Interpreting findings from studies

Interpreting findings means the author has to provide his/ her own commentary or an explanation about:

what other scholars seem to be thinking or suggesting in their work
what the author him- or herself thinks of these scholars' contributions and perspectives (through a 'meta-commentary').

The author's own evaluation of other works' value can be either:

negative (some 'limitations' are revealed)
positive (the author highlights the importance of other scholars' achievement or merit) OR
neutral (the author refrains from making either positive or negative judgment).

Language for interpreting findings from studies

Here are some common language structures that are used to interpret a study's findings and make conclusions about their value.

These results suggest/ indicate that …
Taken together, these findings point to the existence of... / the need for …
These results highlight the importance of …

This study is important in that …
Author X (year of publication) stressed that … This is crucial because …

Hedging

To avoid sounding overly confident when interpreting others’ and one’s own (!) claims and contributions, more suggestive or ‘cautious’ language structures known as hedges are used. These can signal various degrees of certainty about the accuracy or trustworthiness of the author’s findings and conclusions and are an effective way to tone down the strength of possibly erroneous claims and interpretations. This is especially important when exploring topics where there are few or no definitive answers as to the nature of certain processes. For example, in disciplines such as psychology or healthcare, some authors tend to rely on a frequent use of hedges to make their language more suggestive rather than definitive.

Here are some examples of hedges:

Modal verbs	may, might, can, could, would, should
Other verbs	appear (to), seem (to), tend (to), contribute, believe, suppose, assume, presume, indicate, suggest, believe, doubt
Nouns	possibility, probability, likelihood, tendency, assumption, claim, suggestion
Adjectives	possible, likely, unlikely, most, potential
Adverbs	perhaps, possibly, probably, potentially, likely, somewhat, largely, mostly, clearly, conceivably, certainly, evidently, arguably, apparently, reasonably, relatively, supposedly, hypothetically, approximately
'That' clauses	There is a possibility that... It is likely/ unlikely that... It might be assumed/ suggested that… It could be the case that… It may be possible that...

Similarity and contrast words

The following linking words of similarity and contrast are often used to compare and contrast findings from multiple sources:

To show similarity: also, similarly, likewise, like + author's name, following + author's name

To show contrast: unlike, in contrast to, contrary to, while/ whereas, although.

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Hedging I

Fill in the spaces with a suitable word or phrase:

contribute

appear to

assume

suggest

could be the case

unlikely

possibility

potential limitation

1.There is a that some houses were accumulating larger surpluses and had unusual capacities for largerscale food preparation.
2.It is highly that these results would change with the addition of more studies.
3.Political institutions be shaped by a host of economic and technological factors.
4.Poor governance can to irresponsible accounting practices as manifested by the recent accounting scandals.
5.One might that career prospects can be a determinant of students' intention to commit to the hospitality and tourism industries.
6.Data from previous studies may that the most resilient groups are likely to be bureaucratized and have local support.
7.It that the warning banner has no effect on the frequency of repeated trespassing incidents.
8.Another of the study is that it depends on the accuracy of the clinicians, therefore, misclassifications and coding errors may be present.

Hedging II

Fill in the spaces with a synonymous word or phrase:

Apparently

perhaps

appear to

suppose

clearly

indicate

likely

1. These results that female development differs from male development in many ways from early infancy .
2. Another cause for the observed differences may be fly strain background and a difference in humidity conditions.
3. Plans of existing buildings are more representative of the life history of the town rather than any idealized urban form.
4. In short, these tribes have lived a semi-rural lifestyles.
5. We that the spacing between the fractures increases downwards.
6. Although the respondent was creative, she failed to consider these instances on the questionnaire and interview.
7. , education and more specialized knowledge (financial literacy) do contribute to more informed financial decision making.

Hedging III

Replace the italicized words and phrases in each sentence with the given phrases to make the statements less categorical:

a potential

there may be a need

Many people

may not be

could be

may ease

indicate

in most cases

suggests

1. These findings prove that music relieves long-term pain.
2. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the implications of this policy for British history.
3. Everybody would agree that the main cause of fertility decline is mortality decline.
4. This study clearly shows that words, whether spoken or written, can never be trusted because of their subjective value.
5. Compliance with international agreements is always determined by domestic factors, such as the state's institutions, traditions, and interests in foreign policy.

Hedging IV

Type the correct verbs forms into the gaps below:

1. Worry may (characterize) by a diminished capacity to discriminate between threatening and non-threatening cues.
2. Excessive worry may (associate) with a stronger bias towards responding to non-threatening cues.
3. Chronic worry may (prove) difficult to control due to an “incubation” of intrusive thoughts.
4. The incubation effect of worry may (explain) by learning theory.
5. These findings suggest that the effects of thought suppression are not clear-cut and such effects may (vary) depending on the nature of the cognitive process (obsession v. worry) that is being suppressed.
6. Intolerance of uncertainty regarding the outcome of future events also (appear) to be relevant to the process of worry.

Source: Olatunjia, B., Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Sawchuk, C., & Ciesielski, B. (2010). Worry and the anxiety disorders: A meta-analytic synthesis of specificity to GAD. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 14, 1–24.