The method section of an APA format psychology paper provides the

methods and procedures used in a research study or experiment. You should

provide detailed information on the research design, participants, equipment,
materials, variables, and actions taken by the participants. The method
section should provide enough information to allow other researchers to
replicate your experiment or study.

The method section should utilize subheading to divide up different

subsections.

These subsections typically include: Participants, Materials, Design, and

Procedure.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: Variable

Here's How:

1. Participants: Describe the participants in your

experiment, including who they were, how many there
were, and how they were selected.

For example:

We randomly selected 100 children from elementary

schools near the University of Arizona.

2. Materials: Describe the materials, measures,

equipment, or stimuli used in the experiment. This may
include testing instruments, technical equipments,
books, images, or other materials used in the course of
research.

For example:
 Two stories from Sullivan et al.'s (1994) second-order
false belief attribution tasks were used to assess
children's understanding of second-order beliefs.

3. Design: Describe the type of design used in the

experiment. Specify the variables as well as the levels
of these variables. Explain whether your experiment
uses a within-groups or between-groups design.

For example:

The experiment used a 3x2 between-subjects design.

The independent variableswere age and understanding
of second-order beliefs.

1. Procedure: The next part of your method section

should detail the procedures used in your experiment.
Explain what you had participants do, how you collected
data, and the order in which steps occurred.

For example:

An examiner interviewed children individually at their

school in one session that lasted 20 minutes on
average. The examiner explained to each child that he
or she would be told two short stories and that some
questions would be asked after each story. All sessions
were videotaped so the data could later be coded.

Tips:

1. Always write the method section in the past tense.

2. Provide enough detail that another researcher could

replicate your experiment, but focus on brevity. Avoid
unnecessary detail that is not relevant to the outcome
of the experiment.
 3. Remember to use proper APA format. As you are writing
your method section, keep a style guide published by
the American Psychological Association on hand, such
as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association.

4. Take a rough draft of your method section to your

university's writing lab for additional assistance.

5. Proofread your paper for typos, grammar problems, and

spelling errors. Do not just rely on computer spell
checkers. Always read through each section of your
paper for agreement with other sections. If you mention
steps and procedures in the method section, these
elements should also be present in the results and
discussion sections.

Now that you've been introduced to the Elements of the Research Proposal,
you will now plan and draft your own research proposal.

Before that, however, study some actual Research Proposals to give you a
basic idea of what proposals contain, what elements might be omitted for
certain topics, and what elements might be combined. Review the
proposals, complete the assigned reflective journal and planning guide, and
then return here.

Before you start writing your draft proposal, you need to formulate a
proposal statement. Constructing a research proposal statement will clarify
your research purpose and method of investigation.

I. Planning the Introduction Section

The first part of writing your own research proposal is dealing with the
introductory material. Use the planning guide document that you have
saved to your computer to help you to track your ideas and decisions as you
move through each section of the paper. In completing this sequence of
activities, not only will your research proposal be well-prepared and thought
out, you will have the opportunity to apply your newly acquired knowledge of
research methodology and the underlying structure of a research proposal.
The Title Page

The Introduction

Here is an excellent overall resource to assist in the research proposal writing

process.

For now, you are done with your title page and your introduction section. You
may need to make changes later to make a smooth connection with your
methodology section, but for now, you can move on.

You are now ready to plan and compose the second piece of your
proposal, the methodologysection. In it you will describe what you plan to
accomplish, why you want to do it and how you are going to do it. This
process is very important; to a reviewer, your research investigation is only
as a good as your proposal methodology. Generally, a research proposal
should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and
include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study.
An ill-conceived proposal dooms the project, even if it somehow is approved,
because your methods are not carefully thought out in advance.

The methodology section should describe how each specific objective will be
achieved, with enough detail to enable an independent and informed
assessment of the proposal. This section should include:

Restatement of research tasks: hypothesis or research questions;

Study population and sampling: description of study areas,

populations and the procedures for their selection;

Data collection: description of the tools and methods used to collect

information, and identification of variables;

Data analysis: description of data processing and analyzing

procedures;

Laboratory procedures: descriptions of standardized procedures and

protocols and new or unique procedures; and

The specific tools that will be used to study each research objective.

First, review the two types of research, qualitative and quantitative, in order
to make a decision about your own methodology's procedures pathway.
In a series of steps in a planning guide, you will outline
your methodology section and craft yourproposal.

Deciding My Own Approach

Start planning and writing by clicking on each of the elements in research

proposal's methodology section

What type of overall study design is best for my investigation and

research?

There are two types of information gathering

qualitative and quantitative. Both designs, quantitative and qualitative,
are said to be systematic, meaning that they have a system or follow a
process. Each type of design, however has different approaches to methods
of reasoning, step-by-step procedures, and
research tools and strategies. Although deciding that an investigation is
qualitative or quantitative directs the researcher toward a certain path,
depending on what research questions still need to be answered as the
investigation unfolds a combination of approaches can be used in the
specific research tools used.

Now you will determine overall project design; that decision will help you
to frame out your basic methodology and determine whether you will need
to use inductive or deductive reasoning in making your conclusion.

Complete Crafting a Research Proposal: II. Approach to Research Design in

order to decide which approach will best suit your research. To answer some
of the questions there, you may need to review your Reflection Journal and
the material introduced earlier about methodology located on this web site.

When you are done, select the approach that you think will work best
for your research and follow the pathway for your particular approach

Design My Project

Now that you know which design best suits your investigation, you will need
to follow a specific pathway for the following research proposal elements in
order to follow the specific reasoning and concerns of your approach. You
will also need to download and save the planning guide for your approach to
methodology to your computer.

Crafting the Proposal: III. The Methodology (Qualitative)

Crafting the Proposal: III. The Methodology (Quantitative)

Different Pathways for Different Research Design Approaches

After you have downloaded and saved the file, you will need to
complete Step 1 : Designing Research Methodology. Use the links
below to help you to make decisions as you complete your planning
guide.

Example: Sample Description of Methodology

Data Gathering Plans The two instruments and a simple instruction sheet
that also asks subjects their age and gender, will be delivered to an
administrator in each setting who has agreed to distribute and collect the
completed instruments. Prior to their distribution an introductory letter from
both the researcher and the respective administrators will be placed in each
selected subjects mailbox or mail slot asking for their cooperation. The
letters will describe the research and its importance and the support of the
administrator. They also will note that a $5 coupon toward any groceries at
the local Wegmans Grocery (donated by the stores public relations office)
will be available to each person completing the two instruments and signing
a letter of informed consent related to the research. Finally, they will provide
a telephone number for anyone with questions or who may need assistance
in completing the instruments. This procedure will be pilot-tested with at
least 10 volunteers from the Fayetteville Senior center to refine the data
gathering plans.

Once the pilot-testing procedures have been completed, any required

changes in the administration plans will be carried out. Then the
administrators will be authorized to distribute the forms. Any person who has
phoned needing clarification will be provided further explanation. Anyone
who phones in a need for assistance in completing the forms will receive
support in the form of one the locations administrative assistants reading
the forms and recording the answers. Each assistant so involved will be
provided training by the researcher on how to read and record the answers in
an unbiased manner.

One week after this initial delivery, a follow-up phone call will be made to
either thank those who completed the forms or to remind those who have
not yet completed their forms. The grocery coupons will be mailed to all who
have completed the forms with a letter of thanks. If fewer than 95 people
from each of the two settings complete the forms, then the random sampling
and distribution will continue until at least that number of completed forms
from each setting has been received. It is anticipated that all data collection
efforts will be completed within one month.