Three principles for writing an effective qualitative results section

Writing an effective qualitative results section can be a daunting task. How do you report the findings of the study and tell a compelling story? It is this delicate balance that we strive to navigate in this paper. We offer three principles—storytelling, authenticity and argument—to help writers envision the story they will tell, select the data as evidence for that story and integrate quotations to guide the reader’s interpretation. Practical advice and concrete illustrations make the principles easy to apply to your own writing. Finally, by reflecting on how historical, methodological and disciplinary elements shape their application, you will be able to use these principles to enhance the persuasiveness of your qualitative results section.