Relation to methods and theories

Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:

1. the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline


2. the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a disciplin


3. the study or description of methods

Generally speaking, methodology does not describe specific methods despite the attention given to the nature and kinds of processes to be followed in a given procedure or in attaining an objective. When proper to a study of methodology, such processes constitute a constructive generic framework; thus they may be broken down in sub-processes, combined, or their sequence changed As such, methodology may entail a description of generic processes, philosophical concepts or theories related to a particular discipline or field of inquiry. Similarly methodology refers to the rationale and/or the philosophical assumptions that underlie a particular study or a particular methodology (for example, the scientific method. In scholarly literature a section on the methodology of the researchers is typically de riqueur