Writingaboutresults&TheMethodssectionPresentedby:WangYaWuTonggangWritingaboutresultsChapter6CONTENTS01Functionsofresultssentences02VerbtenseinResultssectionsArticlestructureAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionkeydriver01Functionsofresultssentences01Functionsofresultssentenceshighlightstheimportantfindingslocatesthefigure(s)ortable(s)wheretheresultscanbefoundcommentson(butdoesnotdiscuss)theresult01FunctionsofresultssentencesMeasurementsofrootlengthdensity(Figure3)revealedthatthemajorityofrootsofbothcultivarswerefoundinuppersubstratelayers.Theresponseoflucernerootgrowthtomanganeserateanddepthtreatmentswassimilartothatofshoots(Figure2)Figure17showstheaveragenumberofvisitsperbird.PasttensePresenttenseModalverb02VerbtenseinResultssections02VerbtenseinResultsectionCommonuseoftenseinResultsectionsPasttensewhenthesentencefocusesonthecompletedstudy:whatwasdoneandfound.Presenttensewhenthesituationis“alwaystrue”;whenthesentencefocusesonthedocumentwhichwillalwaysbehereModalverbsmaybeusedincomments,especiallyinsomeclausesThemethodsectionChapter72.OrganizingMethodsections3.Useofpassiveandactiveverbs1.PurposeoftheMethodsectionContents1.PurposeoftheMethodsectionWhatistheMethodsection?Themethodsectionprovidestheinformationneededforanothercompetentscientisttorepeatthework.AnotherthoughtThegoalofthemethodssectionisthatitestablishescredibilityfortheresultsandshouldthereforeprovideenoughinformationabouthowtheworkwasdoneforreaderstoevaluatetheresults;i.e.todecideforthemselveswhethertheresultsactuallymeanwhattheauthorclaimstheymean.1.PurposeoftheMethodsectionForreferees:dothemethodandtreatmentofresultsconformstotheacceptablescientificstandards?standards②Ifthepreviouspublicationisnotreadilyavailabletoyourinternationalaudience,itisrecommendedthatyougivedetailsinyourpaper,aswellasthecitationtotheoriginalsource.①Generallyspeaking,methodsthathavebeenpublishedpreviouslycanbecitedwithoutdetaileddescription.1.PurposeoftheMethodsectionStrategy1TheauthorneedstomakeitclearthathowResultssectionandMethodssectionrelatetoeachother.Strategy22.OrganizingmethodssecctionsUseidenticalorsimilarsubheadingsintheMethodsandtheResultssection.UseintroductoryphrasesorsentencesintheMethodsthatrelatetotheaims.AdditionalstrategyUsethefirstsentenceofanewparagraphtointroducewhatyouwillbetalkingaboutandrelatetowhathasgonebefore.3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsPassiveverbsTheseverbformscanemphasizetheaction,andremoveemphasisfromthedoeroftheactionActiveverbsTheseverbformscanmakethewritingmoredirectandlesswordy3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsRefreshyourmemoryonthedifferencebetweenactiveandpassiveverbformsConsiderreasonswhyanauthormaywishtochooseapassiveverbPresentsomeguidelinesforavoidingcommonproblemswithpassiveverbuse123Threegoals3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsPassiveverbformsWhenweuseanactiveverb,thegrammaticalsubjectofverbactuallydoestheactionindicatedbytheverb.Subject+activeverb+objectThedogbittheman.ActiveverbformsWithapassiveverb,thegrammaticalsubjectdoesnotdotheactionoftheverb.Subject+passiveverb+agentTheman+wasbitten+bythedogAttention3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsHowtochangeanactivevoicesentencetoapassivevoicesentence?subjectobjectsubjectagent+activeverb++complement+passiveverb++complementWeusedsimulationtoevaluateinteractionsbetweensoilwaterandcropyield.Simulationmodellingwasused(bytheresearchers)toevaluateinteractionsbetweensoilwaterandcropyield.3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsWhatfactorsshouldweconsiderwhenwechooseanactiveorpassiveverb?1.Doesthereaderneedtoknowwhoorwhatcarriedouttheaction?Ifthisinformationisunimportant,youmaychoosetouseapassiveverb.•Theresearcherscollecteddatafromallsitesweekly.✖•Datawerecollectedweeklyfromallsites.✔2.Doesitsoundrepetitive(orimmodest)touseapersonalpronounsubject?•Wecalculatedleastsignificantdifferencetocomparemeans.✖•Leastsignificantdifferencewerecalculatedtocomparemeans.✔3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsNotedthefollowingpointsinrelationtoactive/passivechoice:1.TheneedtoavoidrepetitionIntheactive,thesubjectofnearlyeverysentencewouldbe“we”2.Ifyouareworkinginadisciplinewheresingle-authoredpapersarecommon,youwillneedtocheckinarangeofexamplepaperswhetheritisappropriatetouse“I”.3.Doesithelptheinformationflowtochooseeithertheactiveorpassivevoice?3.UseofpassiveandactiveverbsCommonproblemswithwritingpassivesentencesInordertomakeyourwritingeasiertounderstand,takeparticularcarenottowriteverylongsubjectsandashortpassiveverbrightattheend.•Wheatandbarley,collectedfromtheVirginiafieldsite,aswellassorghumandmillet,collectedatLoxton,wereused.✖Instead,trytogetboththesubjectandtheverbwithinthefirstninewordsofthesentence,andmakesureanylistofitemsisattheendofthesentence,asinthefollowingexample.•Fourcerealswereused:wheatandbarley,collectedfromtheVirginiafieldsite;andsorghumandmillet,collectedatLoxton.✔1.WhatshouldwenoticeiftheResultssectionisseparatedfromtheDiscussionsection?WeshouldmakesurethatthepointrelatetoacomponentofresultswillnotbediscussedindetailintheDiscussion.2.Whydomanybooksrecommendthatauthorsshouldavoidthepassiveanduseactiveverbsasmuchasp