Writing the Method
Section
Oct 31st, 2022
University of Houston
A few important annoncements
• 1. When submitting the final research proposal, you need to add the
following content (usually in a paragraph) to your literature review to
complete the introduction: what your study is about & your hypotheses
• 2. Please review the methods section rubric carefully before you start
the assignment
• 3. Extra credit assignments
• 4. You will be tested on the 2 articles under journal article review on
Final Exam
• 5. You don’t need conduct any study for the paper
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
What is the Method Section
• The method section provides the details for your proposed study.
• It details how the study was conducted. The goal is to provide as much
detailed information as possible so that another researcher could
replicate your study
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Subsections of the Method Section
1. Participants
2. Design
3. Procedure
4. Materials
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Participants
• Tell how many participants in total and how many were in each
condition of the study
• N =
• Explain from what populations they were recruited from and how
• College students?
• State the demographic composition of the sample as appropriate –
ethnicity, sex, education level, age, etc)
• Remember if it is not relevant to the study, like income level, do not report on
it
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Participants
• Explain your inclusion and/or exclusion criteria
• Inclusion criteria – characteristics that the potential participants must have if they
are to be included in the study
• Exclusion criteria – characteristics that disqualify prospective participant from
inclusion in the study
• If participants were compensated for participating in the study, explain how
• Be sure to include a statement noting that your participants all gave
informed consent to participate in the research under a protocol approved
by the IRB (Institutional Review Board)
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Participants
Two hundred seventy-three college students (150 women and 123 men)
enrolled in psychology courses at the University of Houston were recruited
through email. Participants were 18 to 24 years old. Partial course credit and a
Target gift certificate were allocated for taking part in this study. All
participants gave informed consent to take part in the study and all procedures
were approved by the University of Houston Institutional Review Board.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Design
• Describe the overall design of the study
• The details someone would need if they were to replicate your study
• Clearly state the independent variables and the dependent variables and
how they were operationally defined
• Specify the type of design – experimental, quasi-experimental,
correlational, cross-sectional, etc.
• Explain how the data you collect will be analyzed
• What conditions will you compare
• What variables will be used as predictors? Which will be used as criterion?
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Design
• Explain the experimental conditions of the study and how they were
organized
• Be clear about which variables were studied between participants
versus within participants
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Design
In this longitudinal study, an online survey was distributed to participants in
order to determine the correlation between the frequency of photo manipulation
and body dissatisfaction. Participants received an initial survey and two
subsequent surveys over the course of two years. To assess the level of photo
manipulation, ten Likert-type items were used to measure the frequency of photo
manipulation. Participants responded to the items which ranged from 1 (never) to
5 (always) and the sum of the scores was used to determine the frequency of
manipulation (e.g., “Use apps to remove appearance of blemishes”).
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Total scores ranged from 10 to 50, where a higher number indicated a
greater amount of photo editing or manipulation. (McLean et al., 2015).
To determine the amount of body dissatisfaction, modified versions of
the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA) were used
(Mendelson et al., 2001). Participants reported how frequently they
agreed with a total of 20 appearance-related items on a scale of 1
(never) to 5 (always). A higher score revealed a greater level of positive
body esteem.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Procedure
• State what happened in your study, what your participants will go
through, in chronological order
• Goal is to walk the reader through the steps you used to collect the
data
• State how the participants were selected
• Describe how participants were assigned to groups
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Procedure
This section should be able to answer the following questions
1. What did the participants do at each point during the study?
2. What was the typical amount of time the participants were in the
study?
3. If there was more than one session, how long did each session
last and how much time intervened between the sessions?
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Procedure
The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between
frequency of photo manipulation and body dissatisfaction. To understand
how the relationship may change in an individual over time, each participant
was sent an initial online survey, a follow-up survey in one year, and a final
survey two years after the initial survey. The same questions were used for
the initial and follow-up surveys. Responses remained anonymous and
identifying information was not used in the data. Participants were debriefed
on this information and were emailed the survey after consent was given.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Surveys were allowed to be completed on any available device at a
time that it was convenient for the participant. The survey was expected
to take 30 minutes. At the start of the survey, participants answered
relevant background information. Then, items for the frequency of
photo manipulation were presented followed by the items for the
BESAA (Mendelson et al., 2001).
Partial course credit and a $10.00 Target gift certificate were
administered at the conclusion of the initial survey and for each
completed follow-up survey.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Materials or Measures
• Describe any standard tests/instruments/measures/materials you may
have used with appropriate citations
• If you use standardized surveys or questionnaires, provide information
about reliability and validity
• Describe in greater detail any special materials that you put together
for the study – i.e. a packet of surveys/questionnaires
• Describe any special apparatuses or measures used
• Goal is for reader to be able to replicate study based only on the
information presented
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Materials or Measures
For each measure (i.e. tests/surveys/questionnaires, etc.), include the
following information
1. Name of the measure and its abbreviation
2. Citation for the measure
3. What does the measure assess?
4. How many items are in this measure?
5. Are there any subscales? If so, what are they? Are you using the
entire measure or specific subscales
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Materials or Measures
For each measure (i.e. tests/surveys/questionnaires, etc.), include the following information
6. What is the scale response of the measure?
7. Include sample items if possible.
8. Simply saying a “Likert scale” was used is not sufficient as a measure. The Likert scale
is a way of asking participants for responses, it is not a measure. It is just a scale
Established scales and measures can be found at APA Psyc Tests, accessed through the UH
Library databases
Be sure to cite the peer-reviewed publication associated with authorship of the measure—
not another empirical study that happened to use the measure, and not the measure’s entry
in the PsycTESTS database.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Materials or Measures
Example: How to detail the specific measures used
Hong Psychological Reactance Scale (HPRS; Hong & Page, 1989). The
HPRS looks at reactance on four different factors (freedom of choice,
conformity reactance, behavioral freedom, and reactance to advice and
recommendations). There are 14 items total, with answer choices ranging
from one (disagree completely) to five (agree completely). Sample items
include “Regulations trigger a sense of resistance in me” and “When
someone forces me to do something, I feel like doing the opposite.”
Higher scores indicate stronger feelings of reactance.
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Measures
Frequency of Photo Manipulation. A 5-point Likert type scale was used to measure the frequency of photo
manipulation. Participants answered ten items which included statements regarding facial and body
appearance such as “Use apps to make yourself look skinnier” (McLean et al., 2015). The range of scores for
each item was from 1 (never) to 5 (always) and a higher number indicated a greater frequency of photo
manipulation. This scale had good internal consistency and Cronbach’s alpha was found to be 0.85 (McLean
et al., 2015).
Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA). To measure body dissatisfaction, a 5 point Likert
type scale was used as well. The test-retest correlations indicated that this scale was a reliable measure
(Mendelson et al., 2001). Twenty items on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always) were presented to participants,
and they indicated how often they experienced appearance-related thoughts (e.g., “I like how I look in
photos”). Negative items were reverse scored (Mendelson et al., 2001).
Writing the Method Section
Methods section is due November 13th, 2022
Writing the Method Section according to APA
• The Method section comes right after the Introduction. Do NOT
purposely start on a new page
• The word “Method” is centered on the page, and in bold print
• Each of the subsections have a heading.
• They should be flush left on the page
• They should be bolded
• Do NOT start each subheading on a separate page. The follow directly after
one another