What, When, Where, How, Why?
Methodology
Introduction, Important Definitions and Related Concepts:
Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline", "the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline" or "a particular procedure or set of procedures" [1]. It should be noted that methodology is frequently used when method would be more accurate. (This is a classic example of word inflation.) For example, "Since students were not available to complete the survey about academic success, we changed our methodology and gathered data from instructors instead". In this instance the methodology (gathering data via surveys, and the assumption that this produces accurate results) did not change, but the method (asking teachers instead of students) did. Methodology includes the following concepts as they relate to a particular discipline or field of inquiry: a collection of theories, concepts or ideas; comparative study of different approaches; and critique of the individual methods. Methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods; rather it refers to the rationale and the philosophical assumptions that underlie a particular study. This is why scholarly literature often includes a section on the methodology of the researchers. This section does more than outline the researchers’ methods (as in, “We conducted a survey of 50 people over a two-week period and subjected the results to statistical analysis”, etc.); it might explain what the researchers’ ontological or epistemological views are.
Another key (though arguably imprecise) usage for methodology does not refer to research or to the specific analysis techniques. This often refers to anything and everything that can be encapsulated for a discipline or a series of processes, activities and tasks. Examples of this are found in software development, project management and business process fields. This use of the term is typified by the outline who, what, where, when, and why. In the documentation of the processes that make up the discipline, that is being supported by "this" methodology, that is where we would find the "methods" or processes. The processes themselves are only part of the methodology along with the identification and usage of the standards, policies, rules, etc.
Remember a few years ago when every product and service became a "solution?" You no longer bought laundry detergent, you got a garment cleaning solution. You didn't just buy clothes, you bought a wardrobe solution! Okay, I'm exaggerating, but just a little. "Solutions" are so much sexier than products, so everyone suddenly was explaining why what they sold was a solution to a problem. Even when it was just a product- often a well-understood, valuable, useful product (whose identity was suddenly getting lost under the weight of solution-speak). I thought about this endless human desire to use high-power words when low-power words work just fine when I saw this Houston Business Journal headline about Marble Slab Creamery:
Marble Slab Creamery unveils new marketing strategy
Interesting headline, I thought; an ice-cream store is not someone you expect to be changing strategies that often. Their previous strategy seemed to be making really good ice cream from natural ingredients and then opening up retail outlets in high traffic locations where people could buy it. A darn good strategy, I'd say. So what's their new strategy? Well, it seems to be making really good ice cream from natural ingredients and opening up retail outlets in high traffic locations where people can buy it. What they have changed is their signage and collateral. According to the article, they did this after doing research on their customers - which tells me they are smart people, and this isn't an "I'm bored with the old stuff!" move (it does happen, folks). You can reinvigorate a brand with that kind of move, and I expect that's what the good folks at Marble Slab are doing. Good for them. But it's not a strategy change. It's an adjustment to how they execute tactics that support their ongoing (good) strategy. Why is this important? Because your marketing can fair for different reasons. If Marble Slab's strategy was off - say, they were focusing on natural ingredients while the market has decided that processed chemicals were hot (who know?), or they were focusing on their own retail stores but discovered they could do much better by locating themselves inside of grocery stores, or they were focusing on urban locations but it was the suburbs where the ice cream was being bought, they'd need a strategy change. But if you're falling short because you've got a good strategy but you're not implementing it well - say, the customers aren't getting the right message from the ads, or the colors of your stores make people lose their appetite - you've got a different problem requiring a different solution. Make sure you know where your problems are, and attack them at the right level. Otherwise you're likely to spend lots of money on pretty creative work to support a failing strategy - or change a good strategy because you weren't executing it properly. (And when you're hiring a marketer to fix things, ask about strategy and tactics and make sure she or he knows the difference!) I don't want to be too hard on Marble Slab; it sounds like they know exactly what they're doing, but somebody writing a press release got overly excited and thought that saying that they made some branding and graphics changes was less exciting that talking about "strategy," and didn't really understand the difference. That won't affect their bottom line; it just makes for some amusing reading in a business publication. (Here's a free and utterly non-strategic tip for Marble Slab, though, in case someone there finds this blog: your home page has no title. Look up in the title bar of your browser window. That's going to play hell with your search engine placement - your web folks should know better, so go tell them to fix it.) But enough marketing talk - I want some ice cream. Main Entry:
-
on·to·log·i·cal
- Pronunciation:
- \ˌän-tə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\
- Function:
- adjective
- Date:
- 1782
\-k(ə-)lē\
adverb.
Audio
Help /ɪˌpɪstəˈmɒlədʒi/
Pronunciation Key
-
Show Spelled Pronunciation[i-pis-tuh-mol-uh-jee]
Pronunciation Key
-
Show IPA Pronunciation| a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. |
m(é)
knowledge + -o- +
Audio
Help /ɪˌpɪstəməˈlɒdʒɪkəl/
Pronunciation Key
-
Show Spelled Pronunciation[i-pis-tuh-muh-loj-i-kuhl
Pronunciation Key
-
Show IPA Pronunciation,
adjective
e·pis·te·mo·log·i·cal·ly,
adverb
e·pis·te·mol·o·gist,
noun |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged
Dictionary, © Random House, Inc.
2006. Houston is the nation’s fourth
largest city, home to 2 million
people and a hub of international
businesses. Houston’s leaders are
also focusing their attention on
making their city not only a great
place to live, but a great place to
visit as well. In economics, a business (also called firm or enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments, charities or other businesses. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit to increase the wealth of owners. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for work and acceptance of risk. Notable exceptions include cooperative businesses and state-owned enterprises. Socialistic systems involve either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses. The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the singular usage (above) to mean a particular company or corporation, the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the music business" and compound forms such as agribusiness, or the broadest meaning to include all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of business, like much else in the philosophy of business, is a matter of debate. Business Studies, the study of the management of individuals organizing to maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals (usually to generate profit), is taught as an academic subject in many schools. A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) has several related meanings: a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary. a newspaper or other periodical, in the literal sense of one published each day; many publications issued at stated intervals, such as magazines, or scholarly academic journals, or the record of the transactions of a society, are often called journals. Although journal is sometimes used as a synonym for "magazine," in academic use, a journal refers to a serious, scholarly publication, most often peer-reviewed. A non-scholarly magazine written for an educated audience about an industry or an area of professional activity is usually called a professional magazine. The word "journalist" for one whose business is writing for the public press has been in use since the end of the 17th century. A headline is text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it. MARBLE (from See also: Lat. marmor, Gr. pApµapos, shining See also:
|