The What’s What in Results, Product, or Findings

The Results, Product, or Findings section is where you present the data, devoid of any bias, for exactly what it is.

About this section:

This section of the paper is entirely evidence-based. Every claim must be backed by data – quotations, statistics, observations, etc.
This section of the paper should be written in a neutral tone – you are not interpreting, nor are you passing judgment or assessing anything. That means avoiding language like “surprising”, “disappointing”, or “interestingly”.
This section of the paper should follow a logical flow. Organize it by your Research Question or Themes (not necessarily in chronological order of how you did the work). As always, the key is to return to the literature of the field for guidance!

Check out the following sub-topics to gain a better understanding of this section! More information will be broken down and provided.

Also, remember that this is a great time to check in with your Expert Adviser – especially if you need help with a program, understanding and running calculations on your data, etc.

Prep Folder Icon And, as always – be sure that you’re documenting EVERYTHING in your PREP Journal!

General Structure of This Section
Element	What it should include
Visuals	Tables, graphs, charts, or photographs of the product/artifact.
Narrative	A written explanation that guides the reader through the visuals (e.g., "As seen in Figure 1...").
Statistical Results	If quantitative: p-values, means, or frequencies.
Thematic Coding	If qualitative: Key themes identified from interviews or observations with supporting quotes.

Explore each section in the tabs below to learn more.

Best Practices
Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Best Practices

Don't dump raw data: Do not include every single survey response or 50 pages of interview transcripts. Use summarized data. Put the raw stuff in an Appendix.

Connect to the Method: Use the same terminology you used in your Methods section so the reader can see the direct link.
Use Captions: Every table and figure needs a title and a clear caption explaining what it represents

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Starting to "Discuss": If you start explaining why you think a result happened, stop. Save that for the Discussion/Analysis section.
Redundancy: Don't write out every number in a paragraph if those same numbers are already in a table right next to the text. Highlight the trends instead.
Ignoring Negative Results: If your experiment failed or your hypothesis was proven wrong, report it! AP graders value "intellectual honesty" over "perfect results."

If you have a Product, Read This!

If your research led to a physical or digital product, your findings should focus on the performance or aesthetic success of that product based on your criteria.

Design Iterations: Briefly show the final version and explain how it meets the requirements set in your method(s).
User Feedback/Testing: If you built an app or a piece of furniture, the "Results" are the data points from your testing phase (e.g., "70% of users found the interface intuitive").
High-Quality Images: Include clear photos of the final product/artifact as "Figures."

Before Moving On

Nervous? Don’t be! This is where you get to start making sense and digging through all of your data, results, and/or product creation, and document the steps taken and the data gathered!

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