About the course:
Too often, the methodology section of a research paper, or the methods chapter in a PhD thesis, are the weakest parts of a manuscript. Yet, if we know how to write well about our research designs and our methodological choices, it should not only impress reviewers and examiners, but it could also open up a rich seam of additional publications and broaden the impact of your work across the social sciences and humanities.
Writing your Methodology Section/Chapter is aimed at PhD students, post-docs and junior researchers, and acts as a practical guide to the basics of writing about methods. Drawing on good (and bad) examples throughout, and interspersed with hands-on exercises, the course serves as an introduction to an often thorny academic skill for anyone new or newish to research writing.
Who is the course for?
The course is aimed at PhD students, post-docs and junior researchers working in the following disciplinary areas:
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Social Policy
• Business & Management
• Education Studies
• History
• Political Science
• Anthropology
• Health Studies (non-medical)
• Criminology
• Social Work
• Geography
• Media Studies
• International Relations
The course covers:
Understanding research writing
Traditions in research writing
Disciplinary traditions
Methodological traditions
Online or in-print delivery?
Understanding your audience
Supervisors
Examiners
The scholarly community
Identifying the points of interest and points of departure
Unique contributions
Methodological innovations
Benchmarking from your research problematics
All research is unique (in some aspects) and all research is not unique in others
Explaining your key choices and decisions
Writing about research design
And knowing what can go unexplained
Drawing on the methodological literature
A lit review in miniature
Referring to methodological authorities
Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology and Methods
What, why, when?
The history of the method(ology)
Standpoint vs ideology vs philosophy
Writing about research ethics & ethical review boards
Showcasing your data and field experience
Understanding warrant
Using examples
Deploying evidence
Describing, as well as citing, your data
Understanding methods basics helps methods writing
Validity and reliability in writing (as well as in research)
Writing about methods elsewhere in your thesis/article
Introductions
Conclusions
The main body of your article/thesis
Common issues when writing about quantitative methods and statistics
Warranting your datapoints
Describing designs, instruments and rubrics
Eliminating alternatives
Warranting your tests
Explaining question design and scale choice
Common issues when writing about qualitative methods
Describing your research designs
Explaining your analytical approach
Showing as well as telling
Justifying your methods (in what terms?)
Good housekeeping in methodological writing
‘Suggests’ not ‘shows’; ‘argues’ not ‘proves’ etc
‘For example’ and ‘for instance’
Voice
Territorial-centrism, cultural-centrism, disciplinary and methodological-centrism
Over claiming and under claiming
Can you get a methods publication from your work?
Writing a methodological article or book chapter
About the author:
Patrick Brindle spent 15 years in academic publishing with Oxford University Press and SAGE. At SAGE he was Publisher for Research Methods and worked with hundreds of authors from around the world on their methods books. Patrick has managed books, journals and new online products. He is now the founder and director of Into Content Ltd, a company that offers training to researchers on publication strategies and maximising research impact. He is also Visiting Lecturer at City University, London, where he teaches modules in Research Methods, Digital Publishing and Designing Interactive Media. Patrick has a PhD in History from Cambridge University.
Patrick Brindle got his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1998. At Cambridge he taught courses in research methods, the social sciences and history. Patrick also supervised numerous student research projects and dissertations.
Patrick took the step of moving to publishing in 2000. He has held a number of editorial roles at Pearson Education, Oxford University Press and SAGE Publications. He has worked on academic books, textbooks, journals and on online content and video.
At SAGE, Patrick was Publisher for Research Methods, Publisher for the Social Sciences, and Publisher for Online Content. He also co-established and managed a team of development editors whose job was to work closely with authors to improve the accessibility, style and market-readiness of their manuscripts.
Over 15 years in editorial, Patrick has worked with hundreds of social science scholars and researchers on their texts and has witnessed and dealt with every kind of writing problem (and excuse) in the proverbial book.
Patrick is now the founder and director of Into Content Limited, and is Visiting Lecturer at City University, London, where he lectures on publishing.
Attendees must bring a laptop.
Course fee £30
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY SUBSCRIBED
