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Module 6: Summarizing Results and Drawing

Conclusions

1) What is the difference between results and discussion?

2) What has been learned (Discussion)?

3) What do your results mean (Discussion, continued)?

4) Can your results be applied to the world? If so, how?

5) What new questions do you have?

6) How can you effectively communicate your research findings to

others?

You have your results! Now what?

The following is the 6th^ Module in a series of tutorials that have been

created to help your streams project participants understand and analyze

their data.

2. Discussion: What has been learned?

You have your results! Now what? Follow the steps below and try to

answer the questions asked as they apply to your results.

 In the results section of your paper or talk, summarize your results, both in written form and visually, using graphs and charts.

 Ask yourself, what has been learned from this experiment?

 Do your results support or disprove your hypothesis? If your results do not support your hypothesis, why do you think this is the case?

 Every study has limitations. These limitations are very important to acknowledge. What are the limitations of your study?

∙ Were there any weaknesses or errors in your study design or data that may have influenced your results?

∙ Are you able to prove causation (that one thing is causing another), or association (that one thing is related to another), or differences (that one dataset is different from another)? This is determined by the types of data analysis you used (refer to Module 5 for details).

3. Discussion, continued: What do your results mean?

Follow the steps below and try to answer the questions asked as they

apply to your results.

 Are your results consistent with past studies? If not, why do you think this might be

the case?

 Has any new valuable information been learned?

 Even if the results were not as you predicted/hypothesized, this can be a valuable

finding. Disproving your hypothesis can be just as significant as supporting it! This

may lead to you revising your hypothesis and future research studies.

 Your conclusions must be justified by your results.

5. What new questions do you have?

Your findings might also help to drive future research studies by generating

new questions. Follow the guidance below and try to answer the questions

asked as they apply to your results.

 Most research uncovers more questions than answers. This is one of the most

important benefits of science!

 What questions did your study generate?

 What might you do differently if you were to repeat your study again?

∙ Did you have all the data you needed to test your hypothesis?

∙ Did you ask an answerable question?

 What research questions would you suggest other students studying your stream

site(s) ask in the future?

6. How can you effectively communicate your research findings to others?

Effectively communicating your findings to others can be the most

important and most challenging step of scientific research. Follow the steps

below and try to answer the questions asked as they apply to your results.

 Presenting your work (in written or verbal form) allows others to learn from your work and contributes to the overall body of knowledge in your field. It will likely be a learning process for you too!

 Who will your audience be (peers, scientists, professionals, general public)? Are they already familiar with your topic, in general? Present the material in a way that is appropriate for your audience.

 Be as clear as possible. Label and describe all figures. Focus on your most important findings. Use your data and results to justify your conclusions.

 Be careful how you describe your results. Did you really prove your hypothesis or did you just find evidence supporting it?

 Ask the audience for questions or comments. They may have a different and equally valid interpretation of your results.

 What is the difference between results and discussion?

 What has been learned? Do your results support or disprove your hypothesis?

 What do your results mean? Has any new valuable information been learned?

 Can your results be applied locally or regionally? If so, how? What do your findings contribute to your field of research?

 What new questions do you have? How could your findings contribute to future research studies focused on this topic?

 How can you effectively communicate your results to others? How can you best summarize and interpret your findings for different audiences?

SUMMARY

These modules were created using materials, information, and ideas from the

sources cited here. Please also consider consulting these additional resources

yourself as you develop your project.

 Ambrose, H., & Ambrose, K. (2002). A Handbook of Biological Investigation.

Winston-Salem, NC: Hunter Textbooks, Inc.

 Shuttleworth, M. (2008). The Scientific Method: A website about research and

experiments. Retrieved at:

http://www.experiment-resources.com/index.html

 (n.d.) Understanding Science: how science really works. Retrieved at:

http://undsci.berkeley.edu/