Category Archives: methods chapter

thirteen reasons researchers get asked to write their methods chapter again

Posted on January 31, 2013 by pat thomson

Dissertation examiners always check the methods chapter or methodological writings carefully. And the more the doctorate is seen as research training, the more important it will be for examiners to make sure that the relevant writings in the thesis really … Continue reading →

Posted in dissertation, doctoral research, epistemology, methods chapter, research methods, research project, theory, thesis | Tagged dissertation, failing thesis, methods chapters, Pat Thomson | 31 Comments

the methods chapter as a party

Posted on January 24, 2013 by pat thomson

I recently posted some misgivings I had about methods chapters. I suggested in that post that one of the most frequent problems I saw in dissertations was when the methods chapter was written as if it was an essay rather … Continue reading →

Posted in dissertation, methods chapter, the party metaphor | Tagged methods chapter, party metaphor, Pat Thomson | 16 Comments

a little worry about methods ‘assignments’

Posted on January 10, 2013 by pat thomson

In the last two weeks I’ve spoken to three doctoral researchers about writing on methodology and methods. They were in the social sciences, and this post is written from that perspective, although I suspect it may apply to some humanities … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, assignment, methods chapter, research methods, thesis | Tagged argument, assignment, methodologies, methods chapter, Pat Thomson | 12 Comments

is there a format for a thesis?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by pat thomson

There is a format for the thesis and it goes like this – Introduction, Literature review, Methods, Report of research findings, Discussion and conclusion. This is known as ILMRaD. Many theses follow this structure and it does ‘work’ – it’s … Continue reading →