How to Create a Successful Research Methodology

A research methodology is special techniques and various procedures implemented to define, choose,
process, and make an analysis of data about a subject you’ve chosen. The methodology part / section in
your research paper helps people to evaluate a paper’s reliability and genuineness.

Why Is It Important to Come up with a Bright Research Methodology?

1. Explain the Methodological Approach in Use
At the start, you need to mention what research question or problem you want to investigate in
this document. Maybe you wish to describe the chosen object's characteristics, or explain a
cause-and-effect strategy, or explore a new topic? Think thoroughly about what kind of data you
have to get for this research. Here are some questions we suggest answering:
 Do you need qualitative or quantitative data for this research?
 Do you need to gather it by yourself or you need help?
 Do you select descriptive or experimental data?
 Besides, you may answer the next questions to define a methodology:

 Why is it the most suitable method to solve your research problem or to find an answer
for the research question?
 Do you use a standard methodology?
 Does your document have any philosophical or ethical considerations?
 What are the main criteria for the reliability and validity of this research?
2. Provide Your Data Collection Methods
A. Quantitative Methods
For quantitative research, it’s quite important to describe the methods of data collection.
Include all the procedures, materials, and tools you've used to gather data for your work:

Surveys. Provide readers with details about how, when, and where your survey was made.
 What's the type of questions in your survey? (multiple choice, scale, etc.)
 What kind of method did you use to choose participants for this survey?
 Were your surveys conducted by mail, in person, or online, and what time frames its
participants had to answer?
 What were the response rate and sample size?
Experiments. Provide all the details about the procedures, techniques, and tools you used for
your experiment.
 How your experiment was designed?
 How did you measure the variables in it?
 What tools did you use for measuring?
Existing data. Provide your readers with details on how you have gathered the material for your
research.
 Where did you find this material?
 How the data was produced?
  What criteria were used to select the material?
B. Qualitative Methods
Here you need to describe the approach you've selected and explain this choice thoroughly.
Write about the criteria you used to choose sources or participants.

Interviews. Provide the readers with details on when, how, and where the interviews were
made.
 How were your participants gathered and chosen?
 What number of participants participated in an interview?
 What was the interview's form?
 How were interviews recorded and how many hours did it take?
Participant observation. Provide the details about the observation.
 What community or group of people did you choose and why?
 How long and where did the observation take?
 What was your role in this group of people?
 What method did you choose to record your data?
Existing data. Provide your readers with the methods you've selected to choose the materials
for this research.
 What materials were analyzed and why?
 How were these materials chosen?
3. Describe Your Analysis Methods
Show to readers how you've analyzed your data. Please keep in mind that you don't have to
present or discuss the results of your work here.

Quantitative Methods
 Your analysis must be done on numbers. Include the things below in this part:
 How was your data prepared for the analysis?
 What kind of software have you used?
 Which tests have you used for this analysis?

Qualitative Methods

This type of research is made on observations, language, and images. These are the methods
you can use for the analysis:

 Content: discuss and category the words and phrases meaning.

 Thematic: code and examine the data to define themes and patterns.
 Discourse: study communications and meaning to the social context.

4. Evaluate and Justify the Methodology You Choose

The methodology must provide its readers with an explanation of why you've selected certain
methods for this research. You must prove why other methods weren’t acceptable for the
objectives. You may also write about the weaknesses of the chosen approach but explain why its
strengths have convinced you to choose it. As for lab experiments in the research, they cannot
always duplicate real-life situations. But these experiments may help to test relationships
 between variables. For example, it's impossible to generalize results from unstructured
interviews but with them, it’s easy to see its participants’ emotions, perceptions, and
motivations.

Tips to Come up with a Winning Research Methodology

 Be focused on the research question. Remember that the methodology part must explain why
you've selected certain methods for the research and ensure people that you’ve chosen the best
approach for solving the problem.
 Cite sources properly. With proper referencing, you'll make the whole work stronger, show your
understanding of methodologies, and demonstrate skills to pick up the right approach.
 Write for readers. Include the most important details in the document. Try to write about how
you've selected the methodology and make it understandable for readers. A methodology must
be structured properly and clear.
 Discuss unexpected obstacles. If during gathering the data you've met any difficulties and
problems, write about how you've solved this issue. Your main task is to show to readers that
your work was made with a great attention to details.
 Make your work well-structured. Organize your paper thoroughly to keep it understandable for
readers. Create a clear outline and follow it during writing. It'll help to make your methodology
good organized.
 Justify your methods. Provide reasons why you've selected particular methods to convince
readers.
 Draft your methods as you perform them. The right way to create a good methodology is to
write it during your research. In this case, it will be easier for you to provide and describe
research methods meticulously. Needless to say, it will make your whole paper more
professional