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Unit 6 Method

Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit you should:

  • understand the purpose of the method section
  • know what to include in the method section
  • be able to select the appropriate verb tense and voice to use
Rubik

Activity 1: Describing your method

One person is the speaker. One person is the listener. The speaker describes the method of their research project in English. The listener asks questions (in any language) if they do not understand anything. Once the listener understands. The listener uses Japanese (or English) to confirm the method. The speaker and listener then change roles.

Work in pairs. Describe how you carry out your research project.

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Activity 2: Self evaluation of description of method

Answer these questions about your performance as speaker in Activity 1.

# Question
1 How clear was your description? unclear unclear at times fairly clear clear very clear
2 Did your listener understand your description? not really some parts most parts yes, probably yes, sure
3 Did your description include enough specific details? no probably, no not sure yes, probably yes, enough

Remember there may be a big difference between your understanding of your method, and someone else`s understanding of your description. One of your aim is to minimize this discrepancy. The method should provide enough details so someone with the appropriate skillset can replicate your research.

Activity 3: Peer evaluation

Share your impression of the description of the method using the Table in Activity 2. Discuss any differences between your ideas.

Activity 4: Format

Read the two methods sections given below.

The content of each description is the same, but the format differs.

Prose

    A method section describes: the research design, the procedures used in your study, and the materials used in your study. Sufficient detail needs to be provided so that someone else can replicate or extend your study. The method section should also include reasons for choosing the method of investigation and explanations of the method.

Bulletpoint

    A method section describes:

    • the research design,
    • the procedures used in your study, and
    • the materials used in your study.

    Sufficient detail needs to be provided so that someone else can replicate or extend your study. The method section should also include:

    • reasons for choosing the method of investigation, and
    • explanations of the method.
replication experiment

Image source: Image library of Understanding science, University of Berkeley.

Activity 5: Discussion

Work in pairs. Compare and contrast prose and bulletpoint formats.

Prose Bulletpoint

A method section describes: the research design, the procedures used in your study and the materials used in your study. Sufficient detail needs to be provided so that someone else can replicate or extend your study. The method section should also include reasons for choosing the method of investigation and explanations of the method.

A method section describes:

  • the research design,
  • the procedures used in your study, and
  • the materials used in your study.

Sufficient detail needs to be provided so that someone else can replicate or extend your study. The method section should also include:

  • reasons for choosing the method of investigation, and
  • explanations of the method.

Activity 6: Lists

Read.

Lists are a concise way to present information. Lists may be numbered (ordered) to show the sequence or the relative importance of items. Lists may use bulletpoints to introduce each item (unordered). There are two common types of lists: horizontal lists and vertical lists.

Horizontal lists

Horizontal lists are written in the same way as a normal sentence.

XXXXXXX include(s): aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, and cccccccccccccccccccccc. Horizontal lists may include numbers, e.g. The steps in the process were: (1) aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, (2) bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, and (3) cccccccccccccccccccccc.

Vertical lists

Vertical lists are written by placing each list element on a new line.

XXXXXX include(s):

  • aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, and
  • cccccccccccccccccccccc.

Note that each list begins with a colon. Colons are commonly used to introduce lists. The list elements are usually divided by commas. In formal texts, such as a graduation thesis, the final list item is introduced using and. List items can be words, phrases or clauses. However, do not mix item types in the same list.

When creating lists you can use ordered lists (numbered lists) or unordered lists (bullet-point lists). We use unordered lists when it does not matter about the order of the elements. We use ordered lists when it matters about the sequence. Ordered lists can be used to show chronological order and priority order.

Activity 7: Common elements in method sections

Decide which of these are relevant to your method section.

Method sections vary greatly according to the type of graduation thesis. Some common elements include:

  • the method(s) you used to collect your data, conduct your experiments or create your computer programmes.
  • the reason(s) for choosing the method(s); for example, (1) justifications for choosing a particular method(s), and/or (2) the objectives of the experiments or computer program testing, and the connection with your overall research objectives.
  • any limitations of your methodology. This includes, for example, time, method, sample size and other uncontrollable variables.

Method sections in particular domains have specific features. For example,:

  • for experiments, the procedural steps and the materials and apparatus used will be described.
  • for software development,the stages in the software development cycle may be used. There may be two method sections, namely: the method to develop the software and the method to evaluate the software.
  • for research using data analysis, the method describes the data selection, collection, pre-processing, analytical framework, etc. For example, detail may be given on the treatment of data: qualitative or quantitative (statistical) tools or software used.
PUT IMAGE DESCRIPTION HERE

Image source: Nagasaka et al (2013)

Nagasaka, Y., Chao, Z.C., Hasegawa, N., Notoya, T. and Fujii, N., 2013. Spontaneous synchronization of arm motion between Japanese macaques. Scientific reports, 3, p.1151.

Activity 8: Language features in a method section

Read to discover which language features are commonly used in method sections.

Verb tense

When describing procedures, use the simple past tense when referring to the procedures that you carried out. However, you can use the present tense if you are describing some standard procedures widely used by other researchers.

Voice

Passive voice is commonly used in describing procedures because your emphasis is on the procedure rather than the person.

Passive voice
The specimen was weighed in an electric balance before the test. Then it was placed at the center of the load cell.

Active voice
We weighed the specimen in an electric balance before the test.  Then we placed it at the center of the load cell.

Note: The use of active or passive voice in a graduation thesis depends on the conventions of different disciplines. You should talk to your supervisor for the best advice.

Imperatives

In the method section, it is common to refer your readers to relevant figures for more information. There are two ways of doing this. One is to use the imperative, for example:

  1. See Figure 2 for the set up of the test.
  2. Refer to Appendix C for a list of companies that participated in the survey.

The use of imperatives is common in textbooks and course materials. However, it may sound a bit impolite if you use them in your graduation thesis.  Remember, your main readers are your supervisor and other second-readers. One way to avoid using imperatives is to use the passive voice. We can rewrite the two examples above using the passive voice:

  1. The set up of the test is shown in Figure 2.
  2. A list of companies that participated in the survey is given in Appendix C.

Activity 9: Preparation for challenge activity

Watch the slideshow presentation to make it easier to complete the followiing activity

Activity 10: Challenge activity - no answers provided

Read the text below to answer these questions.

  1. How many finite verb phrases are in each sentence? [finite verb = verb carrying a tense]
  2. Which voice is more commonly used: passive voice or active voice?
  3. Is the verb "stored" used in active or passive voice. Explain.
  4. (super challenging question) The verbs "started" and "decreased" are in active voice. Since the researcher started the solution at 1%, we can rewrite the sentence in passive voice as: "the solution was started at 1%". So, why can we also use active voice for passive meaning in this case?

2. Materials and methods (abbreviated)

2.1 Apples
Liberty apple cultivar was chosen for this study because it is highly prone to browning (Kim, Smith, & Lee, 1993). The apples were harvested at commercial maturity in the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station orchard during the 1998 growing season and stored in the cold room (0−2°C and 90−95% RH). The moisture content of the apples was 83.6% [...].

2.2 Anti-browning agents
Five major groups of chemical compounds [...] were either certified ACS grade or analytical grade [...]. Concentration of each dipping solution started at 1% and then decreased to lower concentrations [...].

2.3 Slicing and dipping
Selected apples of uniform size and color were washed by hand and sliced longitudinally into 10 equal pieces using a stainless steel hand slicer. Ten apple slices were treated in 500 ml of dipping solution for 3 minutes and drained. The excess liquid was removed on cheese cloth. Samples were kept on the laboratory bench at room temperature for 3 hours.

2.4 Slicing and dipping
The changes in flesh color of the treated apple slices were measured by a Hunter Colorimeter (Hunterlab D-25, USA) at 10 min intervals for 3 h. The degree of browning was expressed by “δL” value [...]. The results were expressed as a mean value from three replications of the 10 measured samples.

2.5 Slicing and dipping
Statistical analysis was carried out using a PC SAS package (SAS, 1990). Duncan's multiple range tests (P=0.05) were performed to determine any significant difference among various treatments.

Method section extracted and abbreviated from:

Son, S.M., Moon, K.D. and Lee, C.Y., 2001. Inhibitory effects of various antibrowning agents on apple slices. Food Chemistry, 73(1), pp.23-30.

Review

Answer these general questions about the method section.

  1. Which tense is most commonly used?
  2. Which voice is most commonly used?
  3. Is the purpose of the method (1) to enable someone to replicate your work, or (2) to prove that you did the work?
  4. Does the method explain (1) how you did the research, or (2) why you did the research?

Answer these general questions about YOUR method section.

  1. Can you give a general overview of your method in less than one minute in Japanese?
  2. How about in English?
  3. Can you give a detailed description of your method in three minutes in Japanese?
  4. How about in English?