At a Glance
The method section is where you get into the nitty-gritty details of your research.
One helpful reminder: This section should provide enough information that another researcher could replicate your study.
It includes a precise description of how the experiments were performed and why particular procedures were selected.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
The method section ensures the experiment’s reproducibility and the assessment of alternative methods that might produce different results.
It also allows researchers to replicate the experiment and judge its validity.
Components of a Method Section
The method section should utilize subheadings to divide up different subsections.
These subsections typically include participants, materials, design, and procedure.
If you utilizedrandom selectionto choose your participants, it should be noted here.
For example: “We randomly selected 100 children from elementary schools near the University of Arizona.”
This may include:
For example: “Two stories from Sullivan et al.
Specialized equipment should be given greater detail, especially if it is complex or created for a niche purpose.
Specify the variables as well as the levels of these variables.
Identify:
Also, explain whether your experiment uses awithin-groupsor between-groups design.
For example: “The experiment used a 3x2 between-subjects design.
The independent variables were age and understanding of second-order beliefs.”
Procedure
The next part of your method section should detail the procedures used in your experiment.
All sessions were videotaped so the data could later be coded.”
Keep this subsection concise yet detailed.
you could often become too close to your work to see errors or lack of clarity.
Take a rough draft of your method section to your university’s writing lab for additional assistance.
Takeaways
The method section is one of the most important components of your APA format paper.
The goal of your paper should be to clearly detail what you did in your experiment.
Your instructor may have certain requirements that it’s crucial that you follow while writing your method section.
Keep this section succinct, and always write in the past tense.
Each subheading within this section should be bolded, left-aligned, and in title case.
The purpose of the methods section is to describe what you did in your experiment.
It should be brief, but include enough detail that someone could replicate your experiment based on this information.
Your methods section should detail what you did to answer your research question.
Erdemir F.How to write a materials and methods section of a scientific article?Turk J Urol.
Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2019.
Eldawlatly AA, Meo SA.Writing the methods section.Saudi J Anaesth.
2019;13(Suppl 1):S20-S22.
doi:10.4103/sja.SJA_805_18
American Psychological Association.APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards.
