Name: Zahra Al-Hashimy

Course: Research Methods in Applied Linguistics – 1

Subject: Chapter 1 summary

Research Methods in Applied Linguistics

Preface

Conducting research has been one of the most significant activities in the last few decades in applied
linguistics. Formerly, students of this field were limited to library research, which has always been a
frequently used technique of inquiry. However, it is not powerful enough to cope with the formulation of
new findings, because it is expanding fast in scope, becoming more and more scientifically oriented and
getting intermingled with other fields. Some of these fields use rigorous methods of research approximate
to techniques of physical science. Therefore, applied linguists should understand what other researchers
are doing in their field and be able to express themselves in the language of research so that others
understand their findings.

The Concept of Research

For students of language related fields, an understanding of the concept of research and the achievement
of a fairly thorough knowledge of at least the basic concepts and principles of research is an undeniable
necessity.

Sources of Obtaining Information

Sensory experience, expert opinion, and logic have usually helped man in obtaining information.
However, the inadequacies of accumulating knowledge through these sources forced scholars to develop
the scientific method.
Sensory experience is the information man takes in through his senses, which is the most immediate
way of obtaining knowledge for him. The accumulation of information through senses forms one’s
personal experiences, which helps man to find solutions to the problems. Although sensory data and
personal experiences are easily available, their dependability cannot be taken for granted. In many cases,
sensory information is proven to be relative. It can be verified by multiple sensation made by multiple
people, but it cannot completely alleviate the problem of unreliability. Researchers should always be
cautious in treating such data and facts.
Another source of obtaining information is experts or authorities. In fact, it is the easiest and most
readily available source of solving problems and it is highly recommended because experts are
experienced and can be insightful. However, because the nature of this kind of knowledge is somewhat
subjective, researchers should be quite cautious in taking the words of authorities for granted and the
facts stated by them should be subjected to empirical investigations to consolidate their validity.
Beliefs inherited by tradition is another version of obtaining knowledge from authorities.
Nevertheless, researchers must take great care in considering beliefs as facts. Something is not true
because simply everybody knows it or says it is. Authorities should be considered respected sources of
information, but their beliefs and positions should be checked constantly within the framework of
innovations and findings in a particular area.
To move in the direction of a systematic approach, man started to respond to his curiosity by utilizing
his mental faculty in a logical and systematic manner. In logic, there are two kinds of reasoning,
deductive and inductive.
Deductive reasoning was initiated by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. In this kind of
reasoning, one moves from a general statement of truth to a more specific one. A common example of
deductive reasoning goes as follows:

Page 1 of 2
1) All men are mortal. (an axiom)
2) Adam is a man. (another fact but not as general as an axiom)
3) Adam is mortal.

The first sentence is called the major premise. The second is called the minor premise. And the third
is a logical conclusion drawn from the first and second sentences.
Although deductive reasoning made an undeniably valuable contribution to man’s systematic
thinking, it could not always provide valid conclusions. A deductive argument does not guarantee that the
conclusion will be true unless the major and the minor premises are true. Even a true conclusion does not
go beyond what is already known.
In inductive reasoning, the chain of thoughts moves from specific facts to a general statement. The
origin of this reasoning is attributed to Frances Bacon. He argued that instead of accepting a
generalization which is handed down by authorities as an axiom, man himself should observe the facts
and establish a generalization. He believed that in order to come up with sound conclusions, one must
observe many detailed facts, put the facts together, and eventually draw a general conclusion. One form
of perfect induction is enumeration. That is, all instances of a phenomenon are simply observed, counted,
and a conclusion is then drawn. Similar to a deductive argument, in an imperfect induction, the
conclusion is at most probabilistic. That is, there is always the possibility for an exception.
A compromise between the two approaches minimizes the disadvantages and gives more versatility
to human thinking.

The Scientific Method

With the development in scientific fields, the traditional techniques were not satisfactory, and more
systematic and principled ways were needed. Certain movements helped shaping the principles of
scientific method.
The first development came from philosophers of science who argued that a scientific field should
progress cumulatively within an agreed upon paradigm.
Another development came from educators in human science trying to improve their methods by
utilizing rigorous methods utilized in disciplines such as physical sciences.
Still another movement was the interest developed in studying the phenomena which were overt.
Some cognitive processes demanded more objective techniques to be investigated.
The scientific method was created by the need to shift from traditional methods of inquiry to a
scientific method. It is derived from a system of philosophy know as Positivism. The most influential
school of positivism in this century is the logical positivism.
Logical positivism is a system of philosophy that excludes everything from its consideration except
natural phenomena and their interrelations. One of its major principles is the verifiability principle, which
states that something is meaningful if and only if it can be observed by human senses.
Positivism was less successful in its application to the study of human behavior, because human
behavior is too complex to be accounted for by observation alone. That was why post positivism came
into existence. Philosophers, following new positivism, tried to make the process of inquiry more
systematic than before.
These modifications in the perspectives of the philosophers led to the inception of a working definition
of scientific method. Within this perspective, research is considered to be the more formal, systematic,
and intensive process of carrying out a scientific activity. In fact, research is defined as a systematic
approach to answering questions. Research begins with a question, proceeds through a systematic
approach, and ends with an answer.

Page 2 of 2