Thesis Seminar-Module 9: Method IV

Thesis Seminar: Recap #9 - Method sectionThesis Seminar: Recap #9 - Method section - Notes

🎯 Understanding

Instructors will understand that…

• A rigorous qualitative methodology section clearly defines participants, instruments/procedures, and an analysis plan so readers can judge credibility, transferability, and ethics.

• Participant description and selection must be aligned to the research questions/purpose and justified with explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria and access/permission realities.

• Data collection and analysis decisions should be transparent and replicable (what was done, when, with what tools), using consistent terminology across the chapter and appendices.

🎯 Language Objective

Students will be able to…

• write one cohesive Participants paragraph that includes (a) context, (b) relevant demographics, (c) selection rationale, and (d) permissions/ethics using appropriate academic tone.

• write one cohesive Instruments and Procedure paragraph organized chronologically, using precise past-tense verbs (e.g., administered, conducted, recorded, transcribed) and clear references to appendices (e.g., “see Appendix A”).

• draft a Data Analysis paragraph that names the analytic approach, describes coding/quantification steps, and accurately reports how data were managed (software, files, and outputs).

🎯 Vocabulary

• participants

• sampling / participant selection

• inclusion criteria / exclusion criteria

• informed consent

• confidentiality / anonymity

• demographics

• instrument (e.g., interview protocol, questionnaire)

• procedure

• data collection

• coding

• thematic analysis

• interrater reliability (if applicable)

• transcription

• field notes

• appendix

🎯 Review what later will go into your Method section of your thesis paper.

Participants (one paragraph)

• Who are your participants?

  • Avoid using their names but what are their titles, responsibilities, and/or rank?

  • What demographic information relates to your study (i.e., answering your research questions, purpose, problem, etc.)?

    • Age

    • Experience working at the school and/or overall years of experience

    • Gender

    • Groups currently teaching and/or groups taught? Ages of the students, levels of the students, group sizes, etc.

    • School information: public or provide, general location (city), size, mission and vision, etc.

    • Socioeconomic information

• Why did you choose your participants?

  • Explain the rationale for choosing participants

• What permissions did you get to collect your data from your participants

  • Informed consent form

  • Any other special permissions

Instruments and Procedure (one paragraph)

• Describe the instruments and procedure used to collect the data to answer your research questions. Describe your instruments and include a citation to the appendix section (e.g., “(see Appendix A)”, “(see Appendix B)”, etc.). Organize the paragraph chronologically in a way that would facilitate one to replicate your study.

Data Analysis (one paragraph)

• The data analysis will be discussed during our next whole-group session, April 12, 2024 at 11:00 AM in our regular classroom.

• In this section, include how you analyzed your data throughout the entire data collection process.

• For qualitative research, include how you coded and categorized your data, including any software used.

• Describe how you analyzed descriptive data (i.e., quantitative data) to create tables and/or figures showing percentages, frequencies, etc.