Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused

Orlanda Harvey; Pramod Raj Regmi; Preeti Mahato; Shovita Dhakal Adhikari; Rolina Dhital; Edwin van Teijlingen

doi:10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused

Orlanda Harvey ¹ ^* , Pramod Raj Regmi ¹ , Preeti Mahato ² , Shovita Dhakal Adhikari ³ , Rolina Dhital ⁴ , Edwin van Teijlingen ¹

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¹ Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Bournemouth University, UK² Department of Health Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK³ School of Social Sciences and Professions, London Metropolitan University, UK⁴ Health Action and Research, Nepal^* Corresponding Author

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Methodological Paper

Journal of Education and Research, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2023, 94-105, https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

Publication date: Sep 25, 2023

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APA

In-text citation: (Harvey et al., 2023)
Reference: Harvey, O., Regmi, P. R., Mahato, P., Adhikari, S. D., Dhital, R., & van Teijlingen, E. (2023). Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused. Journal of Education and Research, 13(2), 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

Vancouver

In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Harvey O, Regmi PR, Mahato P, Adhikari SD, Dhital R, van Teijlingen E. Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused. Journal of Education and Research. 2023;13(2):94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

AMA

In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Harvey O, Regmi PR, Mahato P, Adhikari SD, Dhital R, van Teijlingen E. Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused. Journal of Education and Research. 2023;13(2), 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

Chicago

In-text citation: (Harvey et al., 2023)
Reference: Harvey, Orlanda, Pramod Raj Regmi, Preeti Mahato, Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Rolina Dhital, and Edwin van Teijlingen. "Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused". Journal of Education and Research 2023 13 no. 2 (2023): 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

Harvard

In-text citation: (Harvey et al., 2023)
Reference: Harvey, O., Regmi, P. R., Mahato, P., Adhikari, S. D., Dhital, R., and van Teijlingen, E. (2023). Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused. Journal of Education and Research, 13(2), pp. 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

MLA

In-text citation: (Harvey et al., 2023)
Reference: Harvey, Orlanda et al. "Methods or Methodology: Terms That Are Too Often Confused". Journal of Education and Research, vol. 13, no. 2, 2023, pp. 94-105. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v13i2.716

ABSTRACT

There is a distinct difference between methodology and methods in research. However, too many students, researchers, and authors of academic papers do not seem to pay attention to the crucial difference. This is true not only in education research but also in many other academic disciplines. In simple terms, the term methods refers to the research tools and techniques; for example, in the qualitative field, interviews are a tool to collect data, and in the quantitative field, a questionnaire-based survey is an example of a data collection tool. Methodology is a broader concept as it refers to the overall approach to the research, includes a justification for this approach, and links to research philosophy, i.e., how we produce knowledge. This methodological note aims to explain the confusion, drawing on examples from the published literature in education research and beyond. It also considers the complexities and crossovers. The final section ends with key advice to researchers and authors on key mistakes to avoid regarding the difference between methods and methodology, including covering this in early supervision discussions.

KEYWORDS

research methodology methods advice

REFERENCES

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