Presenting Results, Making Conclusions, and Writing Reports

1
Chapter 10

• Presenting Results, Making Conclusions, and
  Writing Reports

2
Points of Emphasis

• Using a scientific method does not guarantee
  you the truth
• Limitations know them, list them, and address
  them
• Generalizability most of the time you can only
  safely discuss those you surveyed
• Just report the statistics be careful with
  leading words or flamboyant adjectives

3
Research Questions

• When reporting the results, let the research
  questions guide you
• If you speculate, make sure your readers know
  that is what you are doing
• Should you make adjustments along the way, you
  need to let readers know

4
Correlation does not mean causation

• Do not imply causation if the study was not set
  up to do so
• Correlations allow you to discuss strength of
  relationship (only)
• Explanatory analysis is needed to speculate about
  cause and effect

5
Audience Matters!

• General Public
• Academic Journal Reader
• Attendant at Conference Presentation
• Dissertation/Thesis Committee
• Employer
• Funding Agency

6
Basic Research Report

• Abstract
• Literature Review
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions and Summary
• References