So, you have chosen your research topic and crafted the literature review chapter – it is now time to turn to the research methodology chapter. This is the chapter where you talk about your proposed methodology and discuss the research methods used to study the problem or issue. The point of writing a methodology chapter is to explain to the reader how you have done the research and why you have done it this way. It means you need to justify your methodology choices in this chapter.
As you are reading this article, it means you need some guidance about writing the
research methodology chapter. Well, you have come to the right place, student. In today’s post, we are going to discuss the guidelines for writing this important chapter. Hence, let’s get started with today’s topic straight away.
Top Writing Guidelines To Write An Excellent Methodology Chapter
The methodology chapter is one of the major chapters of your dissertation. Writing an excellent methodology chapter is not an easy task, as it requires a thorough knowledge of the chapter sections and writing guidelines. Do you know about the writing guidelines to write an excellent research methodology chapter. as guessed, you are totally blank about this. Hence, a brief description of the major guidelines is as follows:
1. Check The Requirements
First off, it is worth knowing that the methodology chapter’s structure and content vary. It varies depending on the field of study, i.e., natural science, engineering, social science and psychology, as well as university. Different universities provide students with different guidelines for writing this chapter. Therefore, first of all, it is important to know the structure and contents required from you. If possible, you can check the past dissertations to know this. 2. Start By Introducing The Chapter
As with all the chapters of your
master’s thesis, this chapter must also have a brief introduction. In this introductory section, you should try to restate the main focus of the research, especially the research aims and objectives. In this section, you should also talk about the direction of the chapter. This will let the reader know the structure of the chapter and also provide you with a bit of the roadmap to follow.
3. Explain Your Chosen Research Design
The next section of your research methodology chapter should present the research design to the reader. In this section, you need to give the details of the research and justify why you have only chosen this design. This is the heart of your methodology chapter, so make sure that you craft it in the best possible way. Your research design can be anything. It could be ethnographic studies or experimental research. Here, in this section, you should explain and justify whatever your research design or methodology is. 4. Describe The Procedures Of Data Collection Methods
In the next section of your methodology chapter, you need to describe the procedures of the methods you have chosen to collect the research data. Whichever methods they are, just explain them and their procedures. For example, you have chosen interviews and questionnaires as the research method. Now, in the researcher methodology chapter, you should describe their procedures and the reasons why you have chosen these methods. If you cannot do this, you can get
masters dissertation help from top academic firms like The Academic Papers UK.
5. Describe The Data Analysis Methods
After explaining the data collection methods, you should explain the data analysis methods in your methodology chapter. Name all the data analysis methods that you intend to use and justify your choice too. For example, you can say that as the data is quantitative, it is why I have opted for regression analysis. Also, discuss the software that you have used to analyse the data, e.g., MATLAB, SPSS, Stata, and R. Hence, describe all the methods you have used in the analysis of the results. 6. Discuss The Methodological Limitations
No research design or research methodology is perfect. There will always be some kind of trade-offs for choosing one methodology over the other. You must talk about those trade-offs in your research methodology chapter and discuss the
research limitations. Be honest in this section and state whatever limitations there are. The limitations can range from smaller ones to bigger ones. The smaller limitations include time and budget. The bigger limitations are research bias or selection bias. Hence, whatever your limitations are, discuss them in this chapter.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the research methodology chapter is the chapter where you discuss the chosen research design and methods. It is the heart of a master’s thesis. Therefore, you must craft it right. The top 6 strategies mentioned above will help you a lot in crafting this chapter. So, read the article from top to bottom and write this chapter accordingly.
