If you’re preparing to write your PhD methodology chapter and feeling uncertain about research design, paradigms, or how to justify your approach, this article walks you through seven foundational principles that clarify what methodology is really doing.

Conceptual and theoretical frameworks are often treated as interchangeable in PhD advice - but they do different jobs. This guide explains the difference, when you need each one in a qualitative PhD, and how they show up across your thesis without creating unnecessary confusion.