The results section of a dissertation is where you mention the findings of your research work. When you write the results, you also state the results of the analyses and tests you conducted for your dissertation. You will have to be super careful when crafting your papers because you have to report all the relevant results objectively and concisely here.
If you are confused about how to craft the results chapter excellently, we have a recipe for your success. In this article, we have mentioned the secret tips to craft the results section of a dissertation and the dos and don’ts of the process. You can write a flawless findings chapter by following the guidelines.
While that sounds easy, it is not practically that easy for students who are crafting a dissertation from scratch for the first time. In such conditions, you are advised to get dissertation writing help online from experts who have a knack for crafting winning academic papers.
Coming back to the topic, here is how you write the perfect results chapter for your dissertation.
How to Write the Results Section of the Dissertation?
The simple and easy guide for you to follow when writing the results section of a dissertation is here:
1. Writing Quantitative Results
Report the descriptive statistics results and state clearly what hypothesis you used for your work. Structure your results in a logical way and also attach a concise summary of your positive and negative results with each test result. Do not forget to add a brief statement to show how the results relate to the hypothesis of your research. Use graphs, charts and tables to state your findings.
2. Writing Qualitative Results
Just like you present the summary of relevant literature in the literature review chapter of your dissertation, write the brief results of the qualitative work in the findings part. Mention the points of agreement and disagreement and provide snippets from individual responses to support your answer. Highlight the patterns and trends in this section of your work.
3. Results vs Discussion vs Conclusion
The results chapter objectively mentions the findings of your papers and presents brief observations in relation to each question, theme or hypothesis.
The discussion chapter attempts to explain the results in detail and provides readers with a detailed interpretation of the results you stated earlier.
The conclusion chapter summarises the entire research findings in a simple way and relates it to the main research questions of your dissertation.
If you are struggling with the difference and need help with the results section of a dissertation, make haste and ask for clarification from experts, peers or supervisors.
4. Checklist
When you finish writing your results chapter, review it to ensure that you have:
- Added the results that were relevant to your research questions
- Completed the data collection and analysed the results
- Stated whether each hypothesis was real or not
- Reported each result and added the link to key evidence
- Used tables and figures to simplify the results
- Labelled the diagrams used correctly and added the sources of external media in your reference list
Dos and Don’ts of Writing Results Section of a Dissertation
Do’s:
- Do write with a clear, impartial, objective and academic tone to enhance your credibility as a scholar.
- Do provide your readers with clear topic sentences that relate your research questions to the findings of your work.
- Do include any sort of negative results and findings because if you do not, it shall hurt your credibility as a scholar.
- Do include the qualitative results and present data in a way that is easier to understand for your audience.
- Do include the results of the statistical analysis if you have performed any for your dissertation.
Don’ts:
- Do not analyse, interpret or discuss your findings in the results section of a dissertation.
- Avoid presenting the raw data which you can summarise or present visually.
- Do not present data that is not relevant to your papers’ research questions.
- Do not use generalisations or vague terms when you are presenting the results; always be specific about it!
- Do not present the same sets of data multiple times; instead, decide on one kind of format to convey your meanings in the best way.
How Long Should a Results Section Be in a Dissertation?
As the results from an analysis conducted by Quantifying Health show, most dissertations have a word count that ranges between 609 and 1662 words. Generally, the results section consists of almost 26.2% of the total word count of the entire paper. As a rule of thumb, the results section of a research paper is equivalent to the methods or discussion chapter length. You can also make it twice the length of the introduction of your dissertation.
If you want to publish your dissertation later, ensure that you have read the guidelines and know what journals require of your work. Review some results section of a dissertation examples to know what is needed of you.
What Should a Results Section Contain?
Per the instructions of San Jose State University, the results section of a good dissertation should state the findings of the research work and establish their connection to the research questions. The purpose of a results section is to summarise and present the findings in context to the aims of the research. You should also add a contextual analysis of the data and tie it back to the research questions.
The instructions for the main contents of the results section of a dissertation are listed here:
- Present the data in the form of charts, graphs, figures, and tables. They can be placed on separate pages and into the text, based on the placement you choose.
- Ensure that all data in the findings of your work corresponds to the main research questions.
- Add a contextual analysis of the research data and explain its meaning in the form of short and simple sentences.
- The secondary results and findings of your work should also be added to the results of your dissertation.
- All kinds of statistical tests and their relevant results should be present in the findings section of your dissertation.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that you should mention the findings of your work in the results section of a dissertation. Dissertation writing is a long and tiring process and students often feel exhausted when crafting their papers. Some of them craft the findings section in haste and pay little attention to the details, and this becomes a fatal mistake.
You must know the results section of dissertations are as important as the other sections of your work. If you are struggling with crafting an impressive results section that understandably presents your findings, you must seek external help. The professional writers at notable dissertation writing services have the solution to your problem, and they will assist you in answering your research questions in the best possible manner!
