You may consider whether or not someone else could easily replicate your study based on what you have included in this section and in the appendices. It should include: The type of research you did; How you collected and/or selected your data Depending on your discipline and approach, you might also begin with a discussion of the rationale and assumptions underpinning your methodology. Existing data In a qualitative participant observation, you might aim to produce ethnographic knowledge about the behaviours, social structures and shared beliefs of a specific group of people. An approach to studying people, particularly in social sciences, that starts from position that the subject matter is inherently different from non-human subjects. You may also be interested in: What is dissertation and why is it important? Ok, that being said.. between-subjects or within-subjects)? In your dissertation or thesis, you will have to discuss the methods you used to undertake your research. The aim was to conduct the survey with 350 customers of Company X on the company premises in The Hague from 4-8 July 2017 between 11:00 and 15:00. In quantitative research, your analysis will be based on numbers. On one hand, the researcher may focus on product quality pr… Surveys The Steps involved in writing a Dissertation. Describe where, when and how the interviews were conducted. Next, you should indicate how you processed and analysed the data. In other words, you’ll be using a quantitative approach (to do with collecting and manipulating data). In this section you will outline how you collected your data; and you will have to explain your choice for using the methods you did, such as online surveys, phone surveys, face-to-face-interviews and so on. But if you take an approach that is less common in your field, you might need to explain and justify your methodological choices. Interviews or focus groups In your dissertation or thesis, you will have to discuss the methods you used to undertake your research. The methodology or methods section explains what you did and how you did it, allowing readers to evaluate the reliability and validity of your research. In order to gain a better insight into the possibilities for improvement of the product range, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 returning customers from the main target group of Company X. What tools or technologies did you use in the experiment? Were there any ethical or philosophical considerations? The surveys were used to select returning customer participants who belonged to the target group (20-45 years old). How long were the interviews and how were they recorded? Research philosophy is a particular way of developing knowledge that defines the philosophical paradigm. It’s particularly useful when you want to reflect different perspectives on a subject, or put quantitative information into a robust real-world context. Flawless Tips on Selecting your PhD Thesis Topic. There is no possibility of ‘objective’ knowledge of the world, all we have are different experiences. Your methodology should make the case for why you chose these particular methods, especially if you did not take the most standard approach to your topic. Existing data Tags: dissertation help, dissertation ideas, How to write a methodology? Outline the tools, procedures and materials you used to gather data, and the criteria you used to select participants or sources. In either case, your methodology should be a clear, well-structured text that makes an argument for your approach, not just a list of technical details and procedures. After writing a basic philosophical statement add some more "big" words to replace more common ones (i.e. A returning customer was defined as someone who usually bought products at least twice a week from Company X. by Describe where, when and how you conducted the observation. Knowledge is by its nature partial and bound by individual experience. Depending on the length and type of document, you might also include a literature review or theoretical framework before the methodology. How you prepared the data before analysing it (e.g. You will set out the research paradigm here. Unstructured interviews usually produce results that cannot be generalised beyond the sample group, but they provide a more in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions, motivations and emotions. You can acknowledge limitations or weaknesses in the approach you chose, but justify why these were outweighed by the strengths. Once you have introduced your overall methodological approach, you should give full details of the methods you used to conduct the research. It should include: The methodology section should generally be written in the past tense. Did you conduct surveys by phone, mail, online or in person, and how long did participants have to respond? How did you choose your sample? How did you design the experiment (e.g. If you used software tools then you will have to say what these were and why you chose to use these particular ones. 2. Really useful guide for writing a methodology. If this is the case, you will be adopting a qualitative approach (concerned with analysing textual responses in detail). interviews) are best for describing, interpreting, contextualising, and gaining in-depth insight into specific concepts or phenomena, Mixed methods allow for a combination of numerical measurement and in-depth exploration, Was your aim to address a practical or a theoretical, Why is this the most suitable approach to answering your. Participant observation For instance, the world perspective and practical consideration of a researcher are different. Section III: Strategy and Research Design, Section IV: Data Collection and Analysis Methods, Section V: Ethics, Reliability, Validity, Generalizability and Limitations. )and transitions to get your basic idea across. Revised on In qualitative research, your analysis will be based on language, images and observations. Valid research requires a carefully designed study with controlled variables that can be replicated by other researchers. Participants were given 5 minutes to fill in the survey anonymously, and 408 customers responded. What was the sample size and response rate? Thank you for taking the trouble to write and post this. (ID: 2), How to write a methodology (2018) ~ Dissertation Help. I come from a (heavily continental) philosophy degree, and I have never written a methodology section of a paper, not even for my previous master's thesis. Because not all surveys were fully completed, 371 survey results were included in the analysis. What’s the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods? Begin by introducing your overall approach to the research. This is really helpful and accessible but there is no mention of paradigms and philosophical stances which I thought need to underpin the methodology. To address how to write a methodology, in the Methodology section of your dissertation you have to justify and explain your choice of methodologies employed in your research. Discuss why other methods were not suitable for your objectives, and show how this approach contributes new knowledge or understanding. In experimental research, it is especially important to give enough detail for another researcher to reproduce your results. Dissertation Help, What is dissertation and why is it important, Error, group does not exist! Results – Used to report on your main findings and how these relate to your research question. Thanks Shona! Answers were recorded by note-taking, and seven interviews were also filmed with consent. One interviewee preferred not to be filmed. In other words, say why you chose the ones you did and don’t say why you didn’t choose the others that were at your … I've been googling all around, but I can't seem to find a page that sums up what I should cover in a methodology section within this discipline (mostly humanities, some social sciences). Is this right? When discussing why you selected the methods you did, you should be convincing that these methods are the best ones available given what you want to achieve. Conclusion – Used to confirm the answer to your main research question, reflect on the research process and offer recommendations on future research. Each theme was analysed to gain a deeper understanding of participants’ perceptions and motivations.