Chapter 5: Writing the Results Section

Chapter 5 Synopsis: Writing Results Sections

We have now reviewed the four communicative goals for writing a Results section and explained a variety of strategies that you can use to help. The image below provides a snapshot of this chapter:

Table reviewing the goals and strategies for results sections; outlined goals are "approaching the niche," "occupying the niche," "construing the niche," and "expanding the niche"

Key Takeaways

The Results section has more communicative goals (four) than the preceding sections. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Results section will be longer, but it does mean that you need to be careful to attend to all four of these goals. Remember: Goals should ALL be accomplished like a checklist. Strategies are simply options for completing the goals (i.e., you probably will not employ all of them).

Other resources:

We have now reviewed the four communicative goals for writing a Results section and explained a variety of strategies that you can use to help. Consult the following free, online resources for additional tips on reporting results in a clear and concise manner:

Explore + Apply

Before you begin applying what you’ve learned in this chapter to your Results section, explore published writing in your discipline or in a target journal that you’ve identified. Look for the goals and strategies presented here to see where you might find similarities and differences that are discipline- or journal-specific. When you have located them, determine how you will incorporate similar patterns into your own Results as you outline the section.

 

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Preparing to Publish Copyright © 2023 by Sarah Huffman; Elena Cotos; and Kimberly Becker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.