The Results section should include any relevant summary statistics. For analyses with a scale dependent variable, include means, standard deviations, and sample sizes for each cell in the research design. For analyses with a nominal dependent variable (chi-
Summary statistics are sometimes presented first in a Results section but are more typically presented after a description of each hypothesis test. If there are only two or three cells, then the summary statistics are typically presented in the text; if there are more cells, then these statistics should be displayed in a table or figure.
Reports of hypothesis tests typically begin by reiterating the hypothesis to be tested and then describing the test that was conducted, including the independent and dependent variables. The results of the hypothesis test are then presented, usually including the symbol for the statistic, the degrees of freedom, the actual value of the statistic, and, if using software, the actual p value associated with that statistic. The format for reporting this information is included after each hypothesis test in this text and is presented again in Table F-1.
Symbol | Degrees of Freedom | Value of the Test Statistic | Information About the Cutoff | Effective Size | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
z | (df) | = XX, | p = 0.XX | d = XX | z(54) = 0.60, p = 0.45, d = 0.08 |
t | (df) | = XX, | p = 0.XX | d = XX | t(146) = 2.29, p = 0.024, d = 0.50 |
F | (dfbetween, dfwithin) | = XX, | p = 0.XX | R2 = XX | F(2, 142) = 6.63, p = 0.002, R2 = 0.09 |
χ2 | (df, N = XX) | = XX, | p = 0.XX | V = XX | χ2(1, N = 147) = 0.58, p = 0.447, V = 0.06 |
T | None | = XX, | p = 0.XX | None | T = 7, p = 0.04 |
U | None | = XX, | p = 0.XX | None | U = 19, p = 0.14 |
After the statistics are presented, a brief statement summarizes the results, indicating the direction of any effects. This brief statement does not draw conclusions beyond the actual finding. In the Results section, researchers do not discuss the finding in terms of the general theories in the field or in terms of its potential implications or applications (which go, appropriately enough, in the Discussion section). Researchers should present the results of all hypothesis tests that they conducted, even those in which they failed to reject the null hypothesis.
F-
To summarize this aspect of Results sections:
The statistics for the study from How It Works in Chapter 11 that compared the mean percentages of cartoons that women and men found funny might be reported as follows:
To examine the hypothesis that women and men, on average, find different percentages of cartoons funny, we conducted an independent-