Writing the Method Section

1. Writing the Method
Section
By: Dana Khaled Barwal

2. Purpose of the Method Section
• Shows how you did your study, step by step
• Helps others replicate your research
• Allows readers to judge how reliable and valid your work is
• Think of it as the “blueprint” for your study

3. Appendices and Supplemental
Websites
• Appendices → Printed extras at the end of your paper
Use for: Surveys, tables, or tools readers may need (easy-to-print
content)
- Example: Survey questions, demographic details
• supplemental Websites → Online links to large or complex content
Use for: Long, complex, or digital materials (content few readers need,
or that’s hard to print)
- Example: Videos, code, color figures
• Mention them in your text:
- “See Appendix A.” or “Full protocol available online.”

4. Method Section Structure
• Common Subsections:
- Participants → who took part
- Procedure → what they did and how the study ran
- Materials/Measures → what tools you used (surveys, tests)
• You might also include:
- Setting and Sample → where the study took place and who was studied
- Data Collection → how the information was gathered
- Intervention Description → what program or treatment was given (if any)
• Flexibility in subsection titles (choose clear, helpful headings)
- Example: use “Participants” as your heading—unless the people didn’t give direct
consent (like in public observations), then use “Sample.”

5. Describing Participants
• Include:
- Number of participants
- Age ranges and mean age (with unit: years/months)
- Gender, race, and ethnicity
• For multiple groups, report gender/race/ethnicity for each for
comparison purposes

6. Respectful & Accurate Language
• Use men and women, girls and boys (use males/females only when
necessary and as adjectives)
• Use same sex/other sex (not same sex/opposite sex)
• Use people/humankind (not mankind)
• Avoid bias in order and choice of terms (e.g., say women and men
sometimes)

7. Reporting Race and Ethnicity
• Capitalize racial and ethnic labels (e.g., like Black, White, Asian American)
• Don’t use non-White (imprecise)
• Avoid outdated labels (e.g., use Asian American and Native American instead of
Oriental or American Indian)
• Do not hyphenate (e.g., African American instead of African-American)
• Ask participants about preferred designations and how they identify if you're unsure

8. Avoiding Bias in Language
• Avoid reducing people to diagnoses (use people with bipolar disorder,
not bipolars)
• Avoid implying helplessness (say people who reported being sexually
abused instead of teenage victims of sexual abuse)
• Do not use elderly as a noun (use older adults, older persons)

9. Extra Info About Your
Participants
• Include details about participants that may be relevant to the study:
- Educational level
- Setting
• Selection criteria may include:
- Marital status
- diagnosis
- Socioeconomic status
- sexual orientation
• Specify if the participants were paid, got course credit, or just
volunteered

10. Describing Groups Formation
and Assignments
• Participants may be grouped by traits and characteristics (e.g.,
ADHD, test scores) or assigned randomly
• Instead of saying “Participants were divided into men and women”,
use "Participants were grouped based on gender"

11. Dropouts and Response Rates
• Report how many dropped out and why (if known)
• Indicate:
- The number of surveys mailed out (500 sent, 350 returned, 40
incomplete)
- What percentage of the surveys was actually completed (%
completed, not returned, address unknown)
• Avoid “participants failed to complete” and use “participants did not
complete” instead

12. Power and Ethics
• You may include power analysis → calculate how many participants you need
• Common Tools to Measure/Calculate Power:
- G*Power the free software (Input: power → Output: required sample size/input
sample size → Output: power)
- R or Python that comes with specific statistical packages
- Online calculators
• If you didn’t do one, just explain why you chose your sample size (e.g., class size,
available population).
• Add ethics compliance (toward the end of Participants section):
• Confirm adherence to NASW (National Association of Social Workers) Ethics Code
- Example: “This study followed NASW ethical standards”
“Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person”

13. Explaining Your Procedure
• Describe from both perspectives:
- Researcher: organization of study
- Participant: tasks performed
• Clarify if it’s:
- Within-subjects (everyone does all conditions)
- Between-subjects (participants split across conditions)

14. Naming and Describing Groups
• Prefer:
- Descriptive names (alcohol-information group, not Group A)
- Abbreviations (AI group in ALL CAPS)
• Don’t overuse abbreviations; clarity comes first
• Only capitalize if the group is named with a letter or number (Group A, not alcohol-
info Group)

15. Describing Tasks
• Use active voice with participants as subject:
- Participants rated..., completed..., watched...
- The researcher gave a survey to the participants
• Explain scoring and how scores were calculated if not obvious.

16. Materials and Measures
• Materials (printed/recorded videos, vignettes, or manuals)
• Measures (surveys, psychological tests, or rating scales)
• For every published test or survey used, cite the author and year
• For Self-developed scales and measurements, describe:
- What it’s supposed to measure
- Number of items
- Sample items (or add full version in an appendix)
- How responses were recorded (Likert scale, open-ended, etc.)
- How the total score was calculated
- Reliability/validity info, if available

17. Likert-type Scales
• Use a hyphen (5-point scale)
• Italicize anchors (never, always)
• If middle values are labeled (sometimes), italicize those too
- Example: “Responses range from 1 (never) to 5 (always)”

18. Describing Non-Scale Materials
• Not all materials are tests; some are:
- Reading passages
- Videos
- Word lists
- Mention:
- If you created or modified materials
- If you borrowed from another source
- What participants did with them

19. Placement of Materials Section
• If materials differ by group, you can:
- Use a section called Design and Materials
- Describe materials in the Procedure section
• Choose the approach that makes it easiest to follow

20. Variable Definitions
• Always define:
- Independent variable → what you’re testing/changing
- Dependent variable → what you’re measuring
• Explain how abstract ideas (like stress) were measured
• Assume the reader doesn’t know your constructs as they may be
abstract

21. Remember Your Audience
• Always assume that your audience is composed of experienced readers.
• Avoid explaining:
- How you randomized (e.g., pulling names from hats < participants
were randomly assigned)
- How instructions were phrased (e.g., participants were told to
complete the questions as fast as they could but to try not to make
mistakes < instructions stressed speed and accuracy)
- How answers were managed (say that responses were recorded
verbatim)
- How ordinary materials were handled (do not say participants used
pencils)

22. The Method section
sets the foundation for
your Results...
So get this part right
first
!

23. References
• American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Washington, DC: APA.
• American Psychological Association. (2019). Bias-free language guidelines. Retrieved from https://apastyle.apa.org/style-
grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/
• Champely, S. (2020). pwr: Basic functions for power analysis (R package version 1.3-0). Retrieved from https://cran.r-
project.org/web/packages/pwr/
• Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the
social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146
• Heppner, P. P., Wampold, B. E., & Kivlighan, D. M. (2008). Research design in counseling (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson
Brooks/Cole.
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers.
Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics
• Salkind, N. J. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedia of research design (Vols. 1–3). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
• UBC Department of Statistics. (n.d.). Sample size calculators. Retrieved from https://stat.ubc.ca/~rollin/stats/ssize/
• Wagner, R. (2017). Writing with style: APA style for social work (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.