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September 5, 2022   |  Read time: 7 min

How to Write an Impressive Thesis Results Section

After collecting and analyzing your research data, it’s time to write the results section. This article explains how to write and organize the thesis results section, the differences in reporting qualitative and quantitative data, the differences in the thesis results section across different fields, and the best practices for tables and figures.

What is the thesis results section?

The thesis results section factually and concisely describes what was observed and measured during the study but does not interpret the findings. It presents the findings in a logical order.

What should the thesis results section include?

  • Include all relevant results as text, tables, or figures
  • Report the results of subject recruitment and data collection
  • For qualitative research, present the data from all statistical analyses, whether or not the results are significant
  • For quantitative research, present the data by coding or categorizing themes and topics
  • Present all secondary findings (e.g., subgroup analyses)
  • Include all results, even if they do not fit in with your assumptions or support your hypothesis

What should the thesis results section not include?

  • If the study involves the thematic analysis of an interview, don’t include complete transcripts of all interviews. Instead, add these as appendices
  • Don’t present raw data. These may be included in appendices
  • Don’t include background information (this should be in the introduction section)
  • Don’t speculate on the meaning of results that do not support your hypothesis. This will be addressed later in the discussion and conclusion sections.
  • Don’t repeat results that have been presented in tables and figures. Only highlight the pertinent points or elaborate on specific aspects

How should the thesis results section be organized?

The opening paragraph of the thesis results section should briefly restate the thesis question. Then, present the results objectively as text, figures, or tables.

Quantitative research presents the results from experiments and statistical tests, usually in the form of tables and figures (graphs, diagrams, and images), with any pertinent findings emphasized in the text. The results are structured around the thesis question. Demographic data are usually presented first in this section.

For each statistical test used, the following information must be mentioned:

  • The type of analysis used (e.g., Mann–Whitney U test or multiple regression analysis)
  • A concise summary of each result, including descriptive statistics (e.g., means, medians, and modes) and inferential statistics (e.g., correlation, regression, and values) and whether the results are significant
  • Any trends or differences identified through comparisons
  • How the findings relate to your research and if they support or contradict your hypothesis

Qualitative research presents results around key themes or topics identified from your data analysis and explains how these themes evolved. The data are usually presented as text because it is hard to present the findings as figures.

For each theme presented, describe:

  • General trends or patterns observed
  • Significant or representative responses
  • Relevant quotations from your study subjects

Relevant characteristics about your study subjects

Differences among the results section in different fields of research

Nevertheless, results should be presented logically across all disciplines and reflect the thesis question and any hypotheses that were tested.

The presentation of results varies considerably across disciplines. For example, a thesis documenting how a particular population interprets a specific event and a thesis investigating customer service may both have collected data using interviews and analyzed it using similar methods. Still, the presentation of the results will vastly differ because they are answering different thesis questions. A science thesis may have used experiments to generate data, and these would be presented differently again, probably involving statistics. Nevertheless, results should be presented logically across all disciplines and reflect the thesis question and any hypotheses that were tested.

Differences between reporting thesis results in the Sciences and the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) domains

In the Sciences domain (qualitative and experimental research), the results and discussion sections are considered separate entities, and the results from experiments and statistical tests are presented. In the HSS domain (qualitative research), the results and discussion sections may be combined.

There are two approaches to presenting results in the HSS field:

  1. If you want to highlight important findings, first present a synopsis of the results and then explain the key findings.
  2. If you have multiple results of equal significance, present one result and explain it. Then present another result and explain that, and so on. Conclude with an overall synopsis.

Best practices for using tables and figures

The use of figures and tables is highly encouraged because they provide a standalone overview of the research findings that are much easier to understand than wading through dry text mentioning one result after another. The text in the results section should not repeat the information presented in figures and tables. Instead, it should focus on the pertinent findings or elaborate on specific points.

Some popular software programs that can be used for the analysis and presentation of statistical data include Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)R softwareMATLAB, Microsoft Excel, Statistical Analysis Software (SAS)GraphPad Prism, and Minitab.

The easiest way to construct tables is to use the Table function in Microsoft Word. Microsoft Excel can also be used; however, Word is the easier option.

General guidelines for figures and tables

  • Figures and tables must be interpretable independent from the text
  • Number tables and figures consecutively (in separate lists) in the order in which they are mentioned in the text
  • All tables and figures must be cited in the text
  • Provide clear, descriptive titles for all figures and tables
  • Include a legend to concisely describe what is presented in the figure or table

Figure guidelines

  • Label figures so that the reader can easily understand what is being shown
  • Use a consistent font type and font size for all labels in figure panels
  • All abbreviations used in the figure artwork should be defined in the figure legend

Table guidelines

  • All table columns should have a heading abbreviation used in tables should be defined in the table footnotes
  • All numbers and text presented in tables must correlate with the data presented in the manuscript body

Quantitative results example: Figure 3 presents the characteristics of unemployed subjects and their rate of criminal convictions. A statistically significant association was observed between unemployed people <20 years old, the male sex, and no household income.

Figure 3. Associations between the characteristics of unemployed subjects and their rate of crime convictions.values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. *< 0.05 and **< 0.001.

Qualitative results example: Table 5 shows the themes identified during the face-to-face interviews about the application that we developed to anonymously report corruption in the workplace. There was positive feedback on the app layout and ease of use. Concerns that emerged from the interviews included breaches of confidentiality and the inability to report incidents because of unstable cellphone network coverage.

Themes

Selected quotes

Ease of use of the appThe app was easy to use, and I did not have to contact the helpdesk
 I wish all apps were so user-friendly!
App layoutThe screen was not cluttered. The text was easy to read
 The icons on the screen were easy to understand
ConfidentialityI am scared that the app developers will disclose my name to my employer
Unstable network coverageI was unable to report an incident that occurred at one of our building sites because there was no cellphone reception
 I wanted to report the incident immediately , but I had to wait until I was home, where the cellphone network signal was strong

Table 5. Themes and selected quotes from the evaluation of our app designed to anonymously report workplace corruption.

Tips for writing the thesis results section

  • Do not state that a difference was present between the two groups unless this can be supported by a significant p-value.
  • Present the findings only. Do not comment or speculate on their interpretation.
  • Every result included must have a corresponding method in the methods section. Conversely, all methods must have associated results presented in the results section.
  • Do not explain commonly used methods. Instead, cite a reference.
  • Be consistent with the units of measurement used in your thesis study. If you start with kg, then use the same unit all throughout your thesis. Also, be consistent with the capitalization of units of measurement. For example, use either “ml” or “mL” for milliliters, but not both.
  • Never manipulate measurement outcomes, even if the result is unexpected. Remain objective.

Results vs. discussion vs. conclusion

Results are presented in three sections of your thesis: the results, discussion, and conclusion.

  • In the results section, the data are presented simply and objectively. No speculation or interpretation is given.
  • In the discussion section, the meaning of the results is interpreted and put into context (e.g., compared with other findings in the literature), and its importance is assigned.
  • In the conclusion section, the results and the main conclusions are summarized.

A thesis is the most crucial document that you will write during your academic studies. For professional thesis editing and thesis proofreading services, visit Enago Thesis Editing for more information.

Editor’s pick

Review Checklist

  • Have you completed all data collection procedures and analyzed all results?

  • Have you included all results relevant to your thesis question, even if they do not support your hypothesis?

  • Have you reported the results objectively, with no interpretation or speculation?

  • For quantitative research, have you included both descriptive and inferential statistical results and stated whether they support or contradict your hypothesis?

  • Have you used tables and figures to present all results?

  • In your thesis body, have you presented only the pertinent results and elaborated on specific aspects that were presented in the tables and figures?

  • Are all tables and figures correctly labeled and cited in numerical order in the text?

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