The Results chapter of your FYP is where you present the findings of your research. There are several organizational styles that can be used for presenting your results.
Some writers devote one entire chapter to presenting the findings and only add a very brief comment about them at this stage. A more detailed discussion is then provided in a separate Discussion chapter.
Other writers combine the findings plus a discussion about them into one chapter.
Before starting to write up your own results you will need to decide on the most appropriate organization for your study. If in doubt, consult your supervisor.
The following points should be considered when presenting your findings:
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Present your findings in a clear and easy-to-understand manner.
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Consider your readers; make it easy for them to understand the data.
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Include only the particularly important findings in the body of the dissertation. Do not distract the reader with very detailed data. If you have very detailed information that you would like the reader to refer to, consider including it in an appendix. Remember to refer the reader to the appendix. Click here to read guidelines on the use of appendices.
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Consider the most effective presentation style for your results. Normally a combination of text and tables/figures is the preferred style. Tables and figures provide data in numeric or pictorial terms in a more visual manner than straight text. Straight text however, enables you to explain the significance of the data. Straight text also enhances the fluency of the chapter and helps the reader to focus on the most important aspects of the data.
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Ensure that your tables and figures add more information than that given in the text. Do not just display visually what has already been described.
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Click
here for guidelines on the presentation
of Tables and Figures.
If you need assistance with the presentation of specific statistical results, chapter 9 of the following book provides a very detailed description.
Rudestam, K.E. and Newton, R.R. 1992. Surviving Your Dissertation: A comprehensive guide to content and process. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications
Choice of Tense in the Results Chapter
Several tenses are used in the Results chapter.
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What tense is usually used to describe the findings?
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What voice is usually used to describe the findings?
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Simple past tense
is used to refer to the most important findings.
The passive voice is frequently used to describe the findings.
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e.g.
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What tense is usually used to describe the presentation of tables and figures?
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What voice is usually used to describe the presentation of tables and figures?
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Simple present tense is used to refer to the presentation of tables and figures. The passive voice is frequently used to present tables and figures.
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e.g.
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Modal verbs are often used to explain the reason for a certain result.
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e.g.
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The following is an extract from the results chapter of a student's FYP.
The verbs have been highlighted. Note the tense, the use of the passive
voice and the use of modal verbs.
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We can see from table 4.3 that the higher the education levels, the greater the percentage of site staff who thought that they have no communication problems during work and vice versa. In other words, when the site staff have lower education levels, they are more likely to encounter communication problems. From figure 4.8 it can be noted that 84% of the site staff are full time employees, while only a small portion of site staff are casual workers and self-employed. This high rate of full time employment can help to explain the low rate of labour turnover. Almost all of the staff has about 2-5 years of service with their employer as shown in figure 4.9. Only 18 % of them have spent more than five years with their present employer. This shows the tendency for the site staff to leave the employer after a few years. |
