ABSTRACT
Without claiming to identify any new or underutilized methodology, a word about methods is appropriate given this contribution to the volume. A method, from my perspective, is a strategy for deepening understanding, for example a set of tools that may enable a scholar to verify the plausibility of a causal inference. What is interesting to me about this volume is that the editors have decided to assemble a collection on military methodology, not post office methodology or rail service methodology or Agriculture Ministry methodology. Why does the study of military organizations require a methodological toolbox that is any different than
the assemblage of strategies that scholars have developed to understand other institutions, cultures and sites?
