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Video: #3: Tips for Post Graduate Writing: Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Hello and welcome back! My name is Dr. Cheryl Lentz, owner of The Refractive Thinker® Press
and today our focus is on Chapter 3: Research Methodology as part of how to craft a doctoral
dissertation and/or an effective graduate thesis.
One of the textbooks I use, Understanding Research: A Consumer’s Guide.
by Plano Clark and Creswell (2010), offers a great quote for us to consider.
“Researchers indicate their intent by writing one or more sentences that state their specific
aims for conducting a study. These sentences are only a small part of a report, but they
“For a given research problem and literature review, there are several different studies
that a researcher could do to address deficiencies in the literature. When you read a [study],
you do not want to know what could be done, you want to know what the researcher actually
intended to do.” (p. 135) Reference
Plano Clark, V. L., & Creswell, J. W. (2010). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. May I invite you to consider, again as we
have discussed in previous videos, your problem statement and your purpose statement are what
drive your train. In this case, they will also determine your selection of methodology
as well. For many of us, we are a bit hesitant for some methodologies, particularly if our
love or fondness for statistics does not exist. *smiles*
However it is not up to us in terms of which methodology to choose of the major ones available
such as Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed study, Ethnography, Case study, or Phenomenology.
Instead, our choice is determined by what our study demands. So please, let me invite
you to research your areas of study from what previous students have offered at your respective
university and find two to three studies of either a doctoral dissertation or graduate
thesis in your area to focus on. That was the goal behind The Refractive Thinker®:
Volume II: Research Methodology we published, in order to be able to offer many different
examples so that you may be able to see what might be the most appropriate for your study.
Let me also invite you to allow your problem statement and purpose statement to set the
direction and goals for the analysis and discussion of your study. Our goal is to justify the
most appropriate method that meets the needs for your study.
As always, thank you so much for joining us. I invite you to research your specific examples,
and let us know if we can offer additional tips and tricks for effectively crafting a
doctoral dissertation and/or a graduate thesis. Again, my name is Dr. Cheryl Lentz. Please
join me for more tips on effective post graduate writing at our blog at http://www.refractivethinker.com/wordpress
for additional help and guidance. We look forward seeing you next time. Thank you very
much. Good luck!