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How To Write Methods Section

The document provides guidance on writing an effective methods section. It should describe the procedures used to achieve objectives identified in the introduction. Details must allow replication and maintain balance between brevity and completeness. The logical flow and chronological order of procedures must be clear. Measurements and their uncertainties should be stated. Results and discussion should not be included.

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Olha Pavlenko
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13 views

How To Write Methods Section

The document provides guidance on writing an effective methods section. It should describe the procedures used to achieve objectives identified in the introduction. Details must allow replication and maintain balance between brevity and completeness. The logical flow and chronological order of procedures must be clear. Measurements and their uncertainties should be stated. Results and discussion should not be included.

Uploaded by

Olha Pavlenko
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ME Writing Thread MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

How to Write a Methods Section

Where does it fit? – The methods section generally follows the introduction. The methods section
describes the analysis, modeling or experimentation used to achieve each of the issues identified
in the statement of objectives.

Before Writing – The methods section is a clear and concise explanation of how you conducted
your study, and it provides readers with the information needed to evaluate the quality of your
work and to replicate your work. Carefully consider each of the following issues in preparation for
writing the methods section.
• Details – Provide sufficient quantitative information and specifics about the procedures or
protocols such that the experiments, analysis or simulations can be replicated.
• Balance – Maintaining the required balance between brevity and completeness is
challenging, so developing a detailed outline for the methods section is essential. Ask the
question: what is essential for someone to repeat the results obtained? If it order, time, or
person is not essential then they should not be listed. If the result is dependent on the order,
time or person, then they should be listed.
• Flow – The logical flow of the experiments, analyses or models must be apparent to the
reader, so the methods section must be highly-structured and easily followed. Generally, this
may be accomplished by describing the procedures chronologically or by developing a
classification system for the procedures. A detailed outline is also helpful in maintaining flow
in the methods section.

While Writing – Systematically state what was done, how it was done, how the data was
collected, and how the data was analyzed. Think about responding to questions such as ‘what
was done?’, ‘why was it done?’, ‘how often was it done?’, ‘how was the start of the process
identified?’, how was the end of the process identified?’, or ‘how was the data collected?’ as you
write. The following are specific tips for writing an effective methods section.
• Style – Since you are describing what was done, you should use past tense. Use a third
person perspective and a passive voice to place emphasis on what was done instead of who
did it.
• Experimental design – Include a brief description of the hypothesis that motivated the design
of each experiment, process and analysis you performed. Include sufficient details regarding
the equipment and materials used. If available in a prior publication, lengthy descriptions of
the design of an experiment, process or analysis may be included by reference.
• Measurements – Clearly state the measurements made with an estimate of the uncertainty in
in each measurement. Describe how the uncertainty was estimated.

After Writing – Consider the following questions after completing a draft of the document, and
use these considerations to revise and improve the methods section.
• Structure – Is the organizing principle (i.e., chronological, categorical, functional, etc…)
readily apparent to a reader?
• Level of detail – Would a reader be able to replicate your study using only the information
included in the methods section? Did you avoid unnecessary details? For example, did you
include the ambient temperature and humidity when they have no bearing on the
experiment?

Writing Committee | Rev: 21 August 2017


• Content – A common error is to include results in the methods section. Make sure that you
are describing processes and procedures and that you have not included results or a
discussion of the results in the methods section.
• Tense – Another common error is to switch from the past tense to the present tense. Make
sure you are writing about what you did and not what you are doing or what you will do.

Writing Committee | Rev: 21 August 2017

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