Writing a paper - 7 Results - 2. processing data.ppt

Writing and publishing a paper8. Results. 2 – Primary data and processed data.
“Data” and “results”
Punctuation
Writing a precis
substrate conc.
/mM
rate of reaction
/mol s-1
0
0




1

2

3

4

An example of primary data
Results. - Primary data and processed data
First possibility:
‘The rate of reaction is mol s-1 when the substrate concentration is mM. It increases to mol s-1 when [substrate] = mM, .....’
substrate conc.
/mM
rate of reaction
/mol s-1
0
0




1

2

3

4

Only repetition. This is a waste of time.
What should we do with primary data?
Second possibility:
‘The rate of reaction increases less than proportionately as substrate concentration increases’
substrate conc.
/mM
rate of reaction
/mol s-1
0
0




1

2

3

4

This follows a preliminary look at the primary data.
It is a first thought, but not enough.
substrate conc.
/mM
rate of reaction
/mol s-1
0
0




1

2

3

4

Third possibility
‘The rate of reaction increases less than proportionately to substrate concentration. Therefore
(a) it cannot be a simple chemical reaction
(b) it could be enzyme catalysed.
This IS a step forward in analyzing the primary data, but we could do better.
“The data can be fitted by a curve for an enzyme with Vmax = 2 mol s-1, and Km = 1 mM”
This is an interpretation
and a quantitative analysis of the primary data
- a result
Fourth possibility
See if the data fit Michaelis-Menten ics and, if so, obtain the values of the parameters.
Processed data  a derived result.
In the results section (not the discussion)
1.
Results. The measurements were made using standard analytical techniques. They are presented in table 1.
Discussion. A solution of the Navier-Stokes equation to analyse the data, its application and the e. Significance of the results of the calculations.
Two ext