POSITIONING METHOD AND EXPOSURE METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a positioning method which prevents a throughput from being dropped due to a noise in a positioning operation. SOLUTION: A substrate stage is positioned in a target position, the deviation from the target position of the substrate stage is monitored at a prescribed sampling cycle Ts, and, when the mean value of the deviation within a prescribed measuring time T is within a tolerance value, it is judged that a positioning operation is finished. When the mean value of the deviation is not within the tolerance range, the starting point of the mean time is delayed by every portion of one cycle Ts of the sampling cycle so as to be set at T1, T2, T3,... Thereby, the completion of the positioning operation can be judged in every point of time without delay.