Results

Results Section

Please upload your peer-reviewed results section in Canvas: You are adding each section to your Poster Template as you complete it. Make sure to follow the rubric and directions below.

Check out this helpful articleLinks to an external site. on how to write an effective results section (and create effective graphs and charts).

This section does not interpret your results! That belongs in the next section. This section is where you will highlight your data.  So your graphs and charts belong in this section.  Each graph must be labeled and have a figure legend.  Each graph needs to show something relating to your hypothesis and you need to write a short paragraph explaining the significance of the graph in terms of your hypotheses (does it support or falsify your hypothesis?). One should be able to look at your graphs and have a very good idea of what your hypothesis is. It is important to note you may not graph every variable you tracked. Some variables are tracked to help inform you of confounding variables which you can discuss in your Discussion Section. You do NOT put “raw data” in your results if you do then you will receive 0 points. “Raw data” means a chart with all numbers you collected. For example, if you collected blood pressure, you would not include a chart with only blood pressure in it. You would create a graph that compares blood pressure to something else. That “something else” depends on what your hypothesis is. Why did you collect blood pressure? What were you hoping to see happen with blood pressure? ALL graphs should show a trend (or lack thereof) having to do with your hypothesis. Each graph should have a short explanation of what is shown. Your graphs should include a clear title and both the x-axis and y-axis clearly labeled. Be careful when you are labeling each axis! Your graphs need to be clear to your reader on their own. A common mistake is when students decide on different activities to do during different weeks of data collection, but then only label their x-axis as “week 1”, “week2”, etc. This does not tell your reader anything about your hypotheses! What did you do during each week that was significant? That is what should be labeled on your graph. Here is an example:

Let’s say you wanted to test 3 essential oils to see which one had the greatest impact on stress relief. You chose to use lavender during week 1, lemon during week 2, and sage during week 3, etc. You could collect heart rate as one of the indicators of stress. When you create a graph for this, you would not list “week 1”, “week 2”, “week 3” on your x-axis. Instead, you would need to include the important information of what you used during those weeks. So you would have “lavender”, “lemon”, “sage” listed on your x-axis as this clearly states what trend you are trying to see in your data collection. Here Download Here

is a mini booklet to help you with your results section.

Please don’t confuse what goes on the X axis and Y axis.  The X axis contains the independent variable.  The Y axis plots the dependent variable.  The independent variable plots data that you can control (such as the amount of time an experiment is conducted).  The dependent variable contains the information that the scientist is trying to learn from (such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight loss, etc.).

All graphs must be completed in Microsoft Excel or similar program.  No hand drawn graphs are accepted.