As a consumer of research reports, the most important thing(s) for me in the methods and results section of a high-quality quantitative research report is/are…

The most important thing for me in the methods and results section of a high-quality report is clear explanation of the data. In some ways, this is a two-edged sword as data explanation can get complex and difficult to follow. However, when the data is clearly explained I know I can trust the results and therefore the conclusions as well. Explanation of the data also allows me to know whether the methods they used were adequate for the purpose of the study. When a report simply states the findings without explaining how those results were found, I get skeptical.

In the article I looked at this week, the data was explained very thoroughly. At times it was hard to follow because the data was complex, yet I appreciated knowing the entire process of how data was collected, analyzed, and correlated. This allowed me to evaluate the process better which then gave me confidence in the results, conclusions, and methods of the study. Most studies will provide a summary of the results but the higher quality research reports will provide the details of how this data was collected and why specific research designs were used.

Question: When reading through research reports, how much do you examine the specifics of the data? Do you ever jump to the results or conclusions and if so, why?