Results Section

Reading the Results Section

What story do the results tell? This section synthesizes the experimental output into figures, tables, and statistics. It points out trends, relationships, outliers, or observations that fuel the discussion around the topic.

Many articles organize the finding via subheadings and figures. You can often use those signposts to quickly discern the results. In the Big Data article you will see three subheadings and one table. Make sure you pay attention to the table caption / description, which explains what you are seeing.

Here are a couple of suggestions for deciphering Results sections. Often there are charts and graphs along with some narrative:

• • If you are a visual learner, the charts may make sense to you
  • If charts are difficult to understand, look over the narrative and then return to the charts
  • Using the charts can help enhance your understanding of the narrative

The Results section is the longest of the paper, at 5.5 pages with one table. Take a break when reading if you need to, and consider reading one subsection at a time.

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Note-Taking

Look for the main finding, which directly answers the Research Question, and a few supplementary findings, which provide context and caveats to the main finding. Write a one-sentence summary of the main finding. Synthesize the article's Discussion into a few sentences about how its results fit in with the broader field.

Remember to look up any new words or acronyms as you go.