methodology webinar

1. Writing about your
Methodology
• You will be able to…
• Explain what your methodology
and methods section should include
• Apply techniques for structuring
and writing about your methodology
• Create a plan for your own chapter

2. What is it for?
Your methodology and methods chapter or
section is for you to explain how you conducted
your research and why you did it that way.
Your methodologies and methods are all
connected – each methodology leads to a
number of methods. Each choice you make helps
to explain the other choices. You need to show
those explanations.
Your methodology and methods are also
connected to your research aims. Show of why
this is the best way to conduct this research.

3. First steps check list
• Are you writing a separate chapter or
including this in your introduction?
• Check you know the difference between
methodologies and methods. Your
methodology will depend on how you
believe data should be collected and
analysed. Methods are how you will do
that.
• Each methodology aligns with a range of
appropriate research methods: check your
makes sense.
• Philosophy/Research Paradigm (e.g.
Positivistic or Interpretavist)
• Methodology (e.g. Qualitative or
Quantitative, or you may choose a theory such
as feminism)
• Methods (e.g. case study, surveys,
interviews, lab experiment, archival)
• Research design/tools and methods of data
analysis (e.g. equipment, SPSS, thematic,
content anlaysis)

4. Planning your chapter: structure
There is no one
right way to
structure your
chapter and it will
often depend on
your discipline.
However, this is a
good model to
start with:
Philosophy/Paradigm
Methodology
Research Methods
Research Design
Analysis
method
Each stage is getting
narrower from your
overarching philosophy down
to your specific tools of
analysis.
Each stage helps you to
explain the next.
Now, make a rough plan for your
own chapter

5. Writing each section:
methodology
Use these questions as a guide:
• Which methodology have you chosen?
• Why is this methodology most appropriate for your
project?
• What possible limitations could there be to your
methodology?
• So, why have you not chosen another methodology?
Stay focused on why you have chosen your methodology
for this particular project.
Don't give a summary of all the different research
methodologies that exist.

6. This research employed a qualitative method with the aim of exploring in-depth how IT professionals manage the
competing demands of work and life as well as how and why work-life balance provisions can impact on their intention
to leave an organisation. While quantitative research has advantages in bias avoidance and ability to repeat the
findings because of statistical analysis and ‘statistical interpretation’, the strength of the qualitative approach is in its
ability to deal with complicated situations (Creswell, 2007). This means that a situation can be looked at from various
perspectives through qualitative research (Creswell, 2007), unlike quantitative research, which only provides and
overview of causa relationships among factors related to the situation (Creswell, 2007). Although qualitative
methodologies can be criticised for the potential of researcher bias and subjectivity, the researcher can understand
reasons and social context behind the participants’ responses (Creswell, 2007). Learning how employees balance work
and life in a socially constructed and complex world makes qualitative research more appropriate for this study.
Qualitative research allows the researcher to understand how and why work-life balance initiatives can impact on
employees’ intention to leave. It enables an analysis of an individual’s motivation, perceptions and emotions and how
these impact their decision making. Additionally, the qualitative approach is chosen because the researcher has no
expert knowledge of statistics. Although the author can use the computer software program SPSS to assist data
analysis, lack of knowledge of the underlying principles of statistical analysis can limit the data interpretation and
analysis.

7. This research employed a qualitative method with the aim of exploring in-depth how IT professionals manage
the competing demands of work and life as well as how and why work-life balance provisions can impact on
their intention to leave an organisation. While quantitative research has advantages in bias avoidance and
ability to repeat the findings because of statistical analysis and ‘statistical interpretation’, the strength of the
qualitative approach is in its ability to deal with complicated situations (Creswell, 2007). This means that a
situation can be looked at from various perspectives through qualitative research (Creswell, 2007), unlike
quantitative research, which only provides and overview of causa relationships among factors related to the
situation (Creswell, 2007). Although qualitative methodologies can be criticised for the potential of
researcher bias and subjectivity, the researcher can understand reasons and social context behind the
participants’ responses (Creswell, 2007). Learning how employees balance work and life in a socially
constructed and complex world makes qualitative research more appropriate for this study. Qualitative
research allows the researcher to understand how and why work-life balance initiatives can impact on
employees’ intention to leave. It enables an analysis of an individual’s motivation, perceptions and emotions
and how these impact their decision making. Additionally, the qualitative approach is chosen because the
researcher has no expert knowledge of statistics. Although the author can use the computer software
program SPSS to assist data analysis, lack of knowledge of the underlying principles of statistical analysis can
limit the data interpretation and analysis.
Which methodology?
Why is it appropriate?
Possible criticism, or
limitations
So, why haven’t you
chosen another one?
Please avoid!

8. Have a go...
Go back to your plan.
Can you add any notes to it to
justify your methodology?

9. Writing each section:
methods
Firstly, you need to describe your
chosen methods and explain why they
are appropriate for your research.
Use the same questioning process as
for your methodology.

10. Since this research adopts a qualitative methodology, the data collection methods which are suitable for this study
could include both individual interviews and focus groups. However, the data collection method should always be
consistent with research questions and research objectives (Smith, et al., 2012). The overall purpose of this research is
to explore the level of work-life conflict which employees in the IT industry experience as well as to gain a deeper
understanding of how and why work-life balance is considered as an affecting factor on employees’ intention to leave.
Therefore, individual interviews, which can provide sufficient information to answer not only the question of
respondents’ viewpoint but also how and why that response was given (Smith et al., 2012), is the chosen data
collection method. As stated above, apart from individual interviews, focus groups are also suited to qualitative
research. Data generated from focus group interviews can be unique and ‘concentrated’ and the volume of data
generated is larger in a shorter period of time when compared to individual interview (Hatch, 2002). However, the
issue of control requires an experienced and skilled interviewer as a moderator (Hatch, 2002) but the researcher has
no experience in moderating groups, and there were also geographical constraints. Therefore, individual interview is
more suitable for this study.

11. Since this research adopts a qualitative methodology, the data collection methods which are
suitable for this study could include both individual interviews and focus groups. However,
the data collection method should always be consistent with research questions and research
objectives (Smith, et al., 2012). The overall purpose of this research is to explore the level of
work-life conflict which employees in the IT industry experience as well as to gain a deeper
understanding of how and why work-life balance is considered as an affecting factor on
employees’ intention to leave. Therefore, individual interviews, which can provide sufficient
information to answer not only the question of respondents’ viewpoint but also how and
why that response was given (Smith et al., 2012), is the chosen data collection method. As
stated above, apart from individual interviews, focus groups are also suited to qualitative
research. Data generated from focus group interviews can be unique and ‘concentrated’ and
the volume of data generated is larger in a shorter period of time when compared to
individual interview (Hatch, 2002). However, the issue of control requires an experienced and
skilled interviewer as a moderator (Hatch, 2002) but the researcher has no experience in
moderating groups, and there were also geographical constraints. Therefore, individual
interview is more suitable for this study.
Which methods
suitable for your
methodology?
Why is this one
appropriate?
Possible criticism, or
limitations, alternatives
explored
So, why haven’t you
chosen another one?

12. Keep building up your plan….
Can you add any notes to
develop it in terms of
justifying your method?

13. Writing each section: research
design and methods of analysis
• Your research design needs to be detailed
and its suitability needs to be explained.
• For example, if you used questionnaires,
say why they would give you the data you
want and then describe who you gave them
to, why you chose those people, where and
how they accessed them, and that you may
have used SPSS to analyse the results.
• This is also an opportunity to consider
issues around reliability and validity.

14. Your discipline and specific project will determine
how this section looks. The original survey consisted of twenty-five items that
contributed to five sub-scales, representing the five
decision making styles. A further nine ‘demographic’
questions were included at the start of the survey;
‘Gender’, ‘Age’, ‘Primary Work Location*’, ‘Country of
Birth*’, ‘Primary Language*’, ‘Team’, ‘Grade’,
‘Employment Type’, and ‘Main Focus of Role’. The
questions marked * were included to help determine
cultural affinity, as cultural affinity could not be measured
on ‘primary work location’ alone. The ‘Age’ question
provided ‘age range’ responses, as not many people like
to state their exact age when completing surveys. A copy
of the adapted survey used in the current study is
available in appendix G. The survey was re-created using
a SharePoint survey form, and was hosted on the internal
company intranet, accessible by a specific URL, as this
was the most efficient way to distribute the survey to a
large number of participants. The survey took
approximately five minutes to complete per respondent
(as evidenced in the pilot). The survey was secured as
‘read-only’ so that no changes could be made by any
respondents, and was configured to prevent participants
submitted multiple responses (and potentially skewing
the data).
i)
ii)

15. Some questions to
consider
• How did you select participants?
• What is your sample size?
• What key words did you look for?
• Which databases/archives did you use?
• Are there any ethical considerations?
• Did you use any software/apps?
• What was your research instrument
(questionnaire/equipment)?
• Do you need diagrams to help explain?

16. Adding some detail….
Go back to your plan. Can you
add any specific details to your
research design/data anlaysis
that you will need to include?
For each detail of your design,
can you add why you did this?

17. Writing your chapter: language
Always be specific. For example, use the
precise names of tests, scales, online
products used.
Keep explaining your choices.
• As this project's aim is to…, a quantitative methodology was most
appropriate because…
• Qualitative methods offer a more effective way of ….
Questionnaires rather than interviews were used because…
• The X method is one of the more practical ways of ….
• To measure X, a question asking … was used.
To rule out the possibility that X, the participants were….
• To see if the two methods gave the same measurement, the data
was plotted and ….
Find more at http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/describing-
methods/
Try turning at least two notes on
your plan into full sentences?

18. To sum up and
reflect:
• Clear rationale for your research approach which
is clearly linked to your topic / objectives.
• Clear explanation for you choice of method which
is clearly linked to your topic / objectives.
• A complete description of sampling and data
collection process
• A description of primary/secondary data analysis
• Consideration of ethical issues

19. Next steps: webinars to develop your
dissertation writing, and other
assignments you may still have.
This Friday:
Academic Writing: reflections
Next week:
Editing and Proofreading
Dissertations: Question Time
Academic Writing: case studies