The methodology belongs to one of the most important sections of your work because it explains and tells how exactly your research work has been conducted. It is not surprising that methodology writing is one of the most challenging parts for students because they have to let the readers see the core of the research. As you learn how to write methodology section of a research paper, do not take shortcuts or ignore this section. Always ask questions and explore!
What is Methodology in Research?
In simple terms, this part of the research will have to reflect the ways how you are approaching a certain academic subject. For example, if you want to learn about cardiovascular diseases among middle school learners in Athens, Georgia, you will have to explain what kind of research will have to be done. It can be accomplished via interviews with the nursing personnel, parents, educators, and school teachers, and surveys or it can be done by turning to the libraries and the archives. Therefore, if your methodology section has been done correctly, the academic community and the readers will have more confidence in your research paper. The content that you provide in your methodology section of research paper will help your target audience to evaluate whether your method is accurate and efficient compared to alternative methods. It is also essential for joint projects and scenarios when you have to prepare your paper for publishing.
Such an approach is important when you are working on a dissertation or addressing your main argument to support your actions. Your methodology is exactly what you must provide when there is a problem and you need to make a statement regarding detailed processes, the use of equipment, or the relevant techniques that you have used to identify, synthesise, and estimate related data that has helped you to address your subject and explore the problem. As you write a methodology, you must focus on the purpose and clearly understand that you must provide your readers with a description of what you have done.
Why is Methodology Section Important?
The methodology plays a key role in an accurate understanding of your scientific objectives. If it makes it possible to evaluate and perceive your research plans clearly, your work can be considered a piece of valid evidence. It is your study and attitude that must connect in this section and show how exactly you are planning to collect the data and what kind of analysis and strategies you are planning to approach as you conduct your research. As a rule, when you work on your methodology, it is written in the past tense. It should talk about the principles that have been guiding you as you worked on your research.
When you write a methods section, the most challenging aspect is to validate or justify the methods that have been chosen. It is exactly where most college students fail as they forget to mention the logic and the reasoning behind their actions. As you work on your methods section, take your time to show how one can replicate your actions in the lab environment or by turning to similar case study research. It’s also the time and place when you must explain why a certain method is better than the other and how exactly you came to understand that. It also places you in a special niche with your research as you narrow things down and can give your readers some space to evaluate your ratio and the ideas that you address. There may also be specific instructions in your grading rubric, so make sure that you discuss your concerns with an academic advisor before you pay for research paper and submit your work on campus. It will help you to keep things safe and avoid revisions or going beyond the word count.
How to Write a Methodology and What to Write in a Research Method Section?
College students often ask about what must be included in the methodology as there are numerous assumptions that may be followed or parts that do not relate to this complex section. Depending on your subject, there may be some extended elements, yet in most cases, these five paragraphs should be present:
- Logic of Inquiry. Since we have already mentioned the possibility of qualitative or quantitative methods, it is exactly where it fits in practice. The logic must be stated as you choose between an inductive or a deductive research method. It means that you must explain why you have chosen either and why it helps to reflect your problem in a better way. As you write a methods section of a research paper, it is the essential part of your methodology that guides the rest.
- Your Settings and Participants. Although it is mostly related to the setting of your study and the context, remember to connect things to your samples section. It is where you talk about socio-cultural, economic, historical, physical, or psychological factors at play. If some social group environment has played an important role in your research, make sure to mention it.
- Data Collection. This part must be included as you describe how you have obtained your information. It can be via questionnaires, case study writing, lab research reports, and so on.
- Data Analysis. You must present some evidence regarding how your information has been analysed and what kind of statistical data has been used. If you need help with research paper, an analysis of your sources and the personal bits of data may be useful as you discuss your concerns with an academic helper.
- Ethical Issues. If there were some ethical issues at play, think about adhering to the rules. Mention how you have received an allowance to conduct your interviews and related research work.
How to Write Your Methodology Section: Step-by-Step Guide
Before you learn how to write a research paper and structure things correctly, you must follow the steps that will help you to format your methodology section and explain the general meaning. Here are the four parts that will be essential before you start or when you check your draft:
- An Explanation of Your Methodological Approach. You can either explain "what" has guided you or talk about "why" you have followed specific criteria. The "what" question focuses on the characteristics that became the foundation of your research. If the topic has not been researched well, mention the fact. Do not forget to talk about the causal relationships between the problems and your methods. You may use quantitative or qualitative data review collection methods and mention what kind of experiments and observations have taken place.
- Talk About Your Data Collection Process. As you learn how to write methods section in your research paper, you should talk about what exactly has been used like surveys, lab reports, special equipment, electronic tools, procedures, calculations, and other methods related to data collection.
- This is How Data Analysis Has Taken Place. Your next paragraph should talk about how your data analysis has been conducted. You should not provide too much information, only brief information, depending on whether you choose a quantitative research method or an alternative. You must talk about whether you have encountered any missing information if some editing has been done, how you have estimated the success of your approach, and so on. If you have used relevant software, it must be mentioned as well. It is especially important for engineering students or those learners who address design sciences. Finally, if you have used statistical testing and calculations, talk about it as well.
- Discuss Your Methodological Choices. This is where you must evaluate things and talk about why a certain method is better than the other options. Learning how to write methods section of research paper, talk about why other alternatives were insufficient, too weak, or not suitable based on your subject and the situation.
Example of Methodology Section of Research Paper
As you learn how to write a research paper, the most important is to take a look through several examples, so you get the basic idea of how to work with the objectives, formatting, and structure based on an example that has already been written. Even if you are not dealing with your proposal topic directly, turning to practical writing is still helpful:
This research project focuses on the psychological perception of the children with special needs during the summer camp program that has taken place in Ghent, Belgium with the participation of the University of Toronto. The primary objective has been an observation of European mental health practices in relation to summer volunteering. The program has involved various group and personal support methods that have helped to take notes and compare the best ways used in Canada compared to the Belgium colleagues. For the research analysis, I have used 60% of the interviews by testing the individuals who took place in the program as educators and 40% of the surveys with the children aged between 12 and 14 with parental consent. The interviews have taken place between June and July by comparing the same analysis methods that have taken place in Canada.
Working on methods section of research paper, you must talk in the past tense and provide your readers with the timeline and the dates, if and when possible.
The Major Differences Between The Methodology and Methods
In brief, a methodology may include various methods, while a set of methods may include two or more surveys, one interview, or a lab report. Methods stand for behavioural sets or relevant tools that have been used for a research technique. When you use some methodology, you are turning to an analysis of the existing methods and procedures. The methods are usually encountered later as you write while methodologies are necessary at the initial stages of your research.
When you are dealing with the methods section of a research paper, you should not mix it with the methodology as such as there are specific differences as you approach this type of science writing. The main purpose of your methodology is not the same as the set of methods that you may have used. The methodology refers to the complete section of your research that mentions various processes and methods with all the steps that have been taken. It shows what types of work have been done and what methods have been taken. Now, when you talk about the methods, you mention things in detail and focus on a single approach like an interview that has taken place.
Tips For Writing a Methodology Section
Writing a methodology or working on your method section of a research paper, it is easy to get lost and feel confused about where to start and how to narrow things down a little bit. Before you start, do not forget that you must provide a vivid description that sounds inspiring and shows why you have made a certain choice. You must show how one can replicate your work to achieve the same results. As a way to make things easier, follow these simple tips:
- Define your objectives.
- Explore your research questions.
- Cite relevant research literature sources and related projects.
- Talk about the limitations you have encountered.
- Restate your thesis problem or an assumption.
- Describe how your data has been collected.
- Connect your methodology to the sample section.
- Proofread your research methodology.
If there is an uncommon methodology that you have used, explain why it has been chosen and list the benefits. The more examples you provide, the better to make your research paper clear, confident, and rational.
