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1ResultsandDiscussionLectureFourResultsandDiscussion2Lecturetopics:•Purpose•Whattheresultsanddiscussionsectionsinclude•Commonproblems•InformationConventions•LanguageConventions•Advice3PURPOSE•Theresultssectionofthereportpresentsthefindingsofthestudyinbothfiguresandonwrittentext.•Figures(graphs,tablesanddiagrams)presentthecompletefindingsinnumericalterms•Theaccompanyingtexthelpsthereadertofocusonthemostimportantaspectsoftheresultsandtointerpretthem.4WHATTHERESULTSECTIONINCLUDES•Element1:astatementthatlocatesthefigure(s)wheretheresultscanbefound•E.g.FOREIGNLANGAUGEINPRIMARYSCHOOL:ACOMPARISONOFACHIEVEMENT•Figure7.2showstheaveragescoresonthefourtestsadministeredtonon-immersionandimmersionFrenchstudents.StudentsintheFrenchimmersionprogrammesperformedsignificantlybetterthantheirnon-immersionpeersonallfourModernLanguageAssociationtests.Inallfourteststheimmersionstudentsscoredanaverageof20pointsmorethantheirnon-immersionpeers.Thefindingsindicatethattheamountofexposuretoaforeignlanguagehasapositiveeffectonstudentperformance.ItappearsthattheintensityofimmersionprogrammesanduseofforeignlanguagetostudybasicsubjectsresultsinsubstantialdifferencesinperformanceinallfourskillareasoftheMLAtest.5•Comparingyourfindingswiththoseofotherresearchers•Whenyoudiscusstheresultsofyourstudyitisimportantthatyoudonotdiscusstheminisolation.Youshouldrelatethemtothefindingsthatyouhavealreadydiscussedintheliteraturereview.6•Tocompareyourfindingswiththoseofotherresearchers,thepresenttenseisalsocommon.•E.g.1.OurresultslargelysupportthosebyDaSilvaetal.•2.TheparametersandparticipantnumbersoftheU.StrialarefarwiderthanthoseofHongKong.7•Element2:statementsthatpresentthemostimportantfindings•Inthissectionyouwillgivefactualinformation.Sometimesyoumaywanttogiveaccuratefactualinformatione.g.80%ofstudents,sometimesyoumaywanttogeneralisee.g.themajorityofstudents.•STRUCTUREANDVOCAULARYAID•A.modalVerbsandtentativeverbs:may/might/could/can/seemsto/tendsto8•E.g.1.Industrialisationtendstobeviewedasabetterwayoflife.•2.Theincreaseincrimeseemstobearesultofhighunemployment•B.Impersonalverbphrases•Itappearsto/that•Itseemsto/that•Ittendstobe•Thereisatendencyfor/to•E.g.Itappearsthattheincreaseincrimeisaresultofhighunemployment9•CVerbsnounsusedtoshowcaution•Verbs:suggest,indicate,believe,estimate,assume•Nouns:assumption,claim,estimate,possibility,chance,likelihood•E.g.1.Resultsindicatethatthenumberofteenagerswhosmokemorethan10cigarettesadayisincreasing.•2.Thereisalikelihoodthatcrimewillincreaseinthenexttenyears.10•ELEMENT3•Usingcautiouslanguagetodiscusstheresults•Itisverycommoninacademicwritingtobecarefulaboutanyclaimswemakewhendiscussingtheresultsofourstudies.Thisisbecauseitwouldbedifficulttocometodefiniteconclusionsbasedontheverysmallamountofevidencethatyouhave.•Thereareseveralwaysthatwecanexpresscautioninourwriting.11•Wecanuse:•Animpersonalverbphrase•e.gItappearsthat(seeabovetext)•Amodalverb•e.gmay/could•Atentativeverb•e.gsuggestthat/seemtoindicatethat12PURPOSEANDCONTENTOFTHEDISCUSSIONSECTIONThediscussionsectionisforcommentonandexplanationoftheresults.Itincludes:1.Explanationofresults:thewritercommentsonwhetherornottheresultswereexpected,andpresentsexplanationsfortheresults,particularlyforthosethatareunexpectedorunsatisfactory.132.Referencestopreviousresearch:comparisonoftheresultswiththosereportedintheliterature,oruseoftheliteraturetosupportaclaim,hypothesisordeduction.3.Deduction:aclaimforhowtheresultscanbeappliedmoregenerally(aconclusionbasedonreasoningfromtheresults)•4.Hypothesis:amoregeneralclaimorpossibleconclusionarisingfromtheresults(whichwillbeprovedordisprovedinlaterresearch).14FirstInformationElementsInDiscussionSpecificReferencetotheStudy•Areferencetothemainpurposeorhypothesisofthestudy.•Areviewofthemostimportantfindings,whetherornottheysupporttheoriginalhypothesis,andwhethertheyagreewiththefindingsofotherresearchers.•Possibleexplanationsfororspeculationsaboutthefindings.•Limitationsofthestudythatrestricttheextenttowhichthefindingscanbegeneralized.15LaterInformationElementsinDiscussionGeneralStatementsaboutthestudy•Implicationsofthestudy(generalizationsfromtheresults);•Recommendationsforfutureresearchandpracticalapplications.16Example:DiscussionAge,Experience,AndPerformanceonSpeedandSkillJobsInanAppliedSetting（Originalhypothesis)Thedecrementaltheoryofagingledustoinferthatolderworkersinspeedjobswouldhavepoorerperformance,greaterabsenteeism,andmoreaccidentscomparedwithotherworkers.(findings)Thefindings,however,goagainstthetheory.Theolderworkersgenerallyearnedmore,wereabsentless,hadfeweraccidentsandlessturnoverthanyoungerones.(tobecontinued)17(explanation)Onepossibleconclusionisthattherequirementsofthespeedjobsinthelightmanufacturingindustryunderstudydonotmakephysicaldemandsontheolderworkerstothelimitsoftheirreservecapacity.Thecompetenceandexperienceoftheolderworkersinthesespecificjobsmayhavecompensatedfortheirreducedstamina…(tobecontinued)18(limitations)Thisstudyhastakenastepinthedirectionofdefiningtherelationshipbetweenage,experience,andproductivityinon