GSAS Writing Toolkit

Harvard Library abounds with resources to inform your research methodology, no matter the field of study. The following list includes some of the most popular publications across a range of disciplines. To find others, try searching HOLLIS for your topic and the subject term research methodology.

• Analytical Techniques in Biosciences: From Basics to Applications
  Edited by Chukwuebuka Egbuna, this text presents comprehensive and up-to-date information on the various analytical techniques obtainable in bioscience research laboratories across the world.  
• Analyzing and Interpreting Qualitative Research: After the Interview
  Covering all the steps in the process of analyzing, interpreting, and presenting findings in qualitative research, authors Charles Vanover, Paul Mihas, and Johnny Saldaña utilize a consistent chapter structure that provides novice and seasoned researchers with pragmatic, "how-to" strategies. Each chapter introduces the method; uses one of the authors' own research projects as a case study of the method described; shows how the specific analytic method can be used in other types of studies; and concludes with questions and activities to prompt class discussion or personal study.
• Library Support for Qualitative Research
  A guide built by Harvard Librarians for qualitative researchers. It recommends helpful resources and provides opportunities to seek out assistance and support from members of the library's Qualitative Research Support Group.
• Qualitative Dissertation Methodology: A Guide for Research Design and Methods
  This book by Nathan Durdella breaks down producing the dissertation methods chapter into smaller pieces and goes through each portion of the methodology process step by step. With a warm and supportive tone, he walks students through the process from the very start, from choosing chairs and developing qualitative support networks to outlining the qualitative chapter and delving into the writing.
• Research Methods for the Biosciences
  Debbie Holmes demystifies the process of research and describes all the factors that enable effective investigation. These include planning your experiment; data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting; and legal, ethical, and health & safety considerations
• SAGE researchmethods
  SAGE Research Methods is a tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. Users can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and other areas of research. PRO TIP: Mine this tool thoroughly whenever you're uncertain about the best methodological approach. A "methods map" facilitates finding content.
• Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework
  This one-volume introduction to social science methodology by John Gerring is relevant to the disciplines of anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology and sociology. It includes a thorough treatment of essential elements such as conceptualization, measurement, causality and research design. Written for students, long-time practitioners and methodologists, it covers both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• A Tale of Two Cultures : Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences
  Some in the social sciences argue that the same logic applies to both qualitative and quantitative methods. In this text, Gary Goertz and James Mahoney demonstrate that these two paradigms constitute different cultures, each internally coherent yet marked by contrasting norms, practices, and toolkits. They identify and discuss major differences between these two traditions that touch nearly every aspect of social science research, including design, goals, causal effects and models, concepts and measurement, data analysis, and case selection.