How to Write Methodology Chapter APA 7th Edition?

According to the APA guidelines, one should provide a detailed narrative of how you conducted the research in the methodology chapter. The APA guidelines, are typical, used in the social science domain. The purpose of this article is to describe quantitative research methods in APA style.

How to Structure your Methodology Chapter?

“Methods” should be centered, boldfaced, and capitalized as the primary heading. This section’s subheadings are left-aligned, boldfaced, and in title case. Within these subsections, you can also use lower-level headers as long as they follow APA heading conventions. Use the subheadings “Participants“, “Materials” and “Procedures” to organize your techniques section. These titles aren’t required; instead, use subheadings that make sense for your particular study to structure your methods section.

Participants and their Characteristics

Descriptive terminology like ”participants”, ”subjects” and ”respondents” is acceptable when referring to individuals that take part in the research. “Subjects” is a better terminology to use for studies conducted on non-human animals. Be sure to list all essential demographic data of your participants.

For example: Age, gender, ethnicity or race, gender identity, education level or income, etc. Other factors such as educational or immigrant status and language preference should be added according to the research requirements.

Describe these features as accurately as possible. This allows the reader to see how broadly your findings may be applied to other persons. The APA rules promote the use of bias-free terminology when writing about participants, therefore inclusive and acceptable phrases are required.

Example: A total of 134 students aged 18 to 25 from a London university took part in the study. All participants were right-handed, and English native.

Learn: How to Make an Appendix in APA Style | APA 7th edition citation: direct quotes

Procedure of Sampling

Explain how the participants were selected and what criteria were used for the inclusion and exclusion of participants. Indicate which sampling procedure was correctly applied. For example, if you have access to all members of the relevant population, you should classify a sample as random only. Note the proportion of the total number of people invited who agreed to participate in your study. Also indicate whether the participants were selected by themselves or by their institutions. Mention any remuneration of participants, as well as institutional review board approval and ethical guidelines that were followed.