SPSS doesn’t fail students; unread output does. Once you know which three numbers to look for and how to report them, the results chapter stops being scary.
Key takeaways
- Know your variables and which test you ran.
- Find the one table that answers your question.
- Read the p-value to judge significance (p < .05).
- Always report an effect size, not just significance.
- Write results in APA format, numbers and all.
- Explain what the result means in plain English.
Start with the question, not the output
What were you testing, and with which test (t-test, ANOVA, correlation, regression)? The test tells you which table to read and which numbers matter.
Find the three numbers that matter
For most tests: the test statistic (t, F, r…), the p-value (is it below .05?), and an effect size (how big is the effect, not just whether it exists). Significance without effect size tells only half the story.
Report it in APA
APA has a set way to write each result, e.g. t(48) = 2.13, p = .038, d = 0.61. Keep the APA 7 checklist open for the italics and spacing rules that trip people up.
Then translate it
Finish with one plain-English sentence: what does this mean for your question? This is where a methods or results chapter earns its marks. Doing a capstone or DNP project? See the capstone and DNP guides for where this fits.
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