Journal articles: methodology and methods

Use specialist journals in your subject to develop your understanding of methodological frameworks, methods and approaches relevant to your subject discipline, participants or raw materials. Check
off	each aspect once you have considered it. Jot down notes that will help you in designing your
research and selecting methods to use.	
■	Methodology
•	Do the authors refer directly to the philosophical or methodological principles that inform their
research? If so, in which sections of the report do they do so?
•	If not, what can you tease out about methodological thinking in your subject discipline?	
■	Data/raw material/sources
•	With what kinds of materials do researchers in your field work with most commonly? (Chapter 17)
•	What kinds of data/information are generated through using these materials or sources?
•	What kinds of methodological issues do you think are raised by working with such sources/data?	
■	Methods and techniques
•	What kinds of methods are used for gathering material or data in your subject?
•	Which of these appear to be the most typical?
•	What tips did you pick up on techniques you could replicate or adapt for your own research?	
■	Ethical considerations
•	What kinds of ethical issues are referred to with respect to the methods used?
•	How are such ethical matters addressed?
•	What considerations does this raise for how you would conduct your own research?	
■	Equipment, software and tools
•	What kinds of equipment or software, if any, are used for gathering, collating or analysing the kind of data that you aim to collect?
•	What kinds of tools do researchers in your subject design for themselves?
•	What ideas do these give you for collecting and recording information for your project?	
■	Critique of methods and techniques
•	How did the authors critique their own methods? What kinds of issues did they raise?
•	For your subject, where does that critique appear in the report? (The discussion section? The main body? The conclusion?)
•	What insights does this give you about how to critique your own methods in the relevant
section of your own report or dissertation?
•	What lessons can you learn from what the authors say about the research methods that they
used? How would you use those lessons in devising your own research methods?	
■	Style for writing about methods
•	What kind of writing style is used in writing up methods sections of reports/articles?
•	How succinct, or wordy, are these sections?
•	What kinds of specialist terminology are used? Are you comfortable using such language?	
■	Any other observations
•	What other observations did you make from your browsing and reading of journal articles that would be useful for your own dissertation, research project or long essay?