How To Write A Methodology Chapter For A Dissertation Or Thesis (4 Steps + Examples)

Summary

This video script from Grad Coach TV offers a comprehensive guide to crafting the methodology chapter of a dissertation or thesis. It explains the purpose of the chapter, its importance for demonstrating research design understanding and study replicability, and provides a step-by-step structure for writing it. The guide covers key design choices, from research philosophy to data analysis methods, and emphasizes justifying each choice while acknowledging and addressing methodological limitations.

Takeaways

• 📘 The research methodology chapter is where you detail and justify your research design choices, explaining how and why you designed your study the way you did.
• 🔍 It's important to understand the research methodology basics and choose the right methodology for your project, which can be explored in separate videos provided by Grad Coach TV.
• 🎯 The methodology chapter serves three main purposes: demonstrating understanding of research design theory, making the study replicable, and identifying and discussing methodological issues or limitations.
• 📝 The structure and content of the methodology chapter can vary by field and university, so it's crucial to check institutional guidelines and review past dissertations or theses.
• 📝 Start with a rough outline to ensure a clear direction and avoid a disjointed narrative, emphasizing the importance of planning before writing.
• 🔑 The introduction section should remind readers of the research aims and provide an overview of the methodology chapter's structure.
• 🧐 The seven key design choices to be discussed include research philosophy, research type, research strategy, time horizon, sampling strategy, data collection method, and data analysis methods.
• 🌟 The research philosophy underpins all other design choices and can significantly impact the approach to research, with positivism and interpretivism being common philosophies.
• 🔬 The research strategy, such as experiments or ethnography, should align with the research aims and be chosen based on whether the study aims to establish causation or explore cultural phenomena.
• 📊 The data analysis methods and techniques must be clearly stated, including any data preparation and software used, to ensure transparency and replicability.
• 🚫 Discussing methodological limitations is essential to acknowledge the study's constraints and demonstrate a strong understanding of research design, while also highlighting the study's value despite these limitations.
• 📚 The concluding summary should succinctly recap the chapter's key points without introducing new information, adhering to the golden rule of justifying every choice made in the methodology.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the methodology chapter in a dissertation or research project?

The main purpose of the methodology chapter is to detail all the research design choices made and to explain why these choices were made. It serves to justify the research design to the reader, ensuring the credibility of the study's results.

Why is it important to demonstrate an understanding of research design theory in the methodology chapter?

Demonstrating an understanding of research design theory is important because it is a key assessment criterion for markers. It shows that the researcher knows what they are doing and that the results of the study are credible.

How does the methodology chapter contribute to the replicability of a study?

The methodology chapter contributes to the replicability of a study by providing detailed information on how the research was conducted, allowing other researchers to use the same design and compare their findings, which is crucial in academic research.

What are the three main reasons the methodology chapter is important?

The methodology chapter is important for demonstrating understanding of research design theory, making the study replicable, and identifying and discussing any methodological issues or shortcomings encountered during the research process.

What is the recommended approach to start writing the methodology chapter?

It is recommended to start by drawing up a rough outline to have a clear direction. One should not start writing without knowing what will go where to avoid a disjointed and poorly flowing narrative.

What are the seven key design choices typically discussed in the methodology chapter?

The seven key design choices are research philosophy, research type, research strategy, time horizon, sampling strategy, data collection method, and data analysis methods and techniques.

How does the research philosophy underpin the other research design choices?

The research philosophy serves as the core of the study and influences all other research design choices. It is essential to understand and justify the chosen philosophy as it sets the scene for the methodology chapter.

What is the difference between inductive and deductive research in terms of the research type?

Inductive research generates theory from collected data and is exploratory, while deductive research starts with established theories and builds upon them with collected data, tending to be confirmatory in approach.

Why is it essential to justify the research strategy chosen for the study?

Justifying the research strategy is essential because it depends largely on the research aims and questions. The right strategy will determine the approach to the study and should be aligned with the research philosophy.

How should the limitations of the methodology be discussed in the methodology chapter?

The limitations should be discussed by outlining the trade-offs made, justifying why these were necessary given the context, and explaining how the study's value remains despite these limitations.

What should be included in the concluding summary of the methodology chapter?

The concluding summary should concisely summarize the key takeaways from the chapter without adding new information. It should provide a brief overview of the discussed design choices and their justifications.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Research Methodology Chapter

This paragraph introduces the topic of the research methodology chapter in academic writing. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the chapter's purpose, which is to detail and justify the research design choices made during the study. The speaker, Emma, welcomes viewers to Grad Coach TV, an educational platform simplifying academic research, and offers additional resources for those needing help with the basics of methodology or choosing the right approach for their project. She also promotes the channel's one-on-one coaching services for personalized research guidance.

05:05

🔍 Understanding the Research Methodology Chapter

The second paragraph delves into what the research methodology chapter entails, explaining its three main purposes: demonstrating understanding of research design theory, ensuring the study's replicability, and identifying and discussing methodological issues and limitations. It highlights the importance of this chapter in showcasing the credibility of research results and the researcher's competence, as well as in contributing to the cumulative knowledge in academic research.

10:09

📝 Structuring the Methodology Chapter

This paragraph discusses the variability in the structure and content of the methodology chapter based on the field of research and institutional guidelines. It suggests creating an outline before writing and presents a generic structure commonly found in social sciences. The speaker outlines the importance of a brief introduction in the methodology chapter that reminds readers of the research aims and provides an overview of the chapter's structure.

15:13

🛠️ Key Design Choices in Methodology

The fourth paragraph focuses on the seven key design choices that need to be detailed and justified in the methodology chapter. These include the research philosophy, which underpins all other design choices, and the type of research, which could be inductive or deductive, and qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. The paragraph also introduces the concept of research strategy, contrasting experimental and ethnographic approaches, and explaining how the choice of strategy should align with the research aims.

20:13

⏳ Time Horizon and Sampling Strategy

This paragraph continues the discussion on research design choices, covering the time horizon (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal) and sampling strategy (probability vs. non-probability). It explains how these choices should be determined by the research aims and questions, and acknowledges practical constraints such as time and resource limitations that might influence these decisions.

🔬 Data Collection and Analysis Methods

The sixth paragraph describes the data collection methods appropriate for qualitative and quantitative data and the analysis methods and techniques that will be used once the data is collected. It emphasizes the importance of specificity and justification in detailing the analysis approach and the preparation of data for analysis, including the use of any software.

🚫 Discussing Methodological Limitations

The seventh paragraph addresses the inevitability of methodological limitations and the importance of discussing them in the methodology chapter. It suggests being critical of the study's shortcomings while also explaining the justifications for the chosen design and how the study still provides value despite its limitations.

🏁 Concluding the Methodology Chapter

The final paragraph wraps up the methodology chapter with a brief concluding summary that recaps the key points without introducing new information. It advises against excessive length in the summary and suggests visual summarization as an alternative. The paragraph ends with a reminder to check with the institution for specific expectations and a prompt for viewers to engage with the Grad Coach channel and consider their coaching services for dissertation or thesis support.

Keywords

💡Methodology Chapter

The 'Methodology Chapter' is a crucial part of a dissertation or thesis where the researcher details the research design choices made and explains why they were chosen. It is central to the video's theme as it is the main focus of the tutorial. For instance, the script mentions that this chapter allows the researcher to demonstrate their understanding of research design theory and justify their design choices.

💡Research Design

In the context of the video, 'Research Design' refers to the overall plan and approach to the study, including the methodology chosen, data collection, and analysis. It is a key concept because it underpins the methodology chapter, as it dictates how the research will be conducted and interpreted, as highlighted when the script discusses the importance of detailing and justifying design choices.

💡Qualitative Research

'Qualitative Research' is a type of research that focuses on understanding the meaning, concepts, experiences, and definitions that people have of phenomena. The script uses this term to contrast with quantitative research, explaining that the choice between them is tied to the research philosophy and impacts the methodology chapter's content.

💡Quantitative Research

This term refers to research that involves numerical data and uses statistical tools to analyze and interpret it. The video script mentions it as one of the types of research that could be conducted, and it influences the structure and content of the methodology chapter.

💡Mixed Methods

'Mixed Methods' research is an approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The script briefly touches on this as a possible methodology choice, indicating that it would be explained in the methodology chapter, reflecting a comprehensive research strategy.

💡Replicability

The term 'Replicability' in the script refers to the ability of other researchers to replicate the study using the same design to verify or extend the findings. It is important because it ensures the credibility and reliability of the research, which the methodology chapter aims to establish.

💡Limitations

'Limitations' in the context of the video refers to the constraints or shortcomings of the research methodology that could impact the study's validity or generalizability. The script emphasizes discussing these in the methodology chapter to demonstrate the researcher's understanding and to mitigate their impact.

💡Research Philosophy

The 'Research Philosophy' is the set of underlying beliefs about the nature of research and knowledge that guide the researcher's approach. The video script explains that it is a foundational choice that influences all other design decisions in the methodology chapter.

💡Data Collection

'Data Collection' pertains to the process of gathering information and data required for analysis. The script discusses various methods of data collection, emphasizing the need to explain the chosen method in the methodology chapter and how it aligns with the research aims.

💡Data Analysis

In the video, 'Data Analysis' refers to the techniques and methods used to process and interpret the collected data. The script highlights the importance of detailing the analysis methods in the methodology chapter, including the software used and the rationale behind the chosen techniques.

💡Research Strategy

'Research Strategy' is the plan of action for conducting the research, such as experiments or ethnography. The video script uses this term to describe one of the key design choices that need to be justified in the methodology chapter, showing how it fits with the research aims.

Highlights

Introduction to the research methodology chapter, emphasizing its importance in dissertations, theses, and research projects.

Explanation of the methodology chapter's role in detailing and justifying research design choices.

The significance of demonstrating understanding of research design theory to ensure credible results.

The methodology chapter's function in making studies replicable for academic research progression.

Importance of discussing methodological issues and limitations to acknowledge study constraints.

Generic structure of the methodology chapter tailored to the field of research and university guidelines.

The necessity of creating an outline before writing to ensure a coherent methodology chapter.

Detailed discussion on the seven core research design choices including research philosophy and type.

Clarification on the difference between positivism and interpretivism as research philosophies.

Decision-making between inductive and deductive research approaches based on study aims.

Description of various research strategies such as experiments and ethnography and their suitability to different aims.

Importance of selecting an appropriate time horizon (cross-sectional or longitudinal) for data collection.

Discussion on sampling strategies, differentiating between probability and non-probability sampling.

Elucidation on data collection methods tailored to qualitative or quantitative data needs.

Analysis methods and techniques, including the importance of specificity and justification in methodology.

Addressing methodological limitations and their justification within the constraints of the study.

Concluding summary of the methodology chapter, emphasizing brevity and avoidance of new information.

Recap of the methodology chapter structure and the golden rule of justifying every design choice.

Invitation to subscribe for more research-related content and information on Grad Coach's coaching services.

Transcripts

In this video, we are going to explore the  methodology chapter of a typical dissertation,  

thesis or research project. We  will unpack what exactly it is,  

why it is important and how to  go about writing it step by step.  

So, grab a cup of coffee grab a cup of tea  whatever works for you and let us jump into it.

Hey, welcome to Grad Coach TV where we demystify  and simplify the oftentimes intimidating world of  

academic research. My name is Emma, and today we  are going to dive into the research methodology  

chapter specifically how to structure and write  it up. If you are still in the early stages of  

writing your dissertation or thesis and need help  understanding the research methodology basics  

or how to choose the right methodology for  your project we have also got separate videos  

covering those topics. So, be sure to check  them out. I will include the links below.  

If you are new to Grad Coach TV hit that  subscribe button for more videos covering  

all things research related. Also, if you are  looking for hands-on help with your research  

check out our one-on-one coaching services where  we help you craft your research project step  

by step. It is like having a friendly  professor in your pocket whenever you  

need it. If that sounds interesting to you,  you can learn more and book a free consultation  

at gradcoach.com. Aright, with that  out of the way let us get into it.

So, the first question we need to address is  what exactly is the research methodology chapter.  

Simply put the methodology chapter is where  you detail all of the research design choices  

you have made and explain why you made them. In  other words, the point of the methodology chapter  

is to tell the reader, your marker, exactly  how you designed your study and to justify  

each of your research design choices. For example,  in the methodology chapter, you would highlight  

the type of research you conducted qualitative,  quantitative or mixed methods, how you collected  

your data, how you analysed your data and who  or where you collected the data from. For each  

of these choices, you would also explain why you  chose them and how they all fit together. If this  

sounds a bit intimidating do not worry we will  explain all the key design choices in this video.  

Also, we have got loads of information  about research design and methodology  

over on the Grad Coach blog. So, be sure to  check that out. I will include a link below.

Now that we have covered the what, the next  important thing to understand is the why.  

In other words, why is the methodology chapter  important and what purpose does it serve. Well,  

the methodology chapter is important  for at least three reasons. Firstly  

it presents an opportunity for you to demonstrate  your understanding of research design theory  

which is a key assessment criterion for markers.  A flawed research design or methodology would mean  

flawed results. So, the methodology chapter  is vital as it allows you to show the marker  

or examiner that you know what you are doing  and that your results are credible. The second  

reason the methodology chapter is important is  that it helps to make your study replicable.  

In other words, it allows other researchers to  undertake your study using the same design and  

then compare their findings to yours. This is very  important within academic research as each study  

builds on previous studies. Without this chapter  no one would know exactly how you undertook  

your research and therefore would not be able to  replicate the study in other settings. Lastly, the  

methodology chapter is important because it allows  you to identify and discuss any methodological  

issues or shortcomings you encountered along  the way and to explain how you mitigated the  

impact of these. Your study will invariably have  limitations all studies do. So, it is important  

to acknowledge these openly and highlight  your study's value despite its limitations.  

Also, this discussion will help further  demonstrate your understanding of research design  

thereby earning you marks. Now that we have  covered what the methodology chapter is and why it  

is important it is time to jump into the exciting  bit, how to structure and write up the chapter.

First off it is worth noting that the exact  structure and contents of the methodology chapter  

will vary depending on the field of research,  for example, business chemistry or engineering  

as well as the university. So, it is always a  good idea to check the guidelines provided by  

your institution and if possible review past  dissertations and thesis from your university.  

Here we are going to discuss a generic structure  for a methodology chapter typically found in  

the sciences especially the social sciences.  Now a quick tip before you start writing we  

always recommend that you draw up a rough outline  so that you have a clear direction to head in.  

Do not just start writing without  knowing what will go where.  

If you do you will most likely end up with a  disjointed poorly flowing narrative. As a result,  

you will waste a lot of time writing and rewriting  trying to stitch all the pieces together. Save  

yourself the pain by starting with the end in  mind. Alright time to get down to business.  

Let us look at how to structure and  write up the methodology chapter.

Section one, the introduction. As with all  chapters in your dissertation or thesis  

the methodology chapter should kick off  with a brief introduction. In this section,  

you should remind the readers what the focus of  your study is especially the research aims. As  

we have discussed many times on this channel your  methodology needs to align with your research aims  

and research questions. So, it is useful to  front-load this content to remind the reader  

and yourself what you are trying to achieve with  your research design. In this section, you can  

also briefly mention how you will structure  the chapter. This will help orient the reader  

and provide a bit of a road map so that they know  what to expect. Importantly you need to keep this  

introduction section brief. A paragraph or two  max. Do not waste word count by waffling on here.

Section two, the research design. The next section  of your methodology chapter is where you get down  

to business and present your research design  and methodology to the reader. In this section,  

you will need to detail and justify all the key  design choices in a logical intuitive fashion.  

This is the heart of your methodology chapter so  you need to get specific. Do not hold back on the  

details here. This is not one of those less is  more situations. Broadly speaking there are seven  

key design choices that you will need to discuss  in the methodology chapter. As I mentioned this  

may vary depending on your field of research and  or the university but these seven design choices  

are the most commonly covered ones.  Let us take a look at each of them.

Design choice number one, the research  philosophy. The research philosophy  

refers to the underlying beliefs regarding how  data about a phenomenon should be gathered,  

analysed and used. Your research philosophy will  serve as the core of your study and underpin  

all of the other research design choices. So, it  is essential that you understand which philosophy  

you will adopt and why you made that choice. If  you are not clear on this or if the whole topic  

of research philosophy seems a bit fluffy to you  take the time to get clarity before you make any  

other research design choices. If your starting  point is wrong you are going to run into many  

issues down the road. While there are quite a few  research philosophies to choose from two commonly  

adopted ones are positivism and interpretivism.  Positivism is commonly the underlying research  

philosophy in quantitative studies. It states  that the researcher, that is you, can observe  

reality objectively and that there is only one  reality that exists independently or outside of  

the observer. Contrasted with this interpretivism  which is often the underlying research philosophy  

in qualitative studies assumes that the researcher  plays a role in observing the world around them  

and therefore reality is unique to each observer.  In other words, reality is observed subjectively.  

These are just two philosophies but they  demonstrate significantly different approaches  

to research and have a substantial impact  on all of the other research design choices.  

So, it is vital that you clearly detail and  justify your research philosophy at the beginning  

of your methodology chapter as it sets  the scene for everything that follows.

Design choice number two, the research type. The  next thing you will typically need to discuss in  

your methodology chapter is the research type. The  starting point for this is to indicate whether the  

research you conducted is inductive or deductive.  With inductive research, the theory is generated  

from the ground up. In other words, from the  collected data and therefore these studies  

tend to be exploratory in terms of their approach.  Deductive research on the other hand starts with  

an established theory or set of theories and  builds onto it with collected data. Therefore  

these studies tend to be confirmatory in approach.  If this terminology sounds like gibberish to you  

be sure to check out our other videos and  blog posts where we break down some of the  

core concepts in research methodology. As always  I will include links below. In this section of the  

chapter, you will also need to indicate whether  your study adopts a qualitative, quantitative  

or mixed methods methodology. As I have mentioned  there is a strong link between this choice and  

your research philosophy. So, make sure that your  choices are tightly aligned. Again when you write  

this section up remember to clearly justify your  choices as they form the foundation of your study.  

With those choices set down, it is time to  talk strategy well, research strategy at least.

Design choice number three, the research  strategy. The next design choice you will  

need to discuss is your research strategy.  In other words, your research action plan.  

Several research strategies exist including  experiments, case studies, ethnography, grounded  

theory, action research and phenomenology. Let us  look at two of these. Experiments and ethnography  

to see how they contrast. Experimental research  makes use of the scientific method where one group  

serves as the control group in which no variables  are manipulated and another group serves as the  

experimental group in which a specific variable  of interest is manipulated. This type of research  

is undertaken under strict conditions in a  controlled artificial environment for example  

within a laboratory. By having firm control over  the environment, experimental research strategies  

often allow researchers to establish causation  between variables. In other words, to prove that  

X causes Y. So, an experimental research strategy  can be a good choice if you have research aims  

that involve identifying or measuring cause  and effect. Ethnographic research on the  

other hand involves observing and capturing the  experiences and perceptions of participants in  

their natural environment. For example, people  at home or at the office. In other words,  

in an uncontrolled environment. Naturally,  this means that this research strategy would  

be far less suitable if your research aims involve  identifying causation but would be very valuable  

if say you were looking to explore and examine  a group culture. For example, the corporate  

culture at a specific company. As you can see  the right research strategy will depend largely  

on your research aims and research questions.  Therefore as with every other design choice,  

it is essential to justify why you chose the  research strategy you did. With the research  

strategy pinned down, it is time to dig into  some of the more practical design choices.

Design choice number four, the time  horizon. The next thing you need  

to cover in your methodology chapter is  the time horizon. There are two options.  

Cross-sectional and longitudinal. In other words,  whether the data for your study were all collected  

at one point in time cross-sectional or at  multiple points in time longitudinal. The choice  

you make here depends again on your research  aims and research questions. If for example,  

your aim is to assess how a specific group  of people's perspectives regarding a topic  

change over time you would likely adopt a  longitudinal time horizon examining the same  

people's perspectives at multiple points in time.  Another important factor here is that of practical  

constraints. In other words, whether you have the  time necessary to adopt a longitudinal approach  

which could involve collecting data over multiple  months, years or even decades. Oftentimes the time  

pressures of your degree program will force your  hand into adopting a cross-sectional time horizon.  

So, keep this in mind. Right, on  to the next research design choice.

Design choice number five, the sampling  strategy. Next, you will need to discuss  

your chosen sampling strategy. In other  words, how you decided who to collect data  

from. There are two main categories of sampling,  probability and non-probability sampling.  

Probability sampling involves a random and  therefore representative selection of participants  

from a population. Whereas non-probability  sampling entails selecting participants in a  

non-randomized and therefore non-representative  manner. For example, a non-probability strategy  

could involve selecting participants based on ease  of access. This is called a convenience sample.  

The right sampling approach depends largely on  what you are trying to achieve in your study.  

Specifically, whether you are trying to develop  findings that are generalizable to a population  

or not. Practicalities and resource constraints  also play a large role here as it is often quite  

challenging to gain access to a truly random  sample. Do not stress though. In many cases,  

a probability sampling strategy is not necessary.  Again it depends largely on your research aims  

and questions. So, make sure that your choice  here is tightly aligned with your research aims.  

With your sampling strategy laid out, it is time  to talk about how you will collect your data.

Design choice number six, the data collection  method. Next up you will need to explain  

how exactly you will go about collecting the  necessary data for your study. Your choice of data  

collection method or methods will depend on the  type of data that you plan to collect. In other  

words, qualitative, words based or quantitative  numbers-based data. Typically quantitative  

research relies on surveys, data generated by  lab equipment, analytics software or existing  

data sets. Qualitative research on the other hand  often makes use of in-person collection methods  

such as interviews, focus groups and participant  observations. So, as you can see there is a tight  

link between this section and the design choices  you outlined in earlier sections. So, as always it  

is important to make sure that you have a strong  alignment between the various design choices.

Design choice number seven the analysis  methods and techniques. The final major  

design choice that you need to address is your  analysis methods and techniques. In other words,  

once you have collected your data how will you  go about analysing it? Here it is important to be  

very specific about your analysis method  and or techniques. Do not leave any room  

for interpretation. Also, as with all choices in  this chapter you need to justify each choice you  

make. What exactly you discuss here will depend  largely on the type of study you are conducting.  

For qualitative studies, common analysis methods  include content analysis, thematic analysis  

and discourse analysis. For quantitative studies,  you will almost always make use of descriptive  

statistics and in many cases, you will also use  inferential statistical techniques. For example,  

correlation and regression analysis. In this  section, it is also important to discuss how you  

prepared your data for analysis and what software  you used if any. For example, quantitative data  

will often require some initial preparation such  as removing duplicates or incomplete responses  

and calculating composite measures. As always  remember to clearly state both what you did  

and why you did it. All right with  these seven core design choices covered,  

the meat and potatoes of your methodology chapter  are sorted. Now it is time to move on to the next  

section of the chapter to discuss the limitations  of methodology. Let us go check that out.

Section three, the methodological limitations.  With your key research design choices outlined  

and justified the next step is to discuss  the limitations of your design. Importantly  

no research design or methodology is perfect  there will always be trade-offs between the  

ideal design and the design that is practical  and viable given your constraints. Therefore  

this section of your methodology chapter is where  you will discuss the trade-offs you had to make  

and why these were justified given the context.  So, what goes into this section? Methodological  

limitations can vary greatly from study to  study. Ranging from common issues such as  

time and budget constraints to analysis  method limitations or sampling issues.  

For example, you may find that you did not manage  to attract enough survey respondents to achieve  

the desired sample size or that your sample is  skewed heavily towards a certain demographic  

resulting in reduced representativeness. In  this section, it is important to be critical  

of the shortcomings of your study. By being  critical you will demonstrate to your marker  

that you have a strong understanding of research  design. So, do not be shy here. At the same time  

do not beat your study to death. Outline  your study's methodological limitations.  

Why these were justified given the context, how  you mitigated their impacts to the best degree  

possible and how your studies still provide value  despite these limitations. Once you have discussed  

your limitations you are on the home stretch.  It is time to wrap up the methodology chapter.

Section four, the concluding summary. Now that  you have presented your research methodology  

and discussed the limitations it is time to wrap  up the chapter with a brief concluding summary.  

In this section, you will want to concisely  summarize the key takeaways from the chapter.  

There is no need to get into the weeds and repeat  every design choice. A high-level summary will do.  

Alternatively, you could consider using a figure  to summarize the key design decisions visually.  

Especially if your university  recommends using a specific  

model. Importantly this section needs  to be brief a paragraph or two max.  

It is a summary after all. Also, make sure  that when you write up your concluding summary  

you only include what you have already discussed  in your chapter. Do not add any new information.

And there you have it, the methodology chapter in  a nutshell. To quickly recap, the core structure  

of your methodology chapter should include the  following. Number one, a brief introduction  

section. Number two, a detailed discussion  of the seven core research design choices  

namely the research philosophy, research  type, research strategy, time horizon,  

sampling strategy, data collection and data  analysis methods. Number three, a discussion of  

the methodological limitations and number four,  a brief concluding summary. As I have mentioned  

the exact contents and structure of this chapter  can vary between universities and fields of study.  

So, be sure to check in with your institution  before you start writing. If possible try to  

find dissertations or theses from former  students of your specific degree program.  

This will give you a strong indication  of your university's expectations  

and the norms in terms of the methodology  chapter and all other chapters. Lastly, remember  

the golden rule of the methodology chapter,  justify every choice. Make sure that you explain  

clearly the why for every what and reference  credible methodology textbooks or academic sources  

to back up your justifications. If you enjoyed  the video hit the like button and leave a  

comment if you have any questions. Also, be  sure to subscribe to the Grad Coach channel  

for more research-related content. If you need  a helping hand with your methodology chapter  

or any other chapter remember to check out our  private coaching service where we work with you  

on a one-on-one basis, chapter by chapter  to help you craft a winning dissertation  

or thesis. If that sounds interesting to you  book a free consultation with a friendly coach  

at gradcoach.com. That is all for this episode  of Grad Coach TV. Until next time, good luck.