1. AuthorAID Workshop on Research Writing Butare, Rwanda February 2009

2. The Results Section Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH Texas A&M University bgastel@cvm.tamu.edu

3. The Results Section The core of the paper Often includes tables, figures, or both Should summarize findings rather than providing data in great detail Should present results but not comment on them (Note: Some journals combine the Results and the Discussion.)

4. Verb Tense for the Results Section: Past Tense Examples: –A total of 417 of the customers replied. –_____ increased, but _____ decreased. –The average temperature was _____. –Three of the dogs died. –This difference was not statistically significant.

5. An Example of a Results Section From the following short paper: Pitkin RM, Burmeister LF. Prodding tardy reviewers: a randomized comparison of telephone, fax, and e-mail. JAMA 2002;287:2794-2795.

6. The total number of enrollees was 383; 5 were excluded (2 reviewers claimed never to have received manuscripts and 3 claimed to have already sent reviews by fax or e-mail, but reviews were never received), for a final sample size of 378. The proportions who responded by producing a review within 7 days were virtually identical in the 3 groups (Χ 2 =1.102, P=.59): telephone, 85 (68%) of 125 (95% confidence interval [CI], 60 %-76%); fax, 86 (67%) of 129 (95% CI, 59%-75%); and e- mail, 84 (67%) of 124 (95% CI, 59%-75%). Among respondents, the number of days from contact to receipt of a review also did not differ significantly (phone, 4.4 days; fax, 4.7 days; e-mail, 4.6 days; F=1.49, P=.23).

7. Results Sections of Papers with Tables or Figures How much should the information in the text overlap that in the tables and figures? –Not extensive overlap –In general, only the main points from the tables and figures –Perhaps a few of the most important data Remember to mention every table and figure.

8. Mentioning Tables and Figures: Some Writing Advice In citing tables and figures, emphasize the finding, not the table or figure. –Not so good: Table 3 shows that researchers who took the course published twice as many papers per year. –Better: Researchers who took the course published twice as many papers per year (Table 3).

9. Results: A Suggestion Look at the Results sections of some papers in your target journal. Notice items such as the following: –Length –Organization –Inclusion of subheads (or not) –Number of tables and figures Use these Results sections as models.

10. Thank you!