Sharing results

After a scientist or an education professional does some research on a specific topic, the results obtained or the answers they get are expected to be shared with the community. Not only the presentation of the results per se is important but also the analysis they pose. Analyzing, comparing, inferring and concluding are tasks the researchers need to perform in order to produce useful knowledge.

Research Articles (RA) are the written means by which researchers make their work public. A special layout and format have been designed on purpose. The information will be transmitted following certain organization so that readers can appreciate the work done and understand the content involved. Experts agree that the last steps carried out in a research are reported in different sections within a RA.

Pintos and Crimi (2010), express that “[d]epending on the kind of research, the results section may be isolated from the discussed section or it may be integrated together” (p. 18). In the Results section readers see the main findings of the research. It is not only presented by means of numbers and specific data but by a narrative text. Tables and figures to illustrate the explanation are also included. The interpretation of these results is dealt with in the Discussion section.

The Result and Discussion sections need to present the information clearly and properly organized in paragraphs. Depending on the writers' purposes, the paragraphs will have a special structure. For instance, if the writters' intention is to present the results of the research as an analysis, they could organize the texts as a problem-solution or cause-effect. On the contrary, if they are interested in providing the readers with strong believes in favour or against specific issues, they would tend to produce persuasive-argumentative or fact vs. opinion texts.

Elbeck’s and Mandernach’s (2009) research article belongs to the education field. In this report, for example, the three final sections are found whereas in Sidransky’s et.al (2009) article, which belongs to the medicine field, only two of them are present, Results and Discussion. However, both of them include tables to present specific data in the Result section. Only the medicine RA includes figures and charts.

According to the analysis carried out, the tables included in the education RA follow the standard established by APA (American Psychological Association). It is a special committee that designs, regulates and updates the layout and format to write research articles within the social sciences. In Elbeck’s and Mandernach’s (2009) article, there are six tables though they are not presented on separate page to save space for publishing, they are properly numbered. Their titles are italicized and presented with each word capitalized with exception to conjunctions and prepositions. No vertical lines are used in the tables and general and specific notes are added to explain abbreviations, symbols and units of measures.

Sidransky’s et.al (2009) article, on the other hand, contains one table that is cited in the body of the document as many times as the researchers need call attention to its main points. Unlike the education RA, this medicine report contains three figures which are used mainly for comparison. Bars and circles graphs are used whose data are briefly described. As Swales and Feak (1994) recommends, the researchers of both articles have selected representative data; they have used tables to deal with specific data that let them compare the main points found.

Taking into account the paragraph formats, the education research report presents the Conclusion section in persuasive-argumentative texts. A majority of researches carried out in the education field tend to analyze particular cases, i.e. the results might not be useful to do generalizations. They might be valuable to support or be the bases of further studies. The medicine research article, on the other hand, draws upon the cause-effect format to discuss the results.

Pintos and Crimi (2010) claim, “[…] results, discussions and conclusions sections should show the researcher’s ability to summarize, show a problem and its solution, evaluate the solution, present sound arguments and convince the readers that his/her conclusions and recommendations are of utmost importance” (pp. 20-21). Comparing both articles, one from the education field and the other from the medicine field, let us to be certain that the final sections of both research reports summarize the work done, produce new knowledge and share their conclusions, which result useful, with the community they address to.










References

Elbeck, M., & Mandernach, B.T. (2009). Journals for computing-mediated learning: Publications of value for the online educator. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 10(3), 1-20. Availabe at http://www.scribd.com/doc/21179839/Journals-Computer-Mediated-Learning
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3: the research article: results, discussions and conclusions. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010 from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource
Sidransky, E. et al (2009). Multicenter analysis of glucocerebrosidase mutations in Parkinson's disease. The New England Journal of Medicine, 361:1651-1661; 17. Retrieved June 11, 2010 from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/361/17/1651
Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.