Decision-making method is a a way-method-procedure while decision-making is a process by using the method. It follows the first one.

I don't think you will get consistency in views on this one, but the responses will be interesting and - no doubt - aligned to disciplinary traditions. Process can have a range of technical meanings (most of which I would argue sit above methods), but can also refer to an all encompassing process which includes engaging people and getting them to work together to make decisions, and within this use a range of decision-making methods. In natural resource management we also talk about decision-making tools and especially decision support systems.

Many thanks... I am looking for something that is academically backed up...are there any works in literature that underpin this differentiation...

Kevin rogers south africa building block methods. Brian richter in usa. Ruchard kingsfod & Biggs in Australia ... these are some of the authors that you can google who have developed processes to work with the community, and to make decisions in natural resource management; mostly around rivers and wetlands.

Decision making method is a technique to make a decision, whereas decision making process is a process which using decision making methodology for making the decisions.

A decision making process involves the decision making method. Without the process the method cannot be implemented or used. It is more likely the same.

Decision-making process can be organizational or individual. Decision-making method is an organizationalprocess and can be interdisciplinary: it involves Economy, Psychology and other disciplines. Individual decision-making actions are the surface of a cognitive process which can be automatic or controlled. The automatic process is fast, based on previous learning/experience and mostly, unconscious. The controlled process isn't so fast, the subject has introspective access, involves reasoning about some criteria. See the classical economic models (Simon and Kahneman/Tversky) or the authors in Neuroeconomic studies (Camerer, among other). I'm leader of a project which objective is to study decision-making process in accounting environment using models adapted from cognitive and neuroscience theories .

Questions such as "What is the difference between a decision-making method and a decision-making process?" are treacherous. They presume that there is a "right" answer when often there is not. But what makes this especially problematic is that whether there is a correct answer depends not on decision-making processes or decision-making processes methods, but on how people use the terms "decision-making-process" and "decision-making method". So we will be wise to understand the original question as one that asks "How are the terms "decision-making process" and "decision-making method" used.

Lewis Carroll, a highly regarded logician and philosopher of language, wrote, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more, nor less.” [Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There] If there is not a well-established usage, the user is well-advised to state what she chooses it to mean.

Paul..this was exactly my question..In literature the two have been used interchangeably at the convenience of the authors. There is no line to differentiate the two. How they are used is known but on what basis have they been classified is the question....

Decision making process is a sequence of steps that a person may use in making a decision. For example step 1 - Identifying a problem, step 2 - Come out with several alternatives, step 3 - Choose the best among the alternative, step 4 - Implement the alternative ghat you choose, step 5 - evaluate the outcome of the decision, step 6 - Do corrective active action if it is necessary to to so.

On the other hand, decision methods could be varies depend on which is suitable to get the best outcome. For example, we can use Brainstorming, Delphy method, and etc.

Shishank,

I'm not sure what problem you are addressing. You seem to be saying that established usage is to use the terms "process" and "method" interchangeably, i.e., as synonyms. There may be no reason to use them differentially, but if you feel there is, then just say what the difference is in your use the terms and why it is a useful or perhaps essential distinction to make.

I think it is useful to differentiate between inter-personal decision making processes (or methods) and intra-personal processes (or methods) but am indifferent as to whether this is done by usiing "process"for one of them and "method" for the other, or by using some other differentiating terms. Another related distinction that I want to be able to make is between processes (or methods) for making a decision (i.e., intra-decisional) and processes (or methods) for integrating decisions (inter-decisional).

What I'm trying to show here is that language is a remarkably flexible tool and that there are many ways to make a point, some more direct and simpler than others. What is essential is that we say enough about the distinctions that we intend, to make those distinctions clear to others. Established usage needn't constrain our usage, but it does influence what we need to say to make ourselves understood.

The process is the structure used to obtain an outcome (mostly repetitive), besides the method is for support and can change.

The process defines WHAT to do,

the method describes HOW to do it.

Shortly, DM methods are used in DM processes.

I see the values in what Elisabeth Kauba and Fairuz Yunus and others had proposed herein.

Decision making process (say DMP for future reference) is a step by step procedure for making decisions. When I review literatures, I find depending upon the circumstances, many methods are used within a process for decision-making. Some typical examples of decision-making methods (say DMM in short for reference) used in literatures are brainstorming, consensus-building, polling, statistical analysis, prescriptive, heuristics, survey etc. (depending upon the applications or its usage)

One step of the process (DMP) may involve brainstorming (a DMM), another step may involve heuristics-based (another DMM), 3rd step of the process may employ statistical analysis (a different DMM), and so on.

Thus, both are related. DMP describes the steps at a high level. DMM outlines how-to carry out a step of the DMP process. Hope, this clarification helps little bit.

Thanks

Brian

If we resort to a mathematical analogy .. Random Process contains random variables as a function of time viz e.g. X(t) maps outcome c (of sample space S) to a function of time t such as x( t, c) as specified by some rule. To my mind this has been succintly expressed by Elisabeth Kauba and nicely distils the wisdom of many other commenters It is interesting to that if the definitions are altered (with apologies ).. to

... The process describes how to to it,

The method defines what to do .

..cognitively it still makes meaning ( at least to me) perhaps this is why we have alternate opinions ..

Cheers

I agree with Elisabeth Kauba that

The process defines activities to accomplish the goal whereas the method deals with the techniques used.

if one is to deconstruct  a standard understanding  methods are a part of process ( approach)  

Decision on method of decision making falls inside the decision making process set to solve a problem or capitalize on a chance.  The decision maker(s) chose(s) the methods to apply in defining the problem; identifying the alternatives; assessing the alternatives; chosing the best alternative; implementing the chosen path of solution and evaluating the results.  A rational decision maker would use a funnel method to define the problem or environmental scanning to identify chances; Brainstorming in identifying the alternatives; quantitative methods in assessing the alternatives and so on...