Introductory concepts

and definitions
Dr. Codruta Gosa
codrutagosa@yahoo.co.uk

Major issues to be discussed

Introductory concepts
Ethics in research
The research proposal
Quantitative research: logic,
methodology, methods, analysis
Data analysis in quantitative research
Qualitative research: logic,
methodology, methods, analysis
Data analysis in qualitative research
The research report

What is research?

In the most profound sense,

research simply means trying to
find answers to questionsto
learn more about the world
around us. Or in short,
research is disciplined inquiry.
(Drnyei, 2007: 15)

Keywords

Rigorous
Systematic
Through appropriate
Research question(s)
Research method(s)

Research is Question(s)
driven

Think

of your BA

paper
Try

to formulate a
question that drives
it

Two ways to find answers to

questions

By looking at what other people

have said (labelled as
secondary, conceptual,
library research)
By conducting your own databased investigation (labelled as
primary, empirical research)

Classification of research

According to the research

strategies
According to the purpose of
research
According to the basic
location of research

Types of research: purpose of

research
Explanatory:

seeks an
explanation of a situation or
problem (causal relationships),
quantitative and/or qualitative

Experiments

are seen as most

appropriate for explanatory work

Descriptive: seeks to elicit the

characteristics of a particular
social phenomena from a
certain group of people, i.e.
present a certain social status
quo
Surveys

are seen as most

appropriate for descriptive work

Exploratory: to find out what is

happening, seek new insights,
to assess phenomena in anew
light, usually qualitative
Case

studies are seen as most

appropriate for exploratory work

Types of research: in the field,

at the desk?

Library
Natural environment: associated
with ethnography (the researcher
becomes part of the group under
study)
Fieldwork: used to refer to the
collection of data using
observational methods
Laboratory

Research paradigms
They are both ontologically and
epistemologically grounded

Objective versus subjective

Quantitative versus qualitative

References
Drnyei, Z, 2007: Research Methods in
Applied Linguistics, Oxford: Oxford
University Press
Hatch, E.M., Lazaraton, A. 1991: The
Research Manual: Design and Statistics
for Applied Linguistics, New York;
Newbury House
Mason, J., 2002: Qualitative Researching
(2nd ed.), London, Thousand Oaks, New
Delhi: Sage
, (2nd ed)Oxford: Blackwell