Do research software engineers have research methods?

Do research software engineers have research methods? Dr Joanna Leng, School of Computing, University of Leeds, Dr Phillip Brooker, School of Sociology, University of Liverpool and Emeritus Prof Wes Sharrock, School of Sociology, University of Manchester, all from the UK, ponder if Research Software Engineers have research methods, plus why today, we have increasingly more types of academic research institutions and organisations. It should be evident that Research Software Engineers (RSE) have research methods: it is in the name, and we have two previous case study articles that highlight how research and Software Engineering (SE) methods and skills are combined. We have to ask this because the practices of RSEs are assumed rather than investigated. The answer depends on our ideology and the established ideology of what counts as research.