This week we held a Doctoral Training Workshop in Cardiff. The focus was on questions of methodology, methods and skills. In the workshop we blended different discussion formats. Since methodology is always about experimenting and trying things out, we were experimenting with new formats. These helped us to match the needs of the participants with the expertise of the staff, and  sparked a range of discussions of interest to everyone. In a methodology workshop we discussed the projects of participants in smaller groups clustered around the themes of reflexive/interpretive, comparative, and philosophical methodology. In a methods cafe, we hosted tables for open discussion on a range of methods, including interviewing, participant observation, large-n analysis, and discourse analysis. In three roundtables, we discussed publishing, grant funding and career choices. Professor Jef Huysmans from Open University gave one of the keynote talks. In his talk titled “Methodological Acts” he outlined that methods need to be understood as complex practices which have political effects and perform the world in distinct ways.