See also: Method
methodology|methodology
The methodology is literally the “science (logos) of the method”. , the speech (logos) on the method, the cartography of the methods or quite simply the métaméthode or method of the methods, as there is metalinguistics or linguistics of linguistics and métamathématiques or mathematics of mathematics, understandable with the theory of the logical types of Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead (Principia mathematica) in ecosystemic Approche of the class-to-member relationship, of the representation with what is represented, of the chart to the territory (Alfred Korzybski), of the menu to the meal (Paul Watzlawick). Then, methodology is a class of methods, a kind of limps with tools where each tool is a method of the same category, like it there a methodology Analytique of the causal Déterminisme and a methodology Systémique finalist of the Téléologie.
When one works on a field, one can establish a succession of questions to be posed, people with going to see and questioning, of Information S to be collected, operations to be carried out, in order to make choices. That makes it possible to undertake in a more effective way one study or the resolution of a problem. Methodology is this systematization of the study, independently of the topic studied itself.
Methodologies underwent very important evolutions during the ages, in particular in Philosophie and in the Science S.
See also: History of the method
Methodologies depend much on the periods of the History, but still of civilizations: in Asia, one speaks for example about fuzzy logic.
Methodologies much also depend on the fields of the Science:
- In Social sciences there are two large currents which are not opposed systematically: The qualitative Methods and the quantitative Methods.
For example, in emergency Médecine, Dr. Dontigny had stated that “the way of saving time, it is not to accelerate, but to be systematic. ”
In Mathematical, one will be able to define a succession of stages to be carried out to study a function, to see the article Étude of function .
In Psychoanalysis, methodology will be different according to whether the therapeutist refers to such or such school (Freud, Jung, Lacan,…).
In History, the methodology aims at establishing the facts in their truth.
Of course, there does not exist a single method to study a topic. According to the complexity of the topic and competences of the person in charge of the study, the method can be:
- a whole of “small tricks” allowing to simplify the task;
- a “crib” of actions not to be forgotten;
- a whole of tools to be used;
- a systematic step, which makes it possible to break up the topic of study into simple tasks, and to facilitate the comparison between the study and other similar studies;
- a procedure to be applied step by step, possibly with a checklist ( check list ) which one notches the stages with each time they are finished; the last misadventure of this method are the automated procedures Informatique S of the type Script (not of interaction of the user) or the assistants (the user has choices to make, actions to be carried out, and validates the stages).
A method is often a Savoir-faire developed by a person or a team working in a field. Methodology is thus also a form of Capitalisation of the experiment.
methodology in psychology:
experimental research:To find certain answers to the questions which the psychologists put, an experimentation should sometimes be made, i.e. to make an experiment in order to prove if the theory is correct. There exist several important components in experimental research: the theory, the assumption, variables independent and dependant and experimental controls. That makes it possible to study the relations of cause for purpose and, in this way, to describe the behavior.
THE THEORY: The majority of research start with a theory. The researchers have an idea and arguments at the head in order to confirm their first idea. The theories are explanations of the human behavior elaborate following research, observations, comparative studies, etc
The ASSUMPTION: After having studied the theories of the human behavior, the scientist will set up an assumption, i.e. he will explain such or such behavior, thought, etc before checking it. The assumption bases on the observation ou/et the personal experience. An assumption can be founded or not. It is only one possible explanation of a behavior and must be checked within the framework of a scientific study.
VARIABLE: After having formulated an assumption, the experimenter works out a method of research allowing him to check it. This work consists in choosing the elements which could be modified and will be the direct handling object. These elements will be called “variable”. The variables can be the time, the weight, the distance, the points obtained with a test, the number of reactions, etc the experimenter must maintain constant the variables so that there is no reaction at the subject.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: It is a factor which selected and is handled by the experimenter and who is completely independent of what makes the subject.
DEPENDANT VARIABLE: It is a measurable behavior observed at a subject and which is influenced by the independent variable.
EXPERIMENTAL CONTROLS: Any experiment requires that at least two groups be present in order to compare them one with the other. Because without comparison, it is impossible to make a report! The independent variable can be one of the factor of comparison. The subjects of a group are placed under the same conditions as those of the other group, put aside that they will not have business with the independent variable. This situation is called “controlled condition”.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SUBJECTS IN GROUPS: The experimenter can generally make groups randomly, but if he wants to however have a representative sample, he can make a pre test in order to evaluate certain factors which could modify the result of the experiment.
PARTIES TAKEN AND POSSIBLE SKEWS IN RESEARCH: The experimenters tend to influence the result of the experiment according to their degree of investment. In order to avoid this kind of error, the experimenter can record the experiment and call upon a neutral person in order not to take part directly in the development of the experiment. It is also possible to make so that the experimenter does not know which of the two groups is the reference group and which is the experimental group. It is also necessary to pay attention to the skew of the sample, i.e. with its tendency not to be really representative of the studied population. It is very important to make sure that the sample is representative because the results will be applied for the whole of the population, the researchers will generalize.
PROTOCOL: Way in which the experiment will proceed. ADVANTAGES: That gives very precise results, that makes it possible to find the causes of the behavior.
DISADVANTAGES: The subjects can be disturbed at the end of the experiment and this kind of method of research takes much time and costs much money.
nonexperimental methods of research:
It is not always possible to test in order to study the behavior, one uses the nonexperimental methods then, like the natural observation, the correlations, the investigations and the case studies individual ( clinical cases). None of these methods can be used in order to define the cause of the behavior, but they can be useful to specify the relationship between the variables and to collect information making it possible to predict the behavior.
the OBSERVATION NATURALIST: It is a method which aims at studying a subject in its state and/or its natural environment. The researcher who carries out this kind of research prevents that the subject notices that it is observed, that could indeed modify its behavior.
ADVANTAGES: The behavior of the subjects is not modified because they do not feel not observed.
DISADVANTAGES: The spot is very difficult, that requires many time and means.
INVESTIGATIONS: The examinations, the tests, the questionnaires, the interviews, etc are gathered in the term “inquires”. These investigations consist in studying the behaviors, opinions, ideas, feelings or attitudes of one sample using a detailed questionnaire. The investigations make it possible to the researchers to describe the characteristics of a more or less restricted sample and to generalize information obtained.
ADVANTAGES: That takes very little time and this kind of investigations can be made with very large scales what makes it possible to have a representative sample of the population.
DISADVANTAGES: People do not answer inevitably what they think. Do they say the truth? The questions must be without ambiguity so that everyone is able to answer and that there are no possible doubts. CASE STUDIES (= CLINICAL CASES) When a researcher studies rare cases, it is impossible for him to carry out an experiment with large scales. It must then be satisfied with only one subject, with the risk that it is not representative of the remainder of the population. One examines thoroughly of many aspects of the sight of the subject in order to describe the behavior and to try to find a remedy if research turns around a rare disease, for example.
ADVANTAGES: One knows thoroughly the behaviors of the studied subject.
DISADVANTAGES: One cannot make sure that the sample is representative.
STUDIES OF CORRELATION: The correlation is a mathematical relationship measuring the direction and the force of a relation established between two series of variables. There exist three kinds of correlations: - If the two variables vary in the same direction, the correlation is known as positive. - If the two variables vary in the contrary direction, the correlation is known as negative. - If the two variables do not have any report/ratio, the correlation and known as null. See card on the correlation ADVANTAGES: This method is simple, practical and takes little time to make.
DISADVANTAGES: The correlation is not a causal link, it does not give a proof of cause for purpose.
Examples
- Methodology of the report:
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scientific Work method
- Method
- historical Methodology
- sociological Methodology
See too
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