You cannot say, “Just look at the table and interpret for yourself what was found”. You have to decide on what are the key findings or features that should be written about. A common error is tell nothing about the table or graph in the text or to tell in writing everything in the table or graph. However, you should explain the key features in the table in the narrative which will help interpretation. If you present descriptive statistics in a table or figure, you do not need to repeat in text form all that is in the table. ‘Females (M = 45, SD = 2.1) are more satisfied with their jobs compared to their male (M = 38, SD = 2.2) colleagues’. In reporting the results of descriptive statistical tests, focus is on the means (M), standard deviations (SD), frequencies (N) and percentages presented in tables or graphs (bar charts, line graphs, pie charts). Avoid citations – it is not necessary to cite sources – you will do that in Chapter 5.ĪPA Guidelines for Reporting Statistical Analysis.Remember to write for the reader and it should be logical and easy to follow – ‘make it simple but not simpler’.Presentation should be consistent with the underlying theoretical framework.Do not judge, editorialise, evaluate or give you opinion on the results obtained. Just report the facts, OK!.It should be written in the past tense because the data has been collected.Never present a table, chart, or figure that you are not planning to explain.Make sure that each graphic is clearly labelled with a title so that readers can easily identify and understand them.Tables, charts, graphs and figures should be interpreted – it is your responsibility to tell your reader what you think is the most important information in the graphics.Support your presentation with tables, graphs, charts and figures where applicable.Guidelines for the Presentation of Statistical Information
Here we will focus on writing the results and analysis of data based on a quantitative approach which consists of THREE sections: You should be most excited in what you have found and to be able to convey that excitement in Chapter 4. What’s the big deal?It is a big deal because the findings is the essence of the whole project. People would like to know what you have found out after spending so many years. Chapter 4 is perhaps the most important chapter because it is the culmination of all your efforts. In some instances, the presentation of the data is not clear even though Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 are well written. They fail to tease out valuable and relevant information and present it in Chapter 4. Some students ‘sell short’ by under-reporting the data they have collected and analysed. Sometimes students spend so much time collecting and analysing the data but when it comes to reporting they do not do a good job. ‘Analysis’ here implies the use of relevant statistical tools usually to determine differences and relationships. The two key words is ‘analysis’ and ‘results’ where the researcher analyses the data collected and presents the results in Chapter 4. Chapter four of the Thesis is given different titles “Analysis of Data” “Results of Study” “Analysis and Results” and others.