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The following are brief extracts from Methods sections of Honours theses.
For further information about what goes into a Methods section and in what order, go to Sample Table of Contents.
Exercise: a reflection on style
The choice of which verb tense to use in your methods section is very important. Will you use:
Read the examples and see which tense is used in each.
Model testing was conducted to determine the various parameters relating to the roll motion of vessels Y164 and Y177. It involved measurements of parameters from the equations of motion for rolling and the comparison of roll angles with that specified by the IMO Severe-Weather Criterion (Andrewartha 1999, p.54)
RNA was extracted from sera using the QIAmp Viral RNA extraction kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A negative extraction control was included which consisted of water in place of serum. Its purpose was to confirm any positive result and rule out any contamination. The 60ml of eluted RNA was stored at –800C (Oon 2005, p.13).
Twelve in-situ, p-type planar, boron nitride (BN) solid source slices were purchased for this thesis. The BN solid sources used in the experiments were PDS Products boron nitride wafers Grade BN-1250, purchased from Saint Gobain Advance Ceramics (see Appendix A). The composition of the BN solid sources was 40% BN and 60% SiO2. The BN solid source slices were divided into two sets of six, and only one set was used in the intitial experiments (that set of BN solid source slices broke later in the thesis after too much abuse, and the remaining set of six was prepared to continue the experiments). The other set of six BN solid source slices were stored in a clean N2 box (Chen 2003,.p.3-5)
Now that you have read the examples, which tense is used in all of them?
Future?
Present?
Past?
Why did the student choose this tense?
Make sure you discuss the organisation and level of information in your methods section with your supervisor.