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Methodology is generally a guideline system for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools.^[1] It can be defined also as follows:

1. "the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline";^[2]
2. "the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline";^[2]
3. "the study or description of methods".^[3]

A methodology can be considered to include multiple methods, each as applied to various facets of the whole scope of the methodology.The research can be divided between two parts, they are qualitative research and quantitative research.

Relation to methods and theories[link]

Generally speaking, methodology does not describe specific methods despite the attention given to the nature and kinds of processes to be followed in a given procedure or in attaining an objective. When proper to a study of methodology, such processes constitute a constructive generic framework; thus they may be broken down in sub-processes, combined, or their sequence changed.^[4] As such, methodology may entail a description of generic processes, philosophical concepts or theories related to a particular discipline or field of inquiry. Similarly methodology refers to the rationale and/or the philosophical assumptions that underlie a particular study or a particular methodology (for example, the scientific method). In scholarly literature a section on the methodology of the researchers is typically de rigueur.

Relation to paradigm and algorithm[link]

In theoretical work, the development of paradigms^[5] satisfies most or all of the criteria for methodology. A paradigm, like an algorithm, is a constructive framework, meaning that the so-called construction is a logical, rather than a physical, array of connected elements.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• 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.
• James, E. Alana, Slater, T. and Bucknam, A. (2011). Action Research for Business, Nonprofit, and Public Administration - A Tool for Complex Times . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Guba, E. and Lincoln, Y. (1989). Fourth Generation Evaluation. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
• Herrman, C. S. (2009). “Fundamentals of Methodology”, a series of papers On the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN), online.
• Patton, M. Q. (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.
• Joubish, Farooq Dr. (2009). Educational Research Department of Education, Federal Urdu University, Karachi, Pakistan.

External links[link]

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