A section that students are often asked to revise is the one
on the nature of the study. This section can be thought of as an overview of
your project. It begins with a rationale for selecting the design or tradition
that you will use; questions to ask yourself are: why is this the best method to
use to answer my research question? Why are other methods not appropriate?
You will then need to summarize your research methods. Go
into some detail here, how will you recruit your participants? How many people
will participate? In general, what will happen to them in your study? How will
you analyze the data that you collect?
Students have typically not written chapter 3 at this point,
so it can be a difficult section to write. I suggest thinking of this section
as a placeholder- put in what you think you will do and plan to revise after
you have written chapter 3. This section should force you to begin thinking
through your study, remember chapter 3 should be in enough detail that someone
could replicate your study based on the description. Therefore, this is a good
place to begin considering the details. You should try to imagine how each step
will work: How will you recruit? Will you use a flyer or ad? What it will say
and look like? Where will it be posted? What will people who wish to
participate do, in order to be included in the study? What happens then? How
will you get their consent to participate? Every detail will need to considered
and addressed in chapter 3, so begin now to work through them.
Next time I will post an updated index to the blog. Do you
have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post?
Would you like to be a guest writer? Send
me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
No comments:
Post a Comment