The methods section of a research paper must answer two questions, how was the data obtained and how was it analyzed? Basically, the writer is giving the reader the background information on how the data they are presenting was aquired. The Asian Language Institue wrote on their website section called, Writing Up Research: Method and Research Design, “Knowing how the data was collected helps the reader evaluate the validity and reliability of your results, and the conclusions you draw from them.” (Writing p.1). I think that this is important to understand because without a methods section the reader(s) most likely will disregard the research for being unfounded or bogus. Also, different researchers use different methods to answer their questions. The writer’s method should show the reader why they chose their particular methodology. The Asian Language Institute also lists three common problems that writer’s encounter when writing their methods section: irrelevant data, unneeded explanations, and problem blindness. The writer must remember that they are not writing to beginners; they are writing to people who have been exposed to the research methods and the topics in that field. There is no need to explain every laboratory procedure or basic assessments because the reader will already know about these. Writers must also know that no matter what it means, they cannot overlook or omit any problems they encountered when they conducted their research; they must be put into their methods section. The rest of the website goes over where the method section fits into the research paper and they actually included a sample methods section.
Writing up research: method and research design. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm
Josh Baum wrote in his blog post on ehow.com, “The methodology is the section of the paper in which you describe the goals of the experiment and the methods by which you hope to achieve those goals.” He then went on to list 5 breif steps to writing the methodology. The first step is to write an introduction and state the goals of the research and talk about any challenges that would stand in the way of achieving these goals. The next step is to write a breif summary of the research methodology that was chosen. “The summary should quickly cover all of the main components of the methods you’ve used to conduct your research, omitting all of the lesser details.” (Baum p.1). The third section should be the extended methodology section and it should be thorough but not over the top. The next section should be the thorough data-analysis section. This section should include all of the details used to draw the conclusions. The last step should be to proofread the work and edit anything that needs to be edited. The writer should also include a table of contents with their writing.
Baum, J. (n.d.). How to Write a research methodology. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_4597601_write-research-methodology.html
Both of these sources would be helpful to me if I were writing a methodology section for my paper. I think that they were both simple and pretty easy to understand and follow. I like how the second source used a quick step-by-step process, kind of like a how-to for dummies. I also like how the first source gave reasons for writing a methodology section. This pointed out to me that this section is very important and should not be just glanced over. Overall, both of these sources are great resources to use when writing a methodology section.
