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Writing the Methodology Chapter of Your Dissertation
Exploring the Main Components of Chapter Three
Philip Adu, Ph.D.Methodology Expert National Center for Academic & Dissertation Excellence (NCADE)The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Surviving in a Class with the “Most Difficult of Professors”
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This is a tangible and practical guide that can be used by any student to improve the way in which they learn, and handle challenges that are faced when dealing with difficult courses and professors.
Analogy about Writing the Methodology Chapter
Making a Dish
Recipe Put the ingredients in the
blender
Add one cup of water
Blend for 10 minutes
Ingredients
Writing a Methodology Chapter
What resources do you have or need to conduct the study?
Resources
Why are the resources important to conduct the study?
How are you going to use the resources to conduct the study?
Conducting Research
Resources
RationaleUtilization
Rationale
Utilization
Ingredients and Cooking Tools(What do you need to make pasta with vegetables?)
Source: http://classroomclipart.com/ `
Resources
What resources do you have or need to conduct the study?
Resources Problem statement
Purpose statement
Research question(s)
Literature reviewed
You (the researcher)
Time available
Participants
Sampling technique
Instrument(s)/measure(s)
Theories
Theoretical framework
Research method
Philosophical assumptions and paradigm
Data analysis tool
Data collection strategy
IRB
Background and experience
Knowledge about the research approach
Writing skills
Motivation
Dissertation chair and committee members
Sponsoring organization
Gatekeepers
What resources do you have or need to conduct the study?
Rationale
Problem statement
Purpose statement
Research question(s)
Literature reviewed
You (the researcher)
Time available
Participants
Sampling technique
Instrument(s)/measure(s)
Theories
Theoretical framework
Research method
Philosophical assumptions and paradigm
Data analysis tool
Data collection strategy
IRB
Background and experience
Knowledge about the research approach
Writing skills
Motivation
Dissertation chair and committee members
Sponsoring organization
Gatekeepers
Why are the resources identified important to conduct the study?
Utilization
How are you going to use the resources to conduct the study?
Problem statement
Purpose statement
Research question(s)
Literature reviewed
You (the researcher)
Time available
Participants
Sampling technique
Instrument(s)/measure(s)
Theories
Theoretical framework
Research method
Philosophical assumptions and paradigm
Data analysis tool
Data collection strategy
IRB
Background and experience
Knowledge about the research approach
Writing skills
Motivation
Dissertation chair and committee members
Sponsoring organization
Gatekeepers
Things To Consider When Writing Chapter Three
Things To Consider When Writing Chapter Three
Decisions: What decisions have you made?
Actions: What actions do you plan to take in the study?
Rationale: Why do you want to take those decisions and actions?
Implications: What are the potential implications of your decisions and actions?
Implementation process: How do you plan to implement the decisions?
Decisions
Actions
Rationale
Implication
Implementation process
Things To Consider When Writing Chapter Three
Problem statement
Purpose statement
Research question(s)
Literature reviewed
You (the researcher)
Time available
Participants
Sampling technique
Instrument(s)/measure(s)
Theories
Theoretical framework
Research method
Philosophical assumption and paradigm
Data analysis tool
Interview questions
IRB
Background and experience
Knowledge about the research approach
Writing skills
Motivation
Dissertation chair and committee members
Sponsoring organization
Gatekeepers
Existing data
Exiting documents
Decisions: What decisions have you made?
Actions: What actions do you plan to take in the study?
Rationale: Why do you want to take those decisions and actions?
Implications: What are the potential implications of your decisions and actions?
Implementation process: How do you plan to implement the decisions?
Chapter Three Sections
Chapter Three Sections
• Chapter Overview
• Research Questions and/or Hypotheses and their Rationales
• Research Design
• Population and Sample
• Procedure
• Quality Assurance
• Instrumentation
• Data Processing
• Assumptions
• Limitations
• Ethical Assurances
• Summary
Chapter Overview
Problem
What specific problem do you plan to address?
Purpose of the study
What do you want to do or find out in the study?
Overview
What should your readers expect in this chapter?
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses and their Rationales
Research question
State the research question/hypothesis
Rationale
Based on existing studies, why it is important to address the question or test the hypothesis?
Types of Research Questions
(Saldana, 2013; Trochim, 2006)
Examples
Qualitative Research QuestionHow does mental health stigma influence help seeking behaviors among teens with mental health problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana?
Quantitative Research QuestionIs there an effect of mental health stigma on help seeking behaviors among teens with mental health problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana?
Mixed Methods Research Questions1. What is the correlation between mental health stigma and help seeking behavior among
teens with mental health problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana?2. How do teens with mental health problem seek for help or mental heath services?
Research Design
Research method
What specific research method do you plan to use?
Meaning of the method
What is the method all about?
Appropriateness
Why do you think it is the most appropriate method?
Research Design
(Creswell, 2007; Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003; Keele, 2011)
Links to Diagrams Choosing an Appropriate
Quantitative Research Design
Choosing an Appropriate Qualitative Approach
Choosing an Appropriate Mixed Methods Design
Population and Sample
Characteristics of the population and sample
Who are your population and participants?
What are their characteristics?
Number of participants and the appropriateness
How many participants do you need for your study?
Why do you think the number is adequate?
Participants’ Qualification
Who qualifies to be part of the study?
What is your exclusion criteria?
Sampling technique implementation
What sampling technique do you plan to use?
How would you utilize it?
How would participants be recruited?
Appropriateness
Why you think the sampling technique is appropriate?
Population and Sample
Qualitative Study Quantitative Study
Number of participants
Enough to collect rich data to address the research question
Large enough to prevent committing Type II error (for inferential statistics)
Justification Using research approach, participants’ homogeneity, phenomenon under study, and point of saturation
Using the results of power analysis (Cohen's Power Tables and G* power)
Sampling technique
Convenience, purposive, random, stratified, and cluster sampling
Procedure(Presenting data collection process in a chronological manner)
Data collection strategy and source of data
What data collection strategy would you use?
Who or what would be the source of your data?
Data collection process
How would you collect the data?
How long would participants take to complete the interview or survey?
Data collection channel or location
What channel would you use to collect data (eg. Mail, face-to-face, skype, online)?
What will be your research location?
Your actions
What do you do in the data collection stage?
Participants’ actions
What would participants do in the data collection stage?
Traditional Criteria for Judging Quantitative Research
Alternative Criteria for Judging Qualitative Research
Internal validity (about cause-effect relationship)Credibility (Do the data and findings truly reflect
participants’ experience?)
External validity (about generalization)Transferability (Could the findings be transferred to
similar context?)
Reliability (about repeatability)Dependability (Would we arrive at similar results if
the procedures are followed?)
Objectivity (about the connection between
research and the researched)Confirmability (Could the finding be confirmed by
other method, participant, and/or researcher?)
Quality assurance
(Trochim, 2006; Yilmaz, 2013)
Quantitative Research Qualitative Research
Measure/instrument Interview questions
Variable being measured Content of the questions (they should be
consistent with research question)
Number of items Number of questions
Kinds of sub-scales Variables the sub-scales are
measuring Kinds of interview questions
Reliability results
Ability to elicit rich responses adequate to address the research question.
Instrumentation
Quantitative Research Qualitative Research
Analyzing demographic information Descriptive statistics
Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations
Some of the demographic variables are such as age, gender, & educational level
Capturing participants’ characteristics Using attribute and descriptive coding methods to
capture participants’ characteristics (such as age, gender, and educational level) and their environment/setting (Saldana, 2013)
Testing hypothesis Inferential statistics
Such as correlations, regression, t test, Chi-square, ANOVA, and MANOVA
Addressing research question(s) Identify relevant information from the data Use specific coding method(s) to code the data
(Saldana, 2013) Code them by assigning labels to them Sort the codes to generate categories Develop themes to address the research question(s)
For more information go to: http://www.slideshare.net/kontorphilip/qualitative-analysis-coding-and-categorizing
Data Processing
• They are weaknesses related to decisions made in a study
• They are difficult to contain • Consequences associated with choices made in a study related
to:• Sampling technique
• Data collection strategy (i.e. interviews, focus groups, ...)
• Instrument used
• Population chosen (in terms of accessibility)
• Time and resources
• How would you be addressing expected challenges?
Limitations
(Simon, 2011)
• They can’t be totally controlled
• They need to exist for your study to be valid/essential/credible
• Truthfulness/honesty of participants’ response
• Representativeness of sample
• Homogeneity of participants characteristics
• Having knowledge of your assumptions
• Justifying their existence
Assumptions
(Simon, 2011)
• Delimitations are features in a study that can be controlled so as to determine the parameters or scope of the study
– Researchers have control over characteristics of the following:
• Research problem
• Research purpose
• Research question(s)
• Methodology
• Variables
• Population
Delimitations (Scope of the study)
(Simon, 2011)
Delimitations Limitations Assumptions
Essence To determine the parameters/scope of the study
To determine the weaknessassociated to decisions made in the study
To make a study relevant
Control There is a level of control over where to draw the boundaries
Difficult to control but some can be addressed in the study
Can’t be totallycontrolled but they should exist to make the study relevant
Location Chapter one Chapter 3 (dissertation proposal)
Chapter 5 (Final dissertation)
Chapter 3
Differences between Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumptions
(Simon, 2011)
Ethical Assurances
Protection of participant’s information
Risks involved
IRB approval
Participant’s control over
their narrative or information
How participant’s information will be
used
Consent form
Confidentiality of participant’s
information
Benefits involved
Anonymity of
participant
Summary
Purpose of the study
Main question
Main rationale
Research method
Participants
Data collection strategy
Quality assurance
Limitations
Data processing
Snapshot of the following (one sentence for each area)
References
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (3rd). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Creswell, J. W., Plano Clark, V. L., Gutmann, M. L., & Hanson, W. E. (2003). Advanced mixed methods research designs. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 209–240). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Keele, R. (2011), Nursing research and evidence-based practice. MA: Jones & Bartlett, LLC.
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage
Simon, M. K. (2011). Dissertation and scholarly research: Recipes for success (2011 Ed.). Seattle, WA, Dissertation Success, LLC. http://dissertationrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/AssumptionslimitationsdelimitationsX.pdf
Trochim, W. M. (2006, October 20). Types of questions. Retrieved from Research methods knowledge base website: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php
Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), 311-325.
Philip Adu, Ph.D.
Methodology Expert
National Center for Academic & Dissertation Excellence (NCADE)
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
You could reach Dr. Adu at [email protected] and @drphilipadu on twitter.