Methodological, design and method levels in research project works

 At the methodological level, there are a number of theoretical considerations in epistemology, ontology and axiology, which influence

a. the research design

b. the research objectives (and their associated research questions)

Research design level: Research design is an overall research game plan that should be:

1. explicit of how it is (and the research methods to be used) anchored to the underlying methodologies (or methodology)

2. how the various research methods are related to the chosen research objectives (and their associated research questions), preferably by mapping the research methods onto an overall theoretical framework.

Research method level: Research methods are more specific on the how-to concerns with regard to data gathering and data analysis. Examples are:

a. Interview research

b. Participant observation

c. Questionnaire survey

d. Visual methods (e.g. photovoice).

e. Desk research

Overall thus, Methodology guides research design; research design makes use of a set of research methods.

A research methodology in a particular application is a tailored-made set of explicit  and related ideas from the methodological, research design and research method levels.

A research design in a particular application is a tailored-made set of explicit and related ideas from from the research design and research method levels; it should be informed by an explicit methodology for it.

A research method in a particular application is a tailor-made set of explicit and related ideas the research method level; it should be subsumed under an explicit research design for it.