<![CDATA[Objective: This article develops an analytical framework for understanding the five interconnected layers of research methodology and provides practical guidance for selecting research philosophies, approaches, designs, sampling strategies, and data-collection tools, with particular relevance to language and educational research. Method: The study employs a conceptual-analytical review of established research-methodology literature. The reviewed concepts are compared and organized into five layers: research purpose, philosophical paradigm, research approach, research design, and primary data-collection tools, while sampling, ethics, and the research process are treated as cross-cutting operational components. Results: The synthesis shows that methodological quality depends on alignment across the research objective, philosophical assumptions, logical and data approach, design, sampling strategy, and instruments. Positivistic designs are primarily suited to structured measurement and causal or correlational analysis, whereas phenomenological designs are suited to contextual interpretation of human experience. Mixed-methods approaches can integrate numerical and narrative evidence when the research problem requires both forms of explanation. Novelty: The article proposes a practical five-layer framework that translates abstract methodological assumptions into a sequence of operational decisions that practitioners and scholars can use to evaluate methodological coherence.]]>
Copyrights © 2026
