Most research reports contain a paragraph (or more) devoted to the plans for statis-tically analyzing the study’s data. In some reports, this information is presented near the end of the method section; in other reports, a discussion of the statistical plan-of-attack is positioned at the beginning of the report’s results section. Excerpt 1.8,
which comes from our model journal article, highlights important features of the researcher’s statistical plans. Here, as in most research reports, some, but not all, of those plans are delineated.
Although Excerpt 1.8 is quite brief, it contains six statistical concepts that were exceedingly important to the researcher’s plan for analyzing the study’s data:
statistical significance, .05, two-tailed, a priori power analysis, effect size, and statistical power of .80. We consider these concepts in Chapters 7 and 8. For now, let me simply say that this particular researcher deserves high marks for conduct-ing a power analysis to determine how many participants were needed in each of the study’s comparison groups.
Results
There are three ways in which the results of an empirical investigation are reported.
First, the results can be presented within the text of the article—that is, with only words. Second, they can be summarized in one or more tables. Third, the findings can be displayed by means of a graph (technically called a figure). Not infrequently, a combination of these mechanisms for reporting results is used to help readers gain a more complete understanding of how the study turned out. In Excerpt 1.9, we see that the author of our model article presented his results in two paragraphs of text.
a =
EXCERPT 1.8
• Statistical Plans
An intention-to-treat design was incorporated where data missing at Month 6 was replaced by baseline scores (Gadbury, Coffey, & Allison, 2003). Statistical signifi-cance was set at (two-tailed). An a priori power analysis suggested that 64 participants per group were required to detect a medium effect size at the statistical power of .80.
Source: Annesi, J. J. (2009). Correlations of changes in weight and body satisfaction for obese women initiating exercise: Assessing effects of ethnicity. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 1072–1076.
a = .05
EXCERPT 1.9
• Results
Exercise attendance did not significantly differ between the Euro-American and
African-American women The mean number of exercise
sessions attended per week was 2.07 GLM mixed-model repeated measures analysis of variance indicated no significant difference in Body Mass
Index scores between groups Changes in Body
Mass Index over 6 mo. were significant (F1,174 = 41.01,p 6 .001; h2 = .19);
(F1,174 = 3.29,p = .07; h2 = .02).
(SD = 0.63).
(t174 = 1.66,p = .10).
(continued )
Excerpt 1.9 contains a slew of statistical terms, abbreviations, and numerical results. If you find yourself unable, at this point, to make much sense out of the material presented in Excerpt 1.9, do not panic or think that this statistical presen-tation is beyond your reach. Everything in this excerpt is considered in Chapters 2, 3, 7 through 10, and 14. By the time you finish reading those chapters, you will be able to look again at Excerpt 1.9 and experience no difficulty deciphering the sta-tistically based results of this investigation.
Although the results section of a journal article contains some of the most (if not the most) crucial information about the study, readers of the professional literature often disregard it, because the typical results section is loaded with statistical terms and notation not used in everyday communication. Accordingly, many readers of technical research reports simply skip the results section because it seems as if it came from another planet.
If you are to function as a discerning “consumer” of journal articles, you must develop the ability to read, understand, and evaluate the results provided by authors.
Those who choose not to do this are forced into the unfortunate position of uncrit-ical acceptance of the printed word. Researchers are human, however, and they make mistakes. Unfortunately, the reviewers who serve on editorial boards do not catch all of these errors. As a consequence, there is sometimes an inconsistency be-tween the results discussed in the text of the article and the results presented in the tables. At times, a researcher uses an inappropriate statistical test. More often than you would suspect, the conclusions drawn from the statistical results extend far be-yond the realistic limits of the actual data that were collected.
however, the change did not significantly differ by group. There was no significant difference in Body Areas Satisfaction scores between groups
Changes in Body Areas Satisfaction were significant however, the changes did not significantly differ by group.
For the Euro-American women, change in Body Mass Index was significantly correlated with change in Body Areas Satisfaction, and exercise session attendance was significantly correlated with change in Body Mass Index. There was no significant correlation between exercise session attendance and change in Body Areas Satisfaction For the African-American women, change in Body Mass Index was not significantly correlated with change in Body Areas Satisfaction Exercise session attendance was, however, signifi-cantly correlated with both change in Body Mass Index and change in Body Areas Satisfaction
Source: Annesi, J. J. (2009). Correlations of changes in weight and body satisfaction for obese women initiating exercise: Assessing effects of ethnicity. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 1072–1076.
You do not have to be a sophisticated mathematician in order to understand and evaluate the results sections of most journal articles. However, you must be-come familiar with the terminology, symbols, and logic used by researchers. This text was written to help you do just that.
Look at Excerpt 1.9 once again. The text material included in this excerpt is literally packed with information intended to help you. Unfortunately, many readers miss out on the opportunity to receive this information because they lack the skills needed to decode what is being communicated or are intimidated by statistical presentations. One of my goals in this book is to help readers acquire (or refine) their decoding skills. In doing this, I hope to show that there is no reason for anyone to be intimidated by what is included in technical research reports.
Discussion
The results section of a journal article contains a technical report of how the statis-tical analyses turned out, whereas the discussion section is usually devoted to a nontechnical interpretation of the results. In other words, the author normally uses the discussion section to explain what the results mean in regard to the central pur-pose of the study. The statement of purpur-pose, which appears near the beginning of the article, usually contains an underlying or obvious research question; the discus-sion section ought to provide a direct answer to that question.
In addition to telling us what the results mean, many authors use this section of the article to explain why they think the results turned out the way they did.
Although such a discussion occasionally is found in articles where the data support the researchers’ hunches, authors are much more inclined to point out possible rea-sons for the obtained results when those results are inconsistent with their expecta-tions. If one or more of the scores turn out to be highly different from the rest, the researcher may talk about such serendipitous findings in the discussion section.
Sometimes an author uses the discussion section to suggest ideas for further research studies. Even if the results do not turn out the way the researcher anticipated, the study may be quite worthwhile in that it might stimulate the researcher (and oth-ers) to identify new types of studies that need to be conducted. Although this form of discussion more typically is associated with unpublished master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, it occasionally is encountered in published forms of research reports.
It should be noted that some authors use the term conclusion rather than dis-cussion to label this part of the research report. These two terms are used inter-changeably. It is unusual, therefore, to find an article that contains both a discussion section and a conclusion section.
Excerpt 1.10 contains the discussion section that appeared in our model jour-nal article. Notice how the author first provides an answer to the central research question; then, there is a lengthy discussion of possible reasons for why the results turned out as they did.
There are two additional things to note about Excerpt 1.10, both of which are admirable features of this research report. In the next-to-last sentence of the discus-sion, the author suggests how his finding might be useful to practitioners. Then, in the very last sentence, the researcher points out that his research “clearly requires replication and extension.” Other researchers should follow this good example of discussing implications and the need for replication.
Too often, research reports give the impression that the investigators who pre-pared those reports view their research as having proven something is true for every-one, everywhere, at all times and under all conditions. When you encounter such claims, downgrade your evaluation of the research report. However, upgrade your opinion of researchers who call for others to conduct new studies to see if initial findings can be replicated.
References
A research report normally concludes with a list of the books, journal articles, and other source material referred to by the author. Most of these items were probably mentioned by the author in the review of the literature positioned near the begin-ning of the article. Excerpt 1.11 is the references section of our model article.
The references can be very helpful to you if you want to know more about the particular study you are reading. Journal articles and convention presentations are usually designed to cover one particular study or a narrowly defined area of a subject.
EXCERPT 1.10
• Discussion
As expected, change in Body Mass Index was significantly related to change in Body Areas Satisfaction for only the Euro-American women. It is possible that concern about body image in this ethnic group prompted more frequent self-weighing. Knowl-edge of weight change may, thus, have served as a marker for satisfaction with one’s body.
Although improvements in barriers and task self-efficacy were not directly measured, it is possible that the association of exercise session attendance and change in Body Areas Satisfaction for the African American women were linked to perceptions of competence (in maintaining a program of exercise) for them. It should be acknowl-edged that this is speculative, and direct measurement will be required for substantiation.
Possibly, weight management for Euro-American women should focus on measured, manageable progress, while for African-American women the focus should be on building self-regulatory skills required to maintain weight-loss behaviors. Although this research clearly requires replication and extension, and was limited as a field design, analysis suggested that accounting for such ethnic differences when assessing psychological variables possibly related to weight loss in women is much needed.
Source: Annesi, J. J. (2009). Correlations of changes in weight and body satisfaction for obese women initiating exercise: Assessing effects of ethnicity. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 1072–1076.
EXCERPT 1.11
• References
Annesi, J. J. (2000). Effects of minimal exercise and cognitive-behavior modification on adherence, affective change, self-image, and physical change in obese females.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91, 322–336.
Annesi, J. J. (2006). Relations of perceived bodily changes with actual changes and changes in mood in obese women initiating an exercise and weight-loss program.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 103, 238–240.
Annesi, J. J., & Whitaker, A. C. (2008). Weight loss and psychologic gain in obese women-participants in a supported exercise intervention. Permanente Journal, 12(3), 36–45.
Also available at http:xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/sum08/weight-loss.pdf.
Cash, T. F. (1994). The multidimensional body–self relations users’ manual. Norfolk, VA:
Old Dominion University.
Foster, G. D., Wadden, T. A., & Vogt, R. A. (1997). Body image in obese women before, during, and after weight loss treatment. Health Psychology, 16, 226–229.
Gadbury, G. L., Coffey, C. S., & Allison, D. B. (2003). Modern statistical methods for handling missing repeated measurements in obesity trial data: Beyond LOCF.
Obesity Reviews, 4, 175–184.
Gleeson, K., & Frith, H. (2006). (De)Constructing body image. Journal of Health Psy-chology, 11, 79–90.
Hedley, A. A., Ogden, C. L., Johnson, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Curtin, L. R., & Flegal, K.
M. (2004). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999–2002. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291(23), 2847–2850.
Houlihan, M. M., Dickson-Parnell, B. E., Jackson, J., & Zeichner, A. (1987). Appearance changes associated with participation in a behavioral weight control program.
Addictive Behaviors, 12, 157–163.
Jakicic, J. M., Wing, R. R., & Winters-Hart, C. (2002). Relationship of physical activity to eating behaviors and weight loss in women. Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, 34, 1653–1659.
Miller, K. J., Gleaves, D. H., Hirsch, T. G., Green, B. A., Snow, A. C., & Corbett, C. C.
(2000). Comparisons of body image dimensions by race/ethnicity and gender in a university population. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 27(3), 310–316.
Powell, L., Calvin, J., & Calvin, J. (2007). Effective obesity treatments. American Psy-chologist, 62, 234–246.
Roberts, A., Cash, T., Feingold, A., & Johnson, B. (2006). Are black–white differences in females’ body dissatisfaction decreasing? A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 1121–1131.
Rodin, J. & Larsen, L. (1992). Social factors and the ideal body shape. In Brownell, K., Rodin. J., & Wilmore. J. H. (Eds.), Eating, body weight; and performance in athletes (pp. 146–158): Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger.
Thompson, J. K., Heinburg, L. J., Altabe, M., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999). Exacting beauty: Theory, assessment, and treatment of body disturbance. Washington DC:
American Psychological Association.
Source: Annesi, J. J. (2009). Correlations of changes in weight and body satisfaction for obese women initiating exercise: Assessing effects of ethnicity. Psychological Reports, 105(3), 1072–1076.
Unlike more extended writings (e.g., monographs, or books), they include only a por-tion of the background informapor-tion and only partial descrippor-tions of related studies that would aid the reader’s comprehension of the study. Reading books and articles listed in the references section provides you with some of this information and probably gives you a clearer understanding as to why and how the author conducted the partic-ular study you have just read. Before hunting down any particpartic-ular reference item, it is a good idea to look back into the article to reread the sentence or paragraph con-taining the original citation to give you an idea of what is in each referenced item.
Notes
Near the beginning or end of their research reports, authors sometimes present one or more notes. In general, such notes are used by authors for three reasons: (1) to thank others who helped them with their study or with the preparation of the technical report, (2) to clarify something that was discussed earlier in the journal article, and (3) to indicate how an interested reader can contact them to discuss this particular study or other research that might be conducted in the future. In our model journal article, there was a single note containing the author’s postal address and email address.