Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Describing Methods
• Part 2 of 3: Rationale for the chosen methods
• Part 3 of 3: Linking Methods to Research Objectives
• Tips

The methodology part of academic research gives you the opportunity to convince your readers that your research is useful and makes an important contribution to your field of science. A good description of research methodology is based on a general approach to research - be it qualitative or quantitative - and adequately describes the methods you used.Explain why you chose these methods, and then explain how using these methods provides answers to the questions posed in your research.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Describing Methods

1. 1 Reframe your research topic. Begin the methodology part of your research by listing the topics or questions that you intend to research. Include a hypothesis here, if any, or indicate what you are going to prove with your research.
   • When paraphrasing, mention any assumptions you make or terms that you mean. These assumptions determine the method you choose.
   • Specify which variables you will check, as well as other conditions that you control or assume to be the same.
2. 2 Establish a general methodological approach. The general approach can be qualitative or quantitative. Sometimes it is possible to use a combination of both approaches. Briefly explain why you chose this or that approach.
   • If you want to, for example, research and document measurable social trends or evaluate the impact of specific policies on a variety of variables, use a quantitative approach, focusing on data collection and statistical analysis.
   • If, for example, you want to assess people's views or understanding of a particular problem, take a better approach.
   • You can also combine both approaches. For example, you might primarily look at a measurable social trend, but also interview people and get their opinions on how this trend is affecting their lives.
3. 3 Determine how you will collect or receive data. This section of your methodology section tells readers when and where you did your research and what key parameters were used to ensure the relative objectivity of your results.
   • For example, if you are conducting a sociological survey, you should cite the questions included in that survey and describe where and how the survey was conducted (in person, online or by phone), how many surveys you conducted, and how long your respondents took to the survey.
   • Include enough detail for others to reproduce your research (although their results may still not match yours).
4. 4 State the reason for using unusual methods. You may need (especially if you are doing social science research) to use methods that are not usually used in such research or that seem inappropriate for the purpose of your research. Such methods require further explanation.
   • Qualitative research methods usually require more detailed explanation than quantitative ones.
   • Basic research procedures need not be explained in detail. As a rule, the author assumes that readers know the usual research methods, for example, sociologists understand what a sociological survey or focus group is.
5. 5 Cite all sources on which you based your choice of methodology. If you have used someone else's work to develop or apply your methodology, describe the work and explain which of them you used in your work or how your work is based on them.
   • For example, suppose you are conducting a survey and have used several other research papers to develop questions for your survey. In this case, you should mention these sources.

Part 2 of 3: Rationale for the chosen methods

1. 1 Explain the choice of data selection criteria. If you are collecting raw data, you will most likely set the filtering options. State these parameters clearly and explain to your readers why you set these parameters and why they are important for your research.
   • If you are conducting a sociological survey, describe the participants in your study and indicate any inclusion and exclusion criteria that you used to form the group of participants.
   • Justify the sample size, if applicable, and describe how it affects the potential for scaling up your research findings. For example, if you conducted a survey of 30 percent of all university students, you can most likely apply your findings to all students at that university, but perhaps not to students at other universities.
2. 2 Indicate the weaknesses of the methods you are using. Each research method has its own strengths and weaknesses. Briefly discuss the weaknesses and criticisms of your chosen methods, and then explain why they are inappropriate or inappropriate in your particular research.
   • Reading other research papers is a good way to identify possible problems that usually arise when using different methods. Indicate if you have encountered any of these common problems in your research.
3. 3 Describe how you overcame the difficulties. Overcoming difficulties in your research can be one of the most important parts of your methodology section. Describe how you resolved the problems you encountered - this can increase your readers' confidence in the quality of your research results.
   • If you run into any problems collecting data, clearly explain what steps you took to minimize the impact of these aspects on your results.
4. 4 Check out other methods you could use. In case you are using a method that looks unusual for your topic, include in your paper a discussion of other methods that are commonly used in research like yours. Explain why you did not use them.
   • In some cases, it is sufficient to simply point out that there are many studies using a particular method, but none using your method, which creates a gap in understanding of the problem.
   • For example, there may be many works on quantitative analysis of a particular social trend. However, none of these works may go into detail on how this trend will affect people's lives.

Part 3 of 3: Linking Methods to Research Objectives

1. 1 Describe how you analyzed the results. Your analysis mainly depends on whether you used the qualitative method, the quantitative method, or both. If you have used a quantitative approach, chances are you will be using statistical analysis. For a qualitative approach, indicate which theory or philosophy you used.
   • Depending on the questions posed in your research, you can use a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis - just as you can use both approaches. For example, you can perform statistical analysis and then interpret those statistics through the lens of a particular theory.
2. 2 Explain how your analysis meets the objectives of your research. Ultimately, your methodology should provide answers to the questions posed in your research. If there is no good agreement between the two, you should either change your methodology or slightly change your research questions.
   • For example, suppose you are researching the impact of college education on family farms in rural United States. While you can interview people who grew up on family farms and graduated from college, this does not give you the big picture. A quantitative approach and statistical analysis would provide a more holistic picture.
3. 3 Determine how well your analysis answers your research questions. Match your methodology to the original research questions and present the possible outcome of your analysis. Describe in detail what your findings will clarify in your research questions.
   • If, when answering research questions, your results have raised other questions that may require further research, please state them briefly.
   • You can also mention any limitations of your methods or questions that could not be answered.
4. 4 Evaluate if your results can be transferred or generalized. Perhaps you can transfer your results to a different context or generalize them. In the social sciences, transferring results is usually difficult, especially if you've taken a qualitative approach.
   • Generalization can usually be used in quantitative research. If you have a well-formed sample, you can statistically apply your results to the larger dataset to which your sample belongs.

Tips

• Organize the methodological section of your work chronologically: start with how you prepared to carry out your research, then write how you collected the data and how you analyzed it.
• Write the methodological section of your research in the past tense, unless it is a document that must be submitted before the described research is performed.
• Discuss your plans in detail with your supervisor before deciding on a particular method. It can help you identify possible flaws in your research design.
• Describe your techniques in the passive voice to focus the reader's attention on the actions that were taken, rather than on the person who performed them.