Sentence:  On the one side we have the university professors and their students , trained in Teutonic <WSD>methods</WSD> of research , who have sought out , collected and studied the true products of the oral traditions of the ethnic , regional and occupational groups that make up this nation . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement (usually in steps)