Submitted by hudspethea on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 2:11pm
- Methodological Approach: presents an overview of the methodological approach and its appropriateness for the proposed study.
- Research Question(s): essentially repeats the question(s) outlined in the Introduction. The wording in the question(s) should be the same throughout the paper.
- Research Design: calls for a detailed presentation on the particular design selected for the study and its elements. In the process the writer demonstrates understanding of the design, drawing on appropriate scholarly sources.
- Design Rationale: makes the case for the particular design chosen.
- Role of the Researcher: presents a detailed explanation of the role the researcher will take in the study.
- Ethical Issues: provides the opportunity for the researcher to address any values, subjectivity, experience, etc. that may have a bearing on the study - and how these will be addressed to insure the integrity of the research.
- Data Sources: describe what source(s) the data will be drawn from (e.g. individuals, groups, data bases, etc. etc.)
- Data Collection: deals with how the data will be collected (e.g. interviews, observations, sections of data bases, etc.)
- Participants: in the cases where participants will be a source of data, this section describes who they will be (e.g. school principals, college presidents, 8th graders, etc. etc.)
- Participan Selection: describes how and why the particular participants are selected.
- Interview Protocol: if interviews are being conducted, this section describes the complete process of how, when, where, etc. they will take place; issues include confidentiality, protection of human subjects, right to withdraw, etc.; a copy of the interview questions (informed by the conceptual framework) typically is referred to and presented as an appendix.
- IRB Procedures: all research projects need Institutional Reserach Baord (IRB) approval before the research begins. Note of that approval should be included in the methodology section. Researchers and major professors need to have completed the IRB ethics tutorial which can be accessed through the IRB site on the ASU Graduate School web page.
- Data Coding: describes what procedures will be used to code the data.
- Data Analysis: describes the procedures used to analyze the data.
- Trustworthiness: refers to the findings being accurate, believable, reliable, and valid. Descriptions of study's efforts towards credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability, reliability and validity may be addressed in this section.