In the methods chapter, you describe your approach to the research. This approach is based on your central question. The starting point of a good methods chapter is the central question and objective of the research. You demonstrate that you are aware of the consequences that your choices have on the results of your research. A methods chapter is not an explanation of what quantitative methods are or what types of qualitative methods there are. Your chapter should start with your central question and objective. From there, you explain the choices you made when selecting methods and substantiate these choices based on the literature. Justification is a vital element of this chapter.
Components to discuss and/or justify in a methodology chapter:
You describe which method(s) you chose to use (for example, surveys) and why. In addition, you should also describe your research units: are you surveying residents, young people, students, companies or households? The selection is also important here: how did you select your respondents? Did you use a random sample, or did you make a targeted selection for conducting interviews? You need to make sure that you make the connection between these choices and your research question: are your choices appropriate?
Essentially, in your methods chapter you describe the validity and reliability of your research. Reliability concerns the extent to which the measurement results are representative of the actual values. For this, it is important that the measuring instrument (for example, the survey) is accurate and precise. High reliability is essential for ensuring the validity of your research: does the chosen measuring instrument measure what should be measured?
This means that you also need to pay attention to the operationalisation of your research. Operationalisation is the process by which you make the connection between your theory and the conceptual model on the one hand and the execution of your research on the other. For each variable in the conceptual model, you describe how you will collect the data. Two things are important here:
- Justifying your choices based on the literature: how can you make the concepts measurable? How did other researchers approach this in their studies? You need to use the literature to argue why you are using a particular way to make a construct measurable.
- What data do you need to be able to test your hypotheses? Here, you should already be thinking about the data analysis stage: which tests do you want to carry out and what type of data do you need?
In this chapter, you also briefly discuss the limitations of the chosen methods. You also describe the analysis that will be necessary to obtain results from your data. For quantitative methods, you provide an overview of the statistical tests that you will carry out. If you are analysing content, you should outline the analysis model you will be using. If you are using a questionnaire or survey, include it in the appendix and refer to it in your methods chapter.
Click here for more information about choosing a research method.
Click here for more information about common research methods in Human Geography and Spatial Planning.
