There are no ‘absolute truths’ to uncover since social reality is historically/socially-constructed. As such, it is assumed that studying social and historical data can help us to understand our shared social realities.
You should be clear about which ‘world view’ you adopted when you carried out your research. Importantly, this can help you to consider the strengths and weaknesses of your research. It’s this kind of critical thinking that’ll earn you the best grades!
Next, you should explain whether your dissertation took a ‘deductive’ or ‘inductive’ approach. What’s the difference? Well,
It’s best to thinking of deductive research as a “top-down” or “theory-led” approach, and inductive research as a “bottom up” or “findings-led” approach.
If you are not sure, ask yourself whether you formulated a hypothesis or not. If you have a hypothesis, your research is probably deductive.
The methodology should also define your chosen research strategy (quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods). In brief:
A quantitative strategy collects numerical data, which is then analysed through statistical methods. In contrast, a qualitative strategy collects textual data, perhaps from interviews or media sources, and analyses it through a qualitative method such as thematic analysis. Finally, there’s the mixed-methods approach that combines both strategies in one dissertation.
When it comes to choosing a research strategy, there’s no ‘one best way’ as it really depends on the aims of your research. If you need help choosing a research strategy, one of our PhD Experts would be glad to assist.
Once you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to get down the ‘nitty-gritty’. Indeed, most methodologies will cover some or all of the following:
Often, it helps to use these as subheadings to organise your ideas. But, bear in mind that some of the above headings might not be relevant to your dissertation.
One of the most common questions students ask is ‘How do I structure the methodology for my dissertation?’ . It’s quite difficult to advise on this because each dissertation varies.
However, as mentioned, most methodologies begin with an overview of the research design and a re-iteration of the research question(s). Then, a description of the research philosophy, approach, and strategy are provided. Finally, once all that is out of the way, the procedure, sampling, data collection/analysis, validity and reliability, and ethics etc., are usually discussed.
For further guidance, it’s advisable to:
If you are studying Natural Sciences, Computer Sciences, Psychology, Business/Management, or a Health-related degree, chances are your dissertation will need a ‘Methodology’ chapter. On the other hand, if you are studying a Humanities or Arts degree, you probably won’t need to include a ‘Methodology’ chapter.
In that case, you’ll probably explain your research design in the Introduction of your dissertation . As always, it’s best to check with your supervisor if you are unsure.
Here are some final pointers by our dissertation writing service to keep in mind when writing your methodology chapter:
Writing the methodology isn’t easy. In fact, it’s probably one of the hardest parts of the dissertation. But if you take it step-by-step and seek regular feedback from your supervisor, you’ll find it a lot easier.
Dissertations 4: methodology: start.
The methodology chapter flows organically from the literature review. This means that at this stage you should have reviewed the literature in your field of study, analysed research that has been conducted and highlighted how it was conducted. In turn, this should reflect the foundation of your own project as you will have to link it to your chosen research method.
The methodology chapter also involves describing your method in detail and justifying the approach you are going to adopt, taking into consideration the limitations and ethical implications of your model. Your description should be detailed enough that someone reading your methodology can recreate your approach.
Therefore, the methodology requires you to:
Methods
In order to appreciate what methods are, let us remember what research is about. Research can be summarised into three points (Cottrell, 2014, p9):
A question
Methods of arriving at an answer
The answer
Thus, methods are the means to research and answer the research question, or test the hypothesis. Methods include techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse data (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015, p4). Your methods can consist of primary and secondary sources, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, as illustrated in this guide.
Methodology
Methodology is sometimes used interchangeably with methods, or as the set of methods used in a research. More specifically, as the name would suggest, methodo-logy is the logos, the reasoning, on the methods. It is also referred to as the theory of how research should be undertaken (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015, p4). This is why you normally would have a methodology, rather than methods, chapter in a dissertation.
We hope this guide will be helpful, but it is of fundamental importance that you also use a research methods book (or other authoritative source) for your discipline . The book will guide you on best methods for your research, give you practical guidance, and present critical insights and limitations of the methods.
Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey
Writing a research paper is both an art and a skill, and knowing how to write the methods section of a research paper is the first crucial step in mastering scientific writing. If, like the majority of early career researchers, you believe that the methods section is the simplest to write and needs little in the way of careful consideration or thought, this article will help you understand it is not 1 .
We have all probably asked our supervisors, coworkers, or search engines “ how to write a methods section of a research paper ” at some point in our scientific careers, so you are not alone if that’s how you ended up here. Even for seasoned researchers, selecting what to include in the methods section from a wealth of experimental information can occasionally be a source of distress and perplexity.
Additionally, journal specifications, in some cases, may make it more of a requirement rather than a choice to provide a selective yet descriptive account of the experimental procedure. Hence, knowing these nuances of how to write the methods section of a research paper is critical to its success. The methods section of the research paper is not supposed to be a detailed heavy, dull section that some researchers tend to write; rather, it should be the central component of the study that justifies the validity and reliability of the research.
Are you still unsure of how the methods section of a research paper forms the basis of every investigation? Consider the last article you read but ignore the methods section and concentrate on the other parts of the paper . Now think whether you could repeat the study and be sure of the credibility of the findings despite knowing the literature review and even having the data in front of you. You have the answer!
Having established the importance of the methods section , the next question is how to write the methods section of a research paper that unifies the overall study. The purpose of the methods section , which was earlier called as Materials and Methods , is to describe how the authors went about answering the “research question” at hand. Here, the objective is to tell a coherent story that gives a detailed account of how the study was conducted, the rationale behind specific experimental procedures, the experimental setup, objects (variables) involved, the research protocol employed, tools utilized to measure, calculations and measurements, and the analysis of the collected data 2 .
In this article, we will take a deep dive into this topic and provide a detailed overview of how to write the methods section of a research paper . For the sake of clarity, we have separated the subject into various sections with corresponding subheadings.
Table of Contents
The methods section is a fundamental section of any paper since it typically discusses the ‘ what ’, ‘ how ’, ‘ which ’, and ‘ why ’ of the study, which is necessary to arrive at the final conclusions. In a research article, the introduction, which serves to set the foundation for comprehending the background and results is usually followed by the methods section, which precedes the result and discussion sections. The methods section must explicitly state what was done, how it was done, which equipment, tools and techniques were utilized, how were the measurements/calculations taken, and why specific research protocols, software, and analytical methods were employed.
The primary goal of the methods section is to provide pertinent details about the experimental approach so that the reader may put the results in perspective and, if necessary, replicate the findings 3 . This section offers readers the chance to evaluate the reliability and validity of any study. In short, it also serves as the study’s blueprint, assisting researchers who might be unsure about any other portion in establishing the study’s context and validity. The methods plays a rather crucial role in determining the fate of the article; an incomplete and unreliable methods section can frequently result in early rejections and may lead to numerous rounds of modifications during the publication process. This means that the reviewers also often use methods section to assess the reliability and validity of the research protocol and the data analysis employed to address the research topic. In other words, the purpose of the methods section is to demonstrate the research acumen and subject-matter expertise of the author(s) in their field.
Similar to the research paper, the methods section also follows a defined structure; this may be dictated by the guidelines of a specific journal or can be presented in a chronological or thematic manner based on the study type. When writing the methods section , authors should keep in mind that they are telling a story about how the research was conducted. They should only report relevant information to avoid confusing the reader and include details that would aid in connecting various aspects of the entire research activity together. It is generally advisable to present experiments in the order in which they were conducted. This facilitates the logical flow of the research and allows readers to follow the progression of the study design.
It is also essential to clearly state the rationale behind each experiment and how the findings of earlier experiments informed the design or interpretation of later experiments. This allows the readers to understand the overall purpose of the study design and the significance of each experiment within that context. However, depending on the particular research question and method, it may make sense to present information in a different order; therefore, authors must select the best structure and strategy for their individual studies.
In cases where there is a lot of information, divide the sections into subheadings to cover the pertinent details. If the journal guidelines pose restrictions on the word limit , additional important information can be supplied in the supplementary files. A simple rule of thumb for sectioning the method section is to begin by explaining the methodological approach ( what was done ), describing the data collection methods ( how it was done ), providing the analysis method ( how the data was analyzed ), and explaining the rationale for choosing the methodological strategy. This is described in detail in the upcoming sections.
Contrary to widespread assumption, the methods section of a research paper should be prepared once the study is complete to prevent missing any key parameter. Hence, please make sure that all relevant experiments are done before you start writing a methods section . The next step for authors is to look up any applicable academic style manuals or journal-specific standards to ensure that the methods section is formatted correctly. The methods section of a research paper typically constitutes materials and methods; while writing this section, authors usually arrange the information under each category.
The materials category describes the samples, materials, treatments, and instruments, while experimental design, sample preparation, data collection, and data analysis are a part of the method category. According to the nature of the study, authors should include additional subsections within the methods section, such as ethical considerations like the declaration of Helsinki (for studies involving human subjects), demographic information of the participants, and any other crucial information that can affect the output of the study. Simply put, the methods section has two major components: content and format. Here is an easy checklist for you to consider if you are struggling with how to write the methods section of a research paper .
Now that you know how to write the methods section of a research paper , let’s address another challenge researchers face while writing the methods section —what to include in the methods section . How much information is too much is not always obvious when it comes to trying to include data in the methods section of a paper. In the next section, we examine this issue and explore potential solutions.
The technical nature of the methods section occasionally makes it harder to present the information clearly and concisely while staying within the study context. Many young researchers tend to veer off subject significantly, and they frequently commit the sin of becoming bogged down in itty bitty details, making the text harder to read and impairing its overall flow. However, the best way to write the methods section is to start with crucial components of the experiments. If you have trouble deciding which elements are essential, think about leaving out those that would make it more challenging to comprehend the context or replicate the results. The top-down approach helps to ensure all relevant information is incorporated and vital information is not lost in technicalities. Next, remember to add details that are significant to assess the validity and reliability of the study. Here is a simple checklist for you to follow ( bonus tip: you can also make a checklist for your own study to avoid missing any critical information while writing the methods section ).
To address “ how to write the methods section of a research paper ”, authors should not only pay careful attention to what to include but also what not to include in the methods section of a research paper . Here is a list of do not’s when writing the methods section :
We hope that by this point, you understand how crucial it is to write a thoughtful and precise methods section and the ins and outs of how to write the methods section of a research paper . To restate, the entire purpose of the methods section is to enable others to reproduce the results or verify the research. We sincerely hope that this post has cleared up any confusion and given you a fresh perspective on the methods section .
As a parting gift, we’re leaving you with a handy checklist that will help you understand how to write the methods section of a research paper . Feel free to download this checklist and use or share this with those who you think may benefit from it.
References
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5 Time-Saving Tips & Tools
By: David Phair (PhD) and Amy Murdock (PhD) | July 2022
The methodology chapter is a crucial part of your dissertation or thesis – it’s where you provide context and justification for your study’s design. This in turn demonstrates your understanding of research theory, which is what earns you marks .
Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of students navigate this tricky section of the research process. In this post, we’ll share 5 time-saving tips to help you effectively write up your research methodology chapter .
The first thing to keep in mind when writing your methodology chapter (and the rest of your dissertation) is that it’s always a good idea to sketch out a rough outline of what you are going to write about before you start writing . This will ensure that you stay focused and have a clear structural logic – thereby making the writing process simpler and faster.
An easy method of finding a structure for this chapter is to use frameworks that already exist, such as Saunder’s “ research onion ” as an example. Alternatively, there are many free methodology chapter templates for you to use as a starting point, so don’t feel like you have to create a new one from scratch.
Next, you’ll want to consider what your research approach is , and how you can break it down from a top-down angle, i.e., from the philosophical down to the concrete/tactical level. For example, you’ll need to articulate the following:
Keep these questions front of mind to ensure that you have a clear, well-aligned line of argument that will maintain your chapter’s internal and external consistency.
Remember, it’s okay if you feel overwhelmed when you first start the methodology chapter. Nobody is born with an innate knowledge of how to do this, so be prepared for the learning curve associated with new research projects. It’s no small task to write up a dissertation or thesis, so be kind to yourself!
Generally, there are plenty of existing journal articles that will share similar methodological approaches to your study. With any luck, there will also be existing dissertations and theses that adopt a similar methodological approach and topic. So, consider taking inspiration from these studies to help curate the contents of your methodology chapter.
Students often find it difficult to choose what content to include in the methodology chapter and what to leave for the appendix. By reviewing other studies with similar approaches, you will get a clearer sense of your discipline’s norms and characteristics . This will help you, especially in terms of deciding on the structure and depth of discussion.
While you can draw inspiration from other studies, remember that it’s vital to pay close attention to your university’s specific guidelines, so you can anticipate departmental expectations of this section’s layout and content (and make it easier to work with your supervisor). Doing this is also a great way to figure out how in-depth your discussion should be. For example, word-count guidelines can help you decide whether to include or omit certain information.
The golden rule of the methodology chapter is that you need to justify each and every design choice that you make, no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem. We often see that students merely state what they did instead of why they did what they did – and this costs them marks.
Keep in mind that you need to illustrate the strength of your study’s methodological foundation. By discussing the “what”, “why” and “how” of your choices, you demonstrate your understanding of research design and simultaneously justify the relevancy and efficacy of your methodology – both of which will earn you marks.
It’s never an easy task to conduct research. So, it’s seldom the case that you’ll be able to use the very best possible methodology for your research (e.g. due to time or budgetary constraints ). That’s okay – but make sure that you explain and justify your use of an alternate methodology to help justify your approach.
Ultimately, if you don’t justify and explain the logic behind each of your choices, your marker will have to assume that you simply didn’t know any better . So, make sure that you justify every choice, especially when it is a subpar choice (due to a practical constraint, for example). You can see an example of how this is done here.
We often see a tendency in students to mistakenly give more of an overview of their methodology instead of a step-by-step breakdown . Since the methodology chapter needs to be detailed enough for another researcher to replicate your study, your chapter should be particularly granular in terms of detail.
Whether you’re doing a qualitative or quantitative study, it’s crucial to convey rigor in your research. You can do this by being especially detailed when you discuss your data, so be absolutely clear about your:
As you will likely face an extensive period of editing at your supervisor/reviewer’s direction, you’ll make it much easier for yourself if you have more information than you’d need. Some supervisors expect extensive detail around a certain aspect of your dissertation (like your research philosophy), while others may not expect it at all.
Remember, it’s quicker and easier to remove/ trim down information than it is to add information after the fact, so take the time to show your supervisor that you know what you’re talking about (methodologically) and you’re doing your best to be rigorous in your research.
Related to the issue of poor justification (tip #3), it’s important include high-quality academic citations to support the justification of your design choices. In other words, it’s not enough to simply explain why you chose a specific approach – you need to support each justification with reference to academic material.
Simply put, you should avoid thinking of your methodology chapter as a citation-less section in your dissertation. As with your literature review, your methods section must include citations for every decision you make, since you are building on prior research. You must show that you are making decisions based on methods that are proven to be effective, and not just because you “feel” that they are effective.
When considering the source of your citations, you should stick to peer-reviewed academic papers and journals and avoid using websites or blog posts (like us, hehe). Doing this will demonstrate that you are familiar with the literature and that you are factoring in what credible academics have to say about your methodology.
As a final tip, it’s always a good idea to cite as you go . If you leave this for the end, then you’ll end up spending a lot of precious time retracing your steps to find your citations and risk losing track of them entirely. So, be proactive and drop in those citations as you write up . You’ll thank yourself later!
In this post, we covered 5 time-saving tips for writing up the methodology chapter:
If you’ve got any questions relating to the methodology chapter, feel free to drop a comment below. Alternatively, if you’re interested in getting 1-on-1 help with your thesis or dissertation, be sure to check out our private coaching service .
This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...
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A key part of your dissertation or thesis is the methodology. This is not quite the same as ‘methods’.
The methodology describes the broad philosophical underpinning to your chosen research methods, including whether you are using qualitative or quantitative methods, or a mixture of both, and why.
You should be clear about the academic basis for all the choices of research methods that you have made. ' I was interested ' or ' I thought... ' is not enough; there must be good academic reasons for your choice.
If you are submitting your dissertation in sections, with the methodology submitted before you actually undertake the research, you should use this section to set out exactly what you plan to do.
The methodology should be linked back to the literature to explain why you are using certain methods, and the academic basis of your choice.
If you are submitting as a single thesis, then the Methodology should explain what you did, with any refinements that you made as your work progressed. Again, it should have a clear academic justification of all the choices that you made and be linked back to the literature.
There are numerous research methods that can be used when researching scientific subjects, you should discuss which are the most appropriate for your research with your supervisor.
The following research methods are commonly used in social science, involving human subjects:
One of the most flexible and widely used methods for gaining qualitative information about people’s experiences, views and feelings is the interview.
An interview can be thought of as a guided conversation between a researcher (you) and somebody from whom you wish to learn something (often referred to as the ‘informant’).
The level of structure in an interview can vary, but most commonly interviewers follow a semi-structured format. This means that the interviewer will develop a guide to the topics that he or she wishes to cover in the conversation, and may even write out a number of questions to ask.
However, the interviewer is free to follow different paths of conversation that emerge over the course of the interview, or to prompt the informant to clarify and expand on certain points. Therefore, interviews are particularly good tools for gaining detailed information where the research question is open-ended in terms of the range of possible answers.
Interviews are not particularly well suited for gaining information from large numbers of people. Interviews are time-consuming, and so careful attention needs to be given to selecting informants who will have the knowledge or experiences necessary to answer the research question.
See our page: Interviews for Research for more information.
If a researcher wants to know what people do under certain circumstances, the most straightforward way to get this information is sometimes simply to watch them under those circumstances.
Observations can form a part of either quantitative or qualitative research. For instance, if a researcher wants to determine whether the introduction of a traffic sign makes any difference to the number of cars slowing down at a dangerous curve, she or he could sit near the curve and count the number of cars that do and do not slow down. Because the data will be numbers of cars, this is an example of quantitative observation.
A researcher wanting to know how people react to a billboard advertisement might spend time watching and describing the reactions of the people. In this case, the data would be descriptive , and would therefore be qualitative.
There are a number of potential ethical concerns that can arise with an observation study. Do the people being studied know that they are under observation? Can they give their consent? If some people are unhappy with being observed, is it possible to ‘remove’ them from the study while still carrying out observations of the others around them?
See our page: Observational Research and Secondary Data for more information.
If your intended research question requires you to collect standardised (and therefore comparable) information from a number of people, then questionnaires may be the best method to use.
Questionnaires can be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, although you will not be able to get the level of detail in qualitative responses to a questionnaire that you could in an interview.
Questionnaires require a great deal of care in their design and delivery, but a well-developed questionnaire can be distributed to a much larger number of people than it would be possible to interview.
Questionnaires are particularly well suited for research seeking to measure some parameters for a group of people (e.g., average age, percentage agreeing with a proposition, level of awareness of an issue), or to make comparisons between groups of people (e.g., to determine whether members of different generations held the same or different views on immigration).
See our page: Surveys and Survey Design for more information.
Documentary analysis involves obtaining data from existing documents without having to question people through interview, questionnaires or observe their behaviour. Documentary analysis is the main way that historians obtain data about their research subjects, but it can also be a valuable tool for contemporary social scientists.
Documents are tangible materials in which facts or ideas have been recorded. Typically, we think of items written or produced on paper, such as newspaper articles, Government policy records, leaflets and minutes of meetings. Items in other media can also be the subject of documentary analysis, including films, songs, websites and photographs.
Documents can reveal a great deal about the people or organisation that produced them and the social context in which they emerged.
Some documents are part of the public domain and are freely accessible, whereas other documents may be classified, confidential or otherwise unavailable to public access. If such documents are used as data for research, the researcher must come to an agreement with the holder of the documents about how the contents can and cannot be used and how confidentiality will be preserved.
Your methodology should be linked back to your research questions and previous research.
Visit your university or college library and ask the librarians for help; they should be able to help you to identify the standard research method textbooks in your field. See also our section on Research Methods for some further ideas.
Such books will help you to identify your broad research philosophy, and then choose methods which relate to that. This section of your dissertation or thesis should set your research in the context of its theoretical underpinnings.
The methodology should also explain the weaknesses of your chosen approach and how you plan to avoid the worst pitfalls, perhaps by triangulating your data with other methods, or why you do not think the weakness is relevant.
For every philosophical underpinning, you will almost certainly be able to find researchers who support it and those who don’t.
Use the arguments for and against expressed in the literature to explain why you have chosen to use this methodology or why the weaknesses don’t matter here.
It is usually helpful to start your section on methodology by setting out the conceptual framework in which you plan to operate with reference to the key texts on that approach.
You should be clear throughout about the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen approach and how you plan to address them. You should also note any issues of which to be aware, for example in sample selection or to make your findings more relevant.
You should then move on to discuss your research questions, and how you plan to address each of them.
This is the point at which to set out your chosen research methods, including their theoretical basis, and the literature supporting them. You should make clear whether you think the method is ‘tried and tested’ or much more experimental, and what kind of reliance you could place on the results. You will also need to discuss this again in the discussion section.
Your research may even aim to test the research methods, to see if they work in certain circumstances.
You should conclude by summarising your research methods, the underpinning approach, and what you see as the key challenges that you will face in your research. Again, these are the areas that you will want to revisit in your discussion.
Your methodology, and the precise methods that you choose to use in your research, are crucial to its success.
It is worth spending plenty of time on this section to ensure that you get it right. As always, draw on the resources available to you, for example by discussing your plans in detail with your supervisor who may be able to suggest whether your approach has significant flaws which you could address in some way.
Continue to: Research Methods Designing Research
See Also: Dissertation: Results and Discussion Writing a Literature Review | Writing a Research Proposal Writing a Dissertation: The Introduction
Project Management Guide
B. the agile family, c. the change management methodologies, d. the process-based methodologies, e. other methodologies, f. the pmbok “method”.
“You mean there’s more than one project management methodology?” There are quite a lot of them, actually, and some even combine to form new hybrid approaches. But what are they exactly? How do they help project teams work better? And what makes one methodology better than another?
Project management methodologies are essentially different ways to approach a project. Each one has a unique process and workflow.
Here, we look at some of the top project management methodologies, grouped by similarity and popularity.
Before we begin, you can unlock a free trial with Wrike right now to try out our powerful features, collaborate with colleagues in real time, and streamline all your projects in one platform.
The most common way to plan out a project is to sequence the tasks that lead to a final deliverable and work on them in order. This process is also known as the waterfall methodology — the traditional method for managing projects and the one that is simplest to understand. You have to complete one task before the next one begins in a connected sequence of items that add up to the overall deliverable. It’s an ideal method for projects that result in physical objects (buildings, computers), and you can easily replicate project plans for future use.
The power of this methodology is that every step is preplanned and laid out in the proper sequence. While this may be the simplest method to implement initially, any changes in stakeholders’ needs or priorities will disrupt the series of tasks, making it very difficult to manage. This methodology excels in predictability but lacks in flexibility.
The critical path method was developed in the 1950s, based on the idea that there are some tasks you can’t start until you finish the previous one. When you string these dependent tasks together from start to finish, you plot out your critical path.
Identifying and focusing on this critical path allows project managers to prioritize and allocate resources to get the most important work done and reschedule any lower priority tasks that may be clogging up your team’s bandwidth. This way, if you need to make changes to the project schedule, you can optimize your team’s work process without delaying the results.
This way, if you need to make changes to the project schedule, you can optimize your team’s work process without delaying the results. A Gantt chart is one of the most common ways to visualize the critical path in project management.
Critical Path Is as Easy as 1-2-3
How to Calculate Critical Path in Project Management
Critical chain project management takes the critical path method one step further. CCPM is a methodology that focuses on the resources needed to complete the project’s tasks by adding resource availability to the critical path. It also builds buffers of time around these tasks in the project’s schedule, ensuring the project meets its deadlines.
Agile project management methodologies are growing in popularity, thanks to a highly competitive business environment and increased innovation. In general, Agile methodologies prioritize shorter, iterative cycles and flexibility.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular Agile frameworks.
The core of the Agile methodology was developed in 2001 with four central values:
The Agile Manifesto of Software Development put forth a groundbreaking mindset on delivering value and collaborating with customers. Today, Agile can refer to these values as well as the frameworks for implementing them, including Scrum, Kanban, extreme programming, and adaptive project framework.
What do these various Agile frameworks have in common?
Project objectives are made clear by the customer (internal or external), while the final deliverable can change as the project progresses. The project team works in iterative cycles, always evaluating results at the end. Depending on the results of these evaluations, the final deliverable may be modified to better answer the customer’s needs. Continuous collaboration is key, both within the project team and with project stakeholders .
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Scrum is the most popular Agile development framework because it is relatively simple to implement. It also solves many problems that software developers struggled with in the past, such as convoluted development cycles, inflexible project plans, and shifting production schedules.
In Scrum, a small team is led by a Scrum master whose main job is to clear away all obstacles to working efficiently. The team works in short cycles of two weeks called “sprints,” though the team members meet daily to discuss their work and any roadblocks that need clearing. This methodology allows for rapid development and testing, especially within small teams.
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Kanban is another framework for implementing Agile based on a team’s capacity. It originated in Toyota’s factories during the 1940s. The departments used a visual system of cards (“Kanban”) to signal that their team was ready for more raw materials and had more capacity to produce.
Today, this visual approach to managing a project is well-suited to work that requires steady output. Project teams create visual representations of their tasks, often using sticky notes and whiteboards (or online Kanban boards ), moving the notes or tasks through predetermined stages to see progress as it happens and identify where roadblocks could occur.
Extreme programming (XP) is another offshoot of Agile. XP is a methodology designed to enhance software quality (and simplicity) and a development team’s ability to adapt to customers’ needs. Much like the original Agile formula, XP features short work sprints, frequent iterations, and constant collaboration with stakeholders. Change can happen within a sprint. If work hasn’t started on a specific feature, it can be swapped out and replaced by a similar task.
Adaptive project framework grew from the difficulty in managing most IT projects using traditional project management methods due to uncertain and changing requirements.
APF begins with a requirements breakdown structure (RBS) to define strategic project goals based on product requirements, functions, sub-functions, and features. The project proceeds in iterative stages, and at the end of each step, teams evaluate previous results to improve performance and practices. Stakeholders can also change the project’s scope at the start of each stage so the team can produce the most business value.
Some methodologies deal with managing projects, but with an extra focus on change management — especially planning for risks and taking control of change when it happens. Notable methods include:
The underlying idea behind event chain methodology is that potential risks often lie outside the project’s scope. It’s essential to prepare for these risks and plan your response since unexpected events will impact your project’s schedule, deliverables, and potentially its success.
Extreme project management (XPM) is the opposite of waterfall. It offers you a way to manage massive change and still move forward to project completion. In XPM, you can alter the project plan, budget, and even the final deliverable to fit changing needs, no matter how far along the project is. It’s a good option when managing projects with a short timeline of anywhere from a few weeks to mere days.
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Next, we have the project management methods that practically veer into business process management (BPM), where each approach focuses on work as a collection of processes. While project management purists may argue that these methods belong on a different list, we think these are still good ways to plan and execute a project.
Lean is a methodology focused on streamlining and cutting out waste. The first step is to create a work process breakdown to identify and eliminate bottlenecks and delays. The goal is to do more with less — to deliver value to the customer using less manpower, less money, and less time.
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Six sigma is a statistics-based methodology seeking to improve the quality of a process by measuring the defects or bugs present and eliminating as many as possible. A process can attain a six sigma rating if 99.99966% of the final product — your project deliverable — is defect-free.
Combining the minimalist approach of lean (“no waste!”) and the quality improvement of six sigma (“zero defects!”), lean six sigma focuses on eliminating waste so that projects are more efficient, cost-effective, and truly answer customers’ needs.
Process-based project management is a methodology aligning all project objectives with a company’s larger mission and corporate values. All project goals and tasks remain strategic and must roll up to the larger corporate objectives. The steps involved include defining the process, establishing metrics, measuring methods, adjusting goals when these prove unstable, planning improvements, and implementing them.
PRINCE2 stands for Projects In Controlled Environments. It’s a method for managing projects used by the UK government and characterized by a product-based planning approach. In PRINCE2, a structured project board is in charge of high-level activities such as setting the business justification and resource allocation. A project manager takes care of the lower level, day-to-day activities like scheduling. This methodology gives teams greater control of resources and the ability to mitigate risk effectively.
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PRiSM stands for Projects Integrating Sustainable Methods and aims at managing change while incorporating environmental sustainability into its processes. The goal with PRiSM is to complete tasks while reducing a company’s negative environmental and social impact. It is, quite literally, green project management.
From conception to execution to delivery and beyond, the benefits realization methodology focuses on whether your deliverables satisfy the benefits the customer expects, and not just whether you delivered it on time or within budget. This methodology ensures that you provide real value to customers and stakeholders.
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While it may be debatable whether this is a true project management methodology, you will find organizations that say they use the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) method for managing projects.
While not an official methodology, this system involves breaking down projects into the five process groups agreed upon by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and documented in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The five stages include:
What’s inside the PMBOK guide
WThe PMBOK collects set processes, best practices, terminologies, and guidelines that the project management industry accepts as standards. You’ll find it documented in the book, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) , compiled and overseen by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The PMBOK Guide provides project managers with guidelines and best practices, defining everything from the project life cycle to project management strategies and concepts. The PMBOK Guide details the various project management processes that interact and overlap throughout a project’s life cycle.
PMBOK officially recognizes 47 typical project management processes, organized into 10 knowledge areas:
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In conclusion, choosing the right project management methodology can make a significant difference in the success of your project. Each methodology has its unique characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages, and selecting the appropriate one depends on various factors such as project size, complexity, and team expertise.
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Whether you run a small business or a large enterprise, Wrike can help you manage your tasks more efficiently and tick off your to-do list. Use Wrike to increase your team’s productivity and deliver projects on time, every time.
How to choose the right project management methodology.
How do you choose the right methodology for your project with so many different options available? You should pick based on the needs of your project and your team. Two tips are relevant here:
Take a look at your requirements, project goals, and objectives. What does your final deliverable need to look like? What benefits should it provide? Here are some examples:
Don’t forget to look at the processes you already have in place that have proven successful for your team. In what kind of work environment does your team excel?
Now that you’ve been introduced to the various methodologies, the next step is to understand each phase of the project life cycle, so you can start planning your project from start to finish.
In the next section, we outline everything you need to know about the project life cycle.
COMMENTS
The methodology section should clearly show why your methods suit your objectives and convince the reader that you chose the best possible approach to answering your problem statement and research questions. 2. Cite relevant sources. Your methodology can be strengthened by referencing existing research in your field. This can help you to:
Here are the steps to follow when writing a methodology: 1. Restate your thesis or research problem. The first part of your methodology is a restatement of the problem your research investigates. This allows your reader to follow your methodology step by step, from beginning to end. Restating your thesis also provides you an opportunity to ...
The methodology refers to a discussion of the underlying reasoning why particular methods were used. This discussion includes describing the theoretical concepts that inform the choice of methods to be applied, placing the choice of methods within the more general nature of academic work, and reviewing its relevance to examining the research ...
The research methodology is an important section of any research paper or thesis, as it describes the methods and procedures that will be used to conduct the research. It should include details about the research design, data collection methods, data analysis techniques, and any ethical considerations.
Methodology in research is defined as the systematic method to resolve a research problem through data gathering using various techniques, providing an interpretation of data gathered and drawing conclusions about the research data. Essentially, a research methodology is the blueprint of a research or study (Murthy & Bhojanna, 2009, p. 32).
A quantitative approach and statistical analysis would give you a bigger picture. 3. Identify how your analysis answers your research questions. Relate your methodology back to your original research questions and present a proposed outcome based on your analysis.
The methodology section of a research paper outlines how you plan to conduct your study. It covers various steps such as collecting data, statistical analysis, observing participants, and other procedures involved in the research process. The methods section should give a description of the process that will convert your idea into a study.
The structure of a dissertation methodology can vary depending on your field of study, the nature of your research, and the guidelines of your institution. However, a standard structure typically includes the following elements: Introduction: Briefly introduce your overall approach to the research.
Here are eight key steps to writing a methodology: 1. Restate your thesis or research problem. The first step to writing an effective methodology requires that you restate your initial thesis. It's an important step that allows the reader to remember the most important aspects of your research and follow each step of your methodology.
Section 2 - The Methodology. The next section of your chapter is where you'll present the actual methodology. In this section, you need to detail and justify the key methodological choices you've made in a logical, intuitive fashion. Importantly, this is the heart of your methodology chapter, so you need to get specific - don't hold back on the details here.
What needs to be included? With all that said, how do you write out your standard approach to a research methodology? As a general plan, your methodology should include the following information: Your research method. You need to state whether you plan to use quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, or mixed-method research methods. This ...
Research methodology is a crucial framework that guides the entire research process. It involves choosing between various qualitative and quantitative approaches, each tailored to specific research questions and objectives. Your chosen methodology shapes how data is gathered, analysed, and interpreted, ultimately influencing the reliability and ...
1. Understanding the options. Before we jump into the question of how to choose a research methodology, it's useful to take a step back to understand the three overarching types of research - qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods -based research. Each of these options takes a different methodological approach.
The main heading of "Methods" should be centered, boldfaced, and capitalized. Subheadings within this section are left-aligned, boldfaced, and in title case. You can also add lower level headings within these subsections, as long as they follow APA heading styles. To structure your methods section, you can use the subheadings of ...
The survey included ten multiple-choice questions and ten open-ended questions. The survey's objective is to determine the stress level of working women who have to deal with household responsibilities. ... Your methodology should be well-structured and easy to understand, with all the necessary information, evidence to support your argument ...
Not quite. As we mentioned, research methodology refers to the collection of practical decisions regarding what data you'll collect, from who, how you'll collect it and how you'll analyse it. Research design, on the other hand, is more about the overall strategy you'll adopt in your study. For example, whether you'll use an ...
The methodology chapter should outline the research process undertaken, from selecting the method to articulating the tool or approach adopted to analyse your results. Because you are outlining this process, it's important that you structure your methodology in a linear way, showing how certain decisions have impacted on subsequent choices.
A research methodology should include the following components: 3,9. Research design—should be selected based on the research question and the data required. Common research designs include experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, descriptive, and exploratory. Research method—this can be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method.
In a dissertation proposal, the methodology is written in the future tense (e.g. "The research design will be…"). However, when you come to write the methodology for the dissertation, this research has already been completed, so the methodology should be written in the past tense (e.g. "The research design was …").
Methodology. Methodology is sometimes used interchangeably with methods, or as the set of methods used in a research. More specifically, as the name would suggest, methodo-logy is the logos, the reasoning, on the methods. It is also referred to as the theory of how research should be undertaken (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015, p4).
Research methodology is a way of explaining how a researcher intends to carry out their research. It's a logical, systematic plan to resolve a research problem. A methodology details a researcher's approach to the research to ensure reliable, valid results that address their aims and objectives. It encompasses what data they're going to collect ...
the data and why you did it this way. You should give enough detail so that somebody could repeat your study almost exactly in order to compare their results to yours. So leave out details that would be unlikely to affect the outcome (e.g. 'it was a sunny day') but include anything that could possibly affect your results. This should cover:
The methods section is a fundamental section of any paper since it typically discusses the 'what', 'how', 'which', and 'why' of the study, which is necessary to arrive at the final conclusions. In a research article, the introduction, which serves to set the foundation for comprehending the background and results is usually ...
Overview: Writing The Methodology Chapter. Develop a (rough) outline before you start writing. Draw inspiration from similar studies in your topic area. Justify every research design choice that you make. Err on the side of too much detail, rather than too little. Back up every design choice by referencing literature. 1.
A key part of your dissertation or thesis is the methodology. This is not quite the same as 'methods'. The methodology describes the broad philosophical underpinning to your chosen research methods, including whether you are using qualitative or quantitative methods, or a mixture of both, and why. You should be clear about the academic ...
Notable methods include: Event chain methodology (ECM) The underlying idea behind event chain methodology is that potential risks often lie outside the project's scope. It's essential to prepare for these risks and plan your response since unexpected events will impact your project's schedule, deliverables, and potentially its success.