How to Write an APA Results Section

How to Write an APA Results Section Student Resources APA Style and Writing Print How to Write an APA Results Section By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on February 03, 2020 Verywell / Nusha Ashjaee More in Student Resources APA Style and Writing Study Guides and Tips Careers In This Article Table of Contents Expand Results and Claims Relevant Findings Summarize Tables and Figures Statistics Effect Sizes Additional Tips View All Back To Top The results section of an APA format paper summarizes the data that was collected and the statistical analyses that were performed. The goal of this section is to report the results without any type of subjective interpretation. Heres how to write a results section for an APA format psychology paper. The Results Should Justify Your Claims Report data in order to sufficiently justify your conclusions. Since youll be talking about your own interpretation of the results in the discussion section, you need to be sure that the information reported in the results section justifies your claims. As you write your discussion section, look back on your results section to ensure that all the data you need is there to fully support the conclusions you reach.   Dont Omit Relevant Findings Just as your results sections should sufficiently justify your claims, it should also provide an accurate look at what you found in your study. Be sure to mention all relevant information. If your hypothesis expected more statistically significant results, dont omit the findings if they failed to support your predictions.   Dont ignore negative results. Just because a result failed to support your hypothesis, it does not mean it is not important. Results that do not support your original hypothesis can be just as informative as results that do. Even if your study did not support your hypothesis, it does not mean that the conclusions you reach are not useful. Provide data about what you  found in your results sections, then save your interpretation for what such results might mean in the discussion section. While your study might not have supported your original predictions, your finding can provide important inspiration for future explorations into a topic. You might not have supported your hypothesis, but your findings may help you develop another hypothesis to explore in future studies. Summarize Your Results Do not include the raw data in the results section. Remember, you are summarizing the results, not reporting them in full detail. The results section should be a relatively brief overview of your findings, not a complete presentation of every single number and calculation. If you choose, you can create a supplemental online archive where other researchers can access the raw data if they choose to do so. Include Tables and Figures Your results section should include both text and illustrations. Presenting data in this way makes it easier for readers to quickly look at your results. Structure your results section around tables or figures that summarize the results of your statistical analysis. In many cases, the easiest way to accomplish this is to first create your tables and figures and then organize them in a logical way. Next, write the summary text to support your illustrative materials. Do not include tables and figures if you are not going to talk about them in the body text of your results section. Do not present the same data twice in your illustrative materials. If you have already presented some data in a table, do not present it again in a figure. If you have presented data in a figure, do not present it again in a table. Report Your Statistical Findings Always assume that your readers have a solid understanding of statistical concepts. Theres no need to explain what a t-test is or how a one-way ANOVA works; just report the results. Your responsibility is to report the results of your study, not to teach your readers how to analyze or interpret statistics. Include Effect Sizes The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association recommends including effect sizes in your results section so that readers can appreciate the importance of your studys findings. More Tips for Writing a Results Section The results section should be written in the past tense.Focus on being concise and objective. You will have the opportunity to give your own interpretations of the results in the discussion section.Read more information on how to write a results section in APA format.Visit your library and read some journal articles that are on your topic. Pay attention to how the authors present the results of their research.If possible, take your paper to your schools writing lab for additional assistance. A Word From Verywell Remember, the results section of your paper is all about simply providing the data from your study. This section is often the shortest part of your paper, and in most cases, the most clinical. Be sure not to include any subjective interpretation of the results. Simply relay the data in the most objective and straightforward way possible. You can then provide your own analysis of what these results mean in the discussion section of your paper.