While you are writing your thesis, you come across a section called “methods”. This section deals with the methods used for completing your research and also the materials utilized to provide evidence for the same. Some information in this section is to be written in active or passive voice. The study conducted by you can be given in the past tense.
The methods section also provides information about what you have done so as to present the findings. If this section is written in a proper manner, other people can repeat the study successfully. The information that you provide should be to the point throughout the study. Further, the details regarding the materials and ideas should have a proper flow. The content given in the methods section should be relevant to the research conducted. In other words, the content which you provide in this section decides the way in which the results turn out for another person who tries to attempt your methods.
The details given should be sufficient enough to help other people who do research in the same field. This segment includes different kinds of information which can be grouped according to the concerned topic. For example, in one situation, you can mention the subjects, participants, etc. while in another situation you can talk about the procedures used.
Some students may not be clear about how to attempt the methods section. To help these students out, there are several sample articles available which gives an idea about how to format, organize, and write the content. Further, the results section also can have links with this section. It is better to prepare the first draft and revise the content accordingly. Go through your content to make sure that it has the required clarity with respect to your findings.
In short, if the methods section is structured in the right manner, it will help others to conduct research based on the same.