For some students writing a dissertation methodology with the correct dissertation technique could be a nightmare particularly if they are not eloquent authors. However, if you want to ace it this article is surely for your service.
Nowadays, many degree programs require a dissertation from students. So your mind should be crystal-clear about the dissertation:
“Dissertation is the muniment submitted in support of scholastic degree or professional qualification introducing the creator’s exploration and findings.”
Dissertation vs Thesis:
Many students confuse the dissertation with the thesis. The dissertation is often confused with the “THESIS” there is a subtle nuance between both thesis is commonly referred to as the undergraduate and master’s degrees while the term dissertation is mostly referred to as doctorate work.
Dissertation Methodology
Dissertation Methodology is the step-wise approach pursued to explain subtleties that will help other people see precisely what you expected to do, how you approached it, and why you did it that way.
Many people find methodology a pain stacking job because the writer can easily be struck by boredom while writing this but before passing over it quickly, mind that the methodology section is the most crucial section of your dissertation as it contains the blueprints of your research. Tackle this arduous task with patience. In this section, you are going to elaborate on the methods chosen by you for carrying out your research.
The following are the top tips for writing a dissertation methodology:
- Seek guidance from previous research:
This will give you insight into other’s people approach to solving the same problem statement you are confronting. By dint of this, you will be able to shortlist the pros and cons of previous research thus you can compare your dissertation’s pros to their cons, in order to strengthen your arguments.
- Flowchart and draft your content regularly:
Make a flowchart of the approach you are going to follow. This will help you to create a mind-map of the headings you are going to cover and their contextual order. Drafting further makes the task easier. Jot down the key points you have to discuss under each heading.
- Refer to the problem statement in methodology:
Your methodology must be coherent to the problem statement you are addressing. Every argument, choice, and analysis should be discussed in the light of the problem statement. This doesn’t mean that you have to discuss the problem statement every time. Your methodology should be sequential. Each section of your methodology should appear to be following the problem statement discussed before.
- Emphasise on validation of the chosen method:
You should have to give strong altercations to support your research. As you have to convince the reader only by your writing. The pro-tip is that; the arguments should be so self-sufficient that leave the reader with no other choice. If he/she has to propose a research methodology they will choose the same method as of yours.
- Ensure reproducibility of methodology:
Reproducibility increases the credibility of your research paper. Replication of results is an integral prerequisite of the scientific method. Fulfilling this necessity turns out to be progressively mind-boggling when information from divergent sources is coordinated and reused. This can be time-consuming and scaring, particularly for individual analysts trying to transparently share their work.
- Ensure the reliability:
A parameter that should be on your checklist while reviewing the methodology section is the reliability of your research. In this section, you have a lot to discuss like the precision and accuracy of method or instrument used. Errors also fall under this umbrella. You can also mention the source of error in the research which would definitely assist the researcher which will be going to follow your research. The impact of the errors upon the statistical analysis is also discussed here.
- Keep it clear:
Two of the seven C’s of communication which is the plus point of your dissertation are:
- Clarity
- Brevity
Your writing should be clear so that the reader didn’t find any ambiguity in it. Writing clearly could be an arduous task. It needs the expertise to locate and fix the problem. Clear writing always requires a balance between frugality and verbosity. Brevity is also the key feature because all the formal writings need to be descriptive but brief.
- Inculcate appendix for methodology:
Appending could be the cherry to your cake. By this way, you can say a lot by using a few words. You can explain important but somehow less relevant points in context by appending them. If you have conducted behavioural science research, then the questionnaire used can also be added in the appendix. Thus, any assistive tool used in research can find a home in the appendix.
- Discuss the ethical considerations:
Moreover, the demand of contemporary scientific and social researches is high moral gauges, seeking consent from all volunteers, assuring to keep their participation confidential if they want and guaranteeing that risk factors in research are limited. Such moral contemplation ought to be reported in your technique.
These are the general approach to writing a dissertation methodology. However, a different discipline could demand some different features to be added or omitted in the methodology.
But ensure that building blocks of your methodology section should be:
- The answer to the problem statement
- Generic research approach
- Data-gathering procedure
- Analysis technique
The must-haves of your methodology section are:
- Originality and relevance to the problem statement
- Manageability with respect to the required word limit
- Clarity and brevity
When you begin your research paper venture, you may have some wide ideas regarding the strategy you need to utilise. You’ll refine these thoughts in discussion with your advisor and embellish them further as you read about the past work that has been done in your field, and other researchers’ way to deal with your problem statement. In case you’re finishing a postgraduate exposition, you already have an expansive consciousness of the distinctive hypothetical positions and schools of thought in your field. In case you’re composing an undergrad exposition, this might just be the first occasion when you’ve been requested to draw in with such an expansive field of writing, and ordering this into particular methodologies and schools of thought may appear to be a staggering venture at first.
