How to Write the Dissertation Findings or Results – Steps & Tips
Published by at August 11th, 2021 , Revised On June 11, 2024
Each part of the dissertation is unique, and some general and specific rules must be followed. The dissertation’s findings section presents the key results of your research without interpreting their meaning.
Theoretically, this is an exciting section of a dissertation because it involves writing what you have observed and found. However, it can be a little tricky if there is too much information to confuse the readers.
The goal is to include only the essential and relevant findings in this section. The results must be presented in an orderly sequence to provide clarity to the readers.
This section of the dissertation should be easy for the readers to follow, so you should avoid going into a lengthy debate over the interpretation of the results.
It is vitally important to focus only on clear and precise observations. The findings chapter of the dissertation is theoretically the easiest to write.
It includes statistical analysis and a brief write-up about whether or not the results emerging from the analysis are significant. This segment should be written in the past sentence as you describe what you have done in the past.
This article will provide detailed information about how to write the findings of a dissertation.
When to Write Dissertation Findings Chapter
As soon as you have gathered and analysed your data, you can start to write up the findings chapter of your dissertation paper. Remember that it is your chance to report the most notable findings of your research work and relate them to the research hypothesis or research questions set out in the introduction chapter of the dissertation.
You will be required to separately report your study’s findings before moving on to the discussion chapter if your dissertation is based on the collection of primary data or experimental work.
However, you may not be required to have an independent findings chapter if your dissertation is purely descriptive and focuses on the analysis of case studies or interpretation of texts.
TIPS
- Always report the findings of your research in the past tense.
- The dissertation findings chapter varies from one project to another, depending on the data collected and analyzed.
- Avoid reporting results that are not relevant to your research questions or research hypothesis.
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1. Reporting Quantitative Findings
The best way to present your quantitative findings is to structure them around the research hypothesis or questions you intend to address as part of your dissertation project.
Report the relevant findings for each research question or hypothesis, focusing on how you analyzed them.
Analysis of your findings will help you determine how they relate to the different research questions and whether they support the hypothesis you formulated.
While you must highlight meaningful relationships, variances, and tendencies, it is important not to guess their interpretations and implications because this is something to save for the discussion and conclusion chapters.
Any findings not directly relevant to your research questions or explanations concerning the data collection process should be added to the dissertation paper’s appendix section.
Use of Figures and Tables in Dissertation Findings
Suppose your dissertation is based on quantitative research. In that case, it is important to include charts, graphs, tables, and other visual elements to help your readers understand the emerging trends and relationships in your findings.
Repeating information will give the impression that you are short on ideas. Refer to all charts, illustrations, and tables in your writing but avoid recurrence.
The text should be used only to elaborate and summarize certain parts of your results. On the other hand, illustrations and tables are used to present multifaceted data.
It is recommended to give descriptive labels and captions to all illustrations used so the readers can figure out what each refers to.
How to Report Quantitative Findings
Here is an example of how to report quantitative results in your dissertation findings chapter;
Two hundred seventeen participants completed both the pretest and post-test and a Pairwise T-test was used for the analysis. The quantitative data analysis reveals a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the pretest and posttest scales from the Teachers Discovering Computers course. The pretest mean was 29.00 with a standard deviation of 7.65, while the posttest mean was 26.50 with a standard deviation of 9.74 (Table 1). These results yield a significance level of .000, indicating a strong treatment effect (see Table 3). With the correlation between the scores being .448, the little relationship is seen between the pretest and posttest scores (Table 2). This leads the researcher to conclude that the impact of the course on the educators’ perception and integration of technology into the curriculum is dramatic.
TABLE 1
Paired Samples
| Mean | N | Std. Deviation | Std. Error Mean | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pair 1 | PRESCORE | 29.00 | 217 | 7.65 | .519 |
| PSTSCORE | 26.00 | 217 | 9.74 | .661 |
TABLE 2
Paired Samples Correlation
| N | Correlation | Sig. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pair 1 | PRESCORE & PSTSCORE | 217 | .448 | .000 |
TABLE 3
Paired Samples Test
| Paired Differences | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error Mean | 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference | t | df | Sig. (2-tailed) | |||
| Lower | Upper | ||||||||
| Pair 1 | PRESCORE-PSTSCORE | 2.50 | 9.31 | .632 | 1.26 | 3.75 | 3.967 | 216 | .000 |
Also Read: How to Write the Abstract for the Dissertation.
2. Reporting Qualitative Findings
A notable issue with reporting qualitative findings is that not all results directly relate to your research questions or hypothesis.
The best way to present the results of qualitative research is to frame your findings around the most critical areas or themes you obtained after you examined the data.
In-depth data analysis will help you observe what the data shows for each theme. Any developments, relationships, patterns, and independent responses directly relevant to your research question or hypothesis should be mentioned to the readers.
Additional information not directly relevant to your research can be included in the appendix.
How to Report Qualitative Findings
Here is an example of how to report qualitative results in your dissertation findings chapter;
Example
The last question of the interview focused on the need for improvement in Thai ready-to-eat products and the industry at large, emphasizing the need for enhancement in the current products being offered in the market. When asked if there was any particular need for Thai ready-to-eat meals to be improved and how to improve them in case of ‘yes,’ the males replied mainly by saying that the current products need improvement in terms of the use of healthier raw materials and preservatives or additives. There was an agreement amongst all males concerning the need to improve the industry for ready-to-eat meals and the use of more healthy items to prepare such meals.
The females were also of the opinion that the fast-food items needed to be improved in the sense that more healthy raw materials such as vegetable oil and unsaturated fats, including whole-wheat products, to overcome risks associated with trans fat leading to obesity and hypertension should be used for the production of RTE products. The frozen RTE meals and packaged snacks included many preservatives and chemical-based flavouring enhancers that harmed human health and needed to be reduced. The industry is said to be aware of this fact and should try to produce RTE products that benefit the community in terms of healthy consumption.
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What to Avoid in Dissertation Findings Chapter
- Avoid using interpretive and subjective phrases and terms such as “confirms,” “reveals,” “suggests,” or “validates.” These terms are more suitable for the discussion chapter, where you will be expected to interpret the results in detail.
- Only briefly explain findings in relation to the key themes, hypothesis, and research questions. You don’t want to write a detailed subjective explanation for any research questions at this stage.
The Do’s of Writing the Findings or Results Section
- Ensure you are not presenting results from other research studies in your findings.
- Observe whether or not your hypothesis is tested or research questions answered.
- Illustrations and tables present data and are labelled to help your readers understand what they relate to.
- Use software such as Excel, STATA, and SPSS to analyse results and important trends.
Essential Guidelines on How to Write Dissertation Findings
The dissertation findings chaptershould provide the context for understanding the results. The research problem should be repeated, and the research goals should be stated briefly.
This approach helps to gain the reader’s attention toward the research problem. The first step towards writing the findings is identifying which results will be presented in this section.
The results relevant to the questions must be presented, considering whether the results support the hypothesis. You do not need to include every result in the findings section. The next step is ensuring the data can be appropriately organized and accurate.
You will need to have a basic idea about writing the findings of a dissertation because this will provide you with the knowledge to arrange the data chronologically.
Start each paragraph by writing about the most important results and concluding the section with the most negligible actual results.
A short paragraph can conclude the findings section, summarising the findings so readers will remember as they transition to the next chapter. This is essential if findings are unexpected or unfamiliar or impact the study.
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Be Impartial in your Writing
When crafting your findings, knowing how you will organize the work is important. The findings are the story that needs to be told in response to the research questions that have been answered.
Therefore, the story needs to be organized to make sense to you and the reader. The findings must be compelling and responsive to be linked to the research questions being answered.
Always ensure that the size and direction of any changes, including percentage change, can be mentioned in the section. The details of p values or confidence intervals and limits should be included.
The findings sections only have the relevant parts of the primary evidence mentioned. Still, it is a good practice to include all the primary evidence in an appendix that can be referred to later.
The results should always be written neutrally without speculation or implication. The statement of the results mustn’t have any form of evaluation or interpretation.
Negative results should be added in the findings section because they validate the results and provide high neutrality levels.
The length of the dissertation findings chapter is an important question that must be addressed. It should be noted that the length of the section is directly related to the total word count of your dissertation paper.
The writer should use their discretion in deciding the length of the findings section or refer to the dissertation handbook or structure guidelines.
It should neither belong nor be short nor concise and comprehensive to highlight the reader’s main findings.
Ethically, you should be confident in the findings and provide counter-evidence. Anything that does not have sufficient evidence should be discarded. The findings should respond to the problem presented and provide a solution to those questions.
Structure of the Findings Chapter
The chapter should use appropriate words and phrases to present the results to the readers. Logical sentences should be used, while paragraphs should be linked to produce cohesive work.
You must ensure all the significant results have been added in the section. Recheck after completing the section to ensure no mistakes have been made.
The structure of the findings section is something you may have to be sure of primarily because it will provide the basis for your research work and ensure that the discussions section can be written clearly and proficiently.
One way to arrange the results is to provide a brief synopsis and then explain the essential findings. However, there should be no speculation or explanation of the results, as this will be done in the discussion section.
Another way to arrange the section is to present and explain a result. This can be done for all the results while the section is concluded with an overall synopsis.
This is the preferred method when you are writing more extended dissertations. It can be helpful when multiple results are equally significant. A brief conclusion should be written to link all the results and transition to the discussion section.
Numerous data analysis dissertation examples are available on the Internet, which will help you improve your understanding of writing the dissertation’s findings.
Problems to Avoid When Writing Dissertation Findings
One of the problems to avoid while writing the dissertation findings is reporting background information or explaining the findings. This should be done in the introduction section.
You can always revise the introduction chapter based on the data you have collected if that seems an appropriate thing to do.
Raw data or intermediate calculations should not be added in the findings section. Always ask your professor if raw data needs to be included.
If the data is to be included, then use an appendix or a set of appendices referred to in the text of the findings chapter.
Do not use vague or non-specific phrases in the findings section. It is important to be factual and concise for the reader’s benefit.
Conclusion
The findings section presents the crucial data collected during the research process. It should be presented concisely and clearly to the reader. There should be no interpretation, speculation, or analysis of the data.
The significant results should be categorized systematically with the text used with charts, figures, and tables. Furthermore, avoiding using vague and non-specific words in this section is essential.
It is essential to label the tables and visual material properly. You should also check and proofread the section to avoid mistakes.
The dissertation findings chapter is a critical part of your overall dissertation paper. If you struggle with presenting your results and statistical analysis, our expert dissertation writers can help you get things right. Whether you need help with the entire dissertation paper or individual chapters, our dissertation experts can provide customized dissertation support.
FAQs About Findings of a Dissertation
The best way to present your quantitative findings is to structure them around the research hypothesis or research questions you intended to address as part of your dissertation project.
Report the relevant findings for each of the research questions or hypotheses, focusing on how you analyzed them.
The best way to present the qualitative research results is to frame your findings around the most important areas or themes that you obtained after examining the data.
An in-depth analysis of the data will help you observe what the data is showing for each theme. Any developments, relationships, patterns, and independent responses that are directly relevant to your research question or hypothesis should be clearly mentioned for the readers.
No, It is highly advisable to avoid using interpretive and subjective phrases in the finding chapter. These terms are more suitable for the discussion chapter, where you will be expected to provide your interpretation of the results in detail.
NO, you must not be presenting results from other research studies in your findings.
