methodology

noun

meth·​od·​ol·​o·​gy ˌme-thə-ˈdä-lə-jē 

plural methodologies

1

: a body of methods, rules, and ideas that are important in a science, art, or discipline : a particular procedure or set of procedures

demonstrating library research methodology

the issue is massive revision of teaching methodology

—Bob Samples

There have been dozens of studies, using very different methodologies.

—Daniel Geschwind, quoted at CNN

2

: a science or the study of method

Our … graduate schools of education … are wholeheartedly devoted to methodology.

—Mortimer Smith, quoted in American Educator

specifically : the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field

Did you know?

Methodology and Science

The methodology employed in an experiment is essential to its success, and bad methodology has spoiled thousands of research projects. So whenever a piece of research is published in a scientific or medical journal, the researchers always carefully describe their methodology; otherwise, other scientists couldn't possibly judge the quality of what they've done.

Synonyms of methodology

• procedure
• policy
• method
• strategy

Examples of methodology in a Sentence

He blamed the failure of their research on poor methodology.

for solving crossword puzzles my usual methodology is to begin by filling in all of the answers I'm reasonably sure of

Recent Examples on the Web

To be sure, odds and gambling platforms do not use methodologies used by traditional political polling, and therefore are not substitutes for political polls. — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026

The platform’s methodology says those years do not represent separate annual snapshots. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2026

South Carolina, Alabama and West Virginia landed at the bottom of the energy-efficiency rankings, which measured home and auto consumption to score each state, based on WalletHub’s methodology. — Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Gross fed these 31 methodologies to an AI model along with some 17 million source documents that included news stories, research reports, expired patents, public company filings, and threads from online community discussion boards. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

New Latin methodologia, from Latin methodus + -logia -logy

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for methodology

• aetiology
• anthropology
• archaeology
• archeology
• audiology
• cardiology
• climatology
• cohomology
• cosmetology
• criminology
• demonology
• dermatology