One of the most important aspects of the methodology section is to relate what you’re writing to your own research. Students frequently reproduce pages of textbook definitions of research concepts e.g., research approaches, sampling, reliability, validity etc., with virtually no reference to their own research. Let me show you an example of how many students (unfortunately) describe …
If you’re writing the methods section of your research, you will need to describe your sample. (I’m dealing here with the sample description, rather than the sampling method.) So, how should you describe your sample? According to APA guidelines, you should refer to people as ‘participants’, not as ‘subjects’. The term ‘subjects’ is used in …
How many times have you chosen to read something based on its title? Many times, I’m sure. So, the title of your thesis or dissertation is important. It should present your research accurately and encourage others to read it. Here are answers to a few FAQs on academic titles: HOW MANY WORDS SHOULD THE TITLE …
Whether you’re writing your dissertation or proposal, you’ll need to specify the Delimitations and Limitations of your research. Here is a description of the differences between them. DELIMITATIONS are what you decide upfront will be the boundaries, restrictions or fences of your research. For example, you may decide to restrict your population or sample, or to restrict …
There are certain parts of a proposal, dissertation or thesis that often trip students up early on. Let me share 5 of them with you (in no particular order). First off, is the trap of outdated references. The rule of thumb is that over 80% of your references should be newer than 5 years old (unless …
How well have you written your literature review? In my experience, most students write their literature reviews by focussing on who (i.e. the authors of each reference) says what. Each paragraph starts with authors’ names. Writing this way is not ideal as the focus is on the authors, rather than on what they’re saying. According to Bloom’s (2001) Taxonomy of conceptual …