The first goal of drafting the final chapters/sections of a capstone study is to make sense of the data and present it to the reader. Whether this discussion belongs in its own chapter or section or is part of a larger section that includes the findings, conclusions, and implications, doctoral students will need to explain what they found. Basically, students will need to discuss their data in the text and possibly visually represent that data in tables and figures.

• For qualitative studies, formatting transcribed interview or focus group data may help ease rereading and coding. The Writing Center blog post on Transcribing and Formatting Audio Files can help.
• Students can prepare to describe data and findings by watching the Writing Center’s Presenting Data and Describing Analysis Webinar. This webinar presents the expectations for the data discussion and provides students with language for writing about results.
• Writing Center resources for creating tables and figures

• The Office of Research and Doctoral Services (ORDS) provides standards and guidelines for doctoral research. Their website contains more information on conducting research at Walden. ORDS also holds office hours for students with questions regarding qualitative methods and quantitative methods.
• Research resources from ORDS may also help students plan, design, analyze, and write about their research.