Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition
Questions Chapter 1: Research Overview (Mackey and Gass)
1. Define Research
- Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry.
- To study something thoroughly.
- A way of finding out answers to questions.
2. Mention types of approaches to do research and provide examples.
Quantitative: Generally starts with an experimental design in which a hypothesis is followed by the quantification of data and some numerical analysis is carried out.
Example: a study comparing student test results before and after an instructional treatment.
Qualitative: Generally are not set up as experiments; the data cannot be easily quantified. The analysis is interpretative rather than statistical.
Example: a diary study in which a student keeps track of her attitudes during a year-long Japanese language course.
3. What is the difference between the information contained in the results section and in the Discussion/Conclusion section?
In the results section you can find:
- Objective description
- Tables, figures
- The data is presented as it is seen without interpretation
In the discussion section you can find:
- Interpretative description (explanation of the results)
- Explanation
4. Refer to the main characteristics of research questions. Why should we use the “so what” test? How can we come up with research questions?
Characteristics of research questions:
- Interesting (current issues) for the scientific community
- Narrow
- Integral part of quantitative research: quant: yes/no questions; qualit: open-ended questions
“So what?” test:
Questions have to be relevant or partially answered. To make sure our research is “interesting.”
Also to avoid questions that have been answered before.
Come up with research questions:
- From the conclusion section.
- Previous research (literature)
- Identification of a gap.
- Observation.
5. Mention the parameters that Grotjahn presented to distinguish research types.
- Type of data (qualitative/quantitative)
- Method of Analysis (Interpretative/Statistical)
- Manners of data collection (Experimental/Non-experimental)
6. What type of data can you have when you do research?
Qualitative, Quantitative, or mixed methods.
7. Refer to the methods of analysis (interpretative or statistical) in research. Explain/Characterize.
- Interpretative: is an approach to psychological qualitative research with an idiographic focus, which means that it aims to offer insights into how a given person, in a given context, makes sense of a given phenomenon. Usually these phenomena relate to experiences of some personal significance – such as a major life event, or the development of an important relationship.
- Statistical: is the collection, examination, summarization, manipulation, and interpretation of quantitative data to discover its underlying causes, patterns, relationships, and trends. Statistical methods are widely used in the life sciences, in economics, and in agricultural science, they also have an important role in the physical sciences in the study of measurement errors, of random phenomena such as radioactivity or meteorological events, and in obtaining approximate results where deterministic solutions are hard to apply.
8. Mention and characterize the manners to collect data that are mentioned in the chapter.
- Experimental → controlled environment + controlled variables
- Nonexperimental (naturalistic) → observative (naturalistic) approach; takes things “as they are”–> Surveys
9. What are the parts of an abstract?
- Past research
- What the study is about
- How it fills the gap
- What the reader can expect from the results
10. Why is replication of research relevant? What is conceptual replication?
It is the central part of the development of any field of inquiry. If one cannot repeat the results of a particular study, the validity of the results of the original study may be called into question.
So, the two main reasons to replicate are verification and generalizability.
11. What is the degree of detail needed in a literature review?
The amount of detail needed in a literature review will depend on the purpose of the report.
For example: a doctoral dissertation → very exhaustive
journal article → 8-10 pages
12. Why do we have to include an exhaustive methods section?
Methods sections must be detailed enough for two reasons:
- to allow the replication of research (if one cannot repeat the results of a particular study, the validity of the results of the original study might be called into question)
- readers have to come to an informed opinion about the research (it is thus crucial that researchers report in enough detail to allow others determine with precision what has been done)
The Nature of Research (Brown & Rogers)
1. What is the definition of research according to B&R?
-Research is an exploration of experience of one kind or another, sometimes formal and technical, but not necessarily so.
- Any systematic and principled inquiry
2. How is research data compiled according to B&R?
First, (1) all the data must be put together in one place in order to (2) analyze them and interpret them more easily. (3) This can be done in rows, columns and transcriptions.
3. What does return rate means?
‘Return rate’ refers to the percentage, ratio or number (?) of people who effectively answered a survey or questionnaire, compared to the number of surveys that were handed out. For instance, we can give 100 questionnaires to 100 people, but only 80 questionnaires were answered → The return rate is 80 out of 100.
4. What is the difference between primary and secondary research according to Brown and Rogers?
The main difference lies in where the research is based on. Primary research: original data, obtained by oneself. Secondary research: supplementary, secondary data, obtained by others.
5. Refer to primary research
Primary research includes any research based on primary, or original, data (for example, students’ test scores, classroom observations of their language learning behaviors, questionnaire responses, etc.) Primary research is further divided into qualitative, survey, and statistical research.
6. Importance of context in research according to R&B
Context is crucial, and a critical determinant in the way research is undertaken and the way research results are disseminated. Some of these contexts are:
- International and national contexts: Research depends on the sponsorship and political priorities set by organizations/governments.
- Professional context: Some topics are more popular than others, and this determines a trend in research.
- Institutional context: Institutional priorities, available support structures, past experience, and administrator personalities will shape what kind of research can be carried out within the institutional boundaries.
- Personal context: Researcher’s individual views and preferences when doing research.
- Local context: The actual situation in which researchers and those being researched meet (physical, chronological, social, pedagogical, psychological context)
7. Define secondary research
Secondary research is the research based on data found by other people. There are two kinds: Library research, an investigation made with the purpose of increasing one’s knowledge about a topic (informative), and Literature review, which is a revision of previously published texts in the field with the purpose of answering a research question or knowing if our research ‘gap’ has already been occupied by other investigators (critical).
8. Compare what has been stated by Dörnyei and Brown and Rodgers about research
Dörnyei referred to.
9. Importance of Flexibility (NO ESTOY SEGURA PERO RECUERDO HABER ESCUCHADO A LA PROFE PREGUNTANDO ESO!)
Dörnyei 1001: Types of Research
1. Define research
Trying to find answers to questions, an activity every one of us does all the time to learn more about the world around us.
2. What is the definition of research that Dörnyei quotes?
“The organized, systematic search for answers to the questions we ask” (Hatch and Lazaraton 1991; 1) i.e. research is a disciplined inquiry.
3. What are the basic ways of finding answers to questions? [Nota: Aquí el autor cita a Brown y Rogers]
– Secondary Research: what other people have said about a particular issue
– Primary Research: one’s own data based (empirical investigation)
4. Reasons for research in the field of Second Language Acquisition
– Generating more knowledge
– Becoming a better professional or teacher
– Helping others teach better
5. What are the characteristics of a good researcher?
– Genuine curiosity: passion helps through laborious parts, maintaining momentum and creativity.
– Common sense: keep your feet (and mind, and therefore your research) firmly on the ground.
– Having good ideas: creative thinking grounded in reality.
– Disciplined and responsible: Systematic-ness of research. Temptations of being lazy and therefore creating poor research. “Social responsibility”: to the field and the world, and therefore communicating results (writing research articles).
6. What kinds of data does primary research find? (primary data)
– Quantitative data: number-ish
– Qualitative data: transcriptions of recorded data, field notes, docs of various sorts.
– Language data: Usually a subset of qualitative data. Language samples, written or oral (recorded).
7. Methods to collect and analyse data
– Qualitative
– Quantitative
– Mixed methods research: Quali + Quanti, best of both worlds.
The first two became research paradigms, but they are “overstated binaries”. According to Dörnyei, a more constructive approach would be to consider them not as a dichotomy or mutually exclusive but as degrees of a continuum.
Creswell (1) Research Design
1. What’s the definition of “research design”?
–The plans and procedures for doing research. The worldviews, the strategies and the methods contribute to a research design (broad assumptions and detailed methods of data collection and analysis, respectively)
2. How can you select a research design?
The selection of a research design is based on:
→ the nature of the research problem or the issue being addressed
→ the researchers’ personal experiences
→ the audiences for the study
3. What are some aspects that you should consider in order to study a topic?
-The Research problem
-The audience
-Theory of Language that supports what I’m doing
-My personal choices
Creswell (2) Review of the Literature
Why do we have to write a lit. review?
Because we share with the reader the results of other studies that are closely related to the one being undertaken.
It relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialogue in the literature, filling in gaps and extending prior studies.
It provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study as well as a benchmark for comparing the results with other findings.
What do you have to do when you have an idea to do research on?
Refer to how to use the lit review in a quantitative study
– It includes a substantial amount of lit. at the beginning of a study to provide directions for the research questions or hypotheses.
It is also used there to introduce a problem or to describe in detail the existing lit. in a section titled.
It can introduce a theory or describe the theory that will be used.
Mention how to use the lit review in a mixed methods study
What makes a topic researchable?
- When the topic adds to the pool of research knowledge available on the topic
- If the topic lifts up the voices of unrepresented groups and individuals
- If the topic replicates past studies
- If the topic helps address social justice
- If there is a general interest in the topic