APA Results Section Results

APA Results Purpose of the results section... Report the statistical analyses of the data collected in your study Determine how confident we are that the IV(s) produced a change in the DV

APA Results Results section should include... Objective description of findings What your data showed NOT your interpretation of the data Description of how the data were analyzed A report of all results relating to your original research question/hypothesis

APA Results Important points... Begin with the most important results and then make your way to secondary findings What are the “most important results”? Describe all relevant results, even if they are contrary to your predictions HOWEVER...don’t include every piece of data you obtained from your study What data should be reported?

APA Results What does this mean? T(49) = 4.73, p < .05 T-test Degrees of Freedom (n-1) Calculated value of t Level of significance

APA Results Overview of Results Section Begin with descriptive statistics (means & SD) reported for each group or variable Descriptive statistics can be represented by graphs or tables but ONLY if results are significant Next include significance tests or correlations

APA Results Example write up: A t-test revealed that participants exposed to uncontrollable noise made more errors M = 7.5(2.88) than participants who were exposed to controllable noises M = 4.3(2.96), t(39) = 4.77, p < .05. mean standard deviation

Descriptive statistics: Example Descriptive statistics: The sample for the current study (N = 748) ranged in age from 9 to 18 (M = 13.74 years, SD = 2.56). Equal numbers of males and females participated. The average number of colds suffered per year was 6.9 (SD = 2.3). Children reported relatively high levels of life satisfaction (M = 5.6, SD = 1.1). Children played outside, on average, 7.2 times per week (SD = 4.1).

Inferential statistics (correlations): Example Inferential statistics (correlations): Number of colds was inversely related to levels of life satisfaction, r(748) = -.11; however, this correlation was small and did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance, p = .36. Playing outside was positively related to levels of life satisfaction, r(748) = .56. This correlation was of moderate magnitude and statistically significant, p < .01.

Inferential statistics (t-tests): Example Inferential statistics (t-tests): Males suffered from fewer colds per year (M = 6.2, SD = 2.5) than girls (M = 7.1, SD = 1.9). This difference was not statistically significant, t(746) = .45, p = .89. Girls played outside 10.3 times per week (SD = 2.3), whereas boys played outside 5.4 times per week (SD = 2.0). This difference represents a medium effect and was statistically significant, t(746) = 8.1, p < .001.

Steps for Results Section APA Results Steps for Results Section 1. Remind readers of the conceptual hypotheses or questions you are asking 2. Remind readers of behaviors measured or operations performed 3. Provide the answer/result in plain English 4. Provide the statistic that supports your plain English answer 5. Elaborate or qualify the overall conclusion if necessary

Tables & Figures (Graphs) APA Results Tables & Figures (Graphs) Good way to illustrate significant findings Appear after the reference section in the paper

Tables & Figures (Graphs) APA Results Tables & Figures (Graphs) Do NOT repeat the same data in both the text and in a table or figure DO refer to the table or figure somewhere in the text For example: “The data in Table 3 suggest...” NOT “The table on page 12...”

Table Structure APA Title & Introduction Section

Table Example

Figures Graphs: Scatter plots Line graphs Bar graphs Charts

APA Results Questions?