Key takeaways
- Methodology chapter justifies every choice—design, sample, instrument, and analysis.
- Examiners check alignment between research questions, methods, and analysis.
- Limitations belong in this chapter, not hidden until the conclusion.
Your methodology chapter is where examiners assess whether your research is rigorous enough to trust your findings. It must explain not just what you did, but why you chose those methods over alternatives. A well-written methodology chapter anticipates examiner questions and answers them before they are asked.
Standard methodology chapter structure
- 1Research philosophy and approach (positivist, interpretivist, pragmatist).
- 2Research design (experimental, survey, case study, ethnography, mixed methods).
- 3Population, sampling strategy, and sample size justification.
- 4Data collection instruments and procedures.
- 5Data analysis techniques and software tools.
- 6Validity, reliability, and trustworthiness measures.
- 7Ethical considerations and approval reference.
- 8Limitations of the chosen methodology.
Justifying your choices
For every decision, explain why this method fits your research questions better than alternatives. Cite methodology textbooks and prior studies that used similar approaches successfully. Examiners penalise unjustified method choices even when results are interesting.
Common methodology chapter mistakes
- Describing methods without linking them to research questions.
- Copying methodology text from other theses without adaptation.
- No sample size justification or power analysis.
- Omitting ethics approval details.
- Presenting methods you did not actually use.