• 3-minute read
• 26th August 2015

6 Tips for Writing Your Dissertation Results and Findings

After conducting a literature review, designing your research, gathering data and performing in-depth analysis, it can be tempting to cut corners when it comes to presenting the results and findings in your dissertation.

But doing so would undermine the hard work you’ve put in so far, and writing a great results chapter isn’t as difficult as it might seem. The keys to success here are clarity and context.

Clarity is important because you need your data to be easy to understand. Context is important because you need to communicate the significance of your results in relation to the research questions. As such, it is always a good idea to follow these helpful tips.

Check with Your Advisor about How to Present Your Data

Many schools will have a style guide covering what is expected from the results and findings chapter of your work. Ask your advisor if you don’t already have a style guide, and use this to guide your work.

Check Similar Studies

Different disciplines present results in different ways. In the hard sciences, for instance, basic findings are often presented separately from the discussion. In the social sciences, however, it is more common to present the results and discussion at the same time.

Provide an Introductory Paragraph

By explaining what your findings chapter will include, you will prime your reader to understand what follows. This may involve briefly restating the methods of analysis used, particularly if your work includes statistical data.

Look Back to the Rest of Your Thesis

This is especially true for the literature review and methodology chapters. Referring to the literature review allows you to compare your results to those achieved by others in your field.

Referring to your methodology, meanwhile, lets you determine whether your findings were influenced by the techniques used to gather and analyze data.

Explain How You Interpreted the Data

How you reached a conclusion won’t always be obvious from the data alone. Instead, you need to explain the significance of your results in relation to your hypothesis and justify your conclusions.

Use Graphs, Tables and Figures

A well-chosen table or graph is an excellent way of presenting your data. However, remember that using too many graphs and charts without explaining their significance can be confusing for the reader!

If you need more tips on how to write your dissertation, you should check out the rest of our academic blog or our full dissertation writing guide. And don’t forget that you can have one of our proofreaders check your dissertation for spelling, grammar and consistency. That way you can rest assured that your work will be its very best!