>[!abstract] >The uncritical aestheticization, fetishizing, idolization, or worship of method over meaning, in a way that directs one's research, drives the questions one asks, or ignores past negative results. This is especially relevant to qualitative studies in social sciences such as psychology and sociology. The so-called "worship of the clinical trial" in medical science is an example of methodolatry. >[!quote] >"A combination of method and idolatry, to describe a preoccupation with selecting and defending methods to the exclusion of the actual substance of the story being told. Methodolatry is the slavish attachment and devotion to method that so often overtakes the discourse in the education and human services fields." (Janesick, 1994) >[!quote] >"The privileging of methodological concerns over other considerations in qualitative [...] research." (Chamberlain, 2000) ## References - Chamberlain, K. (2000). Methodolatry and qualitative health research. _Journal of Health Psychology_, _5_(3), 285–296. [https://doi.org/10.1177/135910530000500306](https://doi.org/10.1177/135910530000500306) - Janesick, V. J. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In _Handbook of qualitative research_ (pp. 209–219). Sage Publications, Inc.