Methodology Section of Graduate School Thesis Manuscripts: A Genre Analysis Probe of Rhetorical Structure

Abstract

The methodology section of thesis manuscripts is one of the important parts that should be well written. From this premise, a genre analysis was conducted to 30 Master of Arts in Language Teaching (MALT-English) research articles of the Graduate School in University of Southern Mindanao (USM). The study aimed to determine the rhetorical move structure and the moves that dominate in the methodology section of the said research articles. Results revealed that the methodology section has 5 moves with corresponding steps. These include Move 1: Introducing the Method chapter; Move 2: Presenting the Design of the Study; Move 3: Describing data collection method; Move 4: Clarifying Data Analysis Procedure; and Move 5. Establishing the ethical considerations and trustworthiness of the study. Obligatory steps identified are Pointing out the research design used in the study under Move 2, Presenting the Design of the Study; Describing the locale, participants/respondents and data source/research materials and research instrument/s; and Describing methods and steps in data collection under move 3, data collection method. While the moves are similar in 30 articles, there are steps which are interchanged and are either evident or not evident in some articles. This implied that writers employ varied steps in writing the methodology section even if they are of similar discipline.