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It's method, not methodology. The former refers to a specific process or procedure employed to accomplish a task while the latter describes the study of such pr

It's method, not methodology. The former refers to a specific process or procedure employed to accomplish a task while the latter describes the study of such processes and procedures. The discussion we are engaging in here is a form of methodology; the things being discussed are methods. I don't tend to get hung-up on usage, but it really is shocking to see how many articles, blog posts, and comments written on this subject make this mistake.

nollidge 17y ago
Merriam-Webter [1]: 1 : a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline : a particular procedure or set of procedures 2 : the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field You're speaking of definition (2), but OP is using (1) properly, in my estimation. [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology
- halffull 17y ago
  USAGE NOTE Methodology can properly refer to the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge. In this sense, one may speak of objections to the methodology of a geographic survey (that is, objections dealing with the appropriateness of the methods used) or of the methodology of modern cognitive psychology (that is, the principles and practices that underlie research in the field). In recent years, however, methodology has been increasingly used as a pretentious substitute for method in scientific and technical contexts, as in The oil company has not yet decided on a methodology for restoring the beaches. People may have taken to this practice by influence of the adjective methodological to mean "pertaining to methods." Methodological may have acquired this meaning because people had already been using the more ordinary adjective methodical to mean "orderly, systematic." But the misuse of methodology obscures an important conceptual distinction between the tools of scientific investigation (properly methods) and the principles that determine how such tools are deployed and interpreted. http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=methodology http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=methodology

nollidge 17y ago

Merriam-Webter [1]: 1 : a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline : a particular procedure or set of procedures 2 : the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field You're speaking of definition (2), but OP is using (1) properly, in my estimation. [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology

halffull 17y ago
USAGE NOTE Methodology can properly refer to the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge. In this sense, one may speak of objections to the methodology of a geographic survey (that is, objections dealing with the appropriateness of the methods used) or of the methodology of modern cognitive psychology (that is, the principles and practices that underlie research in the field). In recent years, however, methodology has been increasingly used as a pretentious substitute for method in scientific and technical contexts, as in The oil company has not yet decided on a methodology for restoring the beaches. People may have taken to this practice by influence of the adjective methodological to mean "pertaining to methods." Methodological may have acquired this meaning because people had already been using the more ordinary adjective methodical to mean "orderly, systematic." But the misuse of methodology obscures an important conceptual distinction between the tools of scientific investigation (properly methods) and the principles that determine how such tools are deployed and interpreted. http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=methodology http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=methodology