Methodologies
"...the strategy, plan of action, process, design lying behind the choice and use of particular methods..."
Michael Crotty (1998)
Methodologies in SoTL
Methodology is the specific research ‘type’ that underpins the systems of research. At times, it establishes the researcher’s beliefs and values as part of the context for the research. For example, a narrative enquiry matches to qualitative methodology and experimental equals a quantitative methodology.
Methodologies can be overwhelming sometimes if you're new to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Qualitative methodologies are quite different to quantitative methodologies.
For some science-discipline researchers qualitative methodologies appear to lack rigour. For social scientists and those whose discipline is education, qualitative research methodologies’ principles focus on rich data, often collaboratively gathered, rather than a positivist focus seeking to prove or disprove a hypothesis.
Choosing a methodology
A good suggestion for SoTL researchers is 'Don’t start with trying to define, understand or select a methodology'. Instead, explore your research topic or subject in the SoTL literature. This will take some time (because it’s fun and we tend to get drawn into all sorts of new ideas not necessarily relevant) while you narrow the literature to your specific research interest.
Choosing your methodology is best guided by your research question, your own experience and your exploration of literature. A good place to start this thinking is to follow the prompt questions below to tease out the specifics of your project.
Choosing methodology prompt questions:
- What problem or topic or issue do I want to investigate?
- What does the literature say about it?
- What disciplinary research expertise do I have that could shape my approach?
- What kind of data would best answer my research questions?
- What methods of data collection would best match answering the problem?
- What theoretical or philosophical stance informs my (qualitative) methodology?
Combine your answers to the above questions with your exploration of your topic literature. What methodologies you identify in similar research papers will move you towards identifying your own methodology.
Qualitative methodologies
Some qualitative methodologies are described in brief below but more detailed exploration is supported by the Library’s Qualitative study design guide.
Click on the plus (+) icons below to explore some of the qualitative methodologies.
Quantitative methodologies
Some quantitative methodologies are described in brief below but more detailed exploration is supported by the Library’s Quantitative study design guide.
Click on the plus (+) icons below to explore some of the quantitative methodologies.