DISS Findings / Results / Data Analysis. Chapter 4

1.This chapter presents the evidence and/or results of primary research which you have undertaken. Depending upon your subject area this can be in the form of detailed quantitative models, hypothesis testing to some basic analysis using basic descriptive statistics or qualitative techniques dealing with structured content analysis, textual analysis, to case study descriptions.

2. The main part of the chapter is the presentation of the data that you obtained. Even projects of relatively moderate dimensions will generate a large amount of data which has to be considered.

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3. This data must be organised in a logical and coherently ordered whole so that your thought processes and interpretation are clear to the reader. Whatever form of data analysis has been undertaken, it must be accomplished with care and attention to detail, as should the way in which the results are presented. Nothing is guaranteed to frustrate a reader more than to have to plough their way through an arid mass of tables, figures and statistics.

4.Better by far to describe in an accessible manner (which does not mean that you should talk down to the reader) what the research has uncovered and to include only the most pertinent figures as evidence of your findings. Dissertations which included detailed modelling or quantitative analysis will clearly need to show all relevant assumptions, relationships and methods.

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5.Your academic supervisor will be able to advise on the level of detail required in the main body as opposed to that included in the Appendix. Graphs, diagrams, pie-charts etc. are all useful ways of presenting research results; they are an imaginative way of â€˜breaking upâ€™ solid blocks of text â€“ they let a little â€˜lightâ€™ into the body of the text as long as they are relevant and illustrate your points. Keep your review to those items which are relevant to your research question and not just everything I found out.

6.There will be problems in the execution of any research project and their occurrence should be brought to the attention of the reader. Without stating them, one of the essential elements of the context in which the research took place will be missing.

7.Not all dissertations contain quantitative data. In many situations, students will have made extensive use of qualitative research techniques such as focus groups and/or in-depth unstructured interviews. While quantitative data lends itself to graphs, tables and so on, qualitative data, and the way it is presented, pose particular challenges for students.

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8.As ever, your objective should be based on the belief that the data must be presented in such a manner as to make it easy for the reader to follow the logic of the analysis.

9.The analysis of qualitative data should be based on the research questions and issues that you explored during your fieldwork. For instance, you may have addressed six or seven critical questions in a series of interviews.

10.Each of these questions should be examined separately, rather than describing each focus group in turn. This provides a degree of logical flow and development to the analysis. In addition, it is advisable to focus on the points of agreement and disagreement that emerged during the interviews.

11.This should be supported with relevant quotations from the transcripts of the interviews. You should avoid lengthy quotations, unless they are of critical importance.

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12.However, short excerpts enrich the readerâ€™s understanding of the issues and provide you with the opportunity to shed a clearer insight on the topic. Many students make the mistake of providing a very superficial, descriptive analysis of qualitative data.

13.This does not allow you to demonstrate that the research you undertook was of a substantive nature. Tables can also be included that reflect the respondentâ€™s overall attitudes, perceptions and views about the themes. You are not required to include all the transcripts of interviews, surveys or data sheets. Only include the summarised data in the main body of the dissertation.

14.Appendixes should be restricted to no more than 25 pages. You can keep additional information in a folder for use by the markers if requested. In the case of company projects you may need to include some brief outline about the company and its activities. Again keep these comments focused on the topic area and not just a broad and general description of everything you know about the organisation.

15.The all survey data are uploaded. Please have a look