Today’s Plan:
- Check Codes
- Tabulating Codes and Generating Data
- Drafting a Methodology Section
- Homework
Drafting Your Methodology Section
As an English major, I really can’t remember ever having to draft a methodology section. I didn’t do it as an undergrad, nor did I write one as an MA student. I think the first time I ever wrote one was during my PhD, in a qualitative methods research course.
Since then, I have written many of them–both for scholarly pursuits and as part of grant-research and/or assessment teams. Learning to write comprehensive yet concise methodologies is a valuable skill that will benefit you in a wide number of writing jobs. Put simply: before anyone gives you money to do anything, they are going to want detailed instructions on how you plan to spend that money: be it research, web design, grant writing.
Also, as a professional writer, it is not uncommon for you to enter into a project “mid-stream.” Projects will often have begun before you were a part of the team. You might be hired by a pharmaceutical company to write a progress report for a drug trial that started years before you were hired. Or you might be hired by a non-profit to secure a grant and expand an already existing program. In either case, you will likely be handed a pile of material and some data. You will likely have to work to create more data. So, I hope you see how this project prepares you to do that kind of work.
So, the goal for Tuesday is to draft a methodology section that comes in between 450 and 500 words.
A methodology section has a few key expectations:
- First, it needs to detail how you collected your samples/objects/texts (whatever things you analyzed). We analyzed job ads.
- Second, it needs to detail how you analyzed your data.
- Third, it needs to detail how you ensured/checked the quality/integrity of your data.
The methodology section should also note how previous research was incorporated into any/all section(s) of the methodology. (Hint: Brumberger and Lauer). Also, you might have forgotten that I shared a rather long project description in the first class.
500 words might sound like a lot, but a methodology section should be detailed enough that someone could read it and be able to replicate our research.
Hint: the best way to handle codes in the report/methodology is to include them as an Appendix.
Homework
Three things for Tuesday:
- Bring the ABO book to class on Tuesday; we will use it to explore how to organize and write a report (with an emphasis on what distinguishes a professional or technical report from an academic paper)
- Complete Tabulating Our Codes (If We Do Not Do This in Class)
- Draft your Methodology Section
