. A series of right hands from du Plessis forced Adesanya to give up his back, and the champion secured the rear-naked choke that forced the submission.

Despite the bitter nature of the feud, Adesanya and du Plessis showed each other high levels of respect in the post-fight interviews. Adesanya made his intentions to continue his career known, but it's unclear who he'll fight next.

Best Nintendo Switch Games: It’s Mario’s World, We’re Just Visiting

• Dricus du Plessis def. Israel Adesanya by submission at 3:38 of Round 4
• Kai Kara-France def. Steve Erceg by TKO at 4:04 of Round 1

To close out the co-main event, Kara-France destroyed Erceg with a destructive overhand left that dropped his opponent. Erceg got to his feet, but another straight right hand ended the fight.

Here is the finish:

• Dan Hooker def. Mateusz Gamrot by split decision (29-28x2, 28-29)
• Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Tai Tuivasa by split decision (30-27, 29-28 and 27-30)
• Carlos Prates defeats Li Jingliang by KO at 4:02 of Round 2

Prates is a problem. He became the first man to KO Jingliang, and he did it with a vicious left hook that led to the walk-off finish.

Take a look:

• Valter Walker defeats Junior Tafa by technical submission (ankle lock) at 4:56 of Round 1

This one ended with controversy, though there shouldn’t have been any.

Tafa verbally submitted when he screamed out loud from the pain of an ankle lock. After losing the actual fight, Tafa wanted to brawl after the official decision was made.

• Ricardo Ramos defeats Josh Culibao by split deiciso
• Casey O’Neill defeats Luana Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Jack Jenkins defeats Herbert Burns by TKO (strikes) at 0:48 of Round 3

Jenkins decimated Burns’ legs with kicks and finished the fight with relentless ground and pound.

• Tom Nolan defeats Alex Reyes by unanimous decision (30-27x2, 29-28)
• Song Kenan defeats Ricky Glenn by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28)
• Jesus Aguilar defeats Stewart Nicoll by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:39 of Round 1

It seems safe to say that the referee may have jumped in a little too late, as Nicoll was out, and there is no way to know how long he was unconscious.

What’s next for the UFC?

Episode 2 of Season 8 of Dana White Contender Series is Aug. 20, and on Aug. 23, Road to the UFC: Season 3 and on Aug. 24, UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Borralho takes over next weekend’s MMA scene.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

• Subscribe Now

Swing State Project: August 2024 Toplines

The Swing State Project is a collaboration between The Cook Political Report and two pollsters, BSG and GS Strategy Group. Below are the toplines from the August 2024 poll. In total, 2,867 likely voters across seven swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) completed the survey.

In the seven states combined, Vice President Kamala Harris leads former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup 48% to 47%.

View the crosstabs (CPR subscribers only).

More from the Cook Political Report

Florida House Primary Preview: Scandal-Ridden Gaetz Faces Primary Challenge

Amy Walter: An Election That’s Become a Referendum on Trump

Episode 11: Surprises and Takeaways From Our Swing State Project

Democrats Maintain Edge in New Senate Polls, As Nevada Moves Back to Lean Democrat

Advantage to the Outsider

Omar Defeats Moderate Primary Opponent, Minnesota Republicans Opt for Controversial Senate Nominee

Subscribe today.

Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.