In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bringing about a certain goal, like acquiring knowledge or verifying knowledge claims. This normally involves various steps, like choosing a sample, collecting data from this sample, and interpreting the data. The study of methods concerns a detailed description and analysis of these processes. It includes evaluative aspects by comparing different methods. This way, it is assessed what advantages and disadvantages they have and for what research goals they may be used. These descriptions and evaluations depend on philosophical background assumptions. Examples are how to conceptualize the studied phenomena and what constitutes evidence for or against them. When understood in the widest sense, methodology also includes the discussion of these more abstract issues.
Social research
Social research is research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative.[1]
Research
Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion of past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole.
Sociological Methodology
Sociological Methodology is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal that covers research methods in the field of sociology. The editors-in-chief are David Melamed and Mike Vuolo (The Ohio State University). It was established in 1969 and is currently published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the American Sociological Association.[1]
History of philosophy
The history of philosophy is the systematic study of the development of philosophical thought. It focuses on philosophy as rational inquiry based on argumentation, but some theorists also include myth, religious traditions, and proverbial lore.
Science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe.[1][2] Modern science is typically divided into two – or three – major branches:[3] the natural sciences, which study the physical world, and the social sciences, which study individuals and societies.[4][5] While referred to as the formal sciences, the study of logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science are typically regarded as separate because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of the scientific method as their main methodology.[6][7][8][9] Meanwhile, applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine.[10][11][12]
Why Most Published Research Findings Are False
Summary There is increasing concern that most current published research findings are false. The probability that a research claim is true may depend on study power and bias, the number of other studies on the same question, and, importantly, the ratio of true to no relationships among the relationships probed in each scientific field. In this framework, a research finding is less likely to be true when the studies conducted in a field are smaller; when effect sizes are smaller; when there is a greater number and lesser preselection of tested relationships; where there is greater flexibility in designs, definitions, outcomes, and analytical modes; when there is greater financial and other interest and prejudice; and when more teams are involved in a scientific field in chase of statistical significance. Simulations show that for most study designs and settings, it is more likely for a research claim to be false than true. Moreover, for many current scientific fields, claimed research findings may often be simply accurate measures of the prevailing bias. In this essay, I discuss the implications of these problems for the conduct and interpretation of research.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess or thought. If a hypothesis is repeatedly independently demonstrated by experiment to be true, it becomes a scientific theory. In colloquial usage, the words "hypothesis" and "theory" are often used interchangeably, but this is incorrect in the context of science.
The purpose of a system is what it does
The purpose of a system is what it does (POSIWID) is a heuristic in systems thinking coined by the British management consultant Stafford Beer,[1] who stated that there is "no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do".[2] It is widely used by systems theorists, and is generally invoked to counter the notion that the purpose of a system can be read from the intentions of those who design, operate or promote it. When a system's side effects or unintended consequences reveal that its behaviour is poorly understood, then the POSIWID perspective can balance political understandings of system behaviour with a more straightforwardly descriptive view.
Coherence
English text with a description and a picture, this section can be subdivided as necessary With major methods parts of this section may link to other articles which describe aspects in more detail
Les données au service de la connaissance des usages en ligne : l’exemple de l’analyse des logs de Gallica
1Face au rythme accéléré des innovations sociotechniques et à l'éclatement des pratiques numériques, construire une vision globale des usages d’une bibliothèque numérique comme Gallica (gallica.bnf.fr) constitue un véritable défi qui nécessite de mobiliser de nouvelles méthodes, en particulier celles permettant d’analyser des données de masse. Ces méthodes requièrent des compétences nouvelles par rapport à celles mobilisées traditionnellement dans l’univers de la connaissance des pratiques culturelles en général et des bibliothèques en particulier. C’est là une mutation importante. Le domaine des « études de publics », qui s’est développé dans des établissements tels les bibliothèques et musées depuis les années 1980, au confluent de plusieurs disciplines (sociologie, ethnologie, marketing, etc.), était traditionnellement le lieu d’un dialogue relativement équilibré entre les professionnels de ces établissements et les experts en charge de mener l’enquête, qu’ils soient chercheurs académiques ou consultants. Si des difficultés se présentaient, elles relevaient rarement de la compétence scientifique des interlocuteurs, les méthodes mobilisées, telles que l’enquête par questionnaire, l’observation ou l’entretien, étant facilement appropriables par tous. Cela ne signifiait bien entendu pas que tous pouvaient mener l’enquête, mais que tous pouvaient participer à la rédaction d’un questionnaire, comprendre l’enjeu des questions posées aux publics et se représenter le type de traitements réalisés sur les données collectées. Une telle participation au processus d’enquête est rendue plus difficile dans le cadre de la fouille de données (data mining), indispensable désormais pour la connaissance des usages en ligne. Un projet de recherche inédit sur les logs de connexion à Gallica, conduit dans le cadre d’un partenariat entre la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) et Télécom ParisTech, témoigne pourtant de la possibilité d’inscrire la fouille de données dans un dialogue où chercheurs et professionnels s’efforcent de s’éclairer mutuellement sur les décisions à prendre pour conduire une analyse pertinente. Nous poserons dans un premier temps le cadre institutionnel et méthodologique dans lequel s’inscrit la connaissance des usages de Gallica, avant de présenter les apports de l’apprentissage automatique à cette connaissance et la manière dont ils peuvent être intégrés à la réflexion qu’une bibliothèque comme la BnF porte sur son offre en ligne.
Diátaxis
Diátaxis is a widely-adopted, pragmatic and systematic approach to thinking about and creating documentation.
You don't have to be smart if you can think clearly
When you’re on fire, problems are transparent: they’re solved simply by the act of looking at them. Even complicated layers of multiple problems can simply be glanced through like stacked panes of glass. But nobody can work that way all the time.
Collection (abstract data type)
In computer programming, a collection is an abstract data type that is a grouping of items that can be used in a polymorphic way.
Natural science
Natural science or empirical science is a branch of science concerned with the description, understanding, and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and reproducibility of findings are used to try to ensure the validity of scientific advances.
Buddhist philosophy
Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the philosophical investigations and systems of rational inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in ancient India following the parinirvāṇa of Gautama Buddha, as well as the further developments which followed the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.
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