Meaning & use
methodology
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableformal
The set of methods, rules and underlying principles used to carry out a study or project.
Grammar: Countable when comparing approaches: different methodologies.
Patterns
- the methodology of something
- a methodology for something
The paper explains the methodology behind the survey.
Each team used a different methodology to measure the results.
Critics questioned the study's methodology.
noununcountabletechnical
The branch of study that examines how methods are chosen and used.
Grammar: Academic use, often a course title.
She took a course in research methodology.
Methodology is taught in the first year of the degree.
His interests lie in the methodology of history.
Word forms
| plural | methodologies |
|---|
Common combinations
- research methodology
- The research methodology was approved by an ethics board.
- adopt a methodology
- The lab adopted a new methodology for testing samples.
- flawed methodology
- Reviewers rejected the paper for its flawed methodology.
- agile methodology
- The software team follows an agile methodology.
- sound methodology
- The results are trusted because the methodology is sound.
Synonyms and how they differ
- method
- A method is one way of doing something, while methodology is the whole system of methods and the reasoning behind them.
- approach
- Approach is looser and less technical, while methodology suggests a defined, structured system.
- framework
- Framework describes the outline of ideas that guides work, while methodology covers the actual procedures.
Word family
- method noun
- a particular way of doing something
- methodological adjective
- relating to methods
- methodologically adverb
- in terms of method
- methodologist noun
- an expert in research methods
Commonly confused: methodology or method?
methodology vs method
Many people use methodology when they only mean a single method, which careful writers avoid.
Practice
The journal rejected the article because its ___ did not explain how the data were collected.
Choose one answer.
Methodology is the part of a study that describes how the research was done. Ending, title and dedication do not explain data collection.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “methodology”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.