5 Key Elements Of The Dissertation Methodology Structure

A dissertation is an interesting assignment, but it takes plenty of time and effort to conduct a sufficient research, validate its results, describe them, write the paper’s text, and format it. So, students have to work hard to meet the requirements of their academic advisers and compose a top-level work.

What the General Dissertation Structure Looks Like

This type of academic writing consists of a title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology section, findings and discussion, conclusion, and references. Keep the guidelines of your professor in mind to decide whether to include additional information in appendices or not.

The dissertation methodology structure is something that students often struggle with. However, if you learn what the key elements of this section are, you will make the entire writing process easier.

How to Structure a Methodology Section: Vital Elements

You should remember the main purpose of composing a dissertation methodology section. It is to describe and justify the methods that you are planning to use in this particular research. Other scientists should be able to replicate your study by using the information provided in this section if they have access to the required data.

Most academic advisors agree that a good methodology section structure should include the following 5 key elements:

1. A chosen study paradigm.

You need to focus on a set of thought patterns, such as theories, claims, and standards that you base your study on. The study paradigm will help you make sense of evidence and understand what they mean to different actors.

2. An explanation of the context of the study.

You should clearly state whether the study is theoretical or practical. It makes sense to consider the implementation of the obtained results even if your research is designed to create a new knowledge for its own sake.

3. A research strategy.

Describing your research strategy, you should write about the use of sources, such as official statistics, surveys, documentary sources, interviews, observation, and any combination of the aforementioned.

4. A research organization.

Here, you are required to describe all the methods that you are going to employ. Remember to explain your choice of the methods. It is recommended that you keep yourself as brief as possible and provide additional explanation in appendices.

5. Methods for data processing.

Usually, academic advisors require to include data processing methods as a separate element of your dissertation methodology section. Pay special attention to the significance testing and data quality check.