✍️ Reporting Results

The standard approach to this section of a research article or dissertation is to present and describe the results in a systematic and detailed way. 

When reporting qualitative results, the researcher will highlight and comment on the themes that emerge from the analysis. These comments will often be illustrated with excerpts from the raw data. In text based studies, this may comprise quotations from the primary sources. In quantitative studies, the results section is likely to consist of tables and figures, and writers comment on the significant data shown in these. 

This often takes the form of the location or summary statement, which identifies the table or figure and indicates its content, and a highlighting statement or statements, which point out and describe the relevant or significant data. All figures and tables should be numbered and given a title. More elaborate commentary on the results is normally restricted to the Discussion section. In research articles, however, authors may comment extensively on their results as they are presented, and it is not uncommon for the Results section to be combined with the Discussion section under the heading: Results and Discussion.

Here's some examples:

Referring back to the research aims or procedures

• The first set of questions aimed to … 
• To compare the difference between … 
• The first set of analysis examined the impact of ... 
• The correlation between X and Y was tested using … 
• Simple statistical analysis was used to …

• If we now turn to ...
• Further analysis shows that ...
• Further statistical tests revealed ...
• Further analysis of the data reveals … 
• A comparison of the two results reveals ...

🔍Want to see some examples? Go to the Learner Support Page and Check the Academic Phrasebank resource under Academic Writing. Check Pages 55 - 62.