RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Titus N. Ofei
Lecturer, Petroleum Eng. Dept.
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Office: Block L-01-46
Ext: 7123

WHAT IS RESULTS & DISCUSSION?

#1

It is the section of a technical paper or thesis

which follows the methodology section.
This is where you present your results and
discuss them by:

Commenting on the results obtained

Interpreting what the results mean, and
Explaining any results which are unexpected.

WHAT IS RESULTS & DISCUSSION?

#2

1. Some manuscripts have separate

sections for Results and Discussion
2. Other manuscripts combines both
Results and Discussion in the same
section

UTP STANDARD FOR RESULTS & DISCUSSION

#3

Combine both Results & Discussion in one Section:

The author must present important results of study as
well as interpreting or explaining their meaning.
Note:
Results is for facts and Discussion is for interpretation

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Simple
Short
Sweet

Are results
reasonable,
given the
experimental
design?

#4

Are statistical
analysis
appropriate?
Any
uncertainty?

Results &
Discussion

Are
figures/graphs,
tables essential,
redundant, or
misleading?

Are the
interpretations
convincing?

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

#5

Example:
Well A produced much hydrocarbons than Well B (Fig.
1), because, Well A was drilled horizontally compared
to a vertical Well B.

COMMON MISTAKES

#6

Dont present results only without

interpreting them.
Example:
As flowrate increased, pipe erosion
also increased.

COMMON MISTAKES

#7

All figures and tables must be

mentioned in the text.
Example:
In Figure 1, it is observed that...;
Table 1 presents the percent error

COMMON MISTAKES

#8

Information on methodology should

not be reported in this section
Example:
We found that core sample A contained
low permeability, so a new test was run
with a low viscous fluid.

COMMON MISTAKES

#9

Present your results & discussion in

order: from most to least important
information, from simple to complex.
Example:
Case 1: radial flow; Case 2: elliptical
flow

COMMON MISTAKES

#10

Use past tense to describe your

results
Example:
Results in Table 2 suggested that sample
X is the main catalyst due to

COMMON MISTAKES
Avoid the use of adverbs
Example:
Figure 2 clearly or vividly showed
that.

#11

COMMON MISTAKES

#12

Do not overly speculate

Example:
This study showed that oil recovery could
be increased by 90%....

COMMON MISTAKES

#13

No comparison of results to other

authors work
No discussion of source of error (eg.
Human, machine etc.)
Not stating the error margin (using
statistics)

COMMON MISTAKES

#14

Do not forget to end the results &

discussion with a short summary
about the significance of your work

EXAMPLE 1: MAKE YOUR JUDGMENT

#15

It was shown in Table 3 that the strong inhibition drilling fluid

system had strong antipollution performance which could resist
up to 20% sea water or 10% activity mudstone contamination.
The results also showed that the invasion of Ca2+ had
seriously affecting the drilling fluid rheology, especially in high
temperature and high pressure filtration. 3% calcium
oxide could be resulting in significant viscosity reduction, and
increased filtration.
Identify the results, discussion, and common mistakes in the above paragraph

EXAMPLE 2:

What is wrong with the paragraph below?

#16

The well was perforated in several upper reservoir intervals in

addition to the horizontal drains (Figure 2). The well was logged on
coiled tubing using a PS platform tool combined with a FloView plus
holdup measurement tool for highly deviated and horizontal wells. The
objective of the PS Platform survey was to measure the contribution of
each of the two horizontal legs to production and to record a flow
profile in the main leg. Water holdup is measured using the FloView
tool. The FloView tool, shown in Figure 3, can be run as a single tool or
a dual combination that uses local electrical probes on each of the
centralizer arms to distinguish the passage of hydrocarbons oil or gas
or water. The measurements permit the identification of the
discontinuous phase bubbles and can be time and space averaged to
reduce the statistical uncertainty.

EXAMPLE 2:

What is wrong with the paragraph below?

#17

The derivative in Figure 6 shows a good radial flow but drop in derivative
at late time due to constant pressure support (likely aquifer support). A
continuous drop is seen from 10 hrs in the model parameters. The
derivatives for all output parameters display the same well and reservoir
signatures (3 flow periods, early to late time response) but with different
stabilisation. The well bottom-hole pressure (BPR BHP) response shows
good overlay with pressure equivalent of density weighted average
(PDENDWA PDENA) and pressure equivalent of water density
(PDENWAT PDENW) while pressure equivalent of gas density
(PDENGAS PDENG) and pressure equivalent of oil density (PDENOIL
PDENO) differ completely. The PDENDWA gives a better fingerprint that is
less noisy.

CONCLUSION

#18

Q&A