SECTION TWO : Results
Making sense of your data for yourself and others
Step 1:
If you haven't already done so, put your lab data in visual form by creating
appropriate tables, graphs, and other figures. Representing your data
in a visual format will allow you to identify trends and relationships
among variables more easily.
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- Establish what types of data you have, quantitative
or qualitative.
- Determine if the data should be represented as a table
or a graph.
- If you decide to use a graph to represent your data, determine which
type of graph is one that
best represents your data.
- If a table is the best format for your data, then modify the table
you used to collect your data so that it is labeled and organized properly.
Go to Designing Tables for more
help with tables.
- If you need help creating a spreadsheet to make a table or graph,
go to "Excel Tutorial."
Step 2:
Once you have generated visual representations of your data, decide the
order in which your tables, graphs, or other figures should be presented
in the Results section.
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The visuals tell the main story of your data,
so you need to decide how to organize visuals so that they tell the
story most effectively. Deciding what order to put your visuals in is
more of an issue in complex labs with multiple data sets, and may not
be an issue in simple labs. If you have been told what visuals to include
in your report and the order to put them in, go to Step 3 of Results.
Three ways of organizing your visuals:
- chronological order: if the lab consists of more than one procedure,
you can present the results in the order in which you did the procedures,
especially if that order provides a useful way of leading the reader
through the results.
- order of importance: arrange the visuals by putting the one that is
the most important first and then the others in descending order of
importance.
- order of generality: sometimes it is better to start with the most
general representation of the data and then place the more specific
ones after that, especially if the specific ones serve to support the
broad representation or add more details to it.
Step 3:
Review all the data from your experiment. In a sentence or two, summarize
the main finding of this lab. This is the opening sentence(s) of the Results
section.
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Summarizing your overall results in a sentence
or two allows you to make sense of the findings of the lab for yourself
and for your reader. A one- to two-sentence summary allows the lab instructor
to judge how well you understand the lab as a whole.
- Review the findings in your visuals (tables and graphs and other figures).
If you have trouble shaping a one-sentence summary, look for a unifying
feature among the data sets. This is likely to be the dependent variable.
The sentence will be a general statement that summarizes your findings
about that variable or related variables.
- You can start the sentence in several ways: "The results of the
lab show that …"; "The data from the experiments demonstrate
that…"; "The independent variable X increased as Y and
Z were…."
Step 4:
In separate paragraphs, summarize the finding in each of your visuals--tables,
graphs, or other figures. First state the overall relationship or interaction
among variables that each visual represents. Then include any specific
details from the visual that are important for understanding the results.
Refer to your tables, graphs, or other figures as figure or table 1, 2,
3, etc.
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The main job of the Results section is to
report data from the lab. The Results typically consists of both visual
representations of data (tables and graphs and other figures) and written
descriptions of the data.
- Describe each visual in a separate paragraph. Each paragraph has two
parts:
- The first sentence gives the general
finding for the visual, what it indicates overall, and
- The following sentence(s) provides key details from the visual
that are important to understanding the experiment (don't include
all the details).
- Refer to your visual(s) in the written part of your Results in one
of two ways:
- Refer to your visual(s) at the beginning of your findings, for
example, "Table 1 shows that the reaction times decreased as
the strength of the solution increased." "Figure 3 demonstrates
that the mortality rate among riparian mammals adhered to approximately
seven-year cycles." (It is also possible to use verbs such
as "lists," "displays," "describes,"
etc.)
- Refer to your visual(s) in parentheses at the end of the of your
findings. For example, "The reaction times decreased as the
strength of the solution increased (Table 1)." "The mortality
rate among riparian mammals adhered to approximately seven-year
cycles (see Figure 3)." (Ask your teacher which format to use
for parenthetical documentation.)
Step 5:
Complete the Results by placing all the elements you've written in the
proper order: (1) the sentence summarizing the overall data for the lab;
(2) the paragraphs of word descriptions for each visual arranged in the
order the visuals are presented.
The Results looks like this:
- Summary of overall findings of lab
- Paragraph related to visual 1
- Sentence of overall finding from visual 1
- Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 1
- Paragraph related to visual 2
- Sentence of overall finding from visual 2
- Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 2
- Paragraph related to visual 3
- Sentence of overall finding from visual 3
- Sentence(s) with key details from visual 3, etc.
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