Ready to Write Methodology: Outstanding Methodology Chapters Reviewed: Are your Ready to Write your Methodology? James & Slater (2014)

1. 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?

3. What is Included in an Award-Winning Methodology
Chapter?

4. • 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)

5. Why Start Your Writing With Methodology?

6. • 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

7. Standard Content Required
in the Methodology Chapter

8. • 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?

9. Methodology Writing Tips: Do...

10. • 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.

11. Methodology Writing Tips: Don’t…

12. • 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.

13. Final Considerations for
Designing and Writing Methodology
• Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks
• Problem Statement Final Checklist
• Ethical Review, Data Collection, and Analysis Final
Checklist

14. An excerpt from ‘Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation
or Thesis Faster’
Click here to see it on Amazon

15. 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.

16. • 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.