Tips for Presenting Statistical Results in Research Manuscripts

1
Tips for Presenting Statistical Results in
Research Manuscripts

• ASU College of Nursing
• Summer Camp for Manuscript Preparation
• Ed Greenberg
• May, 2002

2
Statistical Portion of a Manuscript

• Methods SectionDescribe what you plan to do
• Results SectionSummarize the findings
• Discussion SectionDiscuss the implications of
  what you did

3
Methods Section

• Describe how the study was conducted
• Be concise
• Provide sufficient info. to allow critique or
  replication of procedures
• Include results of pilot study(s)

4
Methods Section Contents

• Design
• Sample and setting
• Methods of measurement
• Data collection process

5
Design

• Describe the research design used in the study
• Cite the level of significance selected for tests
  of hypotheses, e.g., p lt .05
• Include description of the treatment(s) or
  intervention(s) used

6
Sample and Setting

• Sample criteria for selection, sample size,
  sample characteristics
• Power analysis used to determine sample size
• Discussion of attrition, if any
• Method of assignment to groups
• Protection of subjects rights, informed consent
• Setting of the study

7
Methods of Measurement

• Method used for measuring each variable in the
  study
• Instruments used
• Instrument reliability and validity

8
Data Collection Process

• Who collected the data
• Procedures used
• Type of measurements taken
• Schedule of measurements

9
Results Section

• What was found in the study
• Data analysis procedures
• Results of analyses
• Results should be organized by research
  objectives, questions, or hypotheses

10
Narrative, Figures, and Tables

• Examine the results of the study and decide
  whats essential to report.
• Results in the narrative include value of the
  statistic, degrees of freedom, n of cases
  (sometimes), and p value, e.g.,c2(3, N 114)
  23.34, p lt .001F (2, 108) 2.94, p .057

11
Narrative, Figures, and Tables (cont.)

• Use figures and tables to support the major
  findings.
• Use figures or tables to reduce the amount of
  description of results in the narrative.
• Figures are useful for showing comparisons or
  changes over time.
• Tables present detailed information in columns
  and rows and are useful for showing exact values.

12
Narrative, Figures, and Tables (cont.)

• Keep tables and figures simple.
• Figures and tables should be clear without
  referring to the text.
• Do not repeat in the narrative all of the
  information that is contained in a figure or
  table.

13
Narrative, Figures, and Tables (cont.)

• Each table and figure needs a clear, brief title.
• Tables and figures are numbered separately and
  sequentially, e.g., Table 1, Table 2, ...,
  Figure 1, Figure 2, ...
• Headings, labels, symbols, and abbreviations need
  to be appropriate, clear, and easy to read.

14
Narrative, Figures, and Tables (cont.)

• Figures and tables need to be referred to in the
  written text, e.g., Table 3 presents...
  or(see Figure 1)
• Place tables and figures as close as possible to
  the text where they are discussed.

15
Narrative, Figures, and Tables (cont.)

• Probability values need to be identified with
  actual p values, e.g., p .036... or with
  asterisks. If asterisks are used, use one
  asterisk for the least stringent level of
  significance and more than one for more stringent
  level(s) p lt .05, p lt .01

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Table Example
17
Figure Example
18
Figure Example (B W)
19
Figure Example (Error Bars)
20
Figure Example (3D Column Chart)
Figure 1.   ER Visits for Control and
Intervention Group During QuarterlyMeasurement
Periods
21
Table Example
22
Figure Example (3D Bar Chart)
Figure 2.   Subjects Type of Health Care
Insurance
23
Sample Correlation Table (SPSS)
24
Sample Correlation Table (APA)
25
Selected Readings

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological
  Association(5th ed.). (2001). Washington, DC
  American Psychological Association.
• Burns, N. Grove, S.K. (2001). The Practice of
  Nursing Research (4th ed., pp. 635-641.).
  Philadelphia, PA W.B. Saunders.
• Cleveland, W.S. (1994). The Elements of Graphing
  Data (Revised ed.). Summit, NJ Hobart Press.
• Gelman, A., Psarica, C., Dodhia, R. (2002).
  Lets Practice What We Preach Turning Tables
  into Graphs. The American Statistician, 56(2),
  121-130.
• Morgan, S.E., Reichert, T., Harrison, T.R.
  (2002). From Numbers to Words Reporting
  Statistical Results for the Social Sciences.
  Boston, MA Allyn Bacon.