Results
The
results section will likely require at least some
basic understanding of statistics as this section is
often the most technical.
The main ideas that should be analyzed in a
results section include the statistical procedures
used, the reporting of the numerical findings, and
the determination of significance.
The procedures used should correspond with
the data they are working with.
For instance, if the data is nominal or
ordinal and the procedure used was parametric (See
Summary of Statistics), then the results will be
skewed at best and completely invalid at worst.
The
numerical results of the statistics should also be
reported so if the study shows a significant t test,
the actual t-test score, the degrees of freedom, and
the probability of error (p) as compared with the
acceptable error (a)
should all be reported.
Finally, the decision for how much error was
acceptable for the researchers should be addressed. Typically .05 or .01 are used, representing an acceptable
error level of 5% or 1%, respectively.
If the level is set different from these two,
the rationale should be addressed.
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