6. Are you ready to write your methodology?
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Transcript of 6. Are you ready to write your methodology?
Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster
A Proven Map to Success
by E. Alana James and Tracesea Slater
Are You Ready to Write Your Methodology?
What is Included in an Award-Winning Methodology Chapter?
• An outstanding methodology chapter ties together the threads laid out the review of literature
• Your purpose in writing the methodology chapter is to set up the building blocks of your research study in such a way as to convince your reader that your methodology is strong and will resist the tensions created by data collection and analysis in the real world (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 2008; Garson, 2002; Hoyle, Harris, & Judd, 2002; Leedy & Ormrod, 2005)
Why Start Your Writing With Methodology?
• Less redundancy in writing • Helps you avoid a literature review that turns out not to
support the methodology section of your proposal (variables, key background topics and considerations)
• Methodology supports every section in your proposal and your entire dissertation
Standard Content Required in the Methodology Chapter
• Se#ng up Internal Consistency: Linkages from Methodological Design to Other Parts of Your Proposal – Importance of your study – QuesAons you are asking or what hypotheses you are tesAng – Conceptual or theoreAcal issues – ParAcipants, sample, and populaAon – Data collecAon and analysis – Ethical issues – Delimiters (the parameters you the researcher place on the study) – AssumpAons and limitaAons
• What PorAons of Methodology Should be Included in Which Chapters?
Methodology Writing Tips: Do...
• Write with your own voice and ideas, citing others who agree with you rather than quoting them.
• Remember that your reader understands research methods better than you do.
• Refer to other sections where an aspect is discussed in length rather than be redundant.
Methodology Writing Tips: Don’t…
• Use words for which you are not completely sure of the meaning or process involved.
• Describe your methodology differently in each section. • Change the way in which you describe your problem or
purpose from section to section. • Use textbook explanations in the methods sections.
Final Considerations for Designing and Writing Methodology
• Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks • Problem Statement Final Checklist • Ethical Review, Data Collection, and Analysis Final
Checklist
An excerpt from ‘Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster’
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Where Should I Go to Dig Deeper? Suggested Resources to Consider
• Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Creswell remains the easiest to grasp yet thorough introduction to research methodology.
• Gliner, J. A., Morgan, G. A., & Leech, N. L. (2009). Research methods in applied settings: An integrated approach to design and analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. An excellent text recommended by one of our reviewers as a great basic for quantitative research.
• Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage. A classic. This book offers a concise yet rigorous and thorough examination of qualitative design.
• Morgan, G. A., Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W., & Barrett, K. C. (2011). IBM SPSS for introductory statistics: Use and interpretation. New York: Routledge. Chapters 1, 3 and 6 respectively are a must read for quantitative researchers covering variables, research problems, questions, measurement, and descriptive statistics and the selection of and interpretation of inferential statistics. This is written in down-to-earth language and augmented by a thorough example that uses data from the High School and Beyond study.
• Ravitch, S. M., & Riggan, M. (2012). Reason & Rigor: How conceptual frameworks guide research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This provides an explicit and in-depth discussion of how to employ conceptual frameworks eas a means to increase and ensure that the primary to the party will be rigor in your overall research design.
• Sapsford, R. (2007). Survey research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This is an excellent resource for quantitative work.