History Bump

If I read this right, research method might be considered a subset or dependent area in relation to a methodology; and neither the results of the method nor the validity of the methodology can really be established except in light of an epistemology that evaluates results (in re method) and analysis (in re methodology). Does that mean the person or group that establishes the epistemology controls judgment of both method and methodology?

I suppose another way of saying this is "the person with the most pervasively accepted world view wins". Or you could substitute "rhetoric"
for "world view" - the person with the strongest rhetorical stance wins?

Does Harding discuss feminist methodology or feminist epistemology?

As I read this, I think of my method of reading: one word at a time, skipping back to reread bits that get tangled or wind up making that attractive question mark across my face.

The methodology, then, might consist of a variety of theoretical practices related to how I read. Maybe, one could argue, I shouldn't skip back mid-way through a sentence but should finish reading the whole sentence and then return to the beginning of that sentence if it is still unclear.

The epistemology would be how we know (or why we believe) that one methodology will be more helpful to my understanding than others.

I've probably just reduced this beyond all comprehension and usefulness, but for me it seems that methods are applied, methodologies are theorized, and epistemologies are on the level of "world-view" (or the ways we validate the selection of methodologies that we apply as methods). I tend to see things in layers like this a lot.

[this is the introduction to the paper i wrote at the end of margaret's class wherein we were supposed to summarize/define/do SOMETHING with the "what in the world is methodology anyway" question.

"Methodology is (at least according to the American Heritage Dictionary):
a. A body of practices, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline or engage in an inquiry; a set of working methods: the methodology of genetic studies; a poll marred by faulty methodology.
b. The study or theoretical analysis of such working methods.

The Free Online Dictionary of Computing adds adorably, if incorrectly: "2. A pretentious way of saying ' method'."

The methods in the above-mentioned "set," however, are defined, specified, limited, outlined, required, and made absolute nowhere in any definition of "methodology" or any classroom discussion on the topic. It's an open set, not a closed one, to draw on mathematical terminology. And it's a hidden set. Even the most conscientious researcher/reporter will not be able to spell out every method that he or she put to use during the course of a project."