The Methodology Matrix: How To not get Bullied, Blindsided or Bored when Designing Your Data Project

You’ve heard us say it before: Define your question first, then choose a methodology. Rather than letting your methodology limit your questions, let your research questions drive the project design. For an example of how to reframe research questions and adjust methodologies, check out this post.

The We All Count Methodology Matrix is an extremely simple resource that you can use to identify methodologies appropriate for the kind of questions you want to answer with data. If you want to play around with it now and don’t need any more convincing, check it out here.

Don’t Get Bullied

Methodology selection is one of the unusual areas of data equity where there’s an equity and empowerment problem between the data workers themselves instead of between data workers, funders, project participants, data sources etc.

Too often ‘methodological experts’ can steamroll the other members of their team by dictating what kind of statistical method to use before you even know what questions you want to answer. This can happen for a variety of reasons: good intentions, training, habit, expertise limitations, comfort zones, indoctrination into the cult of one method or another, laziness, ego or fear. The…