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One catalogue of research methods — learn how each one works, when to use it, and what it can’t do.

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248

Natural Sciences236

Social Sciences185

Environment & Sustainability160

MethodStatistics1,836 AI & ML1,661 Decision Sciences932 Research Methods1,354 Measurement1,745 Causal & Evidence532 Research Practice118

77 methods in Social Sciences · Research MethodsClear

Methods at the intersection of your two filters.

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Acceptability Judgment Task

The acceptability judgment task is the modern, quantified successor to informal grammaticality judgments: instead of a single linguist marking a sentence grammatical or not, many participants rate carefully controlled sentences on a graded scale, and the ratings are analyzed statistically. Built on factorial designs wi

qualitative research

Action Research

Action research is a collaborative research methodology in which researchers work with practitioners and community members to investigate a problem, implement change, and evaluate outcomes, cycling through reflection, action, and learning. Developed by Kurt Lewin (1946), action research bridges research and practice, a

Ancient DNA Analysis

Ancient DNA analysis recovers genetic information from the degraded remains of past organisms — human and animal bones and teeth, and increasingly sediments — and uses it to reconstruct kinship, ancestry, population history, sex, pathogens, and domestication. Because DNA fragments into ever-shorter pieces and accumulat

Apparent-Time Analysis

Apparent-time analysis is the foundational variationist method for detecting language change in progress without waiting for time to pass. Introduced by William Labov in his 1963 study of Martha's Vineyard, it compares the speech of speakers of different ages sampled at a single moment and treats the age dimension as a

Appraisal Analysis

Appraisal analysis is the systematic study of evaluative language — how speakers and writers express feelings, make judgements, value things, take a stance toward other voices, and turn the volume of their evaluations up or down. Developed by James Martin and Peter White within the interpersonal metafunction of systemi

Archaeobotanical Flotation

Archaeobotanical flotation is the standard recovery technique for charred plant macroremains, separating buoyant carbonized seeds, nutshell, and wood charcoal from archaeological sediment by agitating the soil in water. Because carbonized tissue is light and water-repellent, it rises and overflows into a fine mesh as a

Archaeomagnetic Dating

Archaeomagnetic dating uses changes in Earth's magnetic field intensity and direction recorded in fired clay artifacts to determine age. Pioneered by Robert Coe in the 1960s, the method measures the magnetization of pottery and baked clay features, comparing measurements to a master curve of geomagnetic variation throu

qualitative research

Case Study Research

Case study research is an intensive, contextual investigation of a single case (or small number of cases) to explore a phenomenon in depth. Developed systematically by Robert K. Yin (1984) and Robert E. Stake (1995), case study research employs multiple data sources (interviews, observation, documents, artifacts) to pr

Ceramic Petrography

Ceramic petrography analyzes pottery through microscopic examination of thin sections cut from pottery sherds. This method determines clay sources, identifies non-plastic inclusions (temper), and reconstructs pottery production technology. Pioneered by Peter Stimmung and others, ceramic petrography reveals whether pott

Ceramic Thin-Section Petrography

Ceramic thin-section petrography characterizes pottery by examining a wafer-thin slice of a sherd under a polarizing microscope, the same instrument geologists use to study rocks. Because most pottery is made from clay tempered with sand, crushed rock, grog, or shell, the mineral and rock inclusions visible in thin sec

Ceramic Typology

Ceramic typology is the systematic classification of pottery into named groups — wares, types, and varieties — on the basis of shared attributes of form, fabric, surface treatment, decoration, and manufacturing technology. Because pottery is durable, ubiquitous, and changed rapidly in style, it is the archaeologist's m

Chaine Operatoire

The chaine operatoire, or operational sequence, is an analytical framework that reconstructs the entire ordered chain of technical actions and decisions by which a raw material is transformed into a tool, used, maintained, and finally discarded. Originating in the technological anthropology of Andre Leroi-Gourhan, the

Comparative Method (Historical Linguistics)

The comparative method is the foundational technique of historical linguistics for demonstrating that languages are genetically related and for reconstructing their unattested common ancestor. By systematically comparing cognate words across related languages and uncovering the regular, recurring sound correspondences

qualitative research

Data Saturation in Qualitative Research

Data saturation is a foundational principle in qualitative research describing the point at which data collection yields no new themes, codes, or insights—additional data becomes redundant. Introduced by Glaser and Strauss (1967) in their work on grounded theory, saturation guides decisions about sample size and when t

Debitage Analysis

Debitage analysis is the study of flaking debris — the flakes, fragments, and shatter struck off during stone-tool manufacture — to infer how stone was reduced, by what techniques, and to what stage. Because debitage typically outnumbers finished tools many times over at a site, it is the richest and most representativ

Dental Microwear Texture Analysis

Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is a method that reconstructs diet and dietary behavior from microscopic wear patterns on the surfaces of teeth. Pioneered by Mark Teaford in the 1980s, DMTA analyzes the three-dimensional texture of wear patterns produced as food is chewed. The method reflects short-term (last

Dialectometric Distance Analysis

Dialectometry is the quantitative measurement of how linguistically different dialect sites are from one another, aggregated across many features at once. Pioneered by Jean Séguy in the early 1970s and developed by Hans Goebl in Salzburg and John Nerbonne in Groningen, it takes the rich response data of traditional dia

qualitative research

Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis is a qualitative research methodology that examines how language, communication, and power shape meaning, identity, and social reality. Developed across linguistics, sociology, and psychology (particularly by Norman Fairclough and Jonathan Potter), discourse analysis goes beyond content to analyze la

qualitative research

Document Analysis

Document analysis is a systematic qualitative research method for examining written, visual, or audiovisual sources—such as policy documents, historical records, organizational records, media reports, emails, social media posts, photographs, or videos—to extract meaning, identify patterns, and understand social phenome

Electron Spin Resonance Dating

Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating is a chronometric method that determines the age of bones, teeth, mollusk shells, and sediments by measuring accumulated radiation-induced unpaired electrons. Developed by Michael Aitken in the 1980s, ESR detects free radicals trapped in mineral crystal structures. Unlike luminescen

Elicited Imitation Task

In the elicited imitation task, participants listen to spoken sentences — typically of increasing length and grammatical complexity — and repeat each one back. The key insight is that when a sentence exceeds short-term verbatim memory, accurate reproduction is impossible by rote echoing; the listener must comprehend th

Ethnoarchaeology

Ethnoarchaeology is the ethnographic study of living societies undertaken specifically to interpret the archaeological record. Archaeologists observe how people in the present make, use, organize, and discard material culture — how potters shape and fire vessels, how households arrange space and dispose of refuse, how

qualitative research

Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research is an immersive qualitative methodology in which researchers spend prolonged time in a community, organization, or social setting, combining participant observation, interviews, and document analysis to develop a rich, contextual understanding of a group's beliefs, practices, and social structures

Experimental Archaeology

Experimental archaeology is the controlled replication of past materials, technologies, and behaviors in order to test hypotheses about how the archaeological record was produced. By making stone tools, firing pottery, building and burning structures, butchering with replica implements, or letting bone and refuse decay

Eye-Tracking in Reading

Eye-tracking in reading records where readers look and for how long while they read text naturally, turning the eyes into a continuous index of comprehension. Reading is not a smooth glide but a sequence of brief fixations punctuated by rapid saccades and occasional regressions back to earlier words. By logging this pa

qualitative research

Focus Group Methodology

Focus group discussions are a qualitative research method in which a trained moderator guides a small group (typically 6–12 participants) through structured or semi-structured discussion of a specific topic or product. Developed by Merton and Lazarsfeld in the 1950s for market research, focus groups are now widely used

Formation Process Analysis

Formation process analysis is the framework for identifying the cultural and natural processes that transform materials from their living, systemic context into the archaeological record we excavate. Developed by Michael Schiffer within behavioral archaeology and codified in his 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeol

Glottochronology (Lexical Dating)

Glottochronology is Morris Swadesh's method for estimating the time depth at which two related languages separated, derived from the proportion of basic-vocabulary cognates they still share. Building directly on lexicostatistics, it adds a crucial extra assumption — a 'glottoclock' — that basic vocabulary is lost at an

Grammaticality Judgment Task

The grammaticality judgment task asks speakers to decide whether a sentence is grammatical — well-formed according to the rules of their language — and treats that decision as evidence about the mental grammar that produces it. Rooted in Noam Chomsky's generative program, where the native speaker's intuition is the pri

Ground Stone Analysis

Ground stone analysis is the technological study of stone tools made and used primarily by grinding, pecking, and abrasion rather than by flaking — implements such as manos and metates, querns, mortars and pestles, axes, and polishing stones. Where flaked-stone analysis reads the negative scars of removal, ground stone

qualitative research

Grounded Theory

Grounded Theory (GT) is a systematic qualitative research methodology in which theory emerges directly from data through iterative analysis, rather than being imposed before data collection. Developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in 1967, GT prioritizes generating explanatory frameworks grounded in evidence.

Harris Matrix

The Harris matrix is a method for recording and diagramming the stratigraphic sequence of an archaeological site as a partial-order diagram of individually defined contexts. Devised by Edward C. Harris at the Winchester excavations in 1973 and codified in his Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy, it treats every d

HRAF Cross-Cultural Analysis

HRAF (Human Relations Area Files) cross-cultural analysis compares ethnographic data from diverse societies to identify patterns and test hypotheses about human social organization and cultural practices. Developed by George Murdock and colleagues, the method uses a standardized database of ethnographic information cod

qualitative research

In-Depth Interview Method

In-depth interviews are a qualitative research method in which a trained interviewer conducts one-on-one conversations with individual participants using open-ended questions to explore their experiences, perspectives, and understandings of a phenomenon. Developed in the 1950s by Rogers and Hyman, the method varies alo

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) measures trace element concentrations in archaeological artifacts by bombarding samples with neutrons and analyzing the resulting gamma-ray emissions. Developed as a systematic archaeological method by Michael Glascock and colleagues, INAA provides chemical fingerprints o

qualitative research

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a qualitative research methodology that explores how people make sense of significant personal experiences. Developed by Jonathan Smith (1999) and grounded in phenomenology and hermeneutics, IPA examines individual experience in detail before identifying shared patterns

Isotope Diet Reconstruction

Isotope diet reconstruction uses the stable isotope ratios of carbon (C13/C12) and nitrogen (N15/N14) in human bone collagen to infer the composition of past diets. Pioneered by Margaret Schoeninger and Michael DeNiro in the 1980s, this method reveals long-term dietary patterns by analyzing the chemical signature of fo

Lexicostatistics

Lexicostatistics is a quantitative method in historical linguistics that gauges how closely two or more languages are genealogically related by measuring the percentage of cognates they share within a fixed list of basic, culture-neutral vocabulary — classically Morris Swadesh's 100- or 200-word list. By converting wor

Lipid Residue Analysis

Lipid residue analysis identifies the foodstuffs once processed, stored, or cooked in ancient pottery by recovering and characterizing the fatty molecules absorbed into the porous ceramic fabric. Lipids are hydrophobic, comparatively stable, and become trapped within vessel walls, where they can survive for millennia l

Lithic Refitting

Lithic refitting is the physical reconstruction of stone-tool manufacture by conjoining flakes back onto their parent core and to one another, like reassembling a three-dimensional jigsaw of a single knapping episode. Because each flake removal leaves a negative scar and a matching fracture surface, an analyst who find

Magnetometry Survey

Magnetometry survey is a non-invasive geophysical technique that maps buried archaeological features by detecting the tiny variations they produce in the Earth's magnetic field. Many human activities alter the magnetic properties of the ground: burning enhances the magnetism of soil in hearths and kilns, while pits and

Matched-Guise Technique

The matched-guise technique is an indirect experimental method for measuring attitudes toward languages, dialects, and accents. Developed by Wallace Lambert and colleagues in 1960, it has the same bilingual or bidialectal speaker record the same passage in two or more language varieties ('guises'); listeners, believing

qualitative research

Member Checking and Respondent Validation

Member checking is a quality assurance procedure in qualitative research in which the researcher shares preliminary findings, interpretations, or analytical themes with research participants and asks whether the findings accurately reflect their perspectives and experiences. Developed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) as a tr

Minimum Number of Individuals

Minimum number of individuals (MNI) is a quantitative zooarchaeological method that estimates the minimum number of animals represented in a faunal assemblage based on the frequency of unique skeletal elements. Developed by Theodore White in 1953, it is one of the most widely used techniques for analyzing animal bone a

qualitative research

Narrative Inquiry

Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research methodology that treats stories and life narratives as primary data, analyzing how individuals construct meaning and identity through storytelling. Developed by D. Jean Clandinin and F. Michael Connelly (2000), narrative inquiry examines the narratives people tell about their

Number of Identified Specimens

Number of identified specimens (NISP) is a fundamental zooarchaeological method that quantifies the abundance of faunal remains by counting all identifiable bone fragments or specimens in an assemblage. Formalized by R. E. Chaplin and later refined by Donald Grayson and others, NISP is the most straightforward and wide

qualitative research

NVivo and ATLAS.ti for Qualitative Analysis

NVivo and ATLAS.ti are Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) programs that facilitate coding, organizing, and analyzing qualitative data—including text (transcripts, documents), images, video, and audio. NVivo, developed by QSR International, is widely used in academic research and supports data

Obsidian Hydration Dating

Obsidian hydration dating (OHD) is a chronometric method that determines the age of obsidian artifacts by measuring the thickness of a hydration layer formed on their exposed surfaces. Developed by Irving Friedman and Robert Smith in 1960, it is based on the principle that fresh obsidian surfaces absorb water from the

Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a chronometric method that determines the age of sedimentary materials by measuring light-induced electron release from mineral grains. Developed by David Huntley and colleagues in the 1980s, it measures the time elapsed since sediment was last exposed to sunlight. This

qualitative research

Participant Observation

Participant observation is a qualitative research method in which the researcher embeds themselves within a community, organization, or social setting for an extended period, engaging in the activities and relationships of the group while systematically observing and documenting behavior, interactions, and cultural mea

Perceptual Dialectology

Perceptual dialectology studies what ordinary, non-linguist speakers believe about language variation: where they think different dialects are spoken, what those dialects sound like, and how correct, pleasant, or different they judge them to be. Developed in its modern form by Dennis R. Preston in the 1980s, it is a br

qualitative research

Phenomenological Research

Phenomenological research is a qualitative methodology focused on understanding the lived experience of a phenomenon as it is experienced by individuals. Rooted in the philosophical traditions of Edmund Husserl (descriptive phenomenology) and Martin Heidegger (interpretive phenomenology), this approach seeks to uncover

Picture-Naming Task

In the picture-naming task, participants see a pictured object and say its name aloud as quickly and accurately as possible. The time from the picture appearing to the onset of speech — the naming latency — together with the accuracy and type of response, indexes the cognitive route from seeing an object to retrieving

Politeness Analysis

Politeness analysis is the qualitative method of examining how speakers manage face — the public self-image people claim — when they perform acts that threaten it. Anchored in Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson's influential face theory, the analyst locates face-threatening acts in interaction, codes the strategy chos

Predictive Site Location

Predictive site location modeling uses machine learning algorithms (particularly maximum entropy models) to predict the probability of archaeological site occurrence across a landscape based on environmental and spatial variables. Developed for ecology but adapted for archaeology, predictive modeling identifies areas w

qualitative research

Qualitative Content Analysis

Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) is a systematic, inductive method for analyzing textual or visual data by identifying and categorizing meaning units into content categories. Developed and formalized by Klaus Krippendorff (1980), QCA can be purely qualitative (inductive, exploratory) or combined with quantitative cou

Real-Time Study of Language Change

The real-time study of language change observes change directly by comparing comparable data from the same speech community gathered at two or more actual points in time. Where apparent-time analysis infers change from age differences in a single snapshot, real-time study watches the community across the calendar, eith

qualitative research

Reflexivity in Qualitative Research

Reflexivity is the practice of examining how the researcher's identity, assumptions, relationships, and values influence the research process and findings. Rather than treating objectivity as achievable detachment, reflexivity acknowledges that the researcher is embedded within the research and cannot be fully separate

Self-Paced Reading Task

The self-paced reading task — Just, Carpenter, and Woolley's moving-window paradigm — measures sentence comprehension as it unfolds. Participants read a sentence one word (or phrase) at a time, pressing a button to reveal each segment and hide the previous one, and the software logs how long each segment stays on scree

Soil Micromorphology

Soil micromorphology is the microscopic study of undisturbed soils and sediments in thin section to reconstruct how archaeological deposits formed and were altered. An oriented block is cut from a deposit without disturbing its internal structure, hardened with resin, and ground into a slice about thirty micrometers th