Tag Archives: methods chapter

what is an audit trail and why do you need one?

Posted on March 21, 2022 by pat thomson

The term audit trail is shorthand. i use it to describe “evidential” material that you provide for a reader. I am a bit suspicious of the overuse of the word evidence, and I prefer “audit” because it describes what actually … Continue reading →

Posted in audit trail, data analysis, methods, methods chapter, research methods | Tagged audit trail, data analysis, methods, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, reader, trustworthy research | Leave a comment

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

tiny texts – small is powerful

Posted on February 11, 2019 by pat thomson

I work a lot with tiny texts. Abstracts. Storyboards. Story threads. Lines of argument. Tiny texts are my academic writing tool of choice. If I had to abandon all the other writing strategies I have in my repertoire, this is … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Tiny Text | Tagged abstratc, argument, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, thesis, Tiny Text | 8 Comments

three things examiners look for in methods chapters

Posted on June 26, 2017 by pat thomson

Once upon a time, when I worked in schools, early childhood teachers routinely issued young children with a ‘pen license’. A pen license was much sought after as it meant that a child could ‘advance’ to using a pen instead of … Continue reading →

Posted in data, data analysis, examiner, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Uncategorized | Tagged examiner, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, research | 7 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

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 →

Posted in epistemology, methodology, methods chapter, ontology, research design, research methods, thesis | Tagged methodology, methods, methods chapter, Pst Thomson, research design | 37 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 →