Data gives legitimacy to an argument when researchers present it as facts and figures. It also provides information for people to use when they make claims, show trends or talk about gaps in their bodies of research.
Qualitative research often involves numerical data, which researchers often use in precise formulas to gather and present in data tables or charts. Qualitative research entails looking at specific characteristics or patterns, such as the cultural traditions of a certain group or trends in literature. Scholars often present data in a qualitative research paper in a prose format.
After people present data in their research papers, they often provide explanations of what the information means and how it fits within the context of their theories. Data sections serve as the spot in a research paper to give detailed explanations of facts or figures so that researchers can talk about their meanings later.
Data sections generally come after introduction, literature review and method sections, and before discussion and conclusion sections in a research paper. Method sections explain the process through which scholars go to collect their data, and data sections include detailed explanations or data tables that show what the numbers or facts mean.