Methodology
Methodology is defined as (1) "a
body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline", (2) "a particular procedure or set of procedures", or (3) "the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field" (
Merriamâ€"Webster). The common idea here is the collection, the comparative study, and the critique of the individual methods that are used in a given discipline or field of inquiry.
Methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods; rather it refers to the rationale and the philosophical assumptions that underlie a particular study. This is why scholarly literature often includes a section on the methodology of the researchers. This section does more than outline the researchers' methods (as in, "We conducted a survey of 50 people over a two-week period and subjected the results to statistical analysis," etc.); it might explain what the researchers' ontological or epistemological views are. (See
ontology ,
epistomology)
For instance, do the researchers believe in the positivist (see
Positivism)
paradigm, which holds that truth is
out there, waiting to be discovered? In this view, facts exist independently of any theories or human observation. This is very much a view in the Western philosophical tradition, which informs Western science: reality is assumed to be objective â€" that is, it exists outside of our perceptions of things. And so, in this paradigm, neither the search for truth nor truth itself is problematic; Truth (with a capital "T") is definite and ascertainable. The "men in white coats" conduct an empirical experiment in a lab and then pronounce to the rest of us what they, as "experts," have discovered.
Or is truth
constructed (see
Constructivism,
Constructivist epistemology) within the minds of individuals and between people in a culture? In this view, facts become "facts," and are a construct of theories and points of view. This paradigm holds that both the nature of truth and the inquiry into that truth are problematic because truth is built (or
constructed) from the ongoing process of negotiation, reevaluation and refinement of and between individuals.
So, in a properly conceived
methodology, a researcher will explain his or her fundamental approaches to reality.
Most
sciences have their own specific methods, which are supported by methodologies (i.e., rationale that support the method's validity).
In
software engineering and
project management, 'methodology' is often used to refer to a codified set of recommended practices, sometimes accompanied by training materials, formal educational programs, worksheets, and diagramming tools. While these would be more accurately referred to as
methods, the word
methodology is more
grandiloquent.
* Creswell, J. (1998).
Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
* Creswell, J. (2003).
Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
* Guba, E. and Lincoln, Y. (1989).
Fourth Generation Evaluation. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
* Patton, M. (2002).
Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
*
Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged, W.A. Neilson, T.A. Knott, P.W. Carhart (eds.), G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA, 1950.
*
Power of a method*
Thought experiment*
Usage note on the word Methodology
