Business and Management Research
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Lecture 8
Methodology and results
sections
Report structure
1. Title page
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Related work
5. Method
6. Results
7. Discussion
8. Conclusion
9. References
10. Appendices
Report Structure
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Participants
Design
Apparatus/Materials
Procedure
Discussion & Conclusion
References
Methodology Section
Methodology Section
• The methods section is the most important part of a
research paper .
•It provides a clear description of :
•how the research was done.
•what was done to answer the research question
•how the results were analyzed.
Methodology Section
It must be written with enough information so that:
(1) the research could be repeated by others to evaluate
whether the results are reproducible, and
(2) the audience can judge whether the results and
conclusions are valid.
Methodology Section
• The method starts directly below the introduction.
•It is typically divided into three subsections:
•Participants
•Materials
•Procedure
Methodology: Participants
• Information on participants
includes:
– Number of participants.
– Procedures for selecting
participants or the sampling
method (random, opportunistic
etc.).
– Demographic information
(age, gender, occupation,
educational level).
– If some participants did not
complete the experiment, state
how many and why they did
not continue
Example
Method
Participants
20 male and 20 female
participants from
Birmingham City
University participated
in the current study. No
other demographic
information was
collected.
Methodology: Materials
• Describe materials used and their function in enough
detail so others can replicate
• For example: in describing word lists, include the
number of words, approximate length of words, were
they in capital or lowercase letters, etc.
• A copy of the materials can be included in an appendix
at the end of the paper; you would refer your reader to
that appendix; (see Appendix for a complete list of the
words used in this experiment).
Methodology: Procedure
• The procedure is like the
instructions for baking a cake or
making something from Lego.
• It describes exactly what was done
in the study and the order in which
things were done.
• Describe the instructions given to
participants
• The procedure should be logical,
and contain sufficient information
for the reader to follow.
Methodology Example
Methodology
Participants
Sixty university students (30 males and 30 females) participated in this study for extra
course credit in a Psychology 100 course at the University of Victoria....
Materials
Three word lists were created, each of which consisted of 20 words. See Appendix for
a complete list of the words used in this experiment. All words were written in lowercase
letters. The length of each word ranged from 5 to 8 letters...
Procedure
Participants were tested individually in the presence of the experimenter...
Methodology Example
Method
Participants
20 male and 20 female participants from Birmingham
City University participated in the current study.
Results Section
Results
Purpose: To report the key findings and the statistical
analyses conducted
 The
results section is one of the most feared
sections of the report.
 The
results section should start with descriptive
(summary) statistics (e.g. Mean, median, range etc.)
 A summary
table of descriptive statistics can be
provided
 Use
graphs and graphs and axis are titled and the
graph means something to the overall report.
Result Example
Results
The mean number of words was 25.6 and the mean. See
Figure 1 for a summary of descriptive statistics. These
data were analyzed using a t-test and the results were
statistically significant, t(30) = 4.99, p = .002, suggesting
that younger participants were able to recall more words
than older participants.
Successful Report Writing
• Start writing early – important details
about the study may be forgotten if the
write-up is left to the last minute.
• Remember – a naive reader should be
able to follow your report and replicate
your findings.
• Read – reading journal articles will help
you with structuring your report and
understanding the required style.
• Reflect – reflect upon the comments you
receive on your practical reports and
essays – these are provided to help you!
Figure Example:
Average
Recalled
Words Recalled
Average Words
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Young
Old
Age
Figure 1. Average number of words recalled as a function of age.
Link to Sample Research Paper
http://camosun.ca/documents/schools/artsci/apasample-research.pdf
This sample is a great template and you can follow it
closely.