Intoduction To research

1
Introduction to Research

• 14th September 2011
• Bertariasohnata Hutauruk

2
Four Major Stages of Research Work

• Preparing the Research Proposal
• Organizing and Conducting the Research
• Writing the Research Report
• Evaluating the Research

3

• A research can be undertaken for two different
  purposes
• To solve a currently existing problem (applied
  research)
• To contribute to the general body of knowledge in
  a particular area of interest (basic/fundamental
  research)

4
Ways to select a topic

• Personal experience
• Curiosity based on something in the media
• The state of knowledge in a field
• Social premiums
• Personal values

5

• Steps to formulating research topics
• Determine the general topic area one is
  interested in. The general area can be derived
  from
• ones own particular interests
• ones experience in the field
• reading widely
• a combination of the above three

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INTEREST

• If you are going to commit yourself to a piece of
  educational research, then it is important that
  you are interested in the topic you are
  researching.
• of interest to the researcher
• of interest to others
• By being interested, you are more likely
• to read widely on the topic and
• to have a more thorough knowledge of the
  situation.

Background reading is an essential requirement
for any person wanting to undertake a piece of
research.
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SIZE
Here is where you need to exercise some
professional wisdom. Problems are usually macro
in size often too large for satisfactory
results to be obtained. Analysis of a problem
situation can reduce a large situation into a
smaller, manageable research problem.
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ECONOMY
Researchers are often confronted with practical
constraints, such as time and money. At the
initial planning stages, it is wise to think
about the possibility of receiving some support,
both financial and non-financial, either from
within your institution or from outside sources.
This may not be realized by direct monetary
grants but could simply be in access to equipment
printing, stationery supplies, typing, etc.
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RESEARCHERS CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS

• A researcher must recognize his own capabilities
  and limitations.
• Organize a Panel in your area of study to
  monitor your
• progress.
• Have people willing to support you throughout
  the
• research to suggest alternative approaches,
  assist in
• clarification of issues, etc.

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Personal Practical Experiences
Critical Study of Literature
Problem
Data
Conclusions
Interaction with Others
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• Examples
• Area Possible Topics
• Pedagogy - Teaching English in
• elementary schools
• - Teaching writing for
• academic purposes

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• Area Possible topics
• Testing - Testing speaking
• Assessment proficiency
• - Assessing the language
• proficiency of high school
• students
• - The predictive validity of
• the TOEFL test

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• Refining your research topics (based on Wiersma
  1986)
• The topic can first be broadly stated
• Then it should be progressively refined and
  restricted through a review of the literature

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• Example 1
• Original Fluency and teaching techniques
• Restatement A study of the effects of three
• teaching techniques on English
• fluency of high school students
• A Case Study of Third Year High
• School Students of YYY

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• Practice 1
• Original Teachers correction in writing
• classes
• Restatement

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• In a research proposal, the research topic is
  normally described and explained in a section
  called Background of the Study.
• In a published research paper, the research topic
  is usually described in a section called
  Introduction (or sometimes without this heading).

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Major Limitations in Conducting a Research

• Time
• Costs
• Access to resources
• Approval by authorities
• Ethical concerns
• Expertise

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Quantitative vs. Qualitative Methodological
Assumption (Cresswell 1994 5)
Quantitative Qualitative
Deductive process Inductive process
Cause and effect Mutual simultaneous shaping of factors
Static design categories isolated before study Emerging design categories identified during research process
Generalization leading to prediction, explanation, and understanding Patterns, theories developed for understanding
Accurate and reliable through validity and reliability Accurate and reliable through verification
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Six assumptions of qualitative designs (Merriam
1988 19-20)

1. Qualitative researchers are concerned primarily
   with process, rather than outcomes or products.
2. Qualitative researchers are interested in
   meaning.
3. The qualitative researcher is the primary
   instrument for data collection and analysis. Data
   are mediated through this human instrument,
   rather than through inventories, questionnaires,
   or machines.
4. Qualitative research involves fieldwork. The
   researcher physically goes to the people setting,
   site, or institution to observe or record
   behavior in its natural setting.
5. Qualitative research is descriptive in that the
   researcher in interested in process, meaning and
   understanding gained through words or pictures.
6. The process of qualitative research is inductive
   in that the researcher builds abstractions,
   concepts, hypotheses, and theories from details.

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Quantitative Methods

• Quantitative Descriptive
• Descriptive statistics graphical and numerical
  techniques for summarizing data.
• Quantitative Analytic
• Inferential statistics procedures for making
  generalizations about characteristics of a
  population based on information obtained from a
  sample taken from that population

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Population, Sample, Respondent, Informant, Corpus

• Population any set of individuals (or objects)
  having some common observable characteristics.
• Sample the subset of a population which
  represents the characteristics of the population.
• A sample consists of respondents or subjects
• An informant a person from whom a linguist
  obtains information about language, dialect, or
  culture.
• A corpus is a collection of written or spoken
  material.

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Types of Sampling
Non-probability
Probability
Simple Random
Cluster Random
Convenience
Quota
Stratified Random
Judgement / Purposive
Snowball
Systematic Random
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• Practice 4
• Goal To be able to write the Background of the
  Study section for your research proposal
• Your Tasks
• - Describe and explain your research topic.
• - Put your description and explanation in the
  section called Background of the Study.