A note on research methodology and research approach: some examples

A note on research methodology and research approach: some examples

 

Comment whether the following approaches are: (1) research methodology, (2) research strategy, (3) research approaches, or (4) research methods:

1.    The ethnographic approach

2.    The hermeneutic approach (notably on the hermeneutic circle)

3.    The phenomenological approach

4.    Case study research

5.    Action research

 

Classification

The labels overlap across textbooks, but the clearest classification is that all five are qualitative research methodologies—often also called qualitative research approaches or strategies of inquiry. They are not individual data-collection methods such as interviews, observations, questionnaires, or document analysis.  

Item	Best classification			Brief reason
1. Ethnographic approach	Research methodology		It provides an overall logic for studying a group’s shared culture, practices, meanings, and everyday life, commonly using observation, participation, interviews, and artefacts.
2. Hermeneutic approach	Research methodology	It is an interpretive methodology focused on understanding meanings in texts, language, and lived experience; it is especially associated with hermeneutic phenomenology.
3. Phenomenological approach	Research methodology	It guides research into the meaning and essence of people’s lived experiences of a phenomenon.
4. Case study research	Research strategy	It is a strategy for investigating a bounded case—such as an organisation, programme, event, or community—in depth and in context, normally through multiple evidence sources.
5. Action research	Research strategy	It is a change-oriented strategy built around repeated cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting to improve practice or solve a real problem.

Important qualification

Some authors use “approach” as an umbrella label and would call all five qualitative research approaches. Ethnography, phenomenology, case study, and action research can also be described as strategies of inquiry in broader research-design language. However, calling any of them simply a research method is usually too narrow, because each can employ several methods—for example, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and document analysis.

A defensible dissertation phrasing would be: “This study adopts a qualitative methodology and a case-study research strategy, using semi-structured interviews and document analysis as data-collection methods.”