I don’t know which findings to include
Start with what your reader expects to find in the Results: answers to your research questions.
Your readers will have read the questions or aims you wrote at the end of the Introduction and built expectations. So the Results should deliver on that promise.
Methods should match the Results
Everything you report in the Results should also be explained in the Methods. See Organising the Methods.
Types of findings to report in the Results
Typically, the Results are a progression of findings: you start with the least processed results, such as descriptive statistics, and build on those with more in-depth analyses. That way, it’s clear how the more advanced insights are supported by the data underneath.
Here are some types of findings you’ll typically see in a Results section:
- Descriptive findings: study location, basic population statistics, general patterns
- Main findings: the findings that actually answer your research questions
- Validation: model validation, sensitivity analyses
This list isn’t exhaustive. Which findings are presented in the Results, and in which order, depends heavily on your field. For example, descriptive statistics sometimes go in the Methods instead, and in some research the validation is the main finding.
Check similar studies in your target journal
I recommend looking at similar studies in your target journal to see how researchers in your field present their findings:
- What do they report?
- In which order is information reported?
- Where do the descriptive findings go: the Methods or the Results?
- How are the Results divided into subsections, and what are the subheadings?