Chapter 1: Nature of the Study

A section of Chapter 1 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?

Keep in mind, that I recommend you write chapters 2 and 3 first, but if you do not you will have 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 we look at the Chapter 1 summary. 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