Medical Research

Importance of conclusion
For any research project and any scientific discipline, drawing
conclusions is the final, and most important, part of the
process.
Whicheverreasoning processes andresearch methodswere used, the
final conclusion is critical, determining success or failure. If an
otherwise excellent experiment is summarized by a weak conclusion,
the results will not be taken seriously.
Success or failure is not a measure of whether a hypothesisis
accepted or refuted, because bothresults still advance scientific
knowledge.
Failure is poor experimental design, or flaws in the reasoning
processes, which invalidate the results. As long as the research
process is robust and well designed, then the findings are sound, and
the process of drawing conclusions begins.
The key is to establish what the results mean. How are they applied to
the world?

The Paper
Writing and editing the paper is the last
step in the research process
The paper tells the story from study
inception, through data collection,
statistical analysis, findings and and
discussion
The process of writing the paper should be
analogous to the research processit
requires attention to detail, time, and
revision

Top 10

Reasons Manuscripts Rejected

1.

Wrong journal, format, preparation

2.

Disorganized study design

3.

Defective tables, figures

4.

Poor organization throughout, writing, spelling

5.

No hypothesis or problem statement

6.

No or insufficient conclusion

7.

Overinterpretation of results

8.

Article unfocused, too verbose and long

9.

Inappropriate statistical methods; methods not sufficient to

repeat study

10. Poorly written abstract/title

The Results

ResultsThe Beginning
The heart of your paper
Write after figures and tables are
constructed
Consider your data critically
Construct tables, figures and include them in
outline
Write the results
Use subheadings

Results determine
Whether youve answered your original
question(s)
Your direction for future studies
Both of which belong in the discussion

ResultsThe Beginning

State ALL the findings

Whether significant or not
Without bias or interpretation
Do not include weaknesses, strengths of study, ie dont discuss
results

List experiments in order listed in methods

Use logical headers and group your findings

Characteristics of study subjects
Findings in order listed in methods
General to specific

Use past tense

Results confirm or reject your hypothesis: they do not prove

anything.

 Short and to the pointMain or most important

findings first
Present only data directly relevant to the study
focus
Dont repeat methods but you may remind the
reader briefly how you measured something.
Allow the data to speak for itselfuse
tables/figures construct them first and use as a
basis for writing
In Tables and Figures, be descriptive, specific. Do
not repeat the obvious:
NO: Results of the kidney lead analysis are shown in Table 1.
YES: Kidney lead concentrations increased in group 1 over the
first 10 study weeks (Table 1).

Present absolute numbers and percentages so

reviewers can judge the significance of the

ResultsMajor Mistakes
Failure to provide all the data critical to
answering the research question
Interpreting or commenting on results

Six of the 20 patients required intubation, illustrating the

seriousness of this problem (belongs in Discussion)
Over 40% of treated rats exhibited a decreased
inflammatory response, an unexpected finding (belongs in
Discussion)

Failure to adequately address statistical

methods
Tables and figures inappropriate, unbalanced

The Discussion

Discussion Construction
Summarize major findings1st paragraph
Explain how your findings relate to those of
otherswhat do they mean?
Clinical relevance of the findings?
Limitations and how this influenced your
study?
How will you overcome these in the next studies?

Explain the implications of findings

What future direction(s) will you take?

1.

DiscussionCommon
Mistakes
Unwarranted speculations

2.

Injecting tangential issues

3.

Conclusions not supported by the data

4.

Not suggesting future directions for research

hypothesis study data/results conclusions
TIGHT PACKAGE

Generating Leads for Future

Research
However, very fewexperimentsgive clear-cut results, and
most research uncovers more questions than answers.
The researcher can use these to suggest interesting directions
for further study. If, for example, thenull hypothesiswas
accepted, there may still have been trends apparent within
the results. These could form the basis of further study, or
experimental refinement and redesign.

Suggestions Based Upon the

Conclusions
The final stage is the researcher's recommendations based
upon the results, depending upon the field of study. This area
of theresearch processcan be based around the researcher's
personal opinion, and will integrate previous studies.
For example, a researcher into schizophrenia may recommend
a more effective treatment. A physicist might postulate that
our picture of the structure of the atom should be changed. A
researcher could make suggestions for refinement of the
experimental design, or highlight interesting areas for further
study. This final piece of the paper is the most critical, and
pulls together all of the findings.
The area in aresearch paperthat causes intense and heated
debate amongst scientists is whendrawing conclusions.
It is critical in determining the direction taken by the scientific
community, but the researcher will have to justify their
findings.