Research%20Methodology

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Research Methodology
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• Research Traditions
• What is research?
• Research is the systematic approach to finding
  answers to questions.
• Questions comes first questions drive
  inquiry questions will inform the kind of
  research we do.
• Quantitative and Qualitative research traditions
• Both are empirical, involving the collection of
  original data (from human subjects).
• Both are drive by identifiable conceptual and
  methodological assumptions.

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• Research Traditions
• Quantitative research emphasizes
• the systematic measurement and quantification of
  variables
• the statistical analysis of data
• the use of mathematic models and causal
  inferencing
• Qualitative research emphasizes
• thick description of the interactions of
  individuals and interpretations of these
  interactions
• heuristic (discovery oriented analysis of data)
• leading to grounded theory.

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• Research Traditions
• Assumptions about
• discovery
• variables
• data collection
• data analysis
• use of data

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Discovery

• There is a Truth that can be discovered.

• Individuals socially construct meaning / truth,
  so truth is as relative as the number of
  individuals involved. Qualitative research is
  sometimes referred to as interpretive, for this
  reason.

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Variables

• Few, parsimonious goal is to isolate a single
  variable so that causation can be established.

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Variables

• Parsimonious
• L. parsimonia "sparingness, frugality," from
  pars-, stem of parsi, perf. tense of parcere "to
  spare, save" -monia, suffix signifying action
  or condition

• Thick description. Goal is to consider all
  variables that might be pertinent.
• Margaret Mead
• Claude Lévi-Strauss
• Hunter Thompson

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Data Collection

• Deductive Researchers bring a theory to the
  study setting which is then tested in that
  setting.

• Inductive Theory arises from data hence
  grounded theory grounded in data. Theories
  inform researchers preparation for study, but
  doesnt lock them into particular ways of
  understanding.

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Research Traditions
Data Collection

• Competence data
• error recognition / correction
• grammatical judgments
• cord sorting

• Affective data
• questionnaires
• matched-guise techniques
• diary studies
• focused introspection

• Performance data
• reading aloud
• completion tasks
• elicited imitation
• reconstruction
• role plays
• oral interviews
• composition

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Data Analysis

• Statistical. Searching for statistically
  significant differences among samples around
  specific variables, in order to understand
  effects of interventions.

• Heuristic. Searching data variously (taxonomic
  analysis, semantic relationships x is a kind of
  y, etc.) in order to understand a specific
  culture.

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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Use of Data

• By random sampling, generalize results from a
  small sample to a large population.

• Not interested in generalizability. Results
  inform further study and help build theory (our
  interpretive understanding of a cultural
  setting).

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• Statistics
• Descriptive Statistics
• The use of numbers to describe results.
• mean average scores (etc.) from all
  participants
• SD standard deviation average distance from
  the mean of all points in a data set

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• Statistics

• 1 SD 68 of population (red)
• 2 SD 95 of population (red and green)
• 3 SD 99 of population (red, green, and blue)

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• Statistics

1 SD 68 of population (green) 2 SD 95 of
population (green and blue) 3 SD 99 of
population (green, blue, and red)
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• Statistics Height of US Women 1874 (n
• 6,588)

mean 63.5 in. SD
2.5 in. 61 in. 66 in. 58.5 in. 68.5 in.
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• Statistics Example

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• Statistics English Students

2.42 1.28
3.56
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• Statistics ESL Students

2.30 1.43
3.17
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• Statistics Example

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• Statistics
• 2. Inferential Statistics
• Analysis of descriptive statistics. How do we
  know if the difference between two data sets
  (means, frequencies, correlations, and so on) is
  significant i.e., attributable to something
  other than chance?
• A variety of tests used to determine
  significance
• Anova (analysis of variance)
• chi-square
• F-test
• t-test
• Pearson product moment correlation

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• Statistics
• Significance means attributable to something
  other than chance.
• Example old teaching method v. new teaching
  method
• Experimental method semester-end test scores are
  significantly higher than control method tests
• If we have set up the study correctly, we may be
  able to conclude that the new method is the cause
  of higher student achievement.

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• Statistics
• Probability. Significance is usually expressed
  in terms of probability, p for example
• p lt .01
• p lt .05
• refer to the probability that differences
  occurred through chance alone (as opposed to the
  influence of the experimental method).

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• Statistics
• p lt .01 means there is less than 1 percent
  probability that chance alone explained our
  result there is more than 99 percent probability
  that something other than chance explained our
  result.
• p lt .05 means there is less than 5 percent
  probability that chance alone explained our
  result there is more than 95 percent probability
  that something other than chance explained our
  result.
• p 0.026 means that our inferential analysis has
  determined there to have been a 2.6 percent
  probability that chance alone explained our
  result and a 97.4 percent probability that
  something other than chance explained our result.

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• Statistics Example

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• Statistics Example

So, while the results may be interesting
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• Statistics Example

they are not significant i.e., we cant
contribute them to anything other than chance.
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Research Traditions

• Quantitative

• Qualitative

Research Methods

• Correlation studies
• Survey research
• Experimental research

• Case studies
• Ethnographic research

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• Research Methods
• Correlation Studies (Quantitative tradition)
• Purpose to understand relationships among
  characteristics.
• Issue Correlation is NOT causation. Examples?
  
• Cancer
• clusters

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• Research Methods
• Correlation Studies (Quantitative tradition)
• Analysis Statistical, based on calculation of
  correlation coefficients.

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• Research Methods
• Correlation Studies (Quantitative tradition)
• Analysis Statistical, based on calculation of
  correlation coefficients.

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• Research Methods
• Correlation Studies (Quantitative tradition)
• Example Goldstein, L.M. (1987). Standard
  English The only target for nonnative speakers
  of English? TESOL Quarterly, 21, 417-436.
• The author examined the use of African American
  English (BVE) among Hispanic students. She found
  that those who had extensive contact with African
  American students used features of BVE more than
  students with less contact.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vkkcTpfcno-E

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• Research Methods
• Survey Research (Quantitative tradition)
• Purpose to learn about the characteristics of
  an entire group (population) by asking questions
  of a small component of that group (sample).
• Issue Random sampling.
• Analysis statistical, both descriptive
  (percentages, etc.) and inferential (i.e.,
  looking at the relationships or correlations in
  the results.

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• Research Methods
• Survey Research (Quantitative tradition)
• Example Duran, R.P. (1987). Factors affecting
  development of second language literacy. In S.R.
  Goldman and H.T. Trueba (Eds.), Becoming literate
  in English as a second language (pp. 33-55).
  Norwood NJ Ablex.
• The author surveyed Hispanic freshmen concerning
  their basic language characteristics, their own
  rating of their academic skills, and their SAT
  scores. As a result of correlation analyses, the
  author found a positive relationship between high
  self-ratings and high SAT scores.

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• Research Methods
• Experimental Research (Quantitative tradition)
• Purpose to establish a cause / effect
  relationship between an independent variable (IV
  the cause agent) and a dependent variable (DV
  the agent acted upon).
• Requires experiment and control groups and
  careful control of all but the IV so that
  causation (if any) can be established.

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• Research Methods
• Experimental Research (Quantitative tradition)
• Issue true-ness of experiment

Control and Experimental Groups? Random Sampling
Pre-Experiment No. Only 1 group, pre- and post-test structure No. Use of extant group
Quasi-Experiment Yes. No. Use of extant groups
True Experiment Yes. Yes.
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• Research Methods
• Experimental Research (Quantitative tradition)
• Analysis Inferential statistics to determine if
  difference between groups are significant that
  is, caused by the IV, not by chance alone.
• Example Carrell, P.L. (1985). Facilitating ESL
  reading by teaching text structure. TESOL
  Quarterly, 19, 461-481.
• The author found that teaching rhetorical
  structures to ESL freshmen resulted in improved
  ability to recall information in related texts.

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• Research Methods
• Case Study Research (Qualitative tradition)
• Purpose to focus attention on a single entity
  (or a very small number) in a naturalistic
  setting.
• Data is gathered through interviews,
  observations, diary accounts, text analysis,
  video / audio recording, etc.
• Analysis heuristic, piecing together patterns
  in the data.

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• Research Methods
• Case Study Research (Qualitative tradition)
• Example Kravin, H. (1992). Erosion of a
  language in bilingual development. Journal of
  Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 13,
  307-325.
• The author analyzed the bilingual development of
  a six-year-old Finnish-American child. The study
  is primarily concerned with the processes by
  which one of the childs languages begins to
  dominate the other. The author speculated in
  conclusion that the subordination of Finnish in
  the child is the result of limited linguistic
  input in that language.

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• Research Methods
• Ethnographic Research (Qualitative tradition)
• Purpose to examine culture, society, schooling,
  etc. for the purpose of understanding the
  processes of acculturation, socialization,
  learning, etc. from the perspective of
  individuals in the setting.
• Data is gathered through interviews,
  observations, diary accounts, text analysis,
  video / audio recording, and participant
  observation.
• Analysis heuristic, discovery oriented

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• Research Methods
• Ethnographic Research (Qualitative tradition)
• Example Hornberger, N.H. (1987). Bilingual
  education success, but policy failure. Language
  in Society, 16, 205-226.
• The author investigated bilingual education in a
  particular community in Peru through a two-year
  ethnographic study. Findings focus on the
  perceptions of the value of Spanish and Quechua
  among students and their families.

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• Are there male/female differences in how
  invitations are extended between native speakers?
  How does non-native speaker behavior compare?
• Is there a sequence in which second language
  pronouns are acquired? If so, what is it?
• Does practice with sentence-combining result in
  learners producing longer T-units in their
  classroom compositions?
• What word-attack skills do learners naturally use
  when they encounter a word they dont know?
• Is there a relationship between the age at which
  second language instruction begins and the level
  of SL proficiency achieved?