Methodology and methods alignment

When it comes to making decisions about our research methodology (big picture stuff on how we want to go about finding the answer to our research question) and methods (what tools we will use to find out), there is a sort of hierarchy to making those decisions.

Our choices arrive in layers, which - like an onion (Saunders et al., 2016) - we take the outer layer first. The outer layer provides us with the largest and most significant decision: how do we approach our research; how do we think we will 'come to knowing'? Following this big decision, we work deeper into the onion, into finer and finer layers through our methodological choices so they fit with the modified "research onion" (as illustrated accompanying this post, adapted from Saunders et al., 2016, p. 124). Those layers of decisions consist of the following areas: 

1. Epistemology/Paradigm/Philosophy. This is our big picture understanding of how we come to knowing. In career development we are likely to take a subjective research philosophy such as constructivism; critical realism; interpretivism; or phenomenology. Learn more here
2. Our Inquiry Strategy. This is how our data will answer our question. In career development this is likely to be an inductive approach. If we are taking an objective research philosophy, then this is likely to be deductive. Learn more here
3. Our Research Design. This is about the type of data we will collect. In career development this is likely to be a qualitative approach: we are likely to want to talk to our participants and collect text-oriented data from them, inferences, emotions, and loaded meanings which will need to be interpreted; not just counted. Learn more here
4. And lastly, our Methods. This comes with its own subsets of participants | sampling strategy | data analysis | coding strategy. This section is about the tools we will use to collect our data. In career development we are likely to conduct some type of interview (here), and thematic analysis (here). 

We write our decisions up in that same order: from the outside (highest/most encompassing/broadest/general); to the inside (smallest/most detailed/most specific). From methodology to methods. 

You might find that the following article list helpful here.

Sam

References:

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2016). Research Methods for Business Students (7th ed.). Pearson Education.