This document provides guidance on developing the methodology section of a research project. It discusses key components of a methodology section including describing the study design, sampling method, data collection tools, and data analysis procedures. A good methodology section clearly explains how the research will be conducted so that others could understand and potentially replicate the study. It also discusses how the chosen research methods should be appropriate for answering the research question and achieving the study's objectives.

1. MTK4998 Final Year Research Project I
Workshop 3 (Methodology)
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

2. Research Process
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

3. Research Process
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

4. Research Design
Having decided what you want to study, you now need to determine
how you are going to conduct your study.
A research design is a plan, structure and strategy of investigation
considered to obtain answers to research questions or problems.
Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means
concerning a research study constitute a research design.
One of the most important requirements of a research design is to
specify everything clearly so a reader will understand what
procedures to follow and how to follow them.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

5. Research Design
What study design you propose to use?
Who will constitute the study population?
How will the study population be identified?
Will a sample or the whole population be selected?
If a sample is selected, how will it be contacted?
How will consent be sought?
What method of data collection will be used and why?
In the case of a questionnaire, where will the responses be returned?
How should respondents contact you if they have queries?
In the case of interviews, where will they be conducted?
How will ethical issues be taken care of?
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

6. Constructing an Instrument for Data Collection
Anything that becomes a means of collecting information for your
study is called a ‘research tool’ or a ‘research instrument’.
If you are planning to collect data specifically for your study
(primary data), you need either to construct a research instrument
or to select one that has already been constructed.
Field testing (or pre-testing) a research tool is an integral part of
instrument construction.
The pre-test of a research instrument should not be carried out on
the sample of your study population but on a similar population
which you are not proposing to study.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

7. Constructing an Instrument for Data Collection
If you are using secondary data (information already collected for
other purposes), you will need to identify what information is
needed and then develop a form to extract the required data.
There may be problems with using data from secondary sources.
The researcher must be careful as there may be certain problems
with the availability, format and quality of data.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

8. Selecting a Sample
In selecting a sample the researcher should always try to achieve
maximum precision in the estimates within a given sample size, and
should avoid bias in the selection of the sample.
Two major sampling designs are probability sampling designs and
non-probability sampling designs.
With probability samples each element has a known probability of
being included in the sample but the non-probability samples do not
allow the researcher to determine this probability.
Probability samples are those based on simple random sampling,
systematic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster/area sampling
whereas non-probability samples are those based on convenience
sampling, judgement sampling and quota sampling techniques.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

9. Research Methods versus Methodology
Research methods may be understood as all those methods that are
used for conduction of research.
Research methods, thus, refer to the methods the researchers use in
performing research operations.
In other words, all those methods which are used by the researcher
during the course of studying the research problem are termed as
research methods.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

10. Research Methods versus Methodology
Research methods in applied research can be put into three groups:
The first group consists of those methods which are concerned with
the collection of data.
The second group consists of those statistical techniques which are
used for establishing relationships between the data and the
unknown aspects of the problem.
The third group consists of those methods which are used to
evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

11. Research Methods versus Methodology
Methodology is the general research strategy that outlines the way
in which a research project is to be undertaken and, among other
things, identifies the methods to be used in it.
Methodology is the design process for carrying out research or the
development of a procedure and is not in itself an instrument, or
method or procedure for doing things.
Methodology is the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods
applied to a field of study.
It offers the theoretical underpinning for understanding which
method, set of methods or so called “best practices” can be applied
to specific case, for example, to calculate a specific result.
Methodology implies more than simply the methods you intend to
use to collect data. It is often necessary to include a consideration
of the concepts and theories which underlie the methods.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

12. Research Methods versus Methodology
Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or
tests, how to apply particular research methods, but they also need
to know which of these methods are relevant and which are not, and
what would they mean and indicate and why.
Researchers also need to understand the assumptions underlying
various methods and they need to know the criteria by which they
can decide that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable
to certain problems and others will not.
When we talk of methodology we not only talk of the research
methods but also consider the logic behind the methods we use in
the context of our research study and explain why we are using a
particular method and why we are not using others so that research
results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher or by
others.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

13. The Methodology Section
The methodology section answers how was the data collected,
provides a description of the research method that will be used and
describe your rationale for choosing this method.
The methodology section consists of a description of the study
design, the sampling method, the sample size calculation and a
description of the data collection tools to be used.
The methodology section of a quantitative study should describe
how each objective of your study will be achieved.
Be sure to provide enough detail to enable that the reader can make
an informed assessment of the method being used to obtain results
associated with the research problem.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

14. The Methodology Section
The methodology of research involves:
identifying the method of research
specifying the subjects of study
selecting an adequate representative sample of subjects
selecting/constructing valid and reliable instruments for measuring
the variables in the problem
selecting a research design and describing the procedure to be
employed for conducting the research study
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

15. The Methodology Section
Participants (including a description and selection procedures)
Research design
Data collection plans
Operational definition of all variables
Reliability and validity of instruments
Results of pilot studies
Proposed analysis of the data
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

16. The Methodology Section
Study population and sampling – where did the data come from;
how robust is it; note where gaps exist or what was excluded. Note
the procedures used for their selection.
Data collection – describe the tools and methods used to collect
information and identify the variables being measured; describe the
methods used to obtain the data; note if the data was pre-existing
(i.e., government data) or you gathered it yourself. If you gathered
it, describe what type of instrument you used and why. Note that
no data set is perfect–describe any limitations in methodology.
Data analysis – describe the procedures for processing and analyzing
the data. If appropriate, describe the specific instruments of analysis
used to study each research objective.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

17. The Methodology Section
Is the design suitable for answering the question posed?
Have the equipment and materials been adequately described?
Does the researcher make it clear what type of data was recorded?
Has the researcher been precise in describing measurements?
Does the researcher accurately explain how the data was collected?
Was the sampling appropriate?
Is there sufficient information present for other researchers to
replicate the research?
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

18. Importance of a Good Methodology Section
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
should make clear the reasons why you chose a particular method or
procedure.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

19. Importance of a Good Methodology Section
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.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

20. Importance of a Good Methodology Section
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.
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. Every
stage should be explained and justified with clear reasons for the
choice of your particular methods and materials.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

21. Effective Methodology Section
An effectively written methodology section should:
Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your
research problem.
Is your study qualitative or quantitative? Are you going to take a
special approach?
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.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

22. Effective Methodology Section
Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to
use, such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation.
If you are analyzing existing data, 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 explain observed behaviours?
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

23. Effective Methodology Section
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 using statistics,
why is this set of statistics 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? 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.
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)

24. The “Methodology” Section
Algorithm
Assumption
Axiom
Conjecture
Corollary
Definition
Example
Lemma
Problem
Proof
Proposition
Remark
Theorem
Final Year Research Project I Workshop 3 (Methodology)