the methods section of a research report informs the reader

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• 6. The Methodology
• Purpose of Guide
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• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
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• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
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• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
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The methods section describes actions taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information applied to understanding the problem, thereby, allowing the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology section of a research paper answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? And, how was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and always written in the past tense.

Kallet, Richard H. "How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper." Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004): 1229-1232.

Importance of a Good Methodology Section

You must explain how you obtained and analyzed your results for the following reasons:

• Readers need to know how the data was obtained because the method you chose affects the results and, by extension, how you interpreted their significance in the discussion section of your paper.
• Methodology is crucial for any branch of scholarship because an unreliable method produces unreliable results and, as a consequence, undermines the value of your analysis of the findings.
• In most cases, there are a variety of different methods you can choose to investigate a research problem. The methodology section of your paper should clearly articulate the reasons why you have chosen a particular procedure or technique.
• The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. For example, if you are using a multiple choice questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from.
• The method must be appropriate to fulfilling the overall aims of the study. For example, you need to ensure that you have a large enough sample size to be able to generalize and make recommendations based upon the findings.
• The methodology should discuss the problems that were anticipated and the steps you took to prevent them from occurring. For any problems that do arise, you must describe the ways in which they were minimized or why these problems do not impact in any meaningful way your interpretation of the findings.
• In the social and behavioral sciences, it is important to always provide sufficient information to allow other researchers to adopt or replicate your methodology. This information is particularly important when a new method has been developed or an innovative use of an existing method is utilized.

Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Psychology Writing Center. University of Washington; Denscombe, Martyn. The Good Research Guide: For Small-Scale Social Research Projects . 5th edition. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 2014; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Groups of Research Methods

There are two main groups of research methods in the social sciences:

• The e mpirical-analytical group approaches the study of social sciences in a similar manner that researchers study the natural sciences . This type of research focuses on objective knowledge, research questions that can be answered yes or no, and operational definitions of variables to be measured. The empirical-analytical group employs deductive reasoning that uses existing theory as a foundation for formulating hypotheses that need to be tested. This approach is focused on explanation.
• The i nterpretative group of methods is focused on understanding phenomenon in a comprehensive, holistic way . Interpretive methods focus on analytically disclosing the meaning-making practices of human subjects [the why, how, or by what means people do what they do], while showing how those practices arrange so that it can be used to generate observable outcomes. Interpretive methods allow you to recognize your connection to the phenomena under investigation. However, the interpretative group requires careful examination of variables because it focuses more on subjective knowledge.

II.  Content

The introduction to your methodology section should begin by restating the research problem and underlying assumptions underpinning your study. This is followed by situating the methods you used to gather, analyze, and process information within the overall “tradition” of your field of study and within the particular research design you have chosen to study the problem. If the method you choose lies outside of the tradition of your field [i.e., your review of the literature demonstrates that the method is not commonly used], provide a justification for how your choice of methods specifically addresses the research problem in ways that have not been utilized in prior studies.

The remainder of your methodology section should describe the following:

• Decisions made in selecting the data you have analyzed or, in the case of qualitative research, the subjects and research setting you have examined,
• Tools and methods used to identify and collect information, and how you identified relevant variables,
• The ways in which you processed the data and the procedures you used to analyze that data, and
• The specific research tools or strategies that you utilized to study the underlying hypothesis and research questions.

In addition, an effectively written methodology section should:

• Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your research problem . Is your study qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both (mixed method)? Are you going to take a special approach, such as action research, or a more neutral stance?
• Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design . Your methods for gathering data should have a clear connection to your research problem. In other words, make sure that your methods will actually address the problem. One of the most common deficiencies found in research papers is that the proposed methodology is not suitable to achieving the stated objective of your paper.
• Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to use , such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation, archival research. If you are analyzing existing data, such as a data set or archival documents, describe how it was originally created or gathered and by whom. Also be sure to explain how older data is still relevant to investigating the current research problem.
• Explain how you intend to analyze your results . Will you use statistical analysis? Will you use specific theoretical perspectives to help you analyze a text or explain observed behaviors? Describe how you plan to obtain an accurate assessment of relationships, patterns, trends, distributions, and possible contradictions found in the data.
• Provide background and a rationale for methodologies that are unfamiliar for your readers . Very often in the social sciences, research problems and the methods for investigating them require more explanation/rationale than widely accepted rules governing the natural and physical sciences. Be clear and concise in your explanation.
• Provide a justification for subject selection and sampling procedure . For instance, if you propose to conduct interviews, how do you intend to select the sample population? If you are analyzing texts, which texts have you chosen, and why? If you are using statistics, why is this set of data being used? If other data sources exist, explain why the data you chose is most appropriate to addressing the research problem.
• Provide a justification for case study selection . A common method of analyzing research problems in the social sciences is to analyze specific cases. These can be a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis that are either examined as a singular topic of in-depth investigation or multiple topics of investigation studied for the purpose of comparing or contrasting findings. In either method, you should explain why a case or cases were chosen and how they specifically relate to the research problem.
• Describe potential limitations . Are there any practical limitations that could affect your data collection? How will you attempt to control for potential confounding variables and errors? If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate, state this openly and show why pursuing this methodology outweighs the risk of these problems cropping up.

NOTE :   Once you have written all of the elements of the methods section, subsequent revisions should focus on how to present those elements as clearly and as logically as possibly. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. For clarity, when a large amount of detail must be presented, information should be presented in sub-sections according to topic. If necessary, consider using appendices for raw data.

ANOTHER NOTE : If you are conducting a qualitative analysis of a research problem , the methodology section generally requires a more elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gathering and analyzing of data than is generally required for studies using quantitative methods. Because you are the primary instrument for generating the data [e.g., through interviews or observations], the process for collecting that data has a significantly greater impact on producing the findings. Therefore, qualitative research requires a more detailed description of the methods used.

YET ANOTHER NOTE :   If your study involves interviews, observations, or other qualitative techniques involving human subjects , you may be required to obtain approval from the university's Office for the Protection of Research Subjects before beginning your research. This is not a common procedure for most undergraduate level student research assignments. However, i f your professor states you need approval, you must include a statement in your methods section that you received official endorsement and adequate informed consent from the office and that there was a clear assessment and minimization of risks to participants and to the university. This statement informs the reader that your study was conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. In some cases, the approval notice is included as an appendix to your paper.

III.  Problems to Avoid

Irrelevant Detail The methodology section of your paper should be thorough but concise. Do not provide any background information that does not directly help the reader understand why a particular method was chosen, how the data was gathered or obtained, and how the data was analyzed in relation to the research problem [note: analyzed, not interpreted! Save how you interpreted the findings for the discussion section]. With this in mind, the page length of your methods section will generally be less than any other section of your paper except the conclusion.

Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures Remember that you are not writing a how-to guide about a particular method. You should make the assumption that readers possess a basic understanding of how to investigate the research problem on their own and, therefore, you do not have to go into great detail about specific methodological procedures. The focus should be on how you applied a method , not on the mechanics of doing a method. An exception to this rule is if you select an unconventional methodological approach; if this is the case, be sure to explain why this approach was chosen and how it enhances the overall process of discovery.

Problem Blindness It is almost a given that you will encounter problems when collecting or generating your data, or, gaps will exist in existing data or archival materials. Do not ignore these problems or pretend they did not occur. Often, documenting how you overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology. It demonstrates to the reader that you can provide a cogent rationale for the decisions you made to minimize the impact of any problems that arose.

Literature Review Just as the literature review section of your paper provides an overview of sources you have examined while researching a particular topic, the methodology section should cite any sources that informed your choice and application of a particular method [i.e., the choice of a survey should include any citations to the works you used to help construct the survey].

It’s More than Sources of Information! A description of a research study's method should not be confused with a description of the sources of information. Such a list of sources is useful in and of itself, especially if it is accompanied by an explanation about the selection and use of the sources. The description of the project's methodology complements a list of sources in that it sets forth the organization and interpretation of information emanating from those sources.

Azevedo, L.F. et al. "How to Write a Scientific Paper: Writing the Methods Section." Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia 17 (2011): 232-238; Blair Lorrie. “Choosing a Methodology.” In Writing a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation , Teaching Writing Series. (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers 2016), pp. 49-72; Butin, Dan W. The Education Dissertation A Guide for Practitioner Scholars . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010; Carter, Susan. Structuring Your Research Thesis . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Kallet, Richard H. “How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper.” Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004):1229-1232; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Methods Section. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Rudestam, Kjell Erik and Rae R. Newton. “The Method Chapter: Describing Your Research Plan.” In Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process . (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2015), pp. 87-115; What is Interpretive Research. Institute of Public and International Affairs, University of Utah; Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Methods and Materials. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College.

Writing Tip

Statistical Designs and Tests? Do Not Fear Them!

Don't avoid using a quantitative approach to analyzing your research problem just because you fear the idea of applying statistical designs and tests. A qualitative approach, such as conducting interviews or content analysis of archival texts, can yield exciting new insights about a research problem, but it should not be undertaken simply because you have a disdain for running a simple regression. A well designed quantitative research study can often be accomplished in very clear and direct ways, whereas, a similar study of a qualitative nature usually requires considerable time to analyze large volumes of data and a tremendous burden to create new paths for analysis where previously no path associated with your research problem had existed.

To locate data and statistics, GO HERE .

Another Writing Tip

Knowing the Relationship Between Theories and Methods

There can be multiple meaning associated with the term "theories" and the term "methods" in social sciences research. A helpful way to delineate between them is to understand "theories" as representing different ways of characterizing the social world when you research it and "methods" as representing different ways of generating and analyzing data about that social world. Framed in this way, all empirical social sciences research involves theories and methods, whether they are stated explicitly or not. However, while theories and methods are often related, it is important that, as a researcher, you deliberately separate them in order to avoid your theories playing a disproportionate role in shaping what outcomes your chosen methods produce.

Introspectively engage in an ongoing dialectic between the application of theories and methods to help enable you to use the outcomes from your methods to interrogate and develop new theories, or ways of framing conceptually the research problem. This is how scholarship grows and branches out into new intellectual territory.

Reynolds, R. Larry. Ways of Knowing. Alternative Microeconomics . Part 1, Chapter 3. Boise State University; The Theory-Method Relationship. S-Cool Revision. United Kingdom.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Methods and the Methodology

Do not confuse the terms "methods" and "methodology." As Schneider notes, a method refers to the technical steps taken to do research . Descriptions of methods usually include defining and stating why you have chosen specific techniques to investigate a research problem, followed by an outline of the procedures you used to systematically select, gather, and process the data [remember to always save the interpretation of data for the discussion section of your paper].

The methodology refers to a discussion of the underlying reasoning why particular methods were used . This discussion includes describing the theoretical concepts that inform the choice of methods to be applied, placing the choice of methods within the more general nature of academic work, and reviewing its relevance to examining the research problem. The methodology section also includes a thorough review of the methods other scholars have used to study the topic.

Bryman, Alan. "Of Methods and Methodology." Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal 3 (2008): 159-168; Schneider, Florian. “What's in a Methodology: The Difference between Method, Methodology, and Theory…and How to Get the Balance Right?” PoliticsEastAsia.com. Chinese Department, University of Leiden, Netherlands.

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How to Write an APA Methods Section | With Examples

Published on February 5, 2021 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on June 22, 2023.

The methods section of an APA style paper is where you report in detail how you performed your study. Research papers in the social and natural sciences often follow APA style. This article focuses on reporting quantitative research methods .

In your APA methods section, you should report enough information to understand and replicate your study, including detailed information on the sample , measures, and procedures used.

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Table of contents

Structuring an apa methods section.

Participants

Example of an APA methods section

Other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about writing an apa methods section.

The main heading of “Methods” should be centered, boldfaced, and capitalized. Subheadings within this section are left-aligned, boldfaced, and in title case. You can also add lower level headings within these subsections, as long as they follow APA heading styles .

To structure your methods section, you can use the subheadings of “Participants,” “Materials,” and “Procedures.” These headings are not mandatory—aim to organize your methods section using subheadings that make sense for your specific study.

Note that not all of these topics will necessarily be relevant for your study. For example, if you didn’t need to consider outlier removal or ways of assigning participants to different conditions, you don’t have to report these steps.

The APA also provides specific reporting guidelines for different types of research design. These tell you exactly what you need to report for longitudinal designs , replication studies, experimental designs , and so on. If your study uses a combination design, consult APA guidelines for mixed methods studies.

Detailed descriptions of procedures that don’t fit into your main text can be placed in supplemental materials (for example, the exact instructions and tasks given to participants, the full analytical strategy including software code, or additional figures and tables).

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Begin the methods section by reporting sample characteristics, sampling procedures, and the sample size.

Participant or subject characteristics

When discussing people who participate in research, descriptive terms like “participants,” “subjects” and “respondents” can be used. For non-human animal research, “subjects” is more appropriate.

Specify all relevant demographic characteristics of your participants. This may include their age, sex, ethnic or racial group, gender identity, education level, and socioeconomic status. Depending on your study topic, other characteristics like educational or immigration status or language preference may also be relevant.

Be sure to report these characteristics as precisely as possible. This helps the reader understand how far your results may be generalized to other people.

The APA guidelines emphasize writing about participants using bias-free language , so it’s necessary to use inclusive and appropriate terms.

Sampling procedures

Outline how the participants were selected and all inclusion and exclusion criteria applied. Appropriately identify the sampling procedure used. For example, you should only label a sample as random  if you had access to every member of the relevant population.

Of all the people invited to participate in your study, note the percentage that actually did (if you have this data). Additionally, report whether participants were self-selected, either by themselves or by their institutions (e.g., schools may submit student data for research purposes).

Identify any compensation (e.g., course credits or money) that was provided to participants, and mention any institutional review board approvals and ethical standards followed.

Sample size and power

Detail the sample size (per condition) and statistical power that you hoped to achieve, as well as any analyses you performed to determine these numbers.

It’s important to show that your study had enough statistical power to find effects if there were any to be found.

Additionally, state whether your final sample differed from the intended sample. Your interpretations of the study outcomes should be based only on your final sample rather than your intended sample.

Write up the tools and techniques that you used to measure relevant variables. Be as thorough as possible for a complete picture of your techniques.

Primary and secondary measures

Define the primary and secondary outcome measures that will help you answer your primary and secondary research questions.

Specify all instruments used in gathering these measurements and the construct that they measure. These instruments may include hardware, software, or tests, scales, and inventories.

• To cite hardware, indicate the model number and manufacturer.
• To cite common software (e.g., Qualtrics), state the full name along with the version number or the website URL .
• To cite tests, scales or inventories, reference its manual or the article it was published in. It’s also helpful to state the number of items and provide one or two example items.

Make sure to report the settings of (e.g., screen resolution) any specialized apparatus used.

For each instrument used, report measures of the following:

• Reliability : how consistently the method measures something, in terms of internal consistency or test-retest reliability.
• Validity : how precisely the method measures something, in terms of construct validity  or criterion validity .

Giving an example item or two for tests, questionnaires , and interviews is also helpful.

Describe any covariates—these are any additional variables that may explain or predict the outcomes.

Quality of measurements

Review all methods you used to assure the quality of your measurements.

These may include:

• training researchers to collect data reliably,
• using multiple people to assess (e.g., observe or code) the data,
• translation and back-translation of research materials,
• using pilot studies to test your materials on unrelated samples.

For data that’s subjectively coded (for example, classifying open-ended responses), report interrater reliability scores. This tells the reader how similarly each response was rated by multiple raters.

Report all of the procedures applied for administering the study, processing the data, and for planned data analyses.

Data collection methods and research design

Data collection methods refers to the general mode of the instruments: surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, neuroimaging, cognitive tests, and so on. Summarize exactly how you collected the necessary data.

Describe all procedures you applied in administering surveys, tests, physical recordings, or imaging devices, with enough detail so that someone else can replicate your techniques. If your procedures are very complicated and require long descriptions (e.g., in neuroimaging studies), place these details in supplementary materials.

To report research design, note your overall framework for data collection and analysis. State whether you used an experimental, quasi-experimental, descriptive (observational), correlational, and/or longitudinal design. Also note whether a between-subjects or a within-subjects design was used.

For multi-group studies, report the following design and procedural details as well:

• how participants were assigned to different conditions (e.g., randomization),
• instructions given to the participants in each group,
• interventions for each group,
• the setting and length of each session(s).

Describe whether any masking was used to hide the condition assignment (e.g., placebo or medication condition) from participants or research administrators. Using masking in a multi-group study ensures internal validity by reducing research bias . Explain how this masking was applied and whether its effectiveness was assessed.

Participants were randomly assigned to a control or experimental condition. The survey was administered using Qualtrics (https://www.qualtrics.com). To begin, all participants were given the AAI and a demographics questionnaire to complete, followed by an unrelated filler task. In the control condition , participants completed a short general knowledge test immediately after the filler task. In the experimental condition, participants were asked to visualize themselves taking the test for 3 minutes before they actually did. For more details on the exact instructions and tasks given, see supplementary materials.

Data diagnostics

Outline all steps taken to scrutinize or process the data after collection.

This includes the following:

• Procedures for identifying and removing outliers
• Data transformations to normalize distributions
• Compensation strategies for overcoming missing values

To ensure high validity, you should provide enough detail for your reader to understand how and why you processed or transformed your raw data in these specific ways.

Analytic strategies

The methods section is also where you describe your statistical analysis procedures, but not their outcomes. Their outcomes are reported in the results section.

These procedures should be stated for all primary, secondary, and exploratory hypotheses. While primary and secondary hypotheses are based on a theoretical framework or past studies, exploratory hypotheses are guided by the data you’ve just collected.

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This annotated example reports methods for a descriptive correlational survey on the relationship between religiosity and trust in science in the US. Hover over each part for explanation of what is included.

The sample included 879 adults aged between 18 and 28. More than half of the participants were women (56%), and all participants had completed at least 12 years of education. Ethics approval was obtained from the university board before recruitment began. Participants were recruited online through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; www.mturk.com). We selected for a geographically diverse sample within the Midwest of the US through an initial screening survey. Participants were paid USD $5 upon completion of the study.

A sample size of at least 783 was deemed necessary for detecting a correlation coefficient of ±.1, with a power level of 80% and a significance level of .05, using a sample size calculator (www.sample-size.net/correlation-sample-size/).

The primary outcome measures were the levels of religiosity and trust in science. Religiosity refers to involvement and belief in religious traditions, while trust in science represents confidence in scientists and scientific research outcomes. The secondary outcome measures were gender and parental education levels of participants and whether these characteristics predicted religiosity levels.

Religiosity

Religiosity was measured using the Centrality of Religiosity scale (Huber, 2003). The Likert scale is made up of 15 questions with five subscales of ideology, experience, intellect, public practice, and private practice. An example item is “How often do you experience situations in which you have the feeling that God or something divine intervenes in your life?” Participants were asked to indicate frequency of occurrence by selecting a response ranging from 1 (very often) to 5 (never). The internal consistency of the instrument is .83 (Huber & Huber, 2012).

Trust in Science

Trust in science was assessed using the General Trust in Science index (McCright, Dentzman, Charters & Dietz, 2013). Four Likert scale items were assessed on a scale from 1 (completely distrust) to 5 (completely trust). An example question asks “How much do you distrust or trust scientists to create knowledge that is unbiased and accurate?” Internal consistency was .8.

Potential participants were invited to participate in the survey online using Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com). The survey consisted of multiple choice questions regarding demographic characteristics, the Centrality of Religiosity scale, an unrelated filler anagram task, and finally the General Trust in Science index. The filler task was included to avoid priming or demand characteristics, and an attention check was embedded within the religiosity scale. For full instructions and details of tasks, see supplementary materials.

For this correlational study , we assessed our primary hypothesis of a relationship between religiosity and trust in science using Pearson moment correlation coefficient. The statistical significance of the correlation coefficient was assessed using a t test. To test our secondary hypothesis of parental education levels and gender as predictors of religiosity, multiple linear regression analysis was used.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles

Methodology

• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Thematic analysis
• Cohort study
• Peer review
• Ethnography

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Conformity bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Availability heuristic
• Attrition bias
• Social desirability bias

In your APA methods section , you should report detailed information on the participants, materials, and procedures used.

• Describe all relevant participant or subject characteristics, the sampling procedures used and the sample size and power .
• Define all primary and secondary measures and discuss the quality of measurements.
• Specify the data collection methods, the research design and data analysis strategy, including any steps taken to transform the data and statistical analyses.

You should report methods using the past tense , even if you haven’t completed your study at the time of writing. That’s because the methods section is intended to describe completed actions or research.

In a scientific paper, the methodology always comes after the introduction and before the results , discussion and conclusion . The same basic structure also applies to a thesis, dissertation , or research proposal .

Depending on the length and type of document, you might also include a literature review or theoretical framework before the methodology.

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44 Drafting the Methods Section

Drafting the methods section.

While the substance of the methods section will differ by genre and method chosen, basic components can be derived across genres. Methods sections in the social sciences tend to have five sub-components. They must:

• summarize the method used while arguing the value and limitations of the method for your data/context;
• discuss the data of your study (participants, artifacts, academic literature)
• present the instruments and measures used;
• outline the procedure of the data (i.e. how it was collected and ensured of its integrity), and
• Analysis : discuss how you analyzed your data.

Splitting these sections into components, however, should not give you the impression that the methods section is merely a list. The methods section is also an argument (Johnson, 2018), meaning that it aims to convince your reader of the value of your method through a narrative that briefly applies your method to the context of your research. In addition, the method must find a way to align with the research question stated in the introduction. Your methodology should build upon the introduction, justifying that the approach you utilized to investigate the problem is suitable (see Table 7.3.1 for common justifications for some established methods). We will refer back to this key point as we overview each step of the methods section.

A simple summary of your method is a good way to begin the method’s section. The length and depth of this summary depends entirely on the method chosen and the audience it is presented to. If the method is commonly known and used within your field, an overly intricate summary of the method is not necessary; a couple sentences overview will work fine. If the method is not commonly used or entirely new, however, more argument will be required for your audience to understand your choice of method. For instance, grounded theory is a commonly used paradigm in many qualitative social science journals. It is therefore unnecessary to sketch the method’s history in detail. Rather, a simple definition, such as grounded theory being an inductive approach which only designates codes after data collection (and how you enacted in your project) will suffice. On the other hand, newer methods such as linked data (methods based on web technologies such as HTTP, RDF, SPARQL, and URIs to enable semantic connections between various databases) would require a more extensive discussion. In addition, while it is good to offer your own summary of the method, the definition used by another researcher (particularly methodological researchers) is a simple way to align your research with a legitimate approach in your field.

The key point to keep in mind for summarizing your method is to outline its theory insofar as it explains your procedure, that is, discuss the method’s intentions with respect to how you applied it. We will touch on this again in the procedure section.

As you provide an overview of your method, you must also justify it. Justification of your method must appeal to the method’s ethical, practical and factual utility for the project. Ethical justifications are those that argue that the method is best for reducing the harm of research on your participants (and the communities they inhabit). It must also make the point that your method aligns with the principles of your institution’s ethical values.

Factual issues have to do with the value of the data your method is able to gather. It must consider whether the method is appropriate to your research question and topic. If, for instance, the research question is about “Malaysian immigrants’ conception of justice in comparison to American immigrants,” then you may argue that ‘in-depth interviews’ are the only approach deep enough to unravel a person’s “conception of justice.” Arguments for the factual benefits of a method frequently highlight its novelty for studying a particular method. For instance, there could be a lack of discourse analyses of Uber’s advertising materials (the previous research being content analyses). One could then argue that a discourse analysis approach not only has merits in its own right, but it also may be able to discover data which other approaches miss. Finally, you should outline the strengths of the methods in relation to all aspects of your research process (e.g., alignment with your theory, personal values, practicality etc.).

Practical justifications highlight why the method is suitable given logistics, administrative and everyday concerns. For example, if you are interested in studying how Malaysian migrants’ prepare for their transit to America, an ethnographic approach might be tempting. But practically (financially and time-wise), you might not be able to visit Malaysia to observe their preparations. Hence, you might decide that surveys or interviews (while less desirable) are more practical in that instance.

Again, we emphasize the importance of highlighting the limitations of your method. Every method has weaknesses, it is vital that show an awareness of them. It is important, however, not to have the weaknesses outweigh your method’s benefits. Your reader should be able to understand why you choose the methods, so you need to explain how, in spite of the limitation, your method is the most suitable choice. Hence, you need to justify why you decided to choose the methods over others. To help in the weighing of the costs and benefits of different methodological approaches, we have provided below a list of the potential limitations of some of the more common methods used in the social sciences.

Once you have provided an overview of your method and its value for your context, the next step is to discuss the data or population that the method will be used upon. Summarizing the data or population of your method often requires answering (Johnson, 2017): (a) how many participants/cases compose your data? (b) what are some of the common or key attributes of your data? And c) how did you select your data/participants?

The first question means answering the size (e.g., n = 88) of your corpus. Commentary on the size of your sample should also consider the total population that you are attempting to comment on. For instance, if you are writing about “student experiences with online open book examinations,” then it is important to consider how many students participated in the research compared to the students that took the examination (i.e., identify the characteristics of the sample versus the target populations). Answering the common attributes of this case study would mean considering the descriptives (usually sample size, mean, distribution etc.) or characteristics (e.g. gender, age, class, ethnicity) of participants/unit of observation. Building from our previous example, we should ask pertinent questions about the participants that took this exam: what was the average score of the exam? What grade level is this course? Which discipline was this course in, and which discipline do most students in this specific class come from? Finally, we need to also discuss how we recruited these students. Outline your recruitment process by discussing how you advertised the study, whether a stipend or incentive was offered, and how students finally agreed to join in the study (mainly regarding whether consent forms were required). For online texts or any other data that is not a participant/population, the same questions can be answered. The amount of the texts, components of the texts (their genre and author mainly), and the data collection process is all relevant to your method.

Box 7.1 – Writing About Recruitment

• Have I discussed how I advertised the study?
• Have I stated if a stipend was used?
• Have I stated if a consent form was used?
• How were participants identified?
• Where were they recruited?

While the above questions must be asked for all methods, the key concerns will differ depending on whether your research is primary, secondary, content analysis or theoretical research. Primary research is research that collects and derives its own raw data by sampling participants/cases, such as selecting and interviewing participants. Secondary research uses data from other primary research projects, such as a systematic literature review of other research. Theoretical research uses other papers and articles, sometimes even other data (like secondary research), but with the purpose of advancing a new argument in the field. Its method does not have to be as explicit as the other two methods of research. The following table summarizes the distinct tasks of the three approaches when discussing methodology. As theoretical research often uses articles and other social artifacts to make its argument, its methodological concerns are similar to content analysis. For that reason, we have grouped them together in the following table.

It is important to note that merely listing these components of your data/participants does not satisfy the requirements of a good methods section. Remember that you are still making an argument. While discussing the attributes relevant to your study, you are still arguing why you selected these participants/cases for your study, why you are listing that demographic/characteristic(s) as important to your study, and why you chose this sampling method over the other options . Allow yourself to be guided by the argument and the relevant things to include in your sections will follow. The following box provides a checklist of questions to help you to evaluate whether your methods section has successfully addressed all the key questions regarding your ‘data’.

Box 7.2 – Checkist for Summarizing the Data of Your Study

• Have I stated how many participants/data was in my study?
• Including in comparison to the relevant groups that they occupy?
• Have I discussed all the key attributes of my data?
• Have I discussed the relevant demographics of the populations and groups I am researching?
• If it is textual data, what is important to know about the author and genre of this text?
• Have I discussed the sampling method of my study?
• Have I argued the value and limitations of my sampling method?

Instruments and Measures

Research instruments are the tools that you use to collect, analyze and measure data in your research. These include literature reviews, survey questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, ethnography etc. In your methods section, you must describe how these serve to collect data, for example, was the survey composed of only open-ended questions, how many questions were included in the survey etc. Likewise, if you are using interviews, you need to discuss what kind of interviews were conducted (semi-structured, unstructured, structured)? How were the questions organized (e.g. by theme, no order etc.). Again, if you are doing a meta-analysis (literature review), you need to detail how it was done, what search engines, databases and search criteria were used etc. To reiterate, description of your instruments requires a an outline of how you used the particular measure to collect data.

As you will remember from your methods classes, when we talk about measurement in social research, we are referring to the process of operationalization (i.e., what concrete observations are being checked to empirically indicate a concept?). To do this, you must first identify the key variables or issues in your research question and explain how your research instrument captures it. For example, say your research question is “Do international students engage in economic transnationalism while studying on campus?” You will want to indicate how you will determine (a) who is an international student? and (b) what is economic transnationalism? It might seem silly that you need to operationalize “international student” but practically, you must have a system to determine who is an international student. It would be hard to walk around campus and determine who is an international student without having some criteria e.g. a student without Canadian citizenship. But again, how would you determine which student has Canadian citizenship and which ones do not? Operationalization requires that you specify precisely how you determine who is an international student (maybe you simply let participants self-declare their status on the survey or at the beginning of the interview). Likewise, “economic transnationalism” is a concept that needs to be measured (operationalized). You need to specify how in your research you will determine that economic transnationalism was taking place. Maybe you determined that if participants engaged in at least one economic activity (such as remitting money to origin countries, conducting business in origin countries, investing in origin countries etc), then economic transnationalism has taken place. The key to measurement is making it clear (and justifying) to your readers how your key concepts and variables are determined in the study. This requires that you consider how other researchers have measured these variables. If your measures are different from how other researchers measure the same concepts/variables, you need to justify why. On the other hand, the use of existing measures assures measurement consistency and contributes to the reliability of your study.

Measurement in quantitative studies can get complex by recoding, and the creation of composites such as indexes and scales. You must discuss how you recode variables and how the new variables allow you to better measure concepts. Likewise, you need to justify how the scales and indexes that you are using improve your measurements. If you are using established indexes and scales, it is important that you justify why they are applicable in your research. Again, if you are creating new measures, you need to identify why existing ones were inadequate for your research goals. As mentioned before, the methodology is not merely checking boxes, it requires justification of your choices, and engagement with an argument and or the literature (see the following example).

Box 7.3 – Examples – How a Team of Researchers Measured Friendship

Source: Walsworth, S., Somerville, K., & Robinson, O. (2021). The importance of weak friendships for international student satisfaction: Empirical evidence from Canada. International Journal of Intercultural Relations , 80 , 134-146.

The procedure is a step-by-step description of what you did to collect and analyze your data (see Figure 7.6.1 and Box 7.6.3). It should be the largest part of your methods section (Johnson, 2017), and it will incorporate explanation of how you collected your data, interpreted your data, and organized your data in your final-write up. As pointed out in the introduction, it is in this part of the methods section that the imitation function of methods – helping others to find our findings – is completed (Johnson, 2017). After providing a walkthrough of each step of your research process, it then discusses how you analyzed that data. The procedure clearly divides and orders the steps of your research chronologically, seeking to present a summative narrative of your research from recruitment/sampling of data to analysis. Documenting your procedure allows another researcher to attempt the exact same process as you with the expectation that they should be able to find (roughly) the same results. It is through this cross-reference system that the method can likewise become generalizable. If other researchers can replicate your procedure across contexts with effective results, then the method proves itself intuitive and effective to be useful for further research. It is an important kind of tedium!

Box 7.4 – Procedure Checklist

Recruitment

• Did I discuss how I recruited my participants and/or collect my data? Did I mention and outline the type of sampling method I used?
• Did I discuss how I ensured ethical fairness in gathering my data?
• Did I discuss how many participants I reached out to, and if any problems occurred in gathering my data?
• Did I discuss how I solved problems in recruiting my participants?

Data Collection

• Have I discussed the method for collecting data in my study (interviews, surveys, census data)?
• Have I discussed procedures for cleaning, recoding, and otherwise ensuring the integrity of my data?

The final aim of your methods section will be to discuss how you processed and analyzed the data collected. This will differ significantly depending on the method chosen, but there are a few standard things to do depending on whether your paper is qualitative or quantitative. The following table highlights:

The next table provides a demonstration of the analysis portion of Alexander Wilson’s (2021) methodology in his undergraduate honours thesis.

The above table shows that honours student, Alexander Wilson (2021) began by discussing the instrument used to organize the analysis (NVivo) and then moves onto the steps taken to conduct a discourse analysis (which is overviewed earlier in the paper). It discusses how the media data was analyzed, through an open reading to a codification of the issues according to their being “hopes or externalities” of Uber’s service. The codification is situated within the overall method of discourse analysis, which seeks to interpret the meaning of speech/text with respect to the larger discussion that it is contributing to. For Alexander, this larger discussion leads to a change in legislation, so it is his goal to interpret the significance of Uber’s promises and externalities in the media discourse with respect to the final legislative conclusions.

Box 7.5 – Reviewing and Revising the Methods Section

• Have I summarized the method?
• Will this summary make sense to someone doing similar research?
• Have I adequately highlighted the elements of this method which are especially relevant for my research?
• Have I adequately highlighted elements of this method which are relevant for my argument regarding its value for my research?
• Have I argued the value of my approach?
• Have I argued that this methodological approach will be effective for gathering data in an ethical manner?
• What other approaches can I compare my method with? What are the tradeoffs?
• Have I summarized the data of my study?
• Have I clarified the type of my data (participants, text, articles etc.)?
• Have I stated common attributes of that data?
• Have I disclosed important ethical concerns regarding interaction with that data or population?
• Have I outlined the instruments and materials used in my study?
• Have I discussed the design and procedure of my study?
• Have I outlined how I analyzed the data?
• Did I adequately discuss the key steps of my analysis?
• Did I state how many iterations of my analysis were conducted (how many readings, how many calculations)?

Johnson, M. (2017). “Writing a Methods Section” In Allen, M. (2017).  The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods  (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411

Walsworth, S., Somerville, K., & Robinson, O. (2021). The importance of weak friendships for international student satisfaction: Empirical evidence from Canada.  International Journal of Intercultural Relations ,  80 , 134-146.

Gudykunst, W. B., Yang, S., & Nishida, T. (1985). A Cross-Cultural Test of Uncertainty Reduction Theory: Comparisons of acquaintances, friends, and dating relationships in japan, korea, and the united states.  Human Communication Research,  11 (3), 407-454.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1985.tb00054.x

Maeda, E., & Ritchie, L. D. (2003). The concept of shinyuu in japan: A replication of and comparison to cole and Bradac’s study on U.S. friendship.  Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,  20 (5), 579-598.  https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075030205001

Hall, J. A. (2019). How many hours does it take to make a friend?  Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,  36 (4), 1278-1296.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518761225

The tools used to obtain data (e.g., questionnaires, interviews etc.).

The activities that a researcher takes to collect data.

the descriptives (usually sample size, mean, distribution etc.) or characteristics (e.g. gender, age, class, ethnicity) of participants/unit of observation

how you advertised the study, whether a stipend or incentive was offered, and how students finally agreed to join in the study

Research that collects and derives its own raw data by sampling participants or cases, such as selecting and interviewing respondents.

Uses data from other primary research projects, such as a systematic literature review of other research.

Uses other papers and articles, sometimes even other data (like secondary research), but with the purpose of advancing a new argument in the field.

things created by humans e.g., books, graffiti, advertisements, photographs, blogs etc.

The process of defining how one is going to measure a phenomenon that is not directly measurable.

Practicing and Presenting Social Research Copyright © 2022 by Oral Robinson and Alexander Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter 4: Writing the Methods Section

Learning objectives.

After completing this chapter, you should be able to …

• articulate the importance of Methods sections,
• recognize the communicative goals of the Methods,
• strategize to achieve communicative goals,
• optimize the language for writing about your Methods, and
• evaluate your Methods section.

Preparing to Publish Copyright © 2023 by Sarah Huffman; Elena Cotos; and Kimberly Becker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Organizing Academic Research Papers: 6. The Methodology

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Executive Summary
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Annotated Bibliography
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• How to Manage Group Projects
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Essays
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Acknowledgements

The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study’s validity is judged. The method section answers two main questions: 1) How was the data collected or generated? 2) How was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and written in the past tense.

Importance of a Good Methodology Section

You must explain how you obtained and analyzed your results for the following reasons:

• Readers need to know how the data was obtained because the method you choose affects the results and, by extension, how you likely interpreted those results.
• Methodology is crucial for any branch of scholarship because an unreliable method produces unreliable results and it misappropriates interpretations of findings .
• In most cases, there are a variety of different methods you can choose to investigate a research problem. Your methodology section of your paper should make clear the reasons why you chose a particular method or procedure .
• The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. For example, if you are using a questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from.
• The research method must be appropriate to the objectives of the study . For example, be sure you have a large enough sample size to be able to generalize and make recommendations based upon the findings.
• The methodology should discuss the problems that were anticipated and the steps you took to prevent them from occurring . For any problems that did arise, you must describe the ways in which their impact was minimized or why these problems do not affect the findings in any way that impacts your interpretation of the data.
• Often in social science research, it is useful for other researchers to adapt or replicate your methodology. Therefore, it is important to always provide sufficient information to allow others to use or replicate the study . This information is particularly important when a new method had been developed or an innovative use of an existing method has been utilized.

Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article . Psychology Writing Center. University of Washington; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Groups of Research Methods

There are two main groups of research methods in the social sciences:

• The empirical-analytical group approaches the study of social sciences in a similar manner that researchers study the natural sciences. This type of research focuses on objective knowledge, research questions that can be answered yes or no, and operational definitions of variables to be measured. The empirical-analytical group employs deductive reasoning that uses existing theory as a foundation for hypotheses that need to be tested. This approach is focused on explanation .
• The interpretative group is focused on understanding phenomenon in a comprehensive, holistic way . This research method allows you to recognize your connection to the subject under study. Because the interpretative group focuses more on subjective knowledge, it requires careful interpretation of variables.

II. Content

An effectively written methodology section should:

• Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your research problem . Is your study qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both (mixed method)? Are you going to take a special approach, such as action research, or a more neutral stance?
• Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design . Your methods should have a clear connection with your research problem. In other words, make sure that your methods will actually address the problem. One of the most common deficiencies found in research papers is that the proposed methodology is unsuited to achieving the stated objective of your paper.
• Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to use , such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation, archival research. If you are analyzing existing data, such as a data set or archival documents, describe how it was originally created or gathered and by whom.
• Explain how you intend to analyze your results . Will you use statistical analysis? Will you use specific theoretical perspectives to help you analyze a text or explain observed behaviors?
• Provide background and rationale for methodologies that are unfamiliar for your readers . Very often in the social sciences, research problems and the methods for investigating them require more explanation/rationale than widely accepted rules governing the natural and physical sciences. Be clear and concise in your explanation.
• Provide a rationale for subject selection and sampling procedure . For instance, if you propose to conduct interviews, how do you intend to select the sample population? If you are analyzing texts, which texts have you chosen, and why? If you are using statistics, why is this set of statisics being used? If other data sources exist, explain why the data you chose is most appropriate.
• Address potential limitations . Are there any practical limitations that could affect your data collection? How will you attempt to control for potential confounding variables and errors? If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate, state this openly and show why pursuing this methodology outweighs the risk of these problems cropping up.

NOTE :  Once you have written all of the elements of the methods section, subsequent revisions should focus on how to present those elements as clearly and as logically as possibly. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. For clarity, when a large amount of detail must be presented, information should be presented in sub-sections according to topic.

III.  Problems to Avoid

Irrelevant Detail The methodology section of your paper should be thorough but to the point. Don’t provide any background information that doesn’t directly help the reader to understand why a particular method was chosen, how the data was gathered or obtained, and how it was analyzed. Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures Remember that you are not writing a how-to guide about a particular method. You should make the assumption that readers possess a basic understanding of how to investigate the research problem on their own and, therefore, you do not have to go into great detail about specific methodological procedures. The focus should be on how you applied a method , not on the mechanics of doing a method. NOTE: An exception to this rule is if you select an unconventional approach to doing the method; if this is the case, be sure to explain why this approach was chosen and how it enhances the overall research process. Problem Blindness It is almost a given that you will encounter problems when collecting or generating your data. Do not ignore these problems or pretend they did not occur. Often, documenting how you overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology. It demonstrates to the reader that you can provide a cogent rationale for the decisions you made to minimize the impact of any problems that arose. Literature Review Just as the literature review section of your paper provides an overview of sources you have examined while researching a particular topic, the methodology section should cite any sources that informed your choice and application of a particular method [i.e., the choice of a survey should include any citations to the works you used to help construct the survey].

It’s More than Sources of Information! A description of a research study's method should not be confused with a description of the sources of information. Such a list of sources is useful in itself, especially if it is accompanied by an explanation about the selection and use of the sources. The description of the project's methodology complements a list of sources in that it sets forth the organization and interpretation of information emanating from those sources.

Azevedo, L.F. et al. How to Write a Scientific Paper: Writing the Methods Section. Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia 17 (2011): 232-238; Butin, Dan W. The Education Dissertation A Guide for Practitioner Scholars . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010; Carter, Susan. Structuring Your Research Thesis . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Methods Section . The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Methods and Materials . The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College.

Writing Tip

Statistical Designs and Tests? Do Not Fear Them!

Don't avoid using a quantitative approach to analyzing your research problem just because you fear the idea of applying statistical designs and tests. A qualitative approach, such as conducting interviews or content analysis of archival texts, can yield exciting new insights about a research problem, but it should not be undertaken simply because you have a disdain for running a simple regression. A well designed quantitative research study can often be accomplished in very clear and direct ways, whereas, a similar study of a qualitative nature usually requires considerable time to analyze large volumes of data and a tremendous burden to create new paths for analysis where previously no path associated with your research problem had existed.

Another Writing Tip

Knowing the Relationship Between Theories and Methods

There can be multiple meaning associated with the term "theories" and the term "methods" in social sciences research. A helpful way to delineate between them is to understand "theories" as representing different ways of characterizing the social world when you research it and "methods" as representing different ways of generating and analyzing data about that social world. Framed in this way, all empirical social sciences research involves theories and methods, whether they are stated explicitly or not. However, while theories and methods are often related, it is important that, as a researcher, you deliberately separate them in order to avoid your theories playing a disproportionate role in shaping what outcomes your chosen methods produce.

Introspectively engage in an ongoing dialectic between theories and methods to help enable you to use the outcomes from your methods to interrogate and develop new theories, or ways of framing conceptually the research problem. This is how scholarship grows and branches out into new intellectual territory.

Reynolds, R. Larry. Ways of Knowing. Alternative Microeconomics. Part 1, Chapter 3. Boise State University; The Theory-Method Relationship . S-Cool Revision. United Kingdom.

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3 Writing Up the Methods Section

• Published: May 2013
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This chapter focuses on how to write up the methodological procedures of an interview study. It considers both standard formats for writing-up methodological procedures and non-traditional formats in which methodological descriptions are often integrated into the more general narrative of the text. The chapter first provides an overview of the most common elements that comprise interview reports, such as dissertations, journal articles, or monographs. It then presents three different ways of conceiving of the methods section—as a prelude to the analysis and findings, as a postscript, and as embedded in the interpretation itself. It concludes with reflections on how to deal with the idea that, in qualitative interview research, the researcher is the most important “methodological instrument.”

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Writing up a Research Report

• First Online: 04 January 2024

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A research report is one big argument about how and why you came up with your conclusions. To make it a convincing argument, a typical guiding structure has developed. In the different chapters, there are distinct issues that need to be addressed to explain to the reader why your conclusions are valid. The governing principle for writing the report is full disclosure: to explain everything and ensure replicability by another researcher.

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Field, A. (2016). An adventure in statistics. The reality enigma . SAGE.

Field, A. (2020). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE.

Früh, M., Keimer, I., & Blankenagel, M. (2019). The impact of Balanced Scorecard excellence on shareholder returns. IFZ Working Paper No. 0003/2019. https://zenodo.org/record/2571603#.YMDUafkzZaQ . Accessed: 9 June 2021.

Pearl, J., & Mackenzie, D. (2018). The book of why: The new science of cause and effect. Basic Books.

Yin, R. K. (2013). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). SAGE.

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Hunziker, S., Blankenagel, M. (2024). Writing up a Research Report. In: Research Design in Business and Management. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-42739-9_4

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How to Write the Methods Section of a Scientific Article

What Is the Methods Section of a Research Paper?

The Methods section of a research article includes an explanation of the procedures used to conduct the experiment. For authors of scientific research papers, the objective is to present their findings clearly and concisely and to provide enough information so that the experiment can be duplicated.

Research articles contain very specific sections, usually dictated by either the target journal or specific style guides. For example, in the social and behavioral sciences, the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide is used to gather information on how the manuscript should be arranged . As with most styles, APA’s objectives are to ensure that manuscripts are written with minimum distractions to the reader. Every research article should include a detailed Methods section after the Introduction.

Why is the Methods Section Important?

The Methods section (also referred to as “Materials and Methods”) is important because it provides the reader enough information to judge whether the study is valid and reproducible.

Structure of the Methods Section in a Research Paper

While designing a research study, authors typically decide on the key points that they’re trying to prove or the “ cause-and-effect relationship ” between objects of the study. Very simply, the study is designed to meet the objective. According to APA, a Methods section comprises of the following three subsections: participants, apparatus, and procedure.

How do You Write a Method Section in Biology?

In biological sciences, the Methods section might be more detailed, but the objectives are the same—to present the study clearly and concisely so that it is understandable and can be duplicated.

If animals (including human subjects) were used in the study, authors should ensure to include statements that they were treated according to the protocols outlined to ensure that treatment is as humane as possible.

• The Declaration of Helsinki is a set of ethical principles developed by The World Medical Association to provide guidance to scientists and physicians in medical research involving human subjects.

Research conducted at an institution using human participants is overseen by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) with which it is affiliated. IRB is an administrative body whose purpose is to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects during their participation in the study.

Literature Search

Literature searches are performed to gather as much information as relevant from previous studies. They are important for providing evidence on the topic and help validate the research. Most are accomplished using keywords or phrases to search relevant databases. For example, both MEDLINE and PubMed provide information on biomedical literature. Google Scholar, according to APA, is “one of the best sources available to an individual beginning a literature search.” APA also suggests using PsycINFO and refers to it as “the premier database for locating articles in psychological science and related literature.”

Authors must make sure to have a set of keywords (usually taken from the objective statement) to stay focused and to avoid having the search move far from the original objective. Authors will benefit by setting limiting parameters, such as date ranges, and avoiding getting pulled into the trap of using non-valid resources, such as social media, conversations with people in the same discipline, or similar non-valid sources, as references.

Related: Ready with your methods section and looking forward to manuscript submission ? Check these journal selection guidelines now!

What Should be Included in the Methods Section of a Research Paper?

One commonly misused term in research papers is “methodology.” Methodology refers to a branch of the Philosophy of Science which deals with scientific methods, not to the methods themselves, so authors should avoid using it. Here is the list of main subsections that should be included in the Methods section of a research paper ; authors might use subheadings more clearly to describe their research.

• Literature search : Authors should cite any sources that helped with their choice of methods. Authors should indicate timeframes of past studies and their particular parameters.
• Study participants : Authors should cite the source from where they received any non-human subjects. The number of animals used, the ages, sex, their initial conditions, and how they were housed and cared for, should be listed. In case of human subjects, authors should provide the characteristics, such as geographical location; their age ranges, sex, and medical history (if relevant); and the number of subjects. In case hospital records were used, authors should include the subjects’ basic health information and vital statistics at the beginning of the study. Authors should also state that written informed consent was provided by each subject.
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria : Authors should describe their inclusion and exclusion criteria, how they were determined, and how many subjects were eliminated.
• Group characteristics (could be combined with “Study participants”) : Authors should describe how the chosen group was divided into subgroups and their characteristics, including the control. Authors should also describe any specific equipment used, such as housing needs and feed (usually for animal studies). If patient records are reviewed and assessed, authors should mention whether the reviewers were blinded to them.
• Procedures : Authors should describe their study design. Any necessary preparations (e.g., tissue samples, drugs) and instruments must be explained. Authors should describe how the subjects were “ manipulated to answer the experimental question .” Timeframes should be included to ensure that the procedures are clear (e.g., “Rats were given XX drug for 14 d”). For animals sacrificed, the methods used and the protocols followed should be outlined.
• Statistical analyses: The type of data, how they were measured, and which statistical tests were performed, should be described. (Note: This is not the “results” section; any relevant tables and figures should be referenced later.) Specific software used must be cited.

What Should not be Included in Your Methods Section?

Common pitfalls can make the manuscript cumbersome to read or might make the readers question the validity of the research. The University of Southern California provides some guidelines .

• Background information that is not helpful must be avoided.
• Authors must avoid providing a lot of detail.
• Authors should focus more on how their method was used to meet their objective and less on mechanics .
• Any obstacles faced and how they were overcome should be described (often in your “Study Limitations”). This will help validate the results.

According to the University of Richmond , authors must avoid including extensive details or an exhaustive list of equipment that have been used as readers could quickly lose attention. These unnecessary details add nothing to validate the research and do not help the reader understand how the objective was satisfied. A well-thought-out Methods section is one of the most important parts of the manuscript. Authors must make a note to always prepare a draft that lists all parts, allow others to review it, and revise it to remove any superfluous information.

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Research Process

Introduction

• Topic Selection
• Originality
• Information Needs
• Evaluating Sources
• Getting Sources
• Getting Organized
• Understanding Your Sources
• Putting it into Words
• Bringing it Together

What is Strategic Reading?

A large part of the research process is reading. This is a time –consuming process and requires strategic effort to read the required information in an efficient and time-effective manner. Read strategically can help identify significant points, find relationships across readings, and see how each reading relates to your research project. In the end, reading strategically will also make your writing process easier. Use this guide to learn:

• how to read strategically and annotate readings,
• how to identify and track relationships across readings, and
• how these relationships relate to your own research project.

Identifying Parts of an Article

Abstract :  Tells the reader what the topic is, the research questions the paper addresses, and will typically give a brief overview of the results or conclusions. The abstract is like watching the movie before the book, you get a quick glimpse, and if you want to know more, you can read the entire article. 

Introduction:   Gives the reader important background information to ensure that the reader is situated before launching into theory, critical analysis, or arguments. This part of the paper will typically introduce research questions or (hypo)theses as well. Some writers will describe a rough outline of their paper or arguments so that their work is easier to follow.  

Lit Review:   The literature review allows the writer to present various arguments, themes, and patterns that are prevalent and relevant to their topic. While a lit review can be a stand-alone assignment, it is most often seen as an integral part of a scholarly paper because it informs the researcher's argument.

Methods: In a more scientific paper that tests a hypothesis or theory, the method section of the paper allows the writer to explain to the reader how they will carry out their experiment. The field of study and if the data collected is quantitative or qualitative will significantly impact how the methods section is composed. For more information on best practices in your subject area, you can meet with your Liaison Librarian  and model your methods section after articles from your field.    

Results: Like the methods section, how the results section looks (if there is one) depends on your field of study and the type of data that the researcher(s) collected. Both the methods and results section is cut and dry, so if you're looking for precise details about the study or experiment, you'll find that information in these two sections.

Discussion :  Once the researcher(s) stated their results, they can delve into the details and the broader implications their findings have for the field. Here, you will see the researcher(s) interpret their results instead of stating them. Here, you will likely see them relate the results to the papers that informed their research (the articles discussed in the lit review).  

Conclusion:     With the remainder of the paper, a few loose ends will need to be tied. The researchers will make sure that they have addressed and answered their research question. They will reiterate how their research/results answer their original question and whether their hypothesis was supported. Finally, they will identify any remaining unanswered questions and future research potential.

Reading Academic Articles

1. Read the abstract to get the main point and findings

2. Read the introduction to find out the author's (hypo)thesis and questions the paper is going to or is trying to answer and the methods they plan on using

3. Read the conclusion to get a better understanding of the paper's findings, and issues that the author thinks are unanswered 

Kift, J., Day, K., & Meyers, E. [UBCiSchool]. (2013, Jan 17)  How to read an academic paper  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/SKxm2HF_-k0

Strategies for reading academic articles. (n.d.). Retrieved from  https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/strategies-for-reading-academic-articles

Creating Annotations + Taking Notes

Annotated bibliographies are a great way to keep track of all of your sources and their arguments. They are bibliographies (think, works cited/reference page) in which you summarize the purpose, argument, and overall effect a reference in your bibliography has.

These do not have to be too formal or too detailed if they are just for you. However, you want to make sure that you give yourself enough information to quickly remember the gist of your resource.  

• research questions or hypothesis
• author's main argument
• author's findings
• our response or reaction to the author's arguments/conclusions  

How you take notes on the information you're gathering depends on how you best take in information. Some people will print out their resources so that they can highlight and mark up their readings. If you want to save yourself some money, you can use  Mendeley , to take notes and highlight your sources as you read them on your computer. Some people will take notes digitally on a Google or Word Doc to keep their sources in order. The amount of detail you choose to use depends on you and your style. For example, you may be fine creating an annotated bibliography and highlighting specific areas in an article you want to quote. But, other people may like to use a working Google or Word Doc where you type out quotes they think are important and that they might use.

As you begin to feel more comfortable with the information you're taking in, start to get going on the next steps. At this stage, this primarily involves organizing your various notes and the articles you've read. For instance, it's a good idea to have the materials you plan on citing set aside from the rest of your bibliography.

Academic Text in Sciences & Social Science

• Scholarly Outlines
• Parts of a Scholarly Article
• Scholarship Vs. Popular Sources
• Active Reading
• Usefulness of Sources
• How to Annotate

With some variation among the different disciplines, most scholarly articles of original research follow the IMRD model, which consists of the following components:

• Literature Review
• Statement of Problem (i.e. "the Gap")
• Plan to Solve the Problem

Method & Results

• How Research was Done
• What Answers were Found
• Interpretation of Results (What Does It Mean?)
• Implications for the Field

This form is most obvious in scientific studies, where the methods are clearly defined and described, and data is often presented in tables or graphs for analysis.

In other fields, such as history, the method and results may be embedded in a narrative, perhaps describing and interpreting events from archival sources. In this case, the method is the selection of archival sources and how they were interpreted, while the results are the interpretation and resultant story.

In full-length books, you might see this general pattern followed over the entire book, within each chapter, or both.

Source: PVCC Jessup Library's  Research Minute: Scholarly vs. Popular Articles Tutorial.

Source : ( CC BY-SA 3.0)

Step 1: Be Consistent.  Apply a consistent approach to note taking across all readings.

• Use different colors to represent the  text  and your  ideas .
• Use colors sparingly, only mark the most significant parts.
• Don’t change colors between readings or turn your reading into a rainbow.

Step 2: Create Some Signposts

• Underline  words being defined but  [bracket]  the full definition. 
• If there’s a section not particularly important to your paper but key to understanding the reading, put it in  <carrots> .
• Underline  the entirety of a potential quote, then write a brief description in the margin as a reminder.
• If there’s something that is very important, put a  | vertical line  next to it. Write a brief description in the margin to remind future you.

Step 3: Use the Margins

• Write out keywords describing portions of the text to help you quickly spot similarities and differences across multiple readings later.
• Draw, diagram, or give yourself other visual cues to help describe what the text is saying.
• Write your own ideas, questions, and reactions to the text. These may just spark a research topic!
• If what you are reading reminds you of a previous reading/article, write it down now! This will make it easier to pull together and synthesize related discussions later on.

Reading Peer Reviewed Articles

The first thing you need to realize is that you will not understand every single thing on the page, and that's OK! These are not something you want to try to read the same way you would read a novel, and are not meant to be fully understood by the average undergraduate. Here are some things you can do to make the task more manageable:

1. Read the abstract. 

Remember that it is a summary, and this is going to give you an idea of what you can look for when you go through the article itself. 

2. Read what you understand, and skim what you don't. 

Most research articles have the same clearly outlined sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. While they may be called different things, the results section is going to be the least accessible and is explained in the discussion. The literature review can be a visual distraction with all the references, but you will eventually mentally ignore the references as you read more scholarly literature.

3. Keep your own research in mind.

It is easy to forget what you are researching and get pulled in multiple directions. Make sure you ar reading it from the perspective of how this informs your own research rather than focusing on their research.

• Reading Scholarly Articles (Univ. of Southern California) This guide from the University of Sothern California gives a more detailed approach to reading scholarly work.
• << Previous: Getting Organized
• Next: Putting it into Words >>

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How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Manuscript

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The methods section of a manuscript is one of the most important parts of a research paper because it provides information on the validity of the study and credibility of the results. Inadequate description of the methods has been reported as one of the main reasons for manuscript rejection. The methods section must include sufficient detail so that others could repeat the study and reproduce the results. The structure of the methods section should flow logically and chronologically. There are multiple components of methods sections, including study design, materials used, study procedures, and data analysis. Each element must be adequately described and thoroughly detailed to provide an understanding of how the results were obtained and how to interpret the findings. Studies that involved humans or animals must include an ethics statement of approval from the appropriate governing body. The methods section should explain how subjects were identified and should state inclusion and exclusion criteria. All materials used to complete the study should be described in detail, including equipment, drugs, gases, chemicals, treatments, interventions, or other items. Study procedures should outline all steps taken to obtain the results and clearly state the outcome measures. Subheadings might be helpful for organizing the methods section into subsections when there is a considerable amount of information to report. A well-written methods section will guide the reader through the research process and provide adequate information to evaluate study validity and reproduce the work. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for writing the methods section of a manuscript.

• research paper
• science writing
• publication
• study protocol
• Introduction

Dissemination of research findings occurs through abstracts, posters, presentations, and manuscripts. 1 , - , 3 Writing the manuscript is considered the last step of the research process because it provides a detailed account of the research from start to finish. 4 , 5 The main components of a research paper include an abstract, the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions. 3 , 4 Each section of the manuscript is important and has a specific role in describing the research story. However, the methods are one of the most critical sections of a manuscript because the details are used to evaluate and determine the validity of the study and credibility of the results. 6 Validity in research refers to reliability of the measured results: the extent to which the study accurately measured what it intended (internal validity) and how the results can be applied to the general population beyond the study (external validity). 6 , 7

The methods section describes what was done to answer the research question. 8 This section specifies how the research was done, the rationale for the procedures, what materials were used, and how the results were analyzed, all in a clear, concise, and organized manner. 6 The description of the research should provide enough detail so others could repeat the study and reproduce the results. 6 , 9 , 10 Much of the methods section should be written before the study is initiated. Indeed, for funded research, a detailed methods section is written as part of the grant application. There are several aspects of the methods sections, and the essential elements will vary, depending on the type of study. Submission requirements differ among journals; therefore, it is important to consult the instructions for authors for the specific journal to ensure that all necessary elements are included. 11 The purpose of this paper is to describe the different components of the methods section and provide guidance for writing the methods section of a research paper.

• General Considerations

An inadequate description of methods has been identified as one of the top reasons for manuscript rejection. 12 It has been suggested that including too much information is better than having insufficient detail because irrelevant content can later be omitted. 12 The methods section of a research paper is analogous to a recipe. 10 , 13 A recipe is composed of multiple elements, including the list and quantity of ingredients, equipment and tools needed and applicable settings, and the detailed instructions for how to create the recipe. Similar to a recipe, there are different elements of methods to describe in a manuscript. In general, common components of the methods section include a description of the study design, materials used, study procedures, measurements or calculations, and the statistical tests used to analyze the results. Materials used to conduct research are comparable with the ingredients, tools, and equipment for a recipe. Materials represent what was studied, including subjects, equipment or devices, and treatments or interventions. 6 , 14 The steps to create a recipe are akin to study procedures such as the process for data collection, measurements, calculations, and statistical analysis. A summary of the different elements of the methods section is included in Table 1 . The individual components for each element may vary, depending on the nature of the study.

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Methods Section Elements

Although similarities exist between a recipe and the methods section of a research paper, the methods section should not be formatted to read like a recipe. 13 Use past tense for writing the methods section because the study has been completed and describes what was already done. 6 , 9 , 10 , 13 , 14 The methods section should be structured for logical and chronological flow. 6 , 14 , 15 Use of subheadings can be helpful for organizing the different components for the methods section when there is a substantial amount of detail to describe. 6 , 13 However, subheadings may not be required by some journals. An excessive use of subheadings can be distracting to the reader by interrupting the flow of the manuscript. There should not be a subheading for every paragraph. This is particularly distracting when each subheading is followed by a short 1- or 2-sentence paragraph. Paragraphs with fewer than 3 sentences should be avoided; combine the information with another paragraph unless the journal to which the paper will be submitted requires specific subheadings. Subheadings can be useful as an outline when writing the methods section but then might be omitted in the final manuscript.

A common error in manuscript writing is reporting results in the methods section and vice versa. A frequently occurring example is including the number of subjects who participated in the research in the methods section when it was unknown how many met inclusion criteria before study initiation and subject screening. The methods section should only include information available during the planning phase, before study initiation. 10 , 16 There are instances in which study procedures may have changed after the study commencement. This information would be reported in the methods section but the outcomes stated in the results section. The results section should reflect the data obtained from study procedures because this information would be unknown before the study was completed.

• Study Design

The methods section often begins with an overall description of the study design and key attributes, including the type of study, setting, time frame, and procedures. 14 , 15 This provides an overview and context for how the study was conducted with further details and specifics described in subsequent subsections. Study design has been described as a road map for the methods section to provide information for how to understand the approach and interpret the results. 14

Common study designs include observational, bench evaluation, systematic review, randomized controlled trial, survey, and others. Guidelines for writing the manuscript include the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist for randomized controlled trials and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews. 17 , 18 Registration is another consideration for clinical trials and systematic reviews. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) 16 requires registration of clinical trials on a public trials registry. Many journals, including R espiratory C are , follow the recommendations for publication set forth by this group. A randomized controlled trial should also include the blinding mechanism and different treatment groups as applicable. 17 Although registration of a systematic review is often not a prerequisite for publication, registering the protocol supports transparency, decreases potential bias, and can help prevent duplication of reviews. 18 An observational study should report if the design was retrospective, prospective, a secondary or post hoc analysis, or other category of observational design. 7

The setting where the study occurred, if it included data from a single-center or multiple centers, and the time frame in which it took place must be included because these factors have implications for clinical practice, generalizability, and validity. 7 Potential study settings might include an ICU (or specific ICU type), medical surgical ward, emergency department, out-patient clinic, home-care environment, or simulation laboratory. The time frame is an essential element for context because practices and trends change over time. A prime example of this is prone positioning for treatment of hypoxemic respiratory failure as use substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19

• Ethics Statement

The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines a human subject “as a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the biospecimens; or obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens.” 20 The methods section must include a statement regarding approval from an institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee for research that included human subjects. 16 Quality improvement studies and certain types of surveys are often not considered human subject research and therefore may not require IRB oversight but the decision is made by the IRB. Quality improvement projects, depending on requirements of the institution or organization, can be performed without IRB approval in some cases; however, IRB approval is needed before publication or presentation outside of the institution, and human subject determination is made by the IRB, not the investigators.

Animal studies also require ethics approval to be reported in the methods section. Research that involves animals is subject to approval from the local Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and must be conducted in accordance with national guidelines, for example, the National Institute of Health Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. 21 For journals that do not have a specific requirement for where to include the ethics statement within the methods section, many authors typically incorporate it in the initial general description of the study or with the detailed description of the subjects. Some studies have included it at the beginning of the methods section.

Characteristics of the study population should be described. This includes basic demographics (eg, adults or children, age, sex) and general health status such as if the individuals were healthy volunteers or had a specific diagnosis or condition. This information is also needed for control groups. 4 Inclusion criteria for how subjects were identified and selected should be detailed as well as reasons for exclusion. For example, an evaluation of a disease management program included adults ages ≥ 65 years and with COPD who were admitted to 1 of 5 hospitals during a specified time frame. 22 Patients were excluded if they left against medical advice, died during admission, transferred to a hospital outside of the health system, entered hospice care, refused home care, or were unable to participate in education. 22 In this example, subject characteristics (adults with COPD), selection and identification (hospital admission during defined time frame), and exclusion criteria are clearly stated.

When referring to human subjects in research, the terms subject and patient are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. 23 A patient receives care to improve health, and care is individualized in each particular case. When a patient participates in research, he or she becomes a subject. In research, care is designed to create information and is the same for all subjects based on the study protocol. The individual conducting the research is not always involved in the patient care provided, thus also making the distinction between subject and patient. A common error is to use the word subjects exclusively when writing the manuscript. However, individuals are patients before enrollment. When referring to the broader population of individuals who might benefit from the research findings, the word patients is likely more correct. Participant and volunteer are other terms that can be used in place of subject. Individuals who participated in survey research are typically referred to as respondents . 24

In addition to humans, research subjects may also involve animals or organisms such as cells. When animals are studied, the methods should describe the species, weight, age, and sex of the animals. 6 Ring et al 25 used ex vivo porcine lungs to evaluate the effect of breathing pattern and nebulization on exhaled viral content during mechanical ventilation. The authors reported that the lungs were sourced from a retail processing facility and were from 6-month-old Yorkshire hybrid pigs that weighed 118 kg. In addition, it was noted that approval to conduct the study was granted by the local Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. This publication demonstrates an appropriate description of animal subjects, including an ethics statement.

• Equipment and Other Materials

Identify all equipment and other materials used in the study, including devices, related accessories, drugs, or chemicals. At first mention of any device, provide the specific name of the item, model number if applicable, and manufacturer information. Many scientific journals do not usually allow use of trademark or registration symbols. 10 The ICMJE recommends that manufacturer name and location be included in parentheses. 16 For example, a study that evaluated the safety and feasibility of breathing high-dose nitric oxide in healthy volunteers used a Sievers 280i nitric oxide analyzer (GE Analytical Instruments, Boulder, Colorado) to measure nitric oxide gas concentration. 26 Subsequent mentions of equipment should be noted by generic name versus trade name when possible. It is important that the methods section does not project any bias that an author may have for a specific device or manufacturer.

Use of figures can be an effective means of providing a visual description of the equipment setup, especially when there are many components involved. This can also help reduce the amount of text and improve understanding of how the equipment was assembled. Figures can be either a photograph of the equipment or a graphic illustration (line drawing), but all components should be clearly labeled. An illustration of the setup used to deliver high-dose nitric oxide in the aforementioned study is provided in Figure 1 . 26 Use of a photograph to depict the experimental setup for measuring peak expiratory flow during mechanical insufflation-exsufflation is demonstrated in Figure 2 . 27 Photographs should be of good quality and include all relevant items. In both examples, all components are clearly identified and labeled.

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Graphic illustration of an experimental setup. From Reference 26.

Photograph of an experimental setup. From Reference 27.

In addition to naming the specific equipment used in the study, settings should also be included in the methods section because these details are highly relevant for duplication of the study. For example, the evaluation of peak expiratory flow during mechanical insufflation-exsufflation provided the pressure settings used during therapy. 27 Not only is this important for repeating the study, but it is also essential for assessing the validity of the results. If the settings were not typical of those used in the study population or in clinical practice, then this would introduce limitations to interpreting and understanding the results.

Equipment preparation is another consideration for the methods section. Describe the calibration process and the frequency for equipment that requires calibration. The flow meter used to measure peak expiratory flow during mechanical insufflation-exsufflation was calibrated and validated annually by the manufacturer. 27 If manufacturer standards for calibration are not followed, then the accuracy of the results may be affected. It should be noted that calibration and validation represent two different processes. 4 Both should be described as applicable.

In addition to equipment, identify all drugs, chemicals, gases, or other materials used specifically for the study. The details for drugs and gases should include the concentration, dose, frequency, and route of administration. Gases should also note the flow used. Chemicals should be noted with the name and concentration as applicable. Use the generic name for drugs. If the trade name for a drug is relevant to the study, then follow the same process for identifying equipment brands and manufacturer information and use the generic name after initial identification. Preparation information may be needed in some cases. For example, detailed preparation information was provided for the bacteriophage used in the animal study conducted by Ring et al. 25 The process for how the bacteriophage was prepared was described in detail as well as the amounts used for the study.

• Study Procedures

The methods section should explicitly detail all procedures, treatments, or interventions used in the study. This portion of the methods section describes how study procedures were performed, the chronological order of procedures, measurements or calculations made, and the specific data elements collected. A rationale may be needed for some procedures, depending on the audience. 6 Outcome measures are often included in the subsection for study procedures, but some authors report them in the overall description for study design.

A comprehensive explanation of the procedures is vital for providing adequate details for reproducibility and validity regardless of the study design. A retrospective cohort study investigated outcomes of children treated with continuous albuterol that contains benzalkonium chloride and preservative-free solutions. 28 Collected data were clearly stated and included subject demographics, diagnosis, mortality risk score, albuterol dose and duration, use of adjunctive therapies, and respiratory support. The methods section for this paper also reported the source of the data extraction (electronic medical records, database, manual chart review) and the process for how therapies were initiated, escalated, and de-escalated (intensivist discretion). 28 The basis for the use of therapies in this study is an important consideration for generalizability because practices vary among institutions and some care might involve the use of protocols.

Diagrams and flow charts can be helpful for illustrating processes or workflow. An evaluation of sputum volume obtained with different cough augmentation techniques outlined the protocol in an illustrated timeline for the sequence of interventions and data collection ( Fig. 3 ). 29 The timeline provides clear information for the procedures that were done, when they were done, and the data elements collected. Data were collected at baseline, at the end of the intervention, and then 1 h after the intervention, followed by a minimum 4-h washout period before the second intervention and data collection. 29 Details with regard to who performed the interventions (5 experienced respiratory clinicians), how they were administered (cough augmentation technique and settings), and subject information (positioning) were comprehensively described.

Illustrated timeline of study protocol that depicts chronological order. From Reference 29.

Measurements obtained during study procedures should be identified along with a description of how they were obtained and the devices used. For example, the same study measured ventilator parameters before, during, and after interventions by using a Fluxmed GrH monitor (MBMED, Buenos Aires, Argentina). 29 Procedures for measurements or techniques with established references do not have to be described in detail and can be omitted if the procedure could be repeated without the specific details. 6 , 12 , 14 This is a common practice for measurements obtained during spirometry. In those instances, provide the reference for the previous work without providing all of the additional details. In a study that aimed to correlate baseline spirometry with airway hyper-responsiveness in methacholine challenge, the reported testing was performed according to published guidelines. 30 The guideline was referenced without providing all the specifics. On the contrary, studies that used novel methods would need to be further described. 6

The outcome measures that address the research question should be clearly stated. Outcome measures are the dependent or response variables assessed to evaluate the impact of the research that is established before beginning the study. 6 , 8 Outcome measures may include both primary and secondary outcomes. The primary outcome is the main measure of the research question, and secondary outcomes provide additional information for interpreting results. The retrospective evaluation of different albuterol solutions used ICU and hospital length of stay as primary outcomes and duration of continuous albuterol, use and duration of adjunctive therapies, and need for mechanical ventilation as secondary outcomes. 28 The primary outcome was sputum volume for the trial that assessed cough augmentation techniques, and secondary outcomes were respiratory mechanics and hemodynamics. 29

• Statistical Analysis

The statistical analysis component is typically included as the last part of the methods section. This subsection describes how the collected data were analyzed through identification of the statistical tests that were used and the P value threshold for statistical significance. A clinical trial that evaluated the effect of endotracheal tube scraping during mechanical ventilation reported that categorical variables were analyzed with the chi-square or Fisher exact test, and continuous variables were presented as mean ± SD or median (interquartile range) based on distribution and analyzed with t test or Mann-Whitney test. 31 P < .05 was considered significant. The statistical analysis section of this paper distinctly identified the tests used to analyze specific data points and provided an explanation for when mean or median was reported.

The statistical analysis should also describe how the power analysis was conducted to determine the appropriate sample size. Justification for the approach should be provided when needed. For example, the study that evaluated the effect of endotracheal tube scraping calculated sample size for each treatment group based on previous institutional data for the mean duration of mechanical ventilation and determined that each group needed 136 subjects with an alpha of 0.05 and power of 0.80. 31 Citing references for the rationale and justification for the selected statistical tests is also an approach to support the choice of test. The previously noted evaluation of methacholine reactivity used a reference to support the use of partition analysis. 30 The software package and version used for data analysis should also be specified in the data analysis portion of the methods section. 16

• A Methods Model

Several publications were used throughout this paper to demonstrate the different elements of the methods section of a research paper. A summary of each of those elements and the individual components comprised within each subsection adapted from the endotracheal tube scraping clinical trial are included in Table 2 . 31 It is important to note how some items were further described in the text, such as the technique for airway suctioning, the definition of a successful spontaneous breathing trial, an explanation for extubation outcome, the elements of the ventilator-associated event prevention bundle, and how ventilator-associated events were defined. These specifics provide additional information to help determine validity and generalizability, and highlight the importance of including enough detail to duplicate the study.

Summary of Methods Elements and Details from a Published Paper

The methods section is an important part of a manuscript because it provides information on the validity of the study. One of the main reasons for manuscript rejection is an inadequate description of the methods. Enough detail must be provided so others could repeat the study and reproduce the results, similar to following a recipe. The methods section should be structured for logical and chronological flow, and be written in past tense. There are multiple components of the methods section that must be adequately described and thoroughly detailed to provide an understanding of how the results were obtained to interpret the findings. Subheadings can be helpful for organizing the methods section into subsections when there is a considerable amount of information to report, but subheadings should be used judiciously. A well-written methods section will guide the reader through the research process and provide adequate information to evaluate study validity and credibility of the results as well as reproduce the work.

• Correspondence: Denise Willis MSc RRT RRT-NPS AE-C FAARC, Respiratory Care Services, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, 1 Children’s Way, Slot 303, Little Rock, AR 72202. E-mail: WillisLD{at}archildrens.org

Ms Willis is a Section Editor for R espiratory C are .

Ms Willis presented a version of this paper at the symposium Research in Respiratory Care at AARC Congress 2022 held November 8, 2022, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Manuscript

Affiliation.

• 1 Respiratory Care Services, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas. [email protected].
• PMID: 37643870
• PMCID: PMC10676260 (available on 2024-12-01 )
• DOI: 10.4187/respcare.11437

The methods section of a manuscript is one of the most important parts of a research paper because it provides information on the validity of the study and credibility of the results. Inadequate description of the methods has been reported as one of the main reasons for manuscript rejection. The methods section must include sufficient detail so that others could repeat the study and reproduce the results. The structure of the methods section should flow logically and chronologically. There are multiple components of methods sections, including study design, materials used, study procedures, and data analysis. Each element must be adequately described and thoroughly detailed to provide an understanding of how the results were obtained and how to interpret the findings. Studies that involved humans or animals must include an ethics statement of approval from the appropriate governing body. The methods section should explain how subjects were identified and should state inclusion and exclusion criteria. All materials used to complete the study should be described in detail, including equipment, drugs, gases, chemicals, treatments, interventions, or other items. Study procedures should outline all steps taken to obtain the results and clearly state the outcome measures. Subheadings might be helpful for organizing the methods section into subsections when there is a considerable amount of information to report. A well-written methods section will guide the reader through the research process and provide adequate information to evaluate study validity and reproduce the work. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for writing the methods section of a manuscript.

Keywords: manuscript; methods; publication; research; research paper; science writing; study protocol.

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Home » Research Report – Example, Writing Guide and Types

Research Report – Example, Writing Guide and Types

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Research Report

Definition:

Research Report is a written document that presents the results of a research project or study, including the research question, methodology, results, and conclusions, in a clear and objective manner.

The purpose of a research report is to communicate the findings of the research to the intended audience, which could be other researchers, stakeholders, or the general public.

Components of Research Report

Components of Research Report are as follows:

Introduction

The introduction sets the stage for the research report and provides a brief overview of the research question or problem being investigated. It should include a clear statement of the purpose of the study and its significance or relevance to the field of research. It may also provide background information or a literature review to help contextualize the research.

Literature Review

The literature review provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the existing research and scholarship relevant to the research question or problem. It should identify the gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the literature and show how the current study addresses these issues. The literature review also establishes the theoretical framework or conceptual model that guides the research.

Methodology

The methodology section describes the research design, methods, and procedures used to collect and analyze data. It should include information on the sample or participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis techniques. The methodology should be clear and detailed enough to allow other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the study in a clear and objective manner. It should provide a detailed description of the data and statistics used to answer the research question or test the hypothesis. Tables, graphs, and figures may be included to help visualize the data and illustrate the key findings.

The discussion section interprets the results of the study and explains their significance or relevance to the research question or problem. It should also compare the current findings with those of previous studies and identify the implications for future research or practice. The discussion should be based on the results presented in the previous section and should avoid speculation or unfounded conclusions.

The conclusion summarizes the key findings of the study and restates the main argument or thesis presented in the introduction. It should also provide a brief overview of the contributions of the study to the field of research and the implications for practice or policy.

The references section lists all the sources cited in the research report, following a specific citation style, such as APA or MLA.

The appendices section includes any additional material, such as data tables, figures, or instruments used in the study, that could not be included in the main text due to space limitations.

Types of Research Report

Types of Research Report are as follows:

Thesis is a type of research report. A thesis is a long-form research document that presents the findings and conclusions of an original research study conducted by a student as part of a graduate or postgraduate program. It is typically written by a student pursuing a higher degree, such as a Master’s or Doctoral degree, although it can also be written by researchers or scholars in other fields.

Research Paper

Research paper is a type of research report. A research paper is a document that presents the results of a research study or investigation. Research papers can be written in a variety of fields, including science, social science, humanities, and business. They typically follow a standard format that includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.

Technical Report

A technical report is a detailed report that provides information about a specific technical or scientific problem or project. Technical reports are often used in engineering, science, and other technical fields to document research and development work.

Progress Report

A progress report provides an update on the progress of a research project or program over a specific period of time. Progress reports are typically used to communicate the status of a project to stakeholders, funders, or project managers.

Feasibility Report

A feasibility report assesses the feasibility of a proposed project or plan, providing an analysis of the potential risks, benefits, and costs associated with the project. Feasibility reports are often used in business, engineering, and other fields to determine the viability of a project before it is undertaken.

Field Report

A field report documents observations and findings from fieldwork, which is research conducted in the natural environment or setting. Field reports are often used in anthropology, ecology, and other social and natural sciences.

Experimental Report

An experimental report documents the results of a scientific experiment, including the hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusions. Experimental reports are often used in biology, chemistry, and other sciences to communicate the results of laboratory experiments.

Case Study Report

A case study report provides an in-depth analysis of a specific case or situation, often used in psychology, social work, and other fields to document and understand complex cases or phenomena.

Literature Review Report

A literature review report synthesizes and summarizes existing research on a specific topic, providing an overview of the current state of knowledge on the subject. Literature review reports are often used in social sciences, education, and other fields to identify gaps in the literature and guide future research.

Research Report Example

Following is a Research Report Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Academic Performance among High School Students

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social media use and academic performance among high school students. The study utilized a quantitative research design, which involved a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 200 high school students. The findings indicate that there is a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance, suggesting that excessive social media use can lead to poor academic performance among high school students. The results of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers, as they highlight the need for strategies that can help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities.

Introduction:

Social media has become an integral part of the lives of high school students. With the widespread use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, students can connect with friends, share photos and videos, and engage in discussions on a range of topics. While social media offers many benefits, concerns have been raised about its impact on academic performance. Many studies have found a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance among high school students (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Paul, Baker, & Cochran, 2012).

Given the growing importance of social media in the lives of high school students, it is important to investigate its impact on academic performance. This study aims to address this gap by examining the relationship between social media use and academic performance among high school students.

Methodology:

The study utilized a quantitative research design, which involved a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 200 high school students. The questionnaire was developed based on previous studies and was designed to measure the frequency and duration of social media use, as well as academic performance.

The participants were selected using a convenience sampling technique, and the survey questionnaire was distributed in the classroom during regular school hours. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.

The findings indicate that the majority of high school students use social media platforms on a daily basis, with Facebook being the most popular platform. The results also show a negative correlation between social media use and academic performance, suggesting that excessive social media use can lead to poor academic performance among high school students.

Discussion:

The results of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers. The negative correlation between social media use and academic performance suggests that strategies should be put in place to help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities. For example, educators could incorporate social media into their teaching strategies to engage students and enhance learning. Parents could limit their children’s social media use and encourage them to prioritize their academic responsibilities. Policymakers could develop guidelines and policies to regulate social media use among high school students.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the negative impact of social media on academic performance among high school students. The findings highlight the need for strategies that can help students balance their social media use and academic responsibilities. Further research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms by which social media use affects academic performance and to develop effective strategies for addressing this issue.

Limitations:

One limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other populations. Future studies should use random sampling techniques to increase the representativeness of the sample. Another limitation is the use of self-reported measures, which may be subject to social desirability bias. Future studies could use objective measures of social media use and academic performance, such as tracking software and school records.

Implications:

The findings of this study have important implications for educators, parents, and policymakers. Educators could incorporate social media into their teaching strategies to engage students and enhance learning. For example, teachers could use social media platforms to share relevant educational resources and facilitate online discussions. Parents could limit their children’s social media use and encourage them to prioritize their academic responsibilities. They could also engage in open communication with their children to understand their social media use and its impact on their academic performance. Policymakers could develop guidelines and policies to regulate social media use among high school students. For example, schools could implement social media policies that restrict access during class time and encourage responsible use.

References:

• Kirschner, P. A., & Karpinski, A. C. (2010). Facebook® and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1237-1245.
• Paul, J. A., Baker, H. M., & Cochran, J. D. (2012). Effect of online social networking on student academic performance. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 8(1), 1-19.
• Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(10), 652-657.
• Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 948-958.

Note*: Above mention, Example is just a sample for the students’ guide. Do not directly copy and paste as your College or University assignment. Kindly do some research and Write your own.

Applications of Research Report

Research reports have many applications, including:

• Communicating research findings: The primary application of a research report is to communicate the results of a study to other researchers, stakeholders, or the general public. The report serves as a way to share new knowledge, insights, and discoveries with others in the field.
• Informing policy and practice : Research reports can inform policy and practice by providing evidence-based recommendations for decision-makers. For example, a research report on the effectiveness of a new drug could inform regulatory agencies in their decision-making process.
• Supporting further research: Research reports can provide a foundation for further research in a particular area. Other researchers may use the findings and methodology of a report to develop new research questions or to build on existing research.
• Evaluating programs and interventions : Research reports can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and interventions in achieving their intended outcomes. For example, a research report on a new educational program could provide evidence of its impact on student performance.
• Demonstrating impact : Research reports can be used to demonstrate the impact of research funding or to evaluate the success of research projects. By presenting the findings and outcomes of a study, research reports can show the value of research to funders and stakeholders.
• Enhancing professional development : Research reports can be used to enhance professional development by providing a source of information and learning for researchers and practitioners in a particular field. For example, a research report on a new teaching methodology could provide insights and ideas for educators to incorporate into their own practice.

How to write Research Report

Here are some steps you can follow to write a research report:

• Identify the research question: The first step in writing a research report is to identify your research question. This will help you focus your research and organize your findings.
• Conduct research : Once you have identified your research question, you will need to conduct research to gather relevant data and information. This can involve conducting experiments, reviewing literature, or analyzing data.
• Organize your findings: Once you have gathered all of your data, you will need to organize your findings in a way that is clear and understandable. This can involve creating tables, graphs, or charts to illustrate your results.
• Write the report: Once you have organized your findings, you can begin writing the report. Start with an introduction that provides background information and explains the purpose of your research. Next, provide a detailed description of your research methods and findings. Finally, summarize your results and draw conclusions based on your findings.
• Proofread and edit: After you have written your report, be sure to proofread and edit it carefully. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and make sure that your report is well-organized and easy to read.
• Include a reference list: Be sure to include a list of references that you used in your research. This will give credit to your sources and allow readers to further explore the topic if they choose.
• Format your report: Finally, format your report according to the guidelines provided by your instructor or organization. This may include formatting requirements for headings, margins, fonts, and spacing.

Purpose of Research Report

The purpose of a research report is to communicate the results of a research study to a specific audience, such as peers in the same field, stakeholders, or the general public. The report provides a detailed description of the research methods, findings, and conclusions.

Some common purposes of a research report include:

• Sharing knowledge: A research report allows researchers to share their findings and knowledge with others in their field. This helps to advance the field and improve the understanding of a particular topic.
• Identifying trends: A research report can identify trends and patterns in data, which can help guide future research and inform decision-making.
• Addressing problems: A research report can provide insights into problems or issues and suggest solutions or recommendations for addressing them.
• Evaluating programs or interventions : A research report can evaluate the effectiveness of programs or interventions, which can inform decision-making about whether to continue, modify, or discontinue them.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: In some fields, research reports are required to meet regulatory requirements, such as in the case of drug trials or environmental impact studies.

When to Write Research Report

A research report should be written after completing the research study. This includes collecting data, analyzing the results, and drawing conclusions based on the findings. Once the research is complete, the report should be written in a timely manner while the information is still fresh in the researcher’s mind.

In academic settings, research reports are often required as part of coursework or as part of a thesis or dissertation. In this case, the report should be written according to the guidelines provided by the instructor or institution.

In other settings, such as in industry or government, research reports may be required to inform decision-making or to comply with regulatory requirements. In these cases, the report should be written as soon as possible after the research is completed in order to inform decision-making in a timely manner.

Overall, the timing of when to write a research report depends on the purpose of the research, the expectations of the audience, and any regulatory requirements that need to be met. However, it is important to complete the report in a timely manner while the information is still fresh in the researcher’s mind.

Characteristics of Research Report

There are several characteristics of a research report that distinguish it from other types of writing. These characteristics include:

• Objective: A research report should be written in an objective and unbiased manner. It should present the facts and findings of the research study without any personal opinions or biases.
• Systematic: A research report should be written in a systematic manner. It should follow a clear and logical structure, and the information should be presented in a way that is easy to understand and follow.
• Detailed: A research report should be detailed and comprehensive. It should provide a thorough description of the research methods, results, and conclusions.
• Accurate : A research report should be accurate and based on sound research methods. The findings and conclusions should be supported by data and evidence.
• Organized: A research report should be well-organized. It should include headings and subheadings to help the reader navigate the report and understand the main points.
• Clear and concise: A research report should be written in clear and concise language. The information should be presented in a way that is easy to understand, and unnecessary jargon should be avoided.
• Citations and references: A research report should include citations and references to support the findings and conclusions. This helps to give credit to other researchers and to provide readers with the opportunity to further explore the topic.

Advantages of Research Report

Research reports have several advantages, including:

• Communicating research findings: Research reports allow researchers to communicate their findings to a wider audience, including other researchers, stakeholders, and the general public. This helps to disseminate knowledge and advance the understanding of a particular topic.
• Providing evidence for decision-making : Research reports can provide evidence to inform decision-making, such as in the case of policy-making, program planning, or product development. The findings and conclusions can help guide decisions and improve outcomes.
• Supporting further research: Research reports can provide a foundation for further research on a particular topic. Other researchers can build on the findings and conclusions of the report, which can lead to further discoveries and advancements in the field.
• Demonstrating expertise: Research reports can demonstrate the expertise of the researchers and their ability to conduct rigorous and high-quality research. This can be important for securing funding, promotions, and other professional opportunities.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: In some fields, research reports are required to meet regulatory requirements, such as in the case of drug trials or environmental impact studies. Producing a high-quality research report can help ensure compliance with these requirements.

Limitations of Research Report

Despite their advantages, research reports also have some limitations, including:

• Time-consuming: Conducting research and writing a report can be a time-consuming process, particularly for large-scale studies. This can limit the frequency and speed of producing research reports.
• Expensive: Conducting research and producing a report can be expensive, particularly for studies that require specialized equipment, personnel, or data. This can limit the scope and feasibility of some research studies.
• Limited generalizability: Research studies often focus on a specific population or context, which can limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations or contexts.
• Potential bias : Researchers may have biases or conflicts of interest that can influence the findings and conclusions of the research study. Additionally, participants may also have biases or may not be representative of the larger population, which can limit the validity and reliability of the findings.
• Accessibility: Research reports may be written in technical or academic language, which can limit their accessibility to a wider audience. Additionally, some research may be behind paywalls or require specialized access, which can limit the ability of others to read and use the findings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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