Methodologies and Critical Analysis

Methods (Should be at this stage now)
How the information you have found is sourced, collected, collated and presented.
Time-scales and evidence of planning.

How are you going to gather information?
Why is the information gathered appropriate for the study?

Show that you are in control and have planned the research project well.

Methodology
A systematic way of sifting through the information to get to the point.
The dissertation should have an appropriate methodology that best suits your question.

Remember that you shouldn't already know the answer.  The aim of the research project is to find the answer to the question if you think that it is correct or not.

Theories
Theory on its own is not a methodlogy.
It is a lens for which to look at the world/ your subject through.
Postcolonialism- Spivak, Said, Bhabha.
Social History- What was really going on compared to what was represented.

To Do...
Choose the theories and methods most appropriate to your subject.
Make decisions about how to collect and order information.
Choose a relevant theoretical standpoint
Apply these to your studies
Explicitly outline this in the introduction. Address suggested failings in the conclusion. This would be intellectually honest. 

Critical Analysis
Critical as in professional judgement.
A standard by which something can be judged.
Do not report things as you see it, report on the world based on your research and understand that there is always conflict and very little conclusion.
If you approach a conflict with a specific viewpoint (ie Marxism) outline this bias and make it clear that you have a subjective view.
Be vigilant of the subjective bias of writers and sources that you are using. 
Similarly be aware of where I am from and what is influencing me.
Nothing theoretical arrives from a vacuum.

Evidence
Everything needs to be supported.
Could you find more evidence to support the conclusion? Find more than one thing to support my conclusions.
Evidence, Reason, Logic and Argument.

See the power-point online for further help and guidance.