The results chapter is where your research finally answers its questions. It is also where many students get stuck, because it must be accurate, clearly organised and free of interpretation. This guide shows you what to include, how to report statistics in APA style, how to present qualitative findings, and where students most often lose marks.
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What Is a Results Chapter?
The results chapter (also called findings or data analysis) presents the data you collected and the outcome of your analysis. It reports what you found. Explaining what it means belongs in the discussion chapter. In a 10,000-word dissertation it is usually around 20โ25% of the total, so about 2,000โ2,500 words, although your department's guidance always takes priority.
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๐ก Key rule: results first, interpretation second. If you find yourself writing "this suggests" or "this is probably because", move that sentence to the discussion.
Writing It in 6 Steps
1. Restate your research questions
Open with a short reminder of your research questions or hypotheses and a one-paragraph outline of the chapter, so the reader knows how the results are organised.
2. Describe your data and sample
Report the sample size, response rate and any data cleaning, for example removed incomplete responses or outliers. Give descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations or frequencies.
3. Check your assumptions
For statistical tests, briefly say which assumptions you checked, what you found, and what you did if one was not met.
4. Organise by research question
Use one section per research question or hypothesis, in the same order as your introduction. This keeps the chapter focused and makes it easy for markers to follow.
5. Present results with tables and figures
Put the key numbers in clearly labelled tables or charts, and use the text to point out the main finding in each one rather than repeating every number.
6. Close with a short summary
Finish with a few sentences stating which hypotheses were supported or which themes emerged. Do not interpret yet.
Reporting Quantitative Results
Most universities expect APA-style reporting for statistics, but check which style your department uses. Not sure which test to use? See our guide on which statistical test to use for your dissertation. Whatever the test, include the same ingredients:
- The test used and why it suits your question
- Descriptive statistics for each group or variable (for example M and SD)
- The test statistic, degrees of freedom and the exact p-value
- An effect size (such as Cohen's d, Rยฒ or ฮทยฒ), because significance alone does not show how large an effect is
- A plain-English sentence stating what the result shows
| Test | Typical APA-style format (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Independent t-test | t(98) = 2.47, p = .015, d = 0.50 |
| Chi-square | ฯยฒ(2, N = 120) = 7.85, p = .020 |
| One-way ANOVA | F(2, 117) = 4.32, p = .015, ฮทยฒ = .07 |
| Correlation | r(98) = .34, p < .001 |
| Linear regression | Rยฒ = .18, F(2, 97) = 10.65, p < .001 |
The numbers above are placeholders to show the format only. Your own values must come from your own analysis. If you are running a regression, our guide to interpreting regression output in SPSS shows how to read each table before you report it.
Worked Example
Suppose your research question is whether remote workers report higher wellbeing than office workers. The numbers below are invented to show the structure, so replace them with your own.
| Group | n | M | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote workers | 48 | 3.82 | 0.71 |
| Office workers | 52 | 3.45 | 0.78 |
How you might write it: "An independent-samples t-test was used to compare wellbeing scores between remote and office workers. Remote workers (M = 3.82, SD = 0.71) scored significantly higher than office workers (M = 3.45, SD = 0.78), t(98) = 2.47, p = .015, d = 0.50, a medium effect. H1 was therefore supported."
๐ก Notice what is missing: there is no explanation of why remote workers scored higher. That goes in the discussion chapter.
Presenting Qualitative Findings
In qualitative research, the results chapter is organised around themes rather than numbers:
- Briefly explain how you coded the data (for example thematic analysis) and how many themes emerged
- Give each theme a clear title and a short definition
- Support every theme with short, anonymised quotes, for example "Participant 4"
- Show how the themes answer each research question
- Place the full codebook or extra transcripts in the appendices
๐ก Pro Tip: introduce a quote with one sentence, show it, then add one sentence saying what it illustrates. Avoid long strings of quotes with no commentary.
Common Mistakes
โ ๏ธ Mixing results with discussion. The most common error. Report first, interpret later.
- Pasting raw software output. Reformat results into clean tables instead of SPSS or R screenshots.
- Reporting only p-values. Add descriptive statistics and an effect size.
- Saying "p = .000". Write p < .001 instead.
- Hiding unexpected results. Report them, including non-significant findings.
- Repeating every number in the text. Point to the table and highlight the key result.
- Not linking back to the research questions. Every section should clearly answer one.
For the wider picture, see our complete dissertation guide and our guide to choosing the right research methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
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