Category Archives: methodology

learning from live pandemic research

Posted on June 8, 2020 by pat thomson

I haven’t taught research methods for a year or so. But right now I do wish I still was. I’m not asking for additional workload. Not at all. It’s just that there is so much potential for learning in the … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, epistemology, mess, methodology, methods, ontology, pandemic, research methods | Tagged knowledge-making, live research methods, ologies, pandemic, sciences | 5 Comments

a festive gift from patter – a checklist for revising methods chapters

Posted on December 23, 2019 by pat thomson

PhDers sometimes find writing the thesis methods chapter a pretty tedious business. But the methods chapter is a key part of the examination process – it shows that the researcher knows how to research. You see, examiners make their decision … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, data, data analysis, methodology, methods, methods chapter, research methods, revision, revision strategy, thesis revision | Tagged data analysis, methodology, methods chapter, revision, revision strategy | 5 Comments

writing course – the Methods Section

Posted on February 5, 2015 by pat thomson

Methods. Methodology. Being methodical. All of the above. The third day of the writing workshop (predictably, since we are following an ILMRaD structure) focused on what goes in the Methods Section of a journal article. And predictably again, the first … Continue reading →

Posted in methodology, methods | Tagged methodology, methods, Pat Thomson, writing course | 5 Comments

the audit trail – a common omission from methods chapters

Posted on August 14, 2014 by pat thomson

It’s really important to put an ‘audit trail’ into your methods chapter. Audit trail? Well, it doesn’t actually matter what you call it, it’s the section in the chapter where you give the examiner the nuts and bolts information about … Continue reading →

Posted in evidence, examination criteria, examiner, methodology, methods chapter | Tagged audit trail, methods chapter, Pat Thomson | 15 Comments

do we ‘collect’ data? or – beware the ontological slip …

Posted on March 11, 2013 by pat thomson

A post where I have a small rant about one of my least favorite research expressions… We’ve all heard of a Freudian slip. This is where we inadvertently say something that unintentionally reveals an unconscious, or repressed, feeling, idea or … Continue reading →

Posted in data, epistemology, methodology, ontology | Tagged 'collecting' data, epistemology, Freudian slip, Nick Hopwood, ontology, Pat Thomson | 20 Comments

getting tense about tense

Posted on March 7, 2013 by pat thomson

In a recent comment to this blog someone asked me if I had any tips on managing tense. They found themselves, they said, wandering around in time as they wrote, meandering from present to past and back again, undertaking an … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, grammar, literature review, methodology, methods chapter, tense, thesis | Tagged academic writing, methodology, Paltridge and Starfield, Pat Thomson, tense | 9 Comments

methodology isn’t methods.. or… what goes in a methods chapter

Posted on February 18, 2013 by pat thomson

Since I’ve been posting about methods and methodology, I’ve been asked several times to discuss the difference between methodology and methods and how these appear in a methods chapter. This post is by way of an answer. Not all dissertations … Continue reading →