Results
The Results section should present the results that relate to the experimental questions/hypotheses stated in the Introduction.
Results are not
data. Results involve a rudimentary interpretation of the data.
However, the Results does not attempt to interpret the meaning of the data or
discuss the implications of the data. You should report a result for each
experimental question/hypothesis and this result should be supported by the
data.
Data should be presented in figures and tables, but the same data should not be repeated in both a figure and a table. Figures and tables should not contain raw data, but rather a summarized form of the data.
For example, suppose you reported the following data in Table 1.
Arm Swing Jumps | No Arm Swing Jumps | F | |
CM Vertical Velocity at Takeoff (m/s) | 3.34 | 2.86 | 23.45* |
* p<0.05
The Results section would state, "The use of an arm swing significantly increased the vertical velocity of the CM at takeoff (Table1)."
The preceding statement is an interpretation of the data presented in the table, but the sentence does not attempt to explain what the finding means or why it occurred. Notice also that the table reports a single velocity value for each group, it does not report the raw data for all of the subjects from each group. The value of the test statistic (F) is also reported in the table. Presumably, the authors have described the statistical procedures in the Methods section and that information is used to understand the F value and p level presented in the table.
Some additional tips on the Results section from (http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/Results.htm):