The questions every methods chapter must answer
Whatever your discipline, a reader finishing your dissertation methodology should know the answer to each of these. We use them as the backbone of our review.
- What approach did you take, and why that one? Paradigm, design and strategy, justified against your research questions rather than against textbook definitions.
- Who or what did you study? Population, sampling technique, sample size and how participants or cases were reached.
- How did you collect data? Instruments, interview guides, protocols or secondary datasets, with evidence of validity and reliability where relevant.
- How did you analyse it? The specific tests, models or coding approach, linked to each question or hypothesis.
- What could limit the findings, and what did you do about it? Ethics, bias, limitations and the steps taken to reduce them.
Common weak points we help fix
After reviewing many methodology chapters, the same issues come up across fields.
| What the draft says | What examiners want instead |
|---|---|
| "A quantitative approach was chosen because it is objective." | A reason tied to your question, such as needing to estimate the size of a relationship. |
| "Convenience sampling was used." | Why it was acceptable here, what bias it introduces and how you limited it. |
| "150 participants were recruited." | How that number was reached, ideally with a power analysis or saturation argument. |
| "Data were analysed using SPSS." | The named tests, their assumptions and which hypothesis each one addresses. |
| "Thematic analysis was conducted." | Which version, what coding steps, and how you kept the analysis transparent. |
For background on the sampling side, our guide to sampling methods in research sets out the main options and their trade-offs.
How we work through your methodology
We start with a short call, ideally before the chapter is finished. You talk us through your questions and planned design; we ask the questions an examiner would. Problems spotted at this stage are far cheaper to fix than ones found after data collection.
Next, we review the written chapter in tracked changes and margin comments, paying most attention to the logic chain from question to design to analysis. If your plan involves statistics, a statistician reads the analysis section; if it is qualitative, a qualitative researcher does. Where your choice of test is still open, we'll talk it through using the reasoning in our guide to choosing a statistical test.
When the analysis itself needs hands-on support, our dissertation statistics help or qualitative analysis support continues from the same plan.
Length, timing and what to send
A dissertation methodology chapter is usually around 10 to 15 percent of the total word count, so roughly 1,500 to 3,000 words at master's level and longer for a PhD. A methods section in a journal paper is much shorter and more procedural. Feedback on a full chapter typically takes three to five working days after the consultation call.
Please send your research questions or hypotheses, the methodology draft or an outline, any instruments or interview guides, your ethics approval status and your department's chapter guidance. An outline with bullet points is enough if you have not started drafting yet.
Why you stay the decision-maker
Methods are where a defense or viva gets most detailed. Examiners will ask why you chose one approach over another, and the only reliable preparation is having made those choices yourself with a clear rationale. So we explain the options and their consequences, and you decide. Every justification in the final chapter is one you can say out loud and stand behind.
What you get
- A design consultation call to test whether your methods fit your questions
- Detailed comments on your methodology chapter or methods section draft
- A checklist of decisions that still need a stated justification
- Feedback on sampling, sample size and recruitment reasoning
- Review of your analysis plan, including software and test choices
- Notes on limitations, ethics and reliability or trustworthiness
What we don't do
- We advise on and review your methodology; the chapter is drafted by you
- Design changes after data collection may need your supervisor's agreement, and we'll help you raise them
- Running the analysis itself is handled through our statistics or qualitative analysis services
How it works
Describe your project
Level, deadline and what you need help with.
Agree a written scope
What's included, the price and the timeline.
Work in stages
Check-ins so you can steer the work.
Review and ask
Explanations and follow-up questions included.