Cover Page Executive Summary Table of Contents Background Problem/ Opportunity Research Objectives
Action Standard Research Method Research Results Managerial Implications Appendices Acknowledge Sources
The Method describes the means used to generate answers to the research objectives, which includes:
- the source and type of data;
- how, where, when, and from whom it was collected; and
- how it was analyzed or adapted to answer the questions.
These descriptions should be concise explanations of the outcome of the methods rather than step-by-step descriptions of the processes.
For example, it is better to say “a survey was mailed to all residents of …” rather than “a list of residents was provided by the client and a survey was developed … reviewed by the client, …”
Headings and subheadings may be particularly important in organizing this section. So are definitions and detailed descriptions. For example, you may describe your study as a survey of home owners living in the Buckhead area. This requires you to define or describe:
- Buckhead and homeowners;
- how homeowners were identified and contacted;
- how and when a survey was distributed; what incentives, if any, were offered;
- what the response rate was; what the resulting sample was; and
- how it compared to known characteristics of the entire population of Buckhead home owners.
The Methods section is the section in which people often use technical terms when simple descriptions will work. Terms like random or systematic stratified sample have very specific meanings. You, as the writer, must be sure you are using any term correctly. Even better, translate the process into plain English descriptions.
Data sources and variables are often described as though every reader is familiar with them. Often they are not.
If you are using a customer database to address the questions, assume that no reader has actually worked with the data. Hence, you would avoid the use of cryptic variable names and would not assume that readers know the source or meaning of the data. A common term like annual revenue could be the total dollars sold to or collected from the customer. It could also refer to the annual sales of the customer. This number might be as reported in annual reports or estimated by your company from other sources.
If there are several stages of analysis or the analysis is complex, the Methods section may include an overview with specific details, such as formulas or transformations, described just prior to those Results.