methods-chapter

Structure it into seven sections: research design overview, participants/sample, data collection, data analysis, researcher positionality, validity or trustworthiness, and ethical considerations. State your design explicitly, justify each methodological choice, and include enough procedural detail for another researcher to replicate the study.

Include sample size, selection method (e.g., purposive, random), inclusion and exclusion criteria, recruitment procedures, incentives, and demographic characteristics. Quantitative studies should also report power analysis and response rates.

Name the analytic approach (e.g., thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke), describe coding steps, note software used such as NVivo or ATLAS.ti, and justify why the approach fits your research questions. Document codebook development and how themes were refined.

Qualitative studies address trustworthiness through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (e.g., member checking, audit trails). Quantitative studies address internal, external, construct, and statistical conclusion validity through design controls and assumption testing.

Create a mapping table linking each research question to the specific data source and analysis procedure that answers it. Every research question should have a corresponding method, and any method that does not serve a research question should be reconsidered.

State IRB approval with protocol number and date, informed consent procedures, confidentiality measures such as ID codes and encrypted storage, data retention plans, and risk mitigation for participants including withdrawal rights and referrals for sensitive topics.