menetelmillä

Menetelmillä is a Finnish noun form meaning “with methods” or “by means of methods.” It is the plural adessive form of menetelmä (method) and is used to indicate the tools, approaches, or procedures that are employed to carry out an action, solve a problem, or obtain results. The word is common in academic, scientific, and technical writing as well as in everyday language when describing how something was done.

Grammatical notes: menetelmä is a noun of the first declension. Its plural nominative is menetelmät, and the plural adessive form is menetelmillä, indicating instrumentality or means. The construction is often combined with verbs of doing, analyzing, researching, or producing, for example: Tutkimuksessa käytettiin useita menetelmiä, ja näillä menetelmillä saatiin luotettavia tuloksia.

Usage and context: In research and analysis, menetelmillä commonly appears alongside phrases such as käytettiin (were used), kehitettiin (were developed), or analysoitiin (were analyzed). It emphasizes the methods or methodological choices underlying a result. It can refer to qualitative and/or quantitative approaches, data-collection techniques, analytical procedures, or other systematic strategies.

Examples:

- Tutkimuksessa käytettiin useita menetelmiä, ja näillä menetelmillä saatiin luotettavia tuloksia.

- Aineiston analysoinnissa sovellettiin sekä kvalitatiivisia että kvantitatiivisia menetelmiä, ja menetelmillä tarkasteltiin ilmiön eri ulottuvuuksia.

Etymology: The term likely derives from the Swedish metod/metoder, with Finnish adaptation and inflection.