When writing the data and methods section of your thesis (or similar project), focus on describing how you went about answering your research questions. This section should include the methodological approach you took but can be structured differently between articles depending on the design and aim of each project. Exactly how to choose the subheadings and divide the different parts depends a lot on what you do in your thesis and what is relevant for the reader to know.
This example has the subheadings Data materials, Variables, and Statistical analysis. If you are doing a quantitative thesis, it is likely that information about these parts will be included and focused on. However, other information with its own subheadings may also be relevant in order for the reader to understand what you have done in your thesis (consulting your supervisor can help with these decisions). For example, a section on the ethical considerations of your thesis should most likely be included too.
Data material
This of the logistic regression example will provide the data material needed to complete the analysis alongside the text. When writing your research report, it is important to provide all relevant details about your data in the paper. This can include how/where from you as the researcher obtained the data, when and how the data was originally collected, among other things. The specifics of what to include will depend on each unique situation so consulting with your supervisor, for example, can be extremely helpful.
As mentioned on previous pages, the dataset that has been used for this example is called ‘logistic_example.dta‘ and can be downloaded on the previous page.
The dataset contains information from a longitudinal study about teachers’ working conditions and health. The data was obtained through a survey that was conducted at two time points (2010 and 2015) and contained information on self-reported health, conflicts at work, age, stress, sex, and teaching qualifications. The study sample consists of 3,948 individuals.