Methodology Outline

Methodology Outline

The method section of an APA format psychology paper provides the methods and procedures used in a research study or experiment. You should provide detailed information on the research design, participants, equipment, materials, variables and actions taken by the participants. The method section should provide enough information to allow other researchers to replicate your experiment or study.

The method section should utilize subheading to divide up different subsections. These subsections typically include: Participants, Materials, Design and Procedure.

1.Participants: Describe the participants in your experiment, including who they were, how many there were and how they were selected.

For example: We randomly selected 100 children from elementary schools

near the University of Arizona.

2.Materials: Describe the materials, measures, equipment or stimuli used in the experiment. This may include surveys, interviews, observations, books, images or other materials used in the course of research.

For example: Research, Surveys, and Observations were used to assess Individual's understanding of gun control measures.

3.Design: Describe the type of design used in your research. Specify the variables (i.e. demographics). Explain whether your experiment uses a within-groups or between-groups design.

For example:The experiment used various grade levels, age and gender to determine perspectives that influence understanding of gun control.

4.Procedure: The last part of your method section should detail the procedures and sampling method used in your research. Explain how you chose participants (sampling method), what you had participants do, how you collected data, and the order in which steps occurred.

For example: An examiner interviewed children individually at their school in one session that lasted 20 minutes on average. The examiner explained to each child that he or she would be told two short stories and that some questions would be asked after each story. All sessions were videotaped so the data could later be coded.

Sampling Method: Random, Stratified, Cluster, or combination-

Surveys:

5demographic questions

10 research questions

Interviews: 5 Questions

Observations: Determine duration, population, location

Tips:

1. Always write the method section in the past tense.

2.Provide enough detail that another researcher could replicate your experiment, but focus on brevity. Avoid unnecessary detail that is not relevant to the outcome of the experiment.

3.Remember to use proper APA format. As you are writing your method section, keep a style guide published by the American Psychological Association on hand, such as the Concise Rules Of APA Style.

4.Proofread your paper for typos, grammar problems and spelling errors. Do not just rely on computer spell checkers. Read through each section of your paper for agreement with other sections. If you mention steps and procedures in the method section, these elements should also be present in the results and discussion sections

The method section should utilize subheading to divide up different subsections. These subsections typically include: Participants, Materials, Design and Procedure.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: Variable

Here's How:

1.Participants: Describe the participants in your experiment, including who they were, how many there were and how they were selected.

For example:

We randomly selected 100 children from elementary schools near the University of Arizona.

2.Materials: Describe the materials, measures, equipment or stimuli used in the experiment. This may include testing instruments, technical equipments, books, images or other materials used in the course of research.

For example:

Two stories form Sullivan et al.'s (1994) second-order false belief attribution tasks were used to assess children's understanding of second-order beliefs.

3.Design: Describe the type of design used in the experiment. Specify the variables as well as the levels of these variables. Explain whether your experiment uses a within-groups or between-groups design.

For example:

The experiment used a 3x2 between-subjects design. The independent variables were age and understanding of second-order beliefs.

4.Procedure: The next part of your method section should detail the procedures used in your experiment. Explain what you had participants do, how you collected data, and the order in which steps occurred.

For example:

An examiner interviewed children individually at their school in one session that lasted 20 minutes on average. The examiner explained to each child that he or she would be told two short stories and that some questions would be asked after each story. All sessions were videotaped so the data could later be coded.

Tips:

1.Always write the method section in the past tense.

2.Provide enough detail that another researcher could replicate your experiment, but focus on brevity. Avoid unnecessary detail that is not relevant to the outcome of the experiment.

3.Remember to use proper APA format. As you are writing your method section, keep a style guide published by the American Psychological Association on hand, such as the Concise Rules Of APA Style.

4.Take a rough draft of your method section to your university's writing lab for additional assistance.

5.Proofread your paper for typos, grammar problems and spelling errors. Do not just rely on computer spell checkers. Read through each section of your paper for agreement with other sections. If you mention steps and procedures in the method section, these elements should also be present in the results and discussion sections

Write a very brief introduction to the methodology section as a whole. The introduction should state the goals of the research experiment (or restate them briefly if they've been covered in a previous section), and should suggest any distinct challenges that may stand in the way of achieving these goals. This general introduction should ideally be a single paragraph and it should have its own heading.

Write a summary of your research methodology. Again, this section should be relatively brief, but it can be longer than the introduction. The summary should quickly cover all of the main components of the methods you've used to conduct your research, omitting all of the lesser details. As you write, keep in mind that the purpose of this summary is to inform readers who do not read the extended version of the methodology, which you will write next. This section should also have its own heading.