PRESENTING YOUR

DATA AND FINDINGS

Where do you present your findings in your research
paper?

 As highlighted in the Research Paper Requirements

document, you will present your findings after
describing who your research participants were and
how you conducted your data collection
 How do you arrive at research findings?

 With survey data, you will be able to look at the frequency of

responses for each of your questions
 The results from one particular question, or a combination of
questions will lead you to a finding
 A finding is basically a conclusion that you draw from the data
 Eg on the next slide
 With interview data, you will have to read through the
transcripts of all of your interviews
 You will start to notice patterns in the way your respondents
answered each of the questions
 You might notice certain words being repeated, or similar phrasing
to discuss a certain issue
Eg of writing a finding from survey data

 The question was: As a university student, which of the

following cause you mental distress?
 Finding: The reasons that lead to students’ mental stress
are academic in nature. Most students experience mental
distress as a result of worrying about their grades and
maintaining a good GPA.
Eg of writing a finding from interview data

 “My children are more excited to do

homework during remote learning”
(P10).
 “Online homework allowed me to
practice computer skills with my child
while doing the homework” (P23).
 “More engaging assignments
assigned, these include research
activities, videos and web links which
motivates my child” (P21).
 “He was more self-reliant during
online homework” (P7).
 “My child can review recorded
sessions in case he didn’t understand
his homework” (P5).
 Research topic: parents’
perceptions of their
children’s homework
assignments during
lockdown
 Finding: Parents believe
that technology has had
a positive effect on the
homework practices of
their children.
 General Structure for Presenting a Finding

 Your paragraph should start with a sentence that expresses

the finding you will discuss in that paragraph
 A conclusion you were able to deduce from your data that
relates to your RQ
 You will then discuss how the data led to that finding
 You will then direct your reader to a figure that visually
displays the data you are referring to
 Figures for survey data are generally presented as pie charts or
bar graphs
 Figures for interview data are often presented in tables or other
kinds of diagrams (see handout)
Interview Data
 The main point to remember when presenting
qualitative interview data is that the reader should
not be bored with the minute details – mention the
key points and themes as they relate to the
research question, rather than reporting
everything that the interviewees said; use charts
or tables to help the reader
 Description of interview data
The data reveals that there are two main purposes for which teachers assign
homework: to apply a learned skill and to promote independent learning. Teacher
respondents strongly believe in assigning homework and in its significance.
Generally, when teachers were asked about their purposes of assigning
homework, some teachers perceived homework as a way to help students apply
what has been taught in class, and others thought of it as a tool to reinforce
students’ independent work habits. For example, teachers claim that: “the main
reason to assign homework is to drill on the concepts learned in the class” (T2),
“we assign homework which is a direct application to what we give in class and
so students will be able to grasp the concept” (T3), “homework is assigned to
make sure that students understood what has been explained at class” ( T4), “To
cover the objectives that have been discussed in the session and check if a student
is capable of working independently”( T1) and “homework is given to check
whether students can do the work on their own” ( T5). Based on the collected
data, the main aim of assigning homework for teachers is to make sure that the
concepts learned in class were acquired and understood by the students.
 Description of survey data
 What are your personal reasons for why Nomophobia (the fear of being without your mobile device or beyond mobile contact)
might occur?

The most reported reason by far for triggering a fear of being without one’s phone is not receiving notification alerts.
Another reason expressed by a large majority of the respondents is the fact that they may be expecting an important call. Of
note is that an introverted personality was reported by a significant number of respondents (30.8%) as a reason for suffering
from nomophobia. This could be explained due to the fact that an introverted person may rely more on “virtual” connections
for socialization, and prefer relying on texting to communicate, thus being separated from their phone would cause distress.
The results therefore reveal that the majority of respondents who might suffer from nomophobia would experience it because
of their worry about missing an important notification or call, or because of an already existing anxiety disorder.
Incorporating the literature in the discussion of your
findings

 As per the Research Paper Requirements

document, you must have at least 3 paragraphs of
findings and two figures
 In at least two of the findings paragraphs, you must
incorporate citation to literature that show support
of or disagreement with your findings
 More on this later