Barry and all, I agree that using "methodology" as nothing more than a fancy word for "methods" should result in a demerit point. As to the rest, well. I presume "pomo" is intended as a pejorative term. But it's not pomo to separate methodology from method, and to discuss both. For a start, it is tempting in our areas of study to allow "methodology" and "methods" to stand in for "techniques". This is increasingly a problem in computer-assisted research - where the research tools and techniques used could be allowed to take on the aura of methodology in themselves, and the conceptual choices underlying the techniques might therefore be taken for granted. The lack of a distinction between methodology and methods is also an important issue in the field (if you can call it that) of Internet research, where in order to meaningfully translate our work across disciplinary boundaries it is necessary to account for the assumptions underlying the particular methods most associated with those disciplines. One of my mentors used to say that all scholars should be required to think about and explicitly reflect on the "ology" (knowledge and study) of their methods (approaches; and then tools, techniques, and protocols) before they go about choosing and applying them. It's hard to argue with that. Jean -- Research fellow ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology http://staffprofiles.ci.qut.edu.au/jean-burgess http://twitter.com/jeanburgess On 9/02/10 11:38 AM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:

My heuristic, if you're over 50 and not post-modern & feel secure, you say Methods. Otherwise, you say Methodology.

Folks who say Methodology when they mean Methods lose 1 style point when I referee. (OMG, I've outed myself!)

Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________

S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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