Strategy 1
Use numbers often
Whenever you can, use descriptive language to quantify the prevalence of your finding (see example).
Commonly, this is done with numbers but can be done with qualitative language, as shown below.
TIP: Make sure always to include units! Without units, numbers are very hard to understand and contextualize. For example, “5”, “5 participants”, and “5 months” all have very different meanings.
Strategy 2
Write shorter sentences using active voice
Whenever you can, use active voice. This means the subject of your sentence is your participant performing some action (such as thinking, questioning, feeling, searching, struggling, etc.). Your findings will be easier to skim and understand. See the finding equation below for more examples. You can read more about active voice here.
TIP: If you can’t read each finding in one breath, then it’s too long!
Strategy 3
Use the research finding formula
Use the formula below and add in the relevant details. It’ll help you write shorter, clearer findings.
Example 1:
- Example: Nearly all the survey respondents (92% or 229/248 respondents) reported liking the new voice-activated “advertisement mute” feature. Based on their open-ended responses, many respondents appreciated how “easy” and “effective” the feature was, while others enjoyed not having to “hear loud or annoying commercials.”
- Example: A a third of the interview participants (3/9) described how challenging and confusing the new sales system is. These participants found the new, simpler design to be “modern”, but not effective for logging in multiple purchases or purchases of a high dollar amount” because it takes “more clicks and screens” than the old system.
Strategy 4
Findings and data should be balanced
All research findings are claims or inferences about some data. To support each claim, you’d use your analysis & interpretations as evidence. The crazier the claim, the stronger and more convincing your evidence has to be. Avoid/limit presenting findings if you don’t have the appropriate evidence.
TIP: Draft out possible findings when you’re analyzing your data.
Strategy 5
Writing intriguing headlines and sub-headlines
Assume that your audience will briefly skim your deliverable. Write informative and intriguing headers so that anyone skimming can still learn valuable information.
You could highlight specific data points, patterns that were unexpected or new ways of thinking about the problem in the header. Avoid long, dry, and wordy headers as they’ll be mostly ignored.
Make headers human, emotional, shocking, or even humorous. The research you’ve done wasn’t boring, dry, and clinic, so why should your report feel like that!
