Qualitative Research Methods Final

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Copyright © 2012. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses
Qualitative Research Methods

for Second Language Education
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Qualitative Research Methods

for Second Language Education:
A Coursebook
By
Nugrahenny T. Zacharias
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Qualitative Research Methods for Second Language Education: A Coursebook,

by Nugrahenny T. Zacharias
This book first published 2012
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2012 by Nugrahenny T. Zacharias
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-3505-6, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3505-3

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ................................................................................... vii
Preface ........................................................................................................ ix
Chapter One................................................................................................. 1
What is Research?
1.1 What is research?
1.2 Why do research?
1.3 What are the types of research?
Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 19

What is the Component of a Qualitative Research Report?
2.1 Topic of Inquiry (ToI)
2.2 Research Question
2.3 Literature Review
2.4 Methodology
5.5 Limitations of the Study
2.6. Conclusion
2.7 References
Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 47

The Research Question
3.1 What is a research question?

3.2 Four Broad Orientations in Research
3.3 Is the research question in a qualitative study different from the one
in a quantitative study?
3.4 What are the different kinds of research questions?
3.6 What are the kinds of research questions in a qualitative study?
3.7 How to refine your research questions?
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vi Table of Contents
Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 65

Open-ended Questionnaires
4.1 What is an open-ended questionnaire?
4.2 What are the benefits of an open-ended questionnaire?
4.3 What are the criteria of a good open-ended questionnaire item?
4.3 What do I do after I finish constructing the questionnaire items?
4.4 The final display of the questionnaire: What should I pay attention
to?
4.5 “I already got the data. Then, what?”: The procedure for analyzing
the data
4.6 “After I have found the themes, what then?”
4.7 “How can I make my coding processes easier?”
Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 97

Interviews
5.1 What is an interview?
5.2 What are the different types of interview?
5.3 What are the criteria of a good interview question?
5.4 What are the different types of interview questions?
5.5 What is the structure of an interview?
5.6 How do i capture interview data?
5.7 What do I need to pay attention TO when conducting an interview?
5.8 What kinds of transcription should I choose?
5.9 How can I analyze interview data?
5.10 When should I stop analyzing the data?
Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 133

Observation
6.1 What is the purpose of conducting an observation?
6.2 What are the different types of observation?

6.3 What do I need to know to develop organizational categories for
observation?
6.4 What can be the focus of classroom observation?
6.4 What do I need to prepare to conduct an observation?
6.5 How do i record my observational data?
6.6 How do I analyze my observational data?
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Several people have knowingly and unknowingly contributed to the

writing and development of this book. My husband who continuously has
“pushed” me to be a btter teacher. My father who has read parts of this
book and was so enthusiastic encouraging me to get the book published.
My colleague and dear friend, Ibu Rossie Kameo, who proof-read the
book, sometimes in a very short time, to get it ready for my Research
Methods class. Ibu Victoria Usadya who was willing to use the book in
her class and provided me with valuable feedback. Along with some
colleagues, she has given me supports through the inevitable ups and down
of a project like this one.
Above all, I would like to dedicate this book to my students in my

Research Methods class. In designing the activities, I have benefited from
seeing and witnessing how my students interacted with the book in the
classroom. They even have pointed out the parts of the book that needed
improvement. I found their suggestions fruitful to make the book even
more reader-friendly.
All mistakes and errors in this book are entirely mine.

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PREFACE
Qualitative Research Methods for Second Language Education: A

Coursebook is a ready-made coursebook for both students and teachers in
the second language department. The book stems from my desire to make
a practical yet complete resource book for learning qualitative research
methods. It is meant to provide basic knowledge for those who start
learning about research or have zero knowledge on research.
The book is a result of one-year try out in the Research Methods class in a
pre-service teacher education program at the Faculty of Language and
Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia. Students in the
class have described the book as easy reading and helped them to gain
preliminary understanding of research.
As I personally believe that one learns about research by doing research

rather than talking about research, the explanation in this book is
accompanied with learning activities. The activities provide practice and
can be used as a media for further discussion of a given topic. Based on
my experience, they also are very helpful in informing teachers on topics
that need further reinforcement. All students from upper-intermediate
upwards will be able to work with the activities written in the book.
Although it is intended for a pre-service teacher education program, the

book can also be used in any second language education programs. It is

my belief that explanation and activities in the book will be able to assist
teachers everywhere in helping and motivate students in learning as well
as gaining preliminary understanding of qualitative research.
Nugrahenny T. Zacharias
April 16, 2011
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CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS RESEARCH?
Activity 1.1
1. Write three words that you associate with the term ‘research’.
Figure 1: Word association for ‘research’
2. Work in a group of 3-4 students, and compare your list. Identify three
similarities & differences you observe between your list and your
friends’ lists. Write them in the following table.
No Similarities Differences
1.
2.
3.
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2 Chapter One
3. As a group can you find a way to classify these words? Make a note
of three possible categories. Write your categories in the table below.
In the third column ‘Examples of words,’ you need to write examples
of words that belong to your category. No 1 gives an example of
‘categories’ and example of words that belong to negative perception.
No Categories Examples of words

1. Negative perception Frustrated; down; sad,
confused
2.
3.
4.
4. Answer the following question with regard to your categorization

process:
5.
a. Did you attempt to categorize all your words? If you did,
was that attempt successful? If not, why not?
b. What were some of the problems you faced when doing
the categorization process?
c. List all the words, if any, that did not belong to your
categorization. Why do you think it is hard to categorize
them?
Activity 1.2
Now compare your group’s word list with the list of words taken from the
University of Hawaii students below:
Endless Sometimes painful

Convincing Experiments
Findings Consistent
Unpredictable Analysis
Publish Statistics
Never perfect Boring
Time consuming Experts
(Adapted from Brown & Rodgers, 2002, pp. 27-28)
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What is Research? 3
Combine your group’s word association with those of the Hawaiian

students. Can you add the words produced by the Hawaiian students to
your categories? If not, what other categories can you think of?
Activities 1.1 and 1.2 give you general experience of what qualitative
research feels like. As you do the two activities, you can see how
categorizing data is not a straightforward process. You have to constantly
read and reread your data to find suitable categories.
From the activities, there are two important points that you need to
remember in analyzing qualitative data:
First, the category you develop from the data needs to be self-explanatory.
This means other people need to be able to understand why you developed
particular categories or themes from your data.
For example, the words below are the words my students came up with
when they were asked to pick three words related to the word ‘research’
(Activity 1):
Experiments Experts Quantitative Literature Findings

Reviews
Instruments Observation Research Data Model
questions Collection article
Background Problems Subjects Interviews Prominent
of the study Scholars
Topic Analysis Method Qualitative Resources
When I asked them to develop categories for these words, they came up
with the categories written in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 : Examples of fuzzy categorization

1. Ideas topic; model article; prominent scholars;
subject
2. In-process research literature review; data collection;
interview; research questions; background
of the study; observation; method
3. Findings Resources; analysis; findings
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4 Chapter One
Although these categories might be clear for the students, they are not self-
explanatory to a general audience or people who might not be involved in
the categorization process. This means other people might need to ask the
students who came up with these categories to explain why, for example,
‘Resources’ belongs to FINDINGS and ‘subject’ is grouped under IDEAS.
Remember, when reporting research, you, the researcher, are not always
physically present with the data, so the category developed needs to be
understandable to a general audience. Examples of a more self-explanatory
categorization can be seen in Table 1.2 .
Table 1.2 : Examples of self-explanatory categorization

1. Kinds of research quantitative, qualitative
2. Methods of data collection observation, interview
3. Components in a research literature review, findings, analysis,

report background of the study, research
questions
Second, when analyzing the data qualitatively, do not attempt to

categorize/analyze all the data you gathered. Although you need to read all
the data gathered so that your categorization can emerge from it,
attempting to categorize all the data is unnecessary, if not impossible. This
is because not all the data is directly related to your research question
and/or study purpose.
So, how do you know which data to use and which ones to leave out?
What I most often do is to develop categories that directly answer the
research question or address the study purpose in some way. Then, attempt
to group your data and leave out the data that do not support or relate to
the categorization. Certainly, this process is not a one-time deal but
involves a process of trying out different categories and fitting the data
into them.
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What is Research? 5
Activity 1.3
Complete the short survey in Appendix A at the end of this section.
1.1 What is research?

Perhaps, this is one of the most important, yet difficult questions to
address. Despite the complexity of the question, understanding ‘what
research is’ is vital because, to some extent, it gives preliminary
understanding of what is expected from you as a researcher. Despite the
importance of defining what research is, not many books define ‘what
research is’. This can lead to the assumption that defining “what research
is” is not necessary, “problematic,” (McKay, 2006) or even impossible.
For that reason, many authors resort to discussing instead the nature of
good research or even the elements constituting good research.
Below are a few definitions I collected from different sources aiming to

explore the definition of research.
Research is:
(a) … simply gathering the information you need to answer and
help you solve the problem (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995,
p. 6).
(b) … the process of going up alleys to see if they are blind
(Marston Bates, 1906-1974).
(c) … an exploration of experience of one kind or another
sometimes formal and technical, but not necessarily so (Brown
& Rodgers, 2002, p. 3).
(d) … what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing
(Wernher Magnus Maxmillan Von Braun, 1912-1977).
(e) …the process of arriving at dependable solutions to problems
through the planned and systematic collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data (Mouly, 1978).
(f) If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from
many, it’s research (Wilson Mizner, 1976-1933).
The above definitions show that the term ‘research’ may take on a range of
meanings and can be applied to a variety of contexts. For our purposes,
however, I will limit its usage to the use of research in the academic world
or, more precisely, in second language teacher education.
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Activity 1.4
Read the definitions of research above and then complete the table below
regarding the characteristics of research. Definition (A) has been done for
you.
No Nature Result Components Role of

researcher
(A) Gathering Solving the • Information • Information
information problem • Question gatherer
• Solution • Problem
solver
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(F)
From this activity, we can learn a few important concepts related to research.
First, people often agree and disagree in their views and understandings of
research. Second, the similarities and differences of the way people
understand and conceptualize research may turn out to be interesting.
1.2 Why do research?

Activity 1.5
Share with your friends:

1. When was the last time you did research?
2. Why did you do the research?
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What is Research? 7
There are several reasons why people do research:
Gaining Knowledge
In daily life most people conduct research to gain knowledge. I remember
before I went to Thailand to pursue my MA., I did a lot of research
because I had no clue what living in Thailand was like, the kind of food
people ate there, and most importantly, to find the living cost. I researched
Thailand by putting keywords such as “Thailand,” “living cost,”
“transportation,” and “food” in a yahoo search. In addition to searching for
information about Thailand through the Internet, I also asked people who
had been to Thailand. Also, I chatted with people who were living in
Thailand at that time. Through this research, I felt I became more familiar
with Thailand.
Conducting research to gain knowledge is most often conducted by

newcomers or “new members” (Wenger, 1998) who are entering a new
context (e.g. workplace, culture, area, etc.). To some extent, the research
gives a security blanket and opens a passage to enter that new territory.
Finding the Effectiveness of Doing an Activity

McKay (2006) asserts that for teachers, research can contribute to more
effective teaching not by offering definitive answers to pedagogical
dilemmas and questions. Rather, by suggesting new ways of looking at
something. As Johnson (1992) notes:
The importance of research is not so much that it supplies definitive
answers to questions such as “What is the best way to learn a language?”
or “which is the most effective method of L2 teaching?” It does not.
Rather, research can help us gain a richer understanding of the many
interrelated factors involved in learning. It can help us see how the ways
we organize learning environments can promote or inhibit growth (p.5).
In other words, the contribution of research to teaching is not by giving a

prescriptive formula or recipe for effective teaching that the teacher must
follow. But, the process of research will give teachers understanding of the
topic being researched and based on that understanding will help teachers
in developing their teaching competence.
Evaluating Existing Knowledge

The most common reason for doing research is to evaluate existing
knowledge. This can be in the forms of replicating a study or just
following the same methodology but with different participants or in a
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8 Chapter One
different context of the study. The purpose of this kind of study is to

explore if the same findings will also emerge in a different context. This
kind of research is encouraged for beginning researchers.
Activity 1.6
Read the following students’ narratives on the last research they did. Try
to categorize them according to the purpose of doing research just
discussed. If you cannot, is there other possible reason for doing research
from student narratives below?
1. I did research last semester in the Introduction to Language

Education class. The purpose of my research is to explore the
teaching methods in an English class in SD Negeri 06, Jalan Kartini
26, Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia. I got the data from observing a
classroom. I also had a chance to conduct short interviews with the
students. I found that the teacher used a deductive method in the
English class. First, the teacher gave examples using pictures (about
family). Then, the teacher explained the pictures one by one and ask
the students to imitate them.
Purpose of research:
2. I did research just a week ago. It was about how to thicken my

lumpy hair. I did it at home. I collected the data using secondary
data collection, I google-searched articles related to my problem. As
a result of my ‘study,’ my hair did not seem lumpy anymore. It
looked naturally thicken.
3. My research was about the influence of culture on education. My

research took place in a rural area in Central Java. I also collected
secondary data because it was impossible to collect primary data
collection in a limited time. I gathered information from many
written sources like books, journals, e-books, and articles. My
finding shows that culture had big influence on education.
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What is Research? 9
4. My last research was about deciding which shampoo that I should

use for my hair loss. I collected secondary data by going to
supermarkets in Salatiga and read information at the back of
shampoo’s bottles. Also, my friend’s experience about dealing her
hair loss. Then, I decided to try shampoo A because as my friend’s
suggested, it contains nutrition that my hair needs.
5. The last time I did my research was someday before SIASAT (a

registration system at the university). I wanted to know the lecturers
who are kind and objective, so that I could feel comfortable during
my 6th semester. I asked my friends from all “angkatan” (year
level). Surprisingly, they gave me different answers. For example,
some friends told me that Mr. A was kind, but others said that he
was always unfair in scoring and so on. By doing that, I can
conclude which lecturers are actually the best for me.
1.3 What are the types of research?

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
One of the most common ways to classify research is by categorizing them
according to the data (gathered and analyzed). According to the data
gathered, research can be classified into two kinds: quantitative and
qualitative research. To put it simply, quantitative research deals with

numbers whereas qualitative research deals with words.
In quantitative study, data is usually analyzed using computer software

(e.g. t-test) and presented in numerical forms (by using percentage, for
example). Quantitative studies usually start with a (written) hypothesis that
needs to be “tested” by conducting the research. In contrast, qualitative
studies start with the assumption that the research topic must be
understood “holistically” (McKay, 2006, p. 6). This is done by taking into
account a variety of factors that might affect the participants.
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Table 1.3 below gives a summary of the differences between qualitative

and quantitative drawn from different sources (Bryman, 2001; McKay,
2006).
Table 1.3: Qualitative vs. quantitative research
No Qualitative Quantitative
1. Purpose To understand a To generalize, to
phenomenon or predict, and to show
individuals a causal relationship
2. The research On-going, dynamic Static: fixed, decided
question (can change) and can prior to collecting the
be changed data.
3. Participants Tend to be a small Large number
number, even one
person.
4. Length of study Long-term Short-term
5. Data display Participants’ words Using numerical
and stories figures, percentage
(narratives). and/or table
6. Language Descriptive Technical
7. Data analysis Interpretative analysis Statistical analysis
by categorizing data
according to, for
example, emerging
themes.
Activity 1.7
Read the purpose of research below and decide whether it tends to be

qualitative or quantitative.
1. To compare students’ writing competence between those using

computers and those using paper-and-pencil.
2. To explore students’ understanding of the word ‘culture.’
3. To explore the effects of using music in teaching writing.
4. To understand the ways students use the mother tongue in writing.
5. To see the effectiveness of peer feedback on the students’ revision
process.
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What is Research? 11
Primary vs. Secondary Research

Brown and Rodgers (2002) explain that primary research is a study based
on “original data” (p.10). Original data here mean the researchers collect
the data themselves, for example, by using interviews, questionnaires,
observations, and students’ journals.
Secondary research, by contrast, is research based on secondary data such

as books, articles, and information obtained from the Internet. In other
words, you are using the data collected by other people. Secondary
research is very common in the field of literature or when you are going to
write literature review for your primary research.
Activity 1.8
Classify the research report titles into primary (P) and/or secondary (S) by
putting a check mark (√) into the appropriate column.
No Research report titles P S

1. Doing second language research.
2. Learners’ constructions of identities and imagined
communities.
3. Is there language acquisition after 40? Older learners
speak up.
4. Autobiography and learner diversity.
5. The craft of research.
Appendix C provides a summary of the different types of research.

Basic vs. Applied Research

For McKay (2006), the purpose of basic research is to “acquire knowledge
for the sake of knowledge” (p.4). The main goal of such research is to gain
fuller understanding of the world. Examples of basic research are studies
that seek to understand the order that second language learners acquire and
develop grammatical competence.
Applied research, by contrast, aims to find strategies to overcome real-

world problems. It deals mainly with human and societal problems.
Examples of such research is research that focuses on finding the factors
contributing to students’ reluctance in participating in a classroom, the
most effective strategies in giving feedback, and the most effective
strategies in using group work.
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Activity 1.9
Classify the research purposes below into basic (B) research and/or
applied research (A) by putting a check mark (√) into the appropriate
column.
No Research report titles B A

1. To understand students’ conceptualization of the term
‘culture.’
2. To find out the different ways of giving teacher
written feedback.
3. To understand the effect of race on students’ identity
construction.
4. To explore English teachers’ understanding of the
concept ‘good writing.’
5. To know the effective ways to improve students’
reading comprehension.
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program. In G. Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language
teaching (pp. 122-144). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Seidlhofer, B. (1999). Double standards: Teacher education in the

expanding circle. World Englishes, 18, 233-244.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of
choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27, 4-13.
Toohey, K. (2000). Young children and language learning: Social
relations and classroom practice. Paper presented at the American
Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and
identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wong, J. (2007). East meets West, or does it really? In A. Besemeres & A.
Wierzbicka (Eds.), Translating lives: Living with two languages and
cultures (pp. 70-82). Queensland: University of Queensland Press.
Young, R. F. (2008). English and Identity in Asia. Asiatic, 2(2), 1-13.
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16 Chapter One
Appendix 1.1:
Survey on students’ understanding of research
Dear Students,
This questionnaire is about your understanding and knowledge of research.
I would be very grateful if you would kindly answer this questionnaire.
Feel free to fill in the questionnaire in English or in ‘Bahasa
Indonesia’. Once you have finished typing your answers don’t forget to
save them. Many thanks.
Nugrahenny T Zacharias
1. How do you understand research?
Research is
2. What is the criteria of good research?

A good research has the following criteria.
First,
Second,
3. When was the last time you did research? Describe your research
with regards to
• What was it about?;

• Where was it?;
• What kinds of data you collected?; and
• What was your findings?
4. What is your attitude toward research?
Personal Particulars
Concerning your own background, please fill in the following:
1. Sex:
2. Age: years
3. What year are you: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 (circle accordingly)
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Appendix 1.2: Broad categories of research

(Adapted from Brown, 2001)
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CHAPTER TWO
WHAT IS THE COMPONENT OF A QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH REPORT?
Activity 2.1
In groups, try to think of four components that you often found in a

qualitative research report.
Due to the complexities of defining what research is, a more common way
to discuss research is by listing the components of research. An

exploration of qualitative studies in the literature illustrates that research
commonly consists of:
1. (Topics of Inquiry)
2. Research questions
3. Literature review
4. Methodology/Research design, which consists of:
a. Context of the study
b. Participants
c. Instruments of data collection
d. Procedure of data collection
e. Data analysis
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5. (Limitation of the study)

6. Findings
7. Conclusion
8. References
In the paragraphs that follow I will describe each component briefly.
2.1. (Topic of Inquiry (ToI))

Topic of inquiry is mostly implicit in a report of a study. That is the reason
I put it in brackets. Even though the topic of inquiry is implicit, identifying
a topic of inquiry of your research, or “area of inquiry” as McKay (2006)
calls it, helps identify the theoretical framework for your study. A topic of
inquiry can often be in the form of “key words” that many academic
articles often cite on the first page.
Examples of topics of inquiry are the following:
Students’ use of mother tongue Complimenting strategies

The use of audio visuals in teaching Teaching materials
Teachers’ feedback Students’ silence
Group work Teacher positive feedback
Pronunciation Nativeness in ELT
From the examples above, it can be seen that ToI can be either general or
specific. For example, the ToI ‘teachers’ feedback’ is more general than
‘teacher positive feedback.’ However, you can also choose a more specific
ToI such as ‘teacher positive written feedback.’ The different natures of
the ToIs can be illustrated in Figure 1.
The three concentric circles of the ToIs are drawn in broken lines instead
of solid lines to show that the divide between the general and specific ToIs
can sometimes be ‘fuzzy’ and not well-defined. In my experience, a
specific ToI might serve as a catalyst and save a lot of energy in selecting
reading materials that help your study. As vividly illustrated in Figure 1, a
general ToI such as ‘teacher feedback’ covers a wider area than a more
specific ToI such as ‘teacher positive feedback.’ This wide area also
reflects the abundant reading materials that you need to cover.
However, this does not mean that choosing a general ToI has no value.
Perhaps, for beginning researchers, it will be more helpful to choose a
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What is the Component of a Qualitative Research Report? 21
more general ToI. By doing so, you can develop ‘a feel’ of the kinds of
study commonly conducted in that field of study. ToIs that are too specific
may lead you to overlook areas of study or cause you not to pay enough
attention to a wide range of research topics, topics that might be more of
interest to you.
Figure 2.1: General vs. specific topic of inquiry
Activity 2.2
In groups, try to develop a series of topics of inquiry (ToIs) on the same

topic and then place them in the following continuum:
ToI 1:
ToI 2:
ToI 3:
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2.2 Research Question

The research question is the actual question you would attempt to answer
in your research. Thus, it should be framed in a question format.
According to Maxwell (2005, p.67), a research question serves two

functions. First, it helps to focus your study, and second, it provides
guidance on how to conduct the study such as who should be the
participants of the study and how the data should be collected and
appropriately analyzed.
Details on how to construct a research question will be discussed in

Chapter 2.
2.3 Literature Review

In the ‘literature review’ section, you discuss key words (e.g. definition),
theoretical framework, theories and research findings related to your
study/ToI. This section helps you to position your study in the wider field
and to illustrate how your topic has been addressed elsewhere.
Additionally, the literature review helps the readers to see the potential
contribution your study might bring to the field.
2.4 Methodology
Simply put, a ‘methodology’ section is about how you would go about
answering your research question. The methodology section of a
qualitative study most often would cover:
(a) Context of the Study
‘Context of the study’ generally describes where the study took place. It
usually gives two types of information:
• General information
This includes information such as the country and the
town where the study was conducted. It can also include
the kind of school from which participants were drawn,
such as a university, a middle school, or a community
college.
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• Specific information
Specific information is usually directly related to the
research question or the purpose of the study. Whereas
‘general information’ tends to be similar from one
qualitative study to another, specific information most
often varies across studies because it is related to the
nature of a given study.
An example of context of the study follows:

The setting (of the study) is a small tertiary level language school. It is
located in the small town of Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia. English is
not actively used in oral communication activities in this place. Learners
rarely have opportunities to communicate orally and directly with
foreigners. The subject of this small-scale study is the English Department
students. The school has a two-hour pronunciation course at the beginning
of the first academic year. The pronunciation teaching most of the time
follows British and American models of teaching materials. There is no
native speaker (NS) teacher at this school. Learners’ pronunciation models
are the nonnative speakers of English (Adapted from Manara, 2007, p. 76).
The description of context of the study above is good because it includes

both general and specific information of where the study took place. Table
2.1 below gives the details of both the general and specific information:
Table 2.1: General and specific information in the context of the study
Category General information Specific

information
Kind of school A small tertiary level
language school
Geographical information Salatiga, Central
Java, Indonesia
Status of English English is not
actively used in oral
communication
Contact with English Learners rarely have
speakers contact with English
speakers
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The Pronunciation class • Runs for 2 hours

• At the
beginning of
first year
Teaching Received
materials/pronunciation Pronunciation (RP),
models British/ General
American (GA)
The model of English Nonnative speaker
speakers in learners’ English teachers
contexts
When writing the context of the study, it is crucial to include contextual

information (both general and specific) so that other qualitative
researchers can replicate or model your research. Moreover, by giving a
detailed description of the settings, other researchers can decide for
themselves which part of your study can be applied or adapted to their
own contexts. According to McKay (2006), the thick description of the
context of the study helps to ensure the external validity or
“transferability” (p.13) of your study.
Activity 2.3
Look at the examples of context of study and make a list of the kinds of
information described. Place the information in the appropriate column as
in Table 2.1. You can add more rows, as needed.
Before beginning the research, I had been a teacher in a multilingual

primary school in Birmingham. During this time I had taught many

Bangladeshi children and found that their parents were often the least
visible at the school site. At the same time, evidence was emerging
that Bangladeshi children were not attaining as highly as other groups
in the primary years (Gillborn & Gipps, 1996). For these reasons I
chose to investigate questions of language, power, and identity in the
context of interactions between Bangladeshi families and their
children’s teachers.
The study focuses on a single school in an inner-city area of

Birmingham. At the time of data collection in 1996, 21% of children
in the school were of Bangladeshi origin, and 73% of Pakistani origin.
The remainder was a variety of groups, including White British, Malay
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and African-Caribbean. The school provided an extensive number of

placements for teacher education students who were attached to local
and remote institutions of higher education.
The school was well-known to me, as I had been a teacher there for
years. I selected this school because I was known to some of the staff,
and I already had some knowledge of the local community. This would
provide relative ease of access and assist the school-based interview
and observation process, where existing bonds of trust and professional
understanding would be invaluable. Several years had put sufficient
distance between the data collection period and my time as a teacher in
the school, without greatly diminishing the opportunity to capitalize on
existing relationships. A further reason for the selection of this school
was its high standing in the region as a school with an excellent
reputation for working positively with its community (Adapted from
Blackledge, 2001, p. 57).
Category General information Specific information
There is no required length when giving a description of the context of the

study. However, it is important to describe information contributing to the
study in as much detail as possible so that other potential researchers can
replicate the study, should they decide to do so.
(b) Participants
The ‘Participants’ section addresses the question “Who/what are you

studying?” This can include: people, people’s language use, people’s
stories, silence, and etc. In this section information often includes, among
others:
− The total number of participants selected for the study

− The age range, gender, and ethnicity of the participants
− The language repertoire & language history of the participants
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26 Chapter Two
− The relationship between the researcher with the participants. This

includes how the researcher meets the participants.
− Underlying reasons for selecting the participants and the method
use for selecting them.
It needs to be noted that when describing participants, it is ethical to use

pseudonyms rather than real names. The use of pseudonyms protects the
identity of the participants from any unexpected implications as a result of
being involved in your research project.
The following are different techniques for choosing participants in

qualitative studies:
− Random sampling (McKay, 2006, p. 36). This is a sampling technique

most commonly used in quantitative study. In a random sampling,
every individual in a particular population has an equal chance of
being included in the survey. Brown and Rodgers (2002, p. 72)
suggest the following procedure to ensure that each individual has
an equal chance of being chosen as a participant:
Identify clearly the population in the survey.
Assign an identification number to each individual in the
population.
Choose the members of the sample on the basis of a certain
formula. For example: every odd number, or every fifth
person, etc.
− A sample of convenience (McKay, 2006, p. 37). This is the selection
of participants based on the people who are easily accessible to
you.
− Purposive sampling or “criterion-based” selection (Blackledge,

2001, p. 57). When you select the participants purposefully, this
means you select a group of people that can meet certain criteria.
For example, in conducting a study on bilingual English children,
you might want to select participants who are bilinguals in English
and their mother tongue.
− Snowballing sampling. This is a technique where you choose a few
participants, or I call it “core’ participants, and then, you ask the
core participants to introduce other potential participants.
The selection techniques can be used either separately or in combination

with one another.
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McKay (2006) notes that there are two important things crucial to the
selection of participants:
(a) they need to be related to the purpose of the research

(b) they need to be a representative sample of the population.
It needs to be noted that the description of participants is significantly

different in qualitative and quantitative study. In a qualitative study, the
description of participants tends to be richer and more detail.
Activity 2.4
Read the following examples of description for participants in different

studies. In groups, identify the methods/techniques for participants’
selection just discussed above.
(A) This study surveyed 177 university students in both diploma and
degree courses in Universiti Teknology MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam.
Students attending this university are involved in the learning of
English as part of the course structure and are required to take
English subjects. They are also encouraged to use computers in the
classroom or at home to write essays, assignments and projects for
their courses. The classes were taught by different lecturers but
sometimes each lecturer might have been involved in one or two
classes (Taken from Mahmood & Ghouse, 2007, p. 120).
Method for participant selection:
(B) The participants in the study were selected from among the 138
respondents in my earlier questionnaire study (Umino, 1999) based

on their experiences. The following factors were considered in order
to obtain a group of students with a variety of experiences:
− Course completion/withdrawal from a course

− Use of radio only/use of television only/use of both radio and
television
− Use of a number of series/use of a few series
− Studying just one language/studying more than one language
using broadcast materials
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28 Chapter Two
Having considered the above, 20 participants were selected from

those who had indicated willingness to be interviewed in response to
a questionnaire item. All of the students were language majors and
generally shared a high interest in languages. Their experiences,
particularly those of the successful persisters, may not represent
those of typical Japanese university students, but since the study
hoped to investigate the cases of ‘good persisters’ (in parallel to
‘good language learners’), this was regarded as appropriate (Taken
from Umino, 2004, p. 137).
(C) The participants of this study were the writers of critical reading
journals in the English Department at a private university in Central
Java in 2009. One semester the students were asked to write three
journals. The journals were collected from one class with 35
students. 20 journals were selected from the first journals. The
journals were written based on an article of any topic the students
liked. The article was in English and about two or three pages long.
Students could write their opinions about the text, such as why they
were interested in the article, whether they agreed or disagreed with
the writer’s idea, and what parts they liked or disliked and why.
(D) The respondents for this study were 30 final year students from the
Bachelor of Education (TESL) programme in Unimas. They were
students in their final semester of a four-year degree programme
where a majority would be posted to the secondary schools
throughout Sarawak upon completion of the programme. They have

already take literature courses, which include short story, novel,
poetry, the play, Malaysian and South-East Asian literature as well as
comparative literature and literary criticism. The respondents are
considered appropriate as they are the ones that would make the
necessary link between the knowledge and skills, particularly the
knowledge on literary theories, which they have gained from the
course and the application of these theories in the actual classroom
(Taken from Jerome, 2007, p. 98).
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(E) The study was the result of a collaboration between myself and a 24-
year-old male Saudi Arabian fifth-year medical student, Hamad, at
the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. Unusually among my former
students, Hamad has made a point of seeking me out for guidance in
language learning matters over the past several years. His readiness
to analyze and pursue his English learning goals singled him out as
an appropriate candidate for this study, which he undertook
willingly.
Hamad began learning English as a school subject in Saudi Arabia
and then continued his formal study of English at two university
prepatory programmes one intensive semester at King Fahad
University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia, prior to being admitted to the medical college, and then for
two terms as part of his premedical year courses (Year 1) at Arabian
Gulf University (AGU) in Bahrain. He thus completed his formal
language training as part of his academic requirements in 1997. In
addition, Hamad attended a two-week intensive English course in the
USA in 1994, where he lived with a family and spent an additional
week in a hotel. He also recently completed a course at a private
language institute in Bahrain. Many friends and colleges at AGU
who are fluent bilingual Arabic-English speakers have also had a
strong influence in his English practice, beliefs and assumptions.
Hamad has also been exposed to English through his medical studies,
although he strongly discounts its influence on his language
development (Taken from Malcom, 2004, p. 70).
(F) First, we wanted the research participants to represent a diversity of

technological skills. Second, we wanted research participants’

motivation to integrate technology into their teaching practice to be
different. Third, it was important to have diversity of languages and
experiences. Forth, as racial and ethnic minorities interested in
multicultural education, we wanted to have different genders, races,
and ethnicities represented. Finally, the research participants needed
to be enrolled full-time in the program.
The participants in the larger study were six full-time graduate
students who complete the M.Ed. program in either French, German,
Spanish, Latin, or Japanese. In this chapter we are going to focus on
two of the participants named Michaela and Andre (pseudonyms)
whose honesty and experience caught our attention. We choose to
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30 Chapter Two
foreground their stories, because for each of these two women,

integration of technological tools to enhance their teaching was
intertwined with their own identity as women of color (Bangou &
Wong, 2009).
From the activity above, it can be seen that the length and depth of
participants’ description can vary from one research to another. When
describing your research participants, I found it helpful to continually ask
“How does certain information contribute to my research?” To a certain
extent, this question will help you “filter” the kinds of information that
need to be included in the participant description.
(c) Instruments of Data Collection
The literature on instruments of data collection method is extensive and

growing. Despite the growth, typical instruments of data collection often
include one or even a combination of the following:
o Questionnaire (open-ended and closed-ended)

o Interviews (unstructured, structured, focus group, think-
aloud protocol)
o Observation (direct and recorded)
o Field notes
o (Teacher and learners) Diaries
Again, the instruments of data collection you choose should be related to

the overall purpose of the study and the research question. For example, if
you intend to study how parents contribute to the development of

children’s language attitudes, perhaps you can use an interview rather than
a questionnaire. This is because a questionnaire to some extent limits your
access to probe further if interesting responses emerge.
(d) Data Collection Procedure
In the data collection procedure, you simply describe, most often in a step-
by-step manner, the things you do to collect the data. This section is
particularly useful for other novice qualitative researchers who would like
to replicate your research.
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The following are some examples of ‘data collection procedure’ sections

that might be useful to learn from when writing a research report.
Example 1 of ‘data procedure’ section: Taken from Jerome (2007, pp.

98-99):
The data for the study were collected using a three-part feedback form
where the respondents were required to respond to and reflect on a set of
questions for each of these parts:
1. The first part required the respondents to reflect on the nature of

the course and the knowledge and skills that they gained.
2. The second part focused on the syllabus for the literature in the
English subject, which emphasized the learning outcomes and
specifications of the language for aesthetic use. The respondents
were also required to reflect on selected questions for PMR and
SPM English exam papers (2004-2005) in order for the
researcher to find out whether the syllabus and the questions
allowed, limited and/or restrained them from applying literary
theories to teach literary texts.
3. The final part of the feedback form focused on the problems in
teaching literature in the English classroom. The respondents
were asked to recall the problems that they faced during their
three-month teaching practice and see whether the problems limit
and/or restrain them from applying the theories and whether they
might face similar problems if they were to apply the theories.
The researcher distributed three parts on three separate occasions.
They were given a day to respond to and reflect on the questions
and submit their responses on the following day. The researcher
had to collect all the parts before conducting a series of class

discussions with the respondents, asking them the questions that
were stated in the feedback form. This was done in order to
gather more data that the respondents might not have included in
their responses.
Example 2 of ‘data procedure’ section: Taken from Prathoomthin

(2009, p. 295):
The instrument for data collection was a list of selected Thai movies.
Though the movies are commercial, they were implemented as an
authentic material for non-profit and educational purposes. Each
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32 Chapter Two
participant was asked to choose to watch a Thai movie from the given list
and watch it at his or her own time. After viewing the movie, the
participants were asked to write their perceptions of Thai culture learned
from the movie. They were allowed to write it in English as it is hoped that
they would be able to articulate and express their views better. Also, given
the participants’ language proficiency, they still lack expressions to
express their views critically in the target language. Having received the
participants’ write-ups (averaging 1 page in length), I have categorized
their reflection of Thai culture through Thai films into different themes as
demonstrated later in the Findings. The selected films are:
− “Overture” by Itthisunthorn Wichailak

− “Citizen Dog” by Wisit Ssanathieng
− “My Girl” by Nithiwat Tharaathorn
− “Long June” (name of the protagonist) by Kamol Srisawat
− “Suriyothai” (name of Thai Queen) by Chaatriichalerm Yukhon
− “Mor 8” (secondary school 8) by Yongyoot Phinitphong
Criteria for choosing the movies are as follows:
− availability of the film

− appropriateness in terms of language use, contents, scenes
− English subtitle provided (to suit the learners’ language proficiency
and to serve the main aim of the study whereby perceptions of Thai
culture are to be explored)
Example 3 of ‘data procedure’ section: Taken from Shoaib and

Dornyei (2004, pp. 27-28):
A semi-structured interview type was adopted for the study, involving a

relatively fixed interview schedule but also allowing, and even
encouraging, the interviewees to elaborate on the particular issues. The
interviews took 15-20 minutes on average and were recorded and
transcribed.
The interview schedule consisted of two parts. The first line of questioning
involved general questions to gain background knowledge and to set the
scene. They focused on topics such as the reasons for learning English;
attitudes towards English; satisfaction with current level of language
proficiency; description of the language classes the person had attended;
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level of motivation; and the positive/negative factors that affected the

learning environment. The second set of questions concentrated on how
the interviewee’s motivation changed over the years. We were particularly
interested in some prominent motivational ups and downs. The interview
was concluded by narrowing the topic further down by ‘zooming in’ on
the interviewees’ motivational changes during the past year.
o Data Analysis
In the ‘data analysis’ section, you describe how the data collected is
analyzed. Remember in qualitative studies, the data is not necessarily
analyzed qualitatively. It is also common for qualitative data to be
analyzed quantitatively by counting the frequency of emerging themes.
The following paragraphs provide examples of the different ways
researchers wrote their ‘data analysis’ sections. In many studies, the data
collection might be combined with data analysis into one section.
Example 1 of ‘data analysis’ section: Taken from Jerome (2007, p.

99):
All three parts of the feedback form were separately analyzed. The
responses were categorized as ‘positive’ (agree), ‘negative’ (disagree), and
‘neutral’ (not sure), which were then converted into percentages to show
major patterns that would answer the research objectives.
The researcher further analyzed the three major categories of responses in

order to identity the ‘problems’ and/or ‘realities’ that the respondents
faced in applying literary theories in the actual classroom. Finally, the
‘problems’ or ‘realities’ would later be used to describe the respondents’
level of readiness that the study seeks to find out.
Example 2 of ‘data procedure’ section: Taken from Shoaib and

Dornyei (2004, p. 28):
As described in more detail in Miles and Huberman (1994) and Crabtree

and Miller (1992), the method of analysis employed in this study followed
a ‘template approach’ to data processing. This is a special organizing style
of interpretation that uses an analysis guide, or template, as the starting
point of the analytical process. We first prepared a template of codes that
were relevant to our research questions and then applied them to the actual
data. Much of the focus of this interpretation style is on systematically
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34 Chapter Two
reducing the data so that it can be displayed in an explicit form for

interpretation. The grouped extracts corresponding to the various codes
were then considered together, and interconnections forming broader
patterns were established. We also prepared individual ‘time charts’ to
describe each participant temporal motivational progression.
Example 3 of ‘data analysis’ section: Adapted from Bayyurt (2006, p. 238)

A semi-structured interview was designed to elicit the views of the
teachers on the following issues: (i) the concept of ‘culture’ (question 1-3);
(ii) the content and context of cultural information in the EFL classrooms
(question 4-7); and (iii) the strengths and weaknesses of non-native
English-speaking teachers (questions 8-10). A thematic analysis based on
the research questions was done by generating categories and then themes
from the answers given by the respondents. The interview was intended to
be exploratory and descriptive to follow up on similar studies of teachers’
and learners’ views on the role of culture in EFL. Therefore, independent
variables such as teachers’ age, gender, nationality and years of
experience, although indicated, were not taken into consideration in the
analysis. The following themes and sub-themes were identified in the data
analysis:
1. The teachers’ concepts of culture;

2. Cultural information in the EFL classroom:
a. Content of cultural information;
b. Reasons for presenting cultural information; and
c. Reasons for omitting cultural information
3. The role of non-native educators in presenting cultural
information.
Activity 2.5
From the above examples (Examples 1-3) identify:
1. Which examples combine the procedure of data collection and data

analysis into one section?
2. When you are able to identify the example, discuss:
(a) Which information should belong to the ‘procedure for
data collection’ section and which should belong to the
‘data analysis’ section.
(b) The writer’s possible reasons for combining the two
sections.
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Activity 2.6
Read the following description of data analysis. Decide whether the

following paragraph includes appropriate information for a data analysis
section.
1. After the main data is collected, I start to analyze the data by reading
the teachers’ answers first, counting the number of each option
(number 1-27), and finding the percentage of each number of what
the English teachers do to prepare students for the National
examination. Finally, after finishing that, I summarize the data and
find out the result.
Two major criticisms of qualitative studies are first, qualitative studies are
difficult to replicate, and second, they lack transparency (Bryman, 2001).
Bryman (2001) explains that sometimes in qualitative study reports it is
unclear how the participants are selected and how the data collected is
analyzed. By contrast, in quantitative research reports, sometimes there are
laborious accounts of sampling and data analysis procedures.
In responding to these criticisms, thus, McKay (2006) points out that

detailed descriptions of methodology in qualitative studies are significant
to ensure external validity or “transferability” (p.13) of the research. A
detailed description of methodology will help other researchers who would
like to replicate your study in their own teaching and learning contexts.
2.5 Limitations of the Study

Although a ‘limitations of the study’ section is not commonly found in
research reports, especially the quantitative ones, I do feel this section is

important because it describes the situational and contextual constraints of
the study. Thus, the study could not be generalized to other contexts.
However, you should be careful and ‘wise’ in writing the limitations of the
study because too many ‘confessions’ on the limitations might make your
study unreliable, and the readers might doubt the findings. Following are
two examples of good ‘limitation of the study’ sections:
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Example 1 of ‘limitation of the study’ section: Adapted from Pavlenko

(2001, pp. 139-140):
Three limitations of the present study need to be acknowledged before we

proceed further. To begin with, recognizing that different speech
communities have different life-storytelling conventions, I chose to focus
on stories told or written in English in the US. This story limits my
discussion to discursive performances of gender in American English and
leaves the question of how gendered subjectivities may be constructed in
narratives in other language to further investigation. Another important
limitation is the fact that, with the exception of a few expatriate narratives,
the L2 learners and users in the study are discussing their socialization into
a society viewed as dominant where power relations between the majority
and minority languages are unequal. It is quite possible that the stories told
in other cultures and in other languages may paint a very different picture
of language socialization and transformation of gender performance.
Finally, most of the narratives in the question are written or told by
relatively successful middle-class individuals who had successfully
acquired English. While the narratives of Americans who had attempted to
learn another language allow us some glimpses into the nature of ‘failure’
in L2 learning, it is a failure experienced by speakers of a powerful
language. Only further study could illuminate the experiences of
immigrants who did not achieve a similar success in L2 learning and/or
positioning themselves in their second language.
Despite these limitations, which I hope will be overcome in future

research, I am positive that examination of first person L2 learning
narratives offers a productive way to expand the study of SLA. In the
present chapter, these narratives will allow me to examine how gender
subjectivities, shaped by ideologies of language and gender, may be

questioned, challenged, negotiated, and restructured in the process of
second language socialization.
Example 2 of ‘limitation of the study’ section: Taken from

Prathoomthin (2009, p. 295):
As mentioned earlier, to serve as a tool to trigger the participants’

perceptions of the target culture, an appropriate Thai film with English
subtitles is needed. Nevertheless, it is quite difficult to find such a good
choice. In addition, due to the time constraints, I could not show all
selected films to all participants in a common theatre. I also wished to
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watch a movie with each participant so that we would be able to have a

discussion on the culture portrayed right after the show. It is believed that
this activity will motivate their interest in the target language and culture
even more.
I hope to be able in the future to conduct a further study in class whereby

all students watch the very same movie excerpt followed by a discussion
in the Thai language on the target culture perceived through the movie
clip.
Activity 2.7
Read Examples 1 & 2 above and discuss with your friends if the two
authors are ‘wise’ in their descriptions of the limitation of their studies.
Explain your answer!
5.6. Findings
The ‘findings’ section is where you display, analyze and interpret the data.
This section can be organized based on:
− research questions (see, among others, Bayyurt, 2006; de
Mello, Krishnasamy, & Nair, 2007);
− emerging themes (take for example, Prathoomthin, 2009;
Shoaib & Dornyei, 2004). This can be further narrowed
down into sub-themes.
Whatever the organization you use, it is better to write how your data is
organized (either based on research questions or emerging themes) so that
it is easier for the readers to understand the data analysis process.
2.6. Conclusion
In the conclusion section, you basically put together what you’ve said in
the previous sections. This includes:
− Restating the purpose of the study and perhaps reminding the

readers of the research question(s).
− Summarizing the main findings.
− Positioning your study within the previous and recent literature or
theories in the field you are studying.
− Stating the pedagogical or theoretical implications of your findings.
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Maxwell (2005) notes that the ‘conclusion’ section should answer “So
what?” and should underline the importance of conducting the study.
2.7 References
The ‘References’ section is where you alphabetically list the sources you
actually cited. It should not be a bibliography (i.e. all the sources you
might have read but did not cite) of relevant literature.
The references section usually follows one style. This can be MLA, APA,
or others. Therefore, when constructing the references section, make sure
you ask the teacher or your institution of which style to follow.
Appendix 2.3 provides you with a template of the components of a

qualitative research report.
Activity 2.8
In groups, watch the movie “Erin Brokovich.” Focus on the section where
she conducted the study. In a group:
(a) Complete the charts in Appendix A detailing her study.

Appendix B gives you examples on the kind of information
needed to be written in each column.
(b) List all of the things you have learned about research from
watching the movie.
References
Bayyurt, Y. (2006). Non-native English language teachers' perspective on

culture in English as a foreign language classrooms. Teacher
development, 10(2), 233-247.
Blackledge, A. (2001). Complex positionings: Women negotiating identity
and power in a minority urban setting. In A. Pavlenko, A. Blackledge,
I. Piller & M. Teutsch-Dwyer (Eds.), Multilingualism, second
language learning, and gender. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Bryman, A. (2001). Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
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Crabtree, B. F., & Miller, W. L. (1992). A template approach to text

analysis: Developing and use codebooks. In B. F. Crabtree & W. L.
Miller (Eds.), Doing qualitative research (pp. 93-109). Newbury Park:
Sage.
de Mello, G., Krishnasamy, R., & Nair, R. (2007). Listening strategies in
tertiary ESL classrooms. In J. Mukundan & S. Menon (Eds.), ELT
matters 4: Developments in English language learning and teaching
(pp. 135-145). Selangor: University of Malaysia.
Gillborn, D., & Gipps, C. (1996). Recent research on the achievements of
ethnic minority pupils. London: HMSO.
Jerome, C. (2007). Literary theory in the ESL literature classroom:
Considering students' readiness. In J. Mukundan & S. Menon (Eds.),
ELT matters 4: Developments in English language learning and
teaching (pp. 97-116). Selangor: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
LeCompte, M. D., & Preissle, J. (1993). Ethnography and qualitative
design in educational research (2nd ed.). San Diego: Academic Press.
Mahmood, F., & Ghouse, R. M. (2007). Motivational aspects of using
computers for writing among the Malaysian ESL students. In J.
Mukundan & S. Menon (Eds.), ELT matters 4: Developments in
English language learning and teaching (pp. 117-134). Selangor:
Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
Malcom, D. (2004). An Arabic-speaking English learner's path to
autonomy through reading. In P. Benson & D. Nunan (Eds.), Learners'
stories: Difference and diveristy in language learning (pp. 69-82).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Manara, C. (2007). Learners' attitudes toward different speech varieties: A
small-scale survey report. In J. Mukundan & S. Menon (Eds.), ELT
matters 4: Developments in English language learning and teaching.
Selangor: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive

approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An
expanded sourcebook (2nd edition). London: Sage.
Pavlenko, A. (2001). "How am i to become a woman in an American
vein"?: Transformations of gender performance in second language
learning. In A. Pavlenko, A. Blackledge, I. Piller, M. Teutsch-Dwyer
& . (Eds.), Multilingualism, second language learning, and gender (pp.
133-174). Berlin: Mouyon de Gruyter.
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40 Chapter Two
Prathoomthin, S. (2009). Learners' perceptions of culture through movies.

e-FLT, 6(1), 291-301.
Shoaib, A., & Dornyei, Z. (2004). Affect in lifelong learning: Exploring
L2 motivation as a dynamic process. In P. Benson & D. Nunan (Eds.),
Learners' stories: Difference and diversity in language learning (pp.
22-41). Cambrige Cambridge University Press.
Umino, T. (1999). The use of self-instructional broadcase materials for L2
learning: An investigation in the Japanese context. System, 27(3), 309-
327.
Umino, T. (2004). Learning a second langauge with broadcast materials at
home: Japanese students' long-term experiences. In P. Benson & D.
Nunan (Eds.), Learners' stories: Difference and diversity in language
learning (pp. 134-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Appendix 2.1: Data planning matrix

for the film “Erin Brokovich”
What do she Why do she What kind of Where can Whom
needs to know need to do data will she find does she
to conduct the the study? answer the the data? contact for
study? question? access?
(Adapted from Maxwell, 2005, p. 100)

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42 Chapter Two
Appendix 2.2: An example of data planning matrix to

study American Indian at-risk high school students
What do I Why do I What kind of Where can Whom do
need to ask need to do data will I find the I contact
to conduct the study? answer the data? for
the study? question? access?
What are the To assess Computerized Attendance Mr. Joe
truancy rates the impact student offices; Smitch,
for American of attendance assistant high
Indian attendance records. principal’s school
students? on offices or assistance
American all schools principal.
Indian Dr.
students’ Amanda
persistence Jones,
in school. middle
school
principal.
What is the To assess Norm- and Counseling High
academic the impact criterion- offices school and
achievement of academic referenced middle
of the student performance test scores; school
in the study? on grades on counselors;
American teacher-made classroom
Indian tests; grades teachers
students’ on report
persistence cards; student
in school portfolios
What do To discover Formal and Homeroom Principals
American what factors informal classes; of high
Indian lead to anti- student meetings school and
students school interviews; with middle
dislike about attitudes student survey individual schools;
school? among students; parents of
American homeroom students;
Indian teachers homeroom
students teachers
(Adapted from LeCompte & Preissle, 1993)
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What does I need to ask Why do I need to What kind of Where can I find Whom do I contact Time lines for
to conduct the study? do the study? data will answer the data? for access? execution of
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(‘Research questions) the question? the plan for
the study
What is the English- To assess the Language- Counseling Counselors’ test Collect test
language proficiency of relationship assessment test offices; ESL records; classroom scores; Sept 15
the students? between language scores; classroom teachers’ offices teachers Teacher survey:
proficiency, teacher attitudes Oct 10-15
academic survey; ESL class ESL class
performance, and grades grades: End of
persistence in fall semester &
school. end of school
year
What do teachers think To assess teacher Teacher survey; --- Building principals; Teacher
about their students’ expectations o teacher interviews individual classroom interviews: Nov
capabilities? student success teachers (subgroup)
Teacher survey:
April (all
teachers)
What do teachers know To assess Teacher Individual Building principals; Teacher
about the home culture of teachers’ cultural interviews; teachers’ individual classroom interviews: Nov
their students? awareness teacher survey; classroom & teachers; assistant (subgroup)
proofs of records superintendance for Teacher survey:
attendance in staff development April (All
staff development teachers)
activities
(Adapted from LeCompte & Preissle, 1993)
44 Appendix 2.3: Components of a Qualitative
Appendix 2.3: Components of a Qualitative

Research Report
(Adapted from Maxwell, 2005)
Title:
By:
Abstract
(150-200 words)
In the abstract, you write a concise summary of your research, which
includes the aim of your research, the significance, the research design,
summary of the major findings and pedagogical implications.
Key words (give 5-6 ToIs about your topic):
Introduction
In this section, you introduce the topic (ToI), why you chose the topic, the
aims of the study, and relevant studies related to your topic. In some
studies, you can also state your research question here.
Literature Review
In this section, you discuss the most important theories, ideas, and
knowledge (personal as well as based on research) that inform and shape
your study. Most importantly, in this section, you need to “interact” with
the knowledge. This means you need to combine what you say (your
opinion about the conceptual framework) and what “they” say (experts and
researchers opinions on the ToI).
The study
Context of the study
Write where the study took place. Remember in this section you have to
write general as well as specific information directly related to your topic.
Participants
In this section you write the number of the participants of your study and
how you select them. Additionally, you can write information about the
participants that are relevant to your study such as gender, age range,
length of learning English, and etc.
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Instruments of data collection

Write the instruments you use to collect your data.
Procedures of data collection

Write how you use the instruments of data collection. What you did first,
second, third, … and etc.
Data analysis
Here you need to write what theoretical framework you use to analyze
your data.
Findings (Discussion)
In this section, you write the findings of the study. The findings can be
organized based on emerging themes and/or research questions.
Conclusion
In writing your conclusion you can start by restating the aim of your study.
Write the general findings of your study as well as pedagogical and
theoretical implications of your study.
References
Bangou, F., & Wong, S. (2009). Race and technology in teacher education.
In R. Kubota & A. Lin (Eds.), Race, culture, and identities in second
language education: Exploring critically engaged practice (pp. 158-
175). London: Rouledge.
Bayyurt, Y. (2006). Non-native English language teachers' perspective on
culture in English as a foreign language classrooms. Teacher
development, 10(2), 233-247.
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CHAPTER THREE
THE RESEARCH QUESTION
Activity 3.1
It’s a Saturday, and you want to spend the evening by watching a movie.
However, you have no idea what movie you are going to watch. With your
friends, make a list of the things (in the form of questions) you will do to
find a movie to watch. Write your questions in Appendix 3.1 at the end of
this chapter. The first one has been done for you.
3.1 What is a research question?

In any study, whether it is quantitative or qualitative, the research question
is the “starting point”(Maxwell, 2005, p. 65) of your research journey. It
provides a foundation for thinking and planning other aspects of your
research design. Using traveling as a metaphor, a research question is the
destination of your journey, and where you choose to go to some extent
determines your means of transportation, what you will bring on the
journey, who you would like to accompany you, etc. According to
Maxwell (2005, p. 67), the research question serves two purposes:
a) To help you focus the study. A good formulated research question

serves as a screen when you later analyze the data. To put it simply,
it gives you a way to screen which data to include and which to
exclude. A failure to formulate a focused research question will
make you feel helpless and not knowing what to do when you find
yourself in front of mountains of data.
b) To provide guidance on how to conduct the research. Flick (2002)
argues that a good research question is “a point of reference for
checking the soundness of the research design” (p.50), the
appropriateness of the instruments of data collection, and the way
you interpret the data.
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48 Chapter Three
To put it simply, a research question gives an overview of the research

journey and prepares the researcher with the kinds of tools to ‘complete’
the journey.
Given the importance of a research question, it does not mean that

constructing a research question is a one-time deal. In fact, constructing a
good research question is a journey in itself. It is a process. In many
qualitative studies, many researchers often end up with a different research
question than the one they started with. Thus, Maxwell (2005) notes that
“well-constructed, focused research question are generally the result of an
interactive design process, rather than being the starting point for
developing a design” (p.66).
Since in a qualitative study constructing a good research question is a

process, being too attached to a research question early on would create
the danger of answering the wrong question or limiting your options to
switch to other potential research questions that might be more suitable to
your research purpose. Flick (2002) and Maxwell (2005) suggest it is
important for a qualitative researcher to conduct the study with “an open
mind” (Maxwell, 2005, p.65), one that is always open to new and perhaps,
surprising results. Other than having an open mind, you also need to have
a reflective attitude. By a reflective attitude, I mean continually revisiting
your initial research question after collecting a significant amount of data
and evaluating whether your initial research question corresponds to the
kind of data you collect.
3.2 Four Broad Orientations in Research

In constructing a research question, it is critical to understand how

qualitative research understands and constructs social reality and truth.
Generally there are four orientations in qualitative research:
1. Positivist
Positivist orientations of research are often associated with quantitative

research although they might also be used in qualitative research. The
positivist orientation to research has the following characteristics (Norum,
2008):
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The Research Question 49
• The beliefs of truth and reality. The beliefs that reality is “fixed and
has an orderly pattern” (p.738) and there is ONE truth and it can be
found.
• The language. The language tends to be factual and authoritative
such as referring to the researcher as “the researcher.”
• The status of the researcher. The voice of the research is dominant.
• The findings of the research. They tend to be expressed in
informative statements. Thus, it may read like a documentary.
According to Given (2008), the purpose of positivist orientation to

research is to “transform knowledge” (p.738) by supplementing the
existing knowledge base through research findings.
An example of the positive approach can be illustrated with the following
research question:
“Why do most students fail the English course?
In answering the above research question, a researcher with a positive

orientation would form a hypothesis that students fail the English course
for reasons, and these reasons could identify factors that contribute to
students’ failure. Underlying such a hypothesis is the belief of identifiable
factors that can be discovered and explained by research.
The methodology common in positivist orientation research is triangulation

because the researcher believes by triangulating different sources of data,
the truth can be found.
2. Interpretative
The interpretative orientation to research aims to understand the world

from the point of view of the participants (Norum, 2008). Thus, it aims to
transform the individual, rather than the knowledge base underlying the
research. The interpretative orientation to research has the following
characteristics (Norum, 2008):
• The beliefs of truth and reality. There is no one truth and no one
reality. Thus, there is no right or wrong.
• The language. The language has personalized tone, rich in
description and may be in the vernacular or non-standard language.
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• The status of the researcher. The voice of the researcher is “in the
background” (p.738). By contrast, the voice of the participants is
the primary.
• The findings of the research aims to stimulate individual
transformation.
An example of a research question with interpretative orientation is “How

did fourth year English Department students coped with the monolingual
approach ?” The ‘monolingual approach’ can simply be defined as the use
of the target language in learning the target language. For example, the use
of English-as-a-medium-of-instruction to learn English.
The intent of such a question would be to understand the monolingual
approach from the fourth year students’ perspectives. There is an
assumption that length of time (being in the fourth year) contributes to the
students’ perspective of the approach. By tapping into the experience of
the fourth year students, the researcher may gain a deeper understanding of
the monolingual approach and may gain an appreciation of what the
institution is doing to assure the success of the approach.
3. Participatory orientation
Given (2008) explains that this orientation is commonly employed to

improve the condition or setting by asking the participants to be in charge
of their own circumstances. The participatory orientation to research has
the following characteristics (Norum, 2008):
• The beliefs of truth and reality. Reality is not fixed and can be
“created” and “co-created” (Given, 2008, p.738) by both the
researcher and the participants.

• The language has pragmatic qualities. It is less technical than in
positivist research.
• The status of the researcher. The researcher is an active participant
in the study. The researcher’s perspective might be present
alongside the participants’ perspectives.
• The findings of the research. By doing this kind of research, it is
hoped that the research can transform the setting through taking
action guided by the study.
A common research question in the participatory orientation research is:

“What factors affect three students’ success in learning English?” In this
type of research, the focus is on the individual, as depicted in the research
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question above, rather than the organization. Besides understanding the

role of individual factors in English language learning, the research aims
to encourage individuals to take an active role in learning English
successfully.
4. Critical orientation
The critical orientation to research has the following characteristics

(Norum, 2008):
• The beliefs of truth and reality. Reality is seen as being shaped by

issues of knowledge and power. The assumption is that knowledge
and power can be used to oppress as well as to liberate.
• The language is generally provocative because it aims to work
toward “upsetting” (p.739) the status quo and encourages
transformation of not only individuals but also the entire systems
through questioning the structure.
• The finding of the research aims to illuminate issues of
marginalization and unequal distribution of power.
An example of a research question with a critical stance would be: “How

does gender contribute to students’ performance in the English course?”
The research question most often focuses on one topic (e.g. the effect of
gender). The aim of such a research question is to understand the role of
gender in students’ performance from the students’ own perspectives. The
assumption is that there is something in these individuals’ genders that has
led them to perform in a certain way and perhaps educational systems have
been set up in a way that facilitates the success of one gender over another.
Table 3.1 provides a summary of the four orientations. It is clear from the
above discussion that each research orientation has a different nature and
provides different interpretations on even the same topic. The question is
NOT which orientation is correct but rather which orientation the
researcher has chosen and why. As pointed out by Given (2008), different
orientations illuminate different things and they provide different kinds of
understandings. Additionally the different orientations also contribute to
the kind of research questions asked and how the researcher would go
about answering them.
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52 Chapter Three
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Table 3.1: A summary of four research orientations
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No Points of Positivist Interpretative Participatory Critical
Comparison
1. Purpose To transform To transform the To improve a To transform the
knowledge individual condition/setting entire system by
questioning the
status quo
2. Beliefs of reality & • Reality is fixed • No one truth • Reality is not fixed Reality is shaped by
truth • ONE truth • No one reality • Reality is co-created issues of knowledge
• Truth can be found • No right or wrong by the participants & & power
the researcher
3. Role of researchers Dominant In the background Equal with the Active/proactive
participants (the
perspective of the
researcher is presented
with the participants).
4. Role of participants Subordinate to the In the Foreground; Equal with the researcher
researcher. primary
5. Language Factual Personalized tone, rich Pragmatic in quality Provocative;
Authoritative description argumentative
6. Methodology/kinds Triangulation; Narrative research, Action research
of research statistical figures case study research
Much quantitative
research (e.g.
experimental research)
Activity 3.2
Classify the following research questions into the Positivist (P),

Interpretative (I), Participatory (Pt) or Critical (C) orientation by putting a
check mark (√) in the appropriate column.
No Research questions P I Pt C
1. What is the role of student journals in
improving students’ writing competence?
2. How do various raters evaluate non-native
speakers’ English language oral
proficiency?
3. To what extent does student ethnicity (e.g.
Javanese, Chinese, Timorese,
Manadonese, etc) affect student classroom
participation?
4. Does the student overall speaking
performance improve after the cross-age
tutoring service?
5. What are the learners’ attitudes towards
the pronunciation of the four different
users of English?
6. How do five Asian adult (over 40)
learners experience learning English?
What factors affect their second language
acquisition processes?
7. What is the relationship between
sociolinguistic norms such as politeness
and the manner in which teachers

comment and the manner in which
students respond to and use commentary?
8. What is the students’ understanding
towards the term ‘academic writing’?
9. How do individual students (as opposed to
groups of students) revise in response to
feedback?
10. What aspects of using a computer for
writing do second language students find
motivating?
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54 Chapter Three
3.3 Is the research question in a qualitative study different

from the one in a quantitative study?
The simple answer to the above question is of course, yes. Table 3.2 below
provides a summary of the difference between the construction and nature
of the research question in qualitative and qualitative studies found in the
literature (Maxwell, 2005; McDonough & McDonough, 1997; Sandelowski,
2008).
Table 3.2: The research question in qualitative & quantitative

research
No Points of Quantitative Qualitative

comparison
1. Construction Prior to conducting the On going: most often
study after entering the field.
2. Purpose As the question that As a guide in
needs to be answered conducting the study
3. Nature • Restrictive & static: • Dynamic: it permits
the researcher the researcher to
should follow the change the
research questions, researcher question
and thus it is (RQ), provided
constraining in a interesting or
way. unexpected data
• Generic arise.
• Specific
4. Focus Finding some sort of Focusing on the
relationship (take for process of

example, among understanding
others, correlation, variables
effectiveness, and
relationship) between
two variables
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Activity 3.3
Classify the following research questions into quantitative (Qn) and

qualitative (Ql) by putting a check mark (√) in the appropriate column.
No Research questions Qn Ql
1. What aspects of using a computer for writing do
second language students in the University X find
motivating?
2. Do the reading comprehension scores of the students
in the experimental group who received instruction
in using think-aloud, differ significantly from the
students in the comparison group who did not
receive the instruction?
3. What are the reading strategies (mental model) used
in comprehending the text assigned?
4. Does cross-age tutoring help the student facilitators
improve their speaking performance in terms of task
fulfillment, language, and communicative ability?
5. How do teachers see their roles in the classroom?
6. What are the effects of peer feedback on students’
writing?
7. Which type of presentation mode of annotations is
more effective in enhancing learners reading strategy
in comprehending a text—the printed text or the
multimedia on-screen text?
8. To what extent does the monolingual approach
contribute to students’ development as English users
and their identity constructions?

9. How does gender affects teacher professional
development?
10. Does the student overall speaking performance
improve after the cross-age tutoring service?
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56 Chapter Three
3.4 What are the different kinds of research questions?

According to Maxwell (2005, pp. 70-76), research questions can be
divided into:
1. Generic vs. particularistic research questions

In quantitative study, there is the belief that the research question should
be framed in general terms and then “operationalized” (p.70) by choosing
suitable participants through sampling procedures and data collection
techniques. For example, to study factors contributing to students’ failure
in English courses, the research question can be constructed in a generic
manner such as, “What factors affect students’ failure in English courses?”
and then answer this by studying a particular school as a sample.
By contrast, qualitative studies often have particularistic research
questions. This means the research question is contextualized and the
context of the study is written in the research question. Using the above
example, a particularistic research question would be “What factors
contribute to students’ failure in the Speaking 1 course in University X?”
Maxwell (2005) explains that the difference between generic and
particularistic research questions lies in the sampling strategies. Studies
using generic research questions most often are conducted with the broad
population in mind and then a particular sample is selected from this
population to answer the research question. By contrast, studies employing
particularistic research questions often select a case (e.g. a particular
school, grade, a course subject, etc.) and then frame the research question
in terms of the particular case selected.
Activity 3.4
Develop generic and particularistic research questions for the following

Topic of inquiries (ToIs):
a. The role of nativeness in English language learning.

b. Students’ use of the mother tongue
c. The use of audio visual aids in teaching
Maxwell (2005) asserts that both questions, generic or particularistic, are

legitimate in qualitative research. Interview research, for example,
sometimes uses a sampling procedure to select the participants so that the
findings is generalizable into the larger population.
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2. Instrumentalist vs. realist research questions

Norris (1983) explains that instrumentalist research questions illustrate
observable or measurable data. This kind of research question is driven by
a positivist approach to research that believes that research needs to be
“objective” (Maxwell, 2005, p.72). Examples of instrumentalist research
questions are:
− How do students report the effects of teacher feedback in their

writing process?
− What are the students’ stated reasons for preferring the
monolingual approach?
− How do students in a CCU course define and understand the
concept of culture as written in their weekly journals?
By contrast, realist research questions are constructed based on the belief

that unobserved phenomena are real and the data collected is evidence
about this. Research is used critically to develop and test ideas about the
existence and nature of the phenomena (Campbell, 1988; Cook &
Campbell, 1979; Maxwell, 1992, 2004, 2005). Examples of realist
research questions are:
− What, if any, are the effects of teacher feedback on students’

writing?
− What are the students’ perceptions toward the monolingual
approach?
− How do students in a CCU course understand the term culture?
3. Variance vs. process research questions

Maxwell (2005) notes that variance research questions focus on

“difference and correlation” (p.74). They often begin with words such as
“Does…?,” “How much …?,” “To what extent …?”, and “Is there a
relationship …?”
By contrast, process research questions focus on “how things happen”

(p.75), rather than whether there is a relationship between different
variables. In other words, a process research question aims to explain how
something develops or change.
For example the research question “Do trilingual English students have
different writing strategies when writing in a second language, from
bilingual English students?” is a variance question, because it implies a
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search for a difference and for particular variables that explain the
difference between the writing strategies of trilingual English students
from bilingual English students.
An example of a process research question would be “How do bilingual

English students write in a second language? What strategies do they
use?” The focus on these questions is not in explaining the differences (a
dependent variable) in terms of some independent variables, but on
understanding how these bilinguals write and the strategies they use to
compose in a second language.
Activity 3.5
Identify if the following research questions are Variance (V) or Process

(P).
1. (……) Is there a relationship between classroom participation and

students’ personality?
2. (……) How do the students revise their first draft?
3. (……) What is the correlation between students’ accents and their
construction of identity?
4. (……) To what extent do journal writings contribute to students’
development as beginning teachers of English?
5. (……) What strategies do students use in finding a writing topic?
6. (……) Is there a correlation between students’ imagined community
and their confidence in speaking English?
7. (……) How do multilingual narratives contribute to students’
understanding of culture, identities, and language in a Cross Cultural
Understanding (CCU) class?
8. (……) To what extent does the monolingual approach contribute to

students’ confidence in speaking English?
9. (……) What are the differences between writing in L1 and L2?
10. (……) How do the students in a Microteaching class develop their
professional identities?
Maxwell (2005) explains that variance questions are common in quantitative

studies. Quantitative approaches provide ways to determine (through
statistical means) whether a particular result is related to one or another
variable and to what extent they are related. However, qualitative research
is often conducted to show how this occurred. It needs to be noted that
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variance research questions can be used in qualitative studies, but they are
often best employed after answering prior process research questions.
4. Generative research questions

Last but not least are generative research questions. Flick (2002) and
Strauss (1987) explains that generative research questions aim to explore
to what extent they are suitable for confirming existing assumptions or aim
at discovering new ones.
Generative research questions are very common in basic research, rather

than applied research. As discussed in Chapter 1, in basic research you
conduct research to “acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge”
(McKay, 2006, p. 4). Some examples of generative research questions are:
− How do trilingual children acquire grammar?

− What are the characteristics of good writers in EFL contexts?
− How do students in Academic writing class develop an argumentative
paper?
The next question you may ask is why I need to know about the different
kinds of research questions. Knowing the different kinds of research
questions helps you to know your alternatives when constructing one.
Sometimes you might become “stuck” with a particular research question
without knowing that there might be others that are perhaps more
appropriate to your research purpose as well as your interest.
3.6 What are the kinds of research questions

in a qualitative study?
Maxwell (2005, p.75) notes that research questions in qualitative studies

commonly focus on:
1. Questions about the meaning of events and activities to the people

involved.
Examples of research questions:
− What do students’ understand by the term ‘academic writing’?

− What are students’ understandings of the term ‘native speakers’?
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− What are students’ perceptions toward the use of video-recording in

the Microteaching class?
2. Questions about the influence of the physical and social context on

particular events and activities.
− What are the effects of journal writing on students’ writing

competence?
− What are the effects of multilingual narratives on students’
understanding of their identities?
− What are the influences of the monolingual approach on students’
voices?
3. Questions about the process by which particular events and activities

and their outcomes occurred.
− How do students in the Writing class revise their first drafts?

− How do students organize group work?
− What are the common strategies students use to find a topic for
their argumentative writing?
Because these three questions focus on situation-specific phenomena, they

involve an open-ended approach to discover the meanings and influences
of specific activities or events and not on comparing and controlling
different variables within the activities or events.
3.7 How to refine your research questions?

Knowing the centrality of forming a good research question is important to
conducting research. Many researchers give suggestions on how to refine
your research question. The one I found most useful is Burns (1999;
2010). Although she develops these suggestions for forming a research
question for an action research, they are also applicable for any research in
qualitative studies.
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− Don’t be too ambitious.

For example, choosing a research question that wants to change the world,
or changing the whole system in your school or even in the nation, might
be too big. Even if you might want to do it, it might take a long time to do,
which leads to the next suggestion.
− Your question needs to be fit or tailored to your available time line.

Trying to track students’ progress in speaking English over a year may
take a long time until you come up with significant findings. Remember,
the data collection process is only part of your research. Once you have
finished collecting your data, you still need to write up the report, which
also takes time. Thus, the data planning table in Chapter 2 is really useful
to provide a map before you even start the research journey. The table
helps you to evaluate if the research you are about to conduct is feasible
within your available time line.
− Focus on one topic (ToI) rather than trying to look at multiple topics.
A research question such as “What is the most effective way to teach
grammar?” is overwhelming. First, such a question requires some sort of
measurement to measure the word “effective.” Second, in teaching
grammar in itself there are many aspects such as, among others, giving
examples, explaining grammatical points (which can be broken down even
further), and reinforcement. Finally, the word “grammar” here is too broad
because there are at least sixteen grammatical structures in English. Thus,
the research question should be refocused and refined into, for example,
“How was the Simple Past Tense taught in School X?” By focusing the
“grammar” into Simple Past Tense, you are focusing your research
question and making it more manageable.
− Choose areas of direct relevance and of interest to you and your

immediate teaching contexts.
Since doing research takes a lot of time, it might be a good idea to choose
a topic that is of interest and use to you. For example, in selecting a topic
for my dissertation, I tried to relate it to the situation I experienced as a
student of color in the US. Living and pursuing a Ph.D. in the US has
resulted in my questioning my identities as a multilingual English user
(MEU). Out of curiosity, I wanted to explore if other MEUs also
experienced what I had experienced. By listening to other MEUs’ voices, I
came to understand the struggles that I experience in negotiating my
identities.
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62 Chapter Three
Certainly there are other techniques to refine and refocus your research
question. However, you need to know that although a research question
needs to be specific, you also need to be flexible with it. This means, first,
you need to revisit and refine the research question from time to time as
you go along conducting your research. Second, a research question needs
to be “general enough to permit exploration” (Marshall & Rossman, 2006,
p. 39). Make sure it takes you on the right track and it continues to be
relevant, providing you with an insightful interpretation and leading you to
an insightful conclusion.
References
Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English language
teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
—. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide
for practitioners. New York: Routledge.
Campbell, D. T. (1988). Methodology and epistemology for social science:
Selected papers. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design
and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Flick, U. (2002). An introduction to qualitative research (2nd ed.).
London: Sage.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing qualitative research.
London: Sage.
Maxwell, J. A. (1992). Understanding and validity in qualitative research.
Harvard Educational Review, 62, 279-300.
—. (2004). Casual explanation, qualitative research, and scientific inquiry
in education. Educational researcher, 33(2), 3-11.
—. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (2nd

ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English
language teachers. London: Arnold.
Norris, S. P. (1983). The inconsistencies at the foundation of construct
validation theory. In E. R. House (Ed.), Philosophy of evaluation (pp.
53-74). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Norum, K. E. (2008). Reality and mutliple reality. In L. M. Given (Ed.),
The sage encylcopedia of qualitative reserch methods (pp. 736-739).
Thousand Oaks: Sage.
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Sandelowski, M. (2008). Research Question. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The

sage encylcopedia of qualitative reserch methods (pp. 786-787).
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge:
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Appendix 3.1: Data planning matrix for Activity 3.1
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What do you needs What kind of data Where can I find Whom do I need to Time line
to know to watch a will answer the the data? contact for
movie? question? information?
What kinds of movie Written data Googling --- Next hour or so
do I want to watch? Verbal data Asking friends Christine, Citra 12-1 PM
(Adapted from Maxwell, 2005, p. 100)
CHAPTER FOUR
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONNAIRES
4.1 What is an open-ended questionnaire?

An open-ended questionnaire consists of open-ended responses. In an
open-ended response, participants are free to write their responses to the
question given instead of being controlled by the choices designed by the
researcher as in closed-ended questionnaires. To put it simply, an open-
ended questionnaire allows the participants to voice their individual points
of views.
According to McKay (2006), there are two kinds of open-ended items:

Fill-in questions and short-answer questions. Fill-in questions are
commonly used to ask demographic information such as the gender of the
participants, how many languages a learner speaks and how long they have
been studying English. Short-answer questions provide a space for detailed
information regarding some aspects of researched topics. For example,
participants might be asked to describe the way they learned English.
Activity 4.1
Look at the following questionnaire items and decide which one(s)

belongs to an open-ended questionnaire.
1. Which feedback do you prefer?

____ teacher feedback
____ peer feedback
____ none of the above
2. Describe what do you do after receiving teacher feedback.
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3. What do you think of the following statement: “Teacher feedback is

the most important feature to improve one’s writing”
___ strongly agree ___ agree ___ disagree
____strongly disagree
4. Do you often follow up on teacher feedback? Explain your answer.
5. How often do you follow up on teacher feedback?

___ always ___ sometimes ___ never
other: ______________
4.2 What are the benefits of an open-ended questionnaire?

Prior to reading what the literature says about the benefits & drawbacks of
an open-ended questionnaire, do Activity 4.2. Try to compare & contrast
how you feel about filling in an open-ended questionnaire versus a closed-
ended questionnaire.
Activity 4.2
A. The following questionnaire addresses your experience in a writing

class. Try to answer it as honestly as possible according to your experience
of being a student in a writing class. The first five questions (no 1-5) are
closed-ended while the remaining five (no 6-10) are open-ended.
1. Do you like writing in English?

___ Yes, I do.
___ No, I don’t.
Other:
2. Whose feedback do you think is most useful for the improvement of

your writing?
____ teacher ____ peer
Other (please specify):
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Open-ended Questionnaires 67
3. What do you think of the following statement:

“Teachers should give feedback on all aspects of writing”
____ strongly disagree
Explain your answer below:
4. What do you think of the following statement:

“Peer feedback is not useful”
____ strongly disagree
Explain your answer below:
5. How often do you follow up on teacher feedback?

____ always ____ sometimes ____ never
Other: ____________
6. Describe your feelings and attitudes toward writing in English.
7. Whose feedback do you think is most useful for the improvement of

your writing?
8. Describe your attitude towards teacher feedback.
9. Describe your attitude towards peer feedback.
10. Do you always follow up on teacher feedback? Explain your answer!
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B. Now, reflect on how you answered those items. Remember items 1-5
are closed-ended and items 6-10 are open-ended items. Compare and
contrast the way you answers the closed-ended and open-ended items and
fill in the following table.
No Topic of Closed-ended Open-ended

comparison
1. Time spent to
construct the
items.
2. Time spent to
respond to the
items.
3. Kind of
responses given.
4. Easiness to
respond to the
items.
5. Other:
………………...
As in any data collection methods, open-ended questionnaires have their

own benefits and drawbacks. One of the most cited benefits of open-ended
questionnaires is that they can be collected in a relatively short time
compared to interview data in which the researcher needs to transcribe the
recorded data to be analyzed.
Additionally, compared to closed-ended items, open-ended items encourage

participants to add elaborate comments. Allison (2002) explains that open-

ended items can serve as a “safety valve” (p.137) because participants
have more opportunities to fill in what they want to say rather than fit their
responses into predetermined confines of closed-ended items.
Open-ended questionnaires have drawbacks, too. Cohen and Manion

(1994) notes that many responses collected through open-ended
questionnaires are hard to interpret because questionnaires are often
completed anonymously. Therefore, there is no opportunity to probe
further to find out what participants mean by particular responses. For this
reason, some researchers use open-ended questionnaires to gather
preliminary data and then follow it up with interviews. Second, open-
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ended questionnaires might be time-consuming to fill-out (Allison, 2002),

and thus they might be discouraging for the participants.
4.3 What are the criteria of a good open-ended

questionnaire item?
Following are the kinds of items a good open-ended questionnaire should
avoid summarized from different sources (Brown & Rodgers, 2002; Cohen
& Manion, 1994; Dornyei, 2003; McDonough & McDonough, 1997;
McKay, 2006):
1. Double-barreled items. Double barreled items ask about two or

more issues at the same time. For example: “Explain why do you like
learning English and the reasons why you learn it” or “Describe your
joy and fear when becoming a new teacher”.
2. Double-negative items. Double-negative items contain two negatives
in one question and they tend to be confusing. For example: “Why
you dislike not having a Javanese accent when speaking English?”
3. Leading items. Leading items are questions that encourage learners
to respond in a certain way. For example: “Why are you passive in
the classroom?” You have to be careful in asking this kind of
question because you are assuming that the participant is passive
even though he or she might not describe himself that way.
Based on my experience, to always attempt framing an item that is
not leading is hard. This was also felt by my student who asked an
insightful question during a Research Methods class. She asked if all
open-ended questionnaire items should not be leading. This was
because a seemingly neutral question such as “What is the benefit of
teacher feedback?” is to a certain extent, leading because you assume
there are benefits that the participants need to feel.

My answer to her question is still to “try your best” to construct a
non-leading open-ended questionnaire. When asking the benefits of
teacher feedback, for example, you also need to ask if there are
disadvantages of teacher feedback. When you ask about the joy of
being a beginning teacher, make sure you also ask about the
discomforts and the worries of being a beginning teacher. Besides,
the awareness that you are not supposed to ask leading questions in
itself serves as a screening process when constructing your items.
4. Irrelevant items. Irrelevant items are questions that are not directly
related to the research question or the overall purpose of the study. A
study on students’ attitudes towards teacher feedback, perhaps,
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70 Chapter Four
should not include a question that addresses students’ attitudes

towards peer feedback.
5. Biased items. Biased items are questions indicating bias or prejudice
against a particular group of people. Such biases may be based on
age, gender, ethnicity, educational background, religion or any other
characteristics about which people may be sensitive.
Activity 4.3
Evaluate the following open-ended questions according to the criteria of a

good open-ended item discussed above. The purpose of the questionnaire
is to explore students’ perceptions about oral presentation.
Items
No Items Good Poor Reasons
1. What do you think of the students’
presentation in our class? Do you think
it is useful/not useful? In what way it is
useful? Explain your answer.
2. Do you feel you learn better by
listening to your friends’ presentation?
Explain your answer!
3. When doing an oral presentation, does
being a woman affects the way you
present?
4. What are the effects of not
mispronouncing words in oral
presentation?
5. Can you suggest other activities, which
may help you understand the teaching-
learning materials better?

6. According to your experiences, what
are the benefits of students’
presentation?
7. Do you have any suggestions on how
we can improve the implementation of
students’ presentation?
8. How does being a Javanese affect the
way you do a presentation?
9. Which classes do you like?
10. Do you feel you learn better from
having to explain the learning materials
to your friends? Explain your answer!
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4.3 What do I do after I finish constructing

the questionnaire items?
Once you have finished constructing the questionnaire items, the next
thing you need to do is to pilot your questionnaire. Piloting your
questionnaire means giving the questionnaire to a group of participants
who are similar to the participants you are about to survey. According to
McKay (2006), the purpose of piloting a survey is to explore what
potential problems may exist (e.g. clarity of the instructions, items that
might be confusing or difficult to understand). The piloting process is
extremely important because you, as the writer of the questionnaire,
cannot be present and clarify your items, such as in the interview, when
the participants respond to your questionnaire.
The next question you may ask is, “To how many people you should give
the questionnaire?” The answer to this, of course, relates to your sample
size even though there is no agreeable formula in qualitative research. If
you are planning to give your questionnaire to 50 people, then perhaps
when you pilot your questionnaire you should give it to approximately ¼
of your total sample size, or 10-15 people.
When you have received the piloted questionnaire, you should conduct an
item analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of each item in gathering the
kinds of data you need. When doing an item analysis, McKay (2006,
pp.41) suggests you should focus on items that tended to be omitted or left
unanswered by large number of participants. This might indicate that those
items are confusing or difficult to answer.
4.4 The final display of the questionnaire:

What should I pay attention to?

Designing a good open-ended questionnaire item is not enough. You also
need to pay attention to how you are going to display it so that it is easier
for your potential participants to fill in your questionnaire. The following
are some aspects that a good open-ended questionnaire needs to focus on
in its display (Adapted from Dornyei, 2003; McKay, 2006):
1. A short statement of purpose. A good questionnaire should begin

with a brief statement or ‘letter’ introducing the researcher(s) and
explaining the purpose of the questionnaire. Typically in the letter
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the participants should be made aware that there is no right/wrong

answer so they do not feel the need to answer in a certain way.
If your participants are students, they also need to be told that their
responses are confidential and will not affect their grades in any way.
The letter also adds personal touch that might go along way with
your participants.
The following are examples of a short statement of purpose for a

questionnaire:
Dear Students,
This questionnaire is about the feedback you have received in
Writing 1, 2, 3, and 4. I would be very grateful if you would
kindly answer this questionnaire, as I think it should be very
useful in improving the teaching and learning of writing in the
future. Feel free to fill in the questionnaire in English or in
‘Bahasa Indonesia’. Many thanks.
Dear Colleagues,
I am interested in researching the teachers’ beliefs and how these
beliefs are reflected in the teaching practices in the English
classroom. Your participation in this survey will help me to
complete my MA thesis in English Language Teaching at AXX
University, Thailand. Please kindly spare a few minutes of your
time to fill out this questionnaire. Your responses to this
questionnaire will be treated with utmost confidence. Thank you
for your cooperation.
In writing the letter, it is important to tailor the language and style to your
participants. Note that the first letter is less formal than the second.
2. Brief and simple instructions. In each section of the questionnaire

there needs to be instruction written in simple language (it can also
be in the participants’ mother tongue) illustrating what the
participants should do. If you think the participants are not aware of
the kinds of answers you are expecting, you might add an example of
how to fill them.
3. A brief thank you. Do not forget to say ‘thank you’ at the end of the
questionnaire since the participation of the respondents is central to
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your research. After all, the participants have spent their time and
energy to answer the survey.
4. The participants’ demographic info. This section is usually laid out

as a separate entry from the questionnaire items and placed at the end
of your survey. Knowing the participants’ demographic info is
crucial to being able to write a thick description of the participants in
the research report. As pointed out by McKay (2006), a thick
description of the participants is important to ensure the validity of
your study. Items to include, of course, need to relate to the overall
purpose of your research. However, generally you need to ask the
participants’ gender, age range, English proficiency and/or length of
studying English, among others.
5. Consent form. If you are using an open-ended questionnaire as a

tool to select your participants to be further interviewed, then, you
need to ask their consent and their contact information such as their
phone number, email address, and their preferred time to be
contacted to be interviewed further.
If you are not using an open-ended questionnaire, it is important to
give out a consent form anyway because you cannot predict the kind
of answers collected from the open-ended questionnaires and if they
might offer rich data. During a reflection session, after conducting a
project using an open-ended questionnaire, my student commented
on how much she wished she had included a consent form. When
analyzing the data, she found many responses that she would have
been interested in pursuing further. As a questionnaire needs to be
filled anonymously, it is really hard to track the writer once you have
gathered the data. So, always end your questionnaire with a consent
form. Who knows, you might need it!
Activity 4.4
By using the questionnaire items in Activity 4.3, design a good

questionnaire by focusing specifically on the display. Include all the
aspects of a good display for a questionnaire discussed above.
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4.5 “I already got the data. Then, what?”:

The procedure for analyzing the data
As I personally believe that one learns to conduct research by doing
research rather than talking about research, we will start this section by
doing the actual data analysis collected from an open-ended questionnaire
in Activity 4.5 below.
Activity 4.5
In groups, try to analyze the data from students’ responses to the question
“What is your definition of culture?”
Question: What is your definition of culture?
The following are 20 students’ responses:
“Food, clothes, traditional costumes, dances.” (Student A)

“A way of life.” (Student B)
“The language that people speak.” (Student C)
“Film and traditional houses.” (Student D)
“ How we speak and what words we use.” (Student E)
“The way to control our behaviour.” (Student F)
“Language, music, traditional clothes” (Student G)
“Beliefs, stereotypes, generalizations ” (Student H)
“The way we do a particular thing” (Student I)
“Culture is problematic to define because it covers things that you see and
things that you don’t see” (Student J)
“I don’t know. Never thought of it” (Student K)
“Organization thoughts, organization patterns, etc.” (Student L)
“What you eat, what you wear, the kinds of music you listen to.” (Student M)
“Rules to manage behavior” (Student N)

“Language and culture are interrelated. They can’t be separated” (Student O)
“Word choice, sentence structure, grammar, etc” (Student P)
“Religion, traditional clothes and houses”(Student Q)
“I have no idea.” (Student R)
“Staple food, drinks, snacks” (Student S)
“to regulate a community” (Student T)
So that all members of the group can fully participate, I will use the
literature circle model. In a literature circle, each member has a specific
role and goal in the group discussion. Group work using a literature circle
model gives each individual more role and voice in the group work. The
following are the available roles for the literature circle:
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• Leader of the group. The leader of the group needs to delegate the
jobs, lead the discussion, and manage the given time.
• Time-keeper. The time-keeper needs to monitor the time and
report time spent to the leader of the group.
• Note-taker. The job of a note-taker is to take notes of the group
discussion. This includes how the group analyzes the data as well
as the ways in which the data should be presented to the class.
• Analyst. An analyst needs to find ways to analyze & interpret the
data.
• Reflector. A reflector, as the name suggests, needs to reflect on the
whole process by taking notes on the ways & strategies in which
the group completes the task.
• Speaker of the group. The speaker of the group later needs to
report the result of group discussion to the class.
Once you have finished, write/type your data analysis & interpretation so
that it can be presented to the class. The presentation of your data analysis
needs to cover:
(a) The way you analyze & interpret the data

(b) The process you went through in analyzing the data
(c) A reflection of the whole process
Once you go through Activity 4.5, you can sense that data analysis is not a
straightforward process. It is not linear but rather recursive. Following are
some strategies to analyze the data:
1. Read & reread participants’ responses

You need to read and reread participants’ responses written in the
questionnaire. Maxwell (2005) suggests that during this process, it is

crucial to write memos. Remember that in qualitative research, you, the
researchers, are the most important research instruments (Maxwell, 2005,
79). Thus, your eyes and ears are the tools to make sense of what is
happening, and this needs to be captured in written form by writing
memos. Maxwell (2005) emphasizes that writing memos not only
accommodates analytical thinking of your data but also facilitates such
thinking and stimulates analytical skills.
2. Develop ‘tentative’ themes

I specifically say ‘tentative’ because at this point, the themes might change
as you revisit and analyze the data. Once you have read the participants’
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responses over and over, you will start to “feel” the patterns of the data. In
a way, it’s like putting together pieces of a puzzle.
When you begin the process, you have no idea what kind of picture will
emerge from it (unless, of course, you look at the picture of the finished
puzzle, which I personally feel spoils the ‘surprise and excitement’
elements of putting together the puzzle). The first thing you do, perhaps, is
to pick up pieces that you know from your schemata (e.g. background
knowledge, common sense). For example, the “blue” pieces might be the
sky, the “green” pieces are grass or leaves, and the “yellow” pieces could
be the sun. Even though you can guess that the picture which emerges
may be some sort of scenery, you do not know for sure until you have
finished putting all the pieces together.
To some extent, finding and developing tentative themes of qualitative

data is like putting together pieces of a puzzle. At the beginning, you do
not know the kinds of themes that might emerge from your data and if the
themes might make sense or not. Whatever themes come to mind when
you read and reread the data, it is important to make a note of them. You
never know if they might be useful at a later stage.
Even though I have numbered the strategies of analyzing the data, they in
no way indicate the order of the strategies. In reality, analyzing qualitative
data is “messy”. It does not follow a neat order.
Figure 4.1 provides a visual representation of research. The picture in the

left-hand corner represents what research looks like in your ‘imagination’
or in your mind. However, in reality, research is not as neat as in the
imagination. It’s messy, like in the picture on your right.
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Figure 4.1: Research: Reality & Imagination
4.6 “After I have found the themes, what then?”

Once you have found the emerging themes of your data, simply put, you
need to integrate the themes with the participants’ responses. This process
is more commonly called ‘coding’. According to Maxwell (2005), coding
is categorizing strategies to fit your data with the ‘tentative’ themes.
This can be done in two ways: quantitatively and qualitatively. Note that
analyzing qualitative data gathered through an open-ended questionnaire
qualitatively is different from analyzing it quantitatively.
1. Quantitative data analysis

This is conducted by counting the frequency distribution of the themes or

the responses to a particular question. For example, following are students’
responses on their attitudes toward teacher feedback:
Example
Question 1: What do you think of teacher feedback?

Student A: I love teacher feedback. I need it because I often make
grammatical mistakes.
Student B: It was OK.
Student C: I think teacher feedback is useful. Without it my writing won’t
get a good grade.
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Student D: Teacher feedback only makes me frustrated because sometimes

I don’t understand it.
Student E: I don’t know because it depends on the teacher. Some teachers
give good feedback. I know exactly what to do. But other teachers’
feedback is confusing. Feedback such as, “It’s not clear” is actually not
clear for me because I don’t know which part is not clear. It’s clear to me!
When you analyze the above qualitative data quantitatively, you can:
1. Think of a category to group the data. One way of categorizing the

data is by developing some sort of evaluative categories/themes,
that is, categorizing the data into: “positive,” “negative” and “so-
so.”
2. The next step is to count the frequency occurrence of each theme
and put it in Table 4.1 below. Table 4.1 helps you to count the
frequency of each theme:
Table 4.1: Distribution of common themes across participants
Emerging Themes Notes*

Participants Positive Negative So-so
Student A √
Student B √
Student C √
Student D √ Makes him frustrated;
confusing
Student E √ Depends on the
teacher; not all
feedback is good.
TOTAL 2 1 2
*In analyzing qualitative data using a table of frequency such as in Table 4.3, it is
important to add the column “Notes.” ‘Notes’ column is where you write down
any thoughts that occurred when analyzing the data. Such thoughts might be
useful for further analysis.
Other than the themes written in Table 4.1, you can also categorize the
responses based on themes such as ‘like/dislike’ or usefulness of teacher
feedback.
Please note that the coding process in quantitative research is significantly

different than in qualitative research. In quantitative research, coding is a
process in which the researcher attempts to “fit” the data with a set of pre-
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determined themes with the goal of “generating frequency counts of the

items in each theme” as the above example in Table 4.1 illustrates. It is
‘predetermined’ because the themes are set before you even gather the
data. Since the overall goal is to count the responses, this means you need
to count the occurrence of each theme for all the data gathered.
2. Qualitative data analysis

By contrast, in qualitative research, the goal of coding is to “fracture”
(Strauss, 1987, p. 29) the data and rearrange it into categories “that
facilitate comparison between things in the same categories and that aid in
the development of theoretical concepts” (Maxwell, p.96). The idea is to
allow the themes to “emerge” from the data analysis process, rather than
trying to fit the data into a group of themes.
Once you have found preliminary themes, Brown and Rodgers (2002)
suggest to assign one theme with a particular color and then go through the
participants’ responses and color-code them accordingly. By doing so, you
can see the “pattern” of the data because you can group similar responses
into the same categories.
Brown and Rodgers (2002) emphasize that coding is not a straightforward

process. This means there is no agreeable standard that a research can use.
Additionally, the themes can also change as the researcher analyzes and
interprets the data.
Due to the fluidity and difficulty of the coding process, Brown and
Rodgers (2002, p.64) recommend researchers to ask the following
questions when coding qualitative data:
(a) Are the code categories (themes) clear and unambiguous?

This goes back to Chapter 1 “What is research?” In Activity 1.1 you were
asked to develop themes for the word list associated with the term
‘research.’ At that time we learned that in coding the data, the theme you
developed needed to be self-explanatory. This means the theme is clear
and understandable for the readers without the need to explain it. To make
sure the themes are self-explanatory, you can pilot the themes by asking
friends to read them and ask them to explain what each theme means. By
listening to their answers, you can then evaluate whether your themes are
clear or need to be revised.
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(b) Is the coding system reliable? Will other researchers code the data in
the same way?
This is really an important question. The assumption is that the more
people who code data in the same way or come up with the same themes
as you do, the more reliable are your themes.
(c) Does the result of coding lead to useful data analysis and
interpretation?
When you have finished with the coding process (find your themes) you
need to see if the themes you have come up with lead to useful data
analysis and interpretation. This means the emerging themes can give
some sort of contribution to the topic of study.
Activity 4.6
Study the students’ responses to the question “What are your attitudes
towards research?” in Appendix 4.1 and then develop a coding system
(themes) for such data.
4.7 “How can I make my coding processes easier?”

One of the significant aspects of the coding process is to find categories or
themes in your data. Finding a category or theme from your data is not
easy because the themes will not just “appear” from your data. This is why
Maxwell (2005) believes it is important to pre-plan the category from the
very beginning, that is, when you start to construct the questionnaire.
Knowing the complexities of finding categories for your data, Maxwell

suggests a way to categorize qualitative data by developing what he calls
“organizational categories” (p. 98).
In developing organizational categories, you need to establish broad areas

or issues prior to collecting your qualitative data so that the kinds of data
elicited can be anticipated. Coffey and Atkinson (1996) see the process of
organizational categories as “bins” (pp.34-35) to sort out the data for the
data analysis process. For example, in a study of teacher use of students’
mother tongue, examples of such categories are “explanation,” “class
management,” and “establishing rapport.” Another example is a study of
students’ silence in the classroom. The categories can be “absence of
knowledge,” “negotiating identities,” “restructuring responses,” and
“translating L1 responses to L2.”
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Activity 4.7
Attempt to propose “tentative” categories for the following studies. Write
your themes in the space provided:
1. Develop four themes for a study investigating students’ use of mother

tongue in group work
2. Develop three themes for a study aiming to explore the ways a teacher
teaches grammar in the classroom.
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3. Develop four themes of a study exploring students’ understanding of

the term ‘academic writing.’
4. Develop four themes of a study exploring the benefits of student oral

presentations.
Although organization categories help the initial process of data analysis,

Maxwell (2005) warns that they do not help much in the actual work of
making sense of the data. Thus, you need to categorize them either
substantively and/or theoretically, which the paragraphs below will
explain.
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Substantive categories
You develop substantive categories by grouping the participant responses
into the organizational categories you develop. And then you try to refocus
or narrow down your organizational categories. To put it simply,
substantive categories are drawn from the data gathered from the
participants.
For example, when conducting a study to explore students’ understandings

of the term ‘research’, I started with three organizational categories such
as ‘positive,’ ‘neutral,’ and ‘negative.’ Suppose the following are the data I
gathered from ten students:
Anton: “I hate research.”

Sila: “Confusing, exciting, interesting, boring. So a mixture of those.”
Tono: “Something necessary.”
Sisi: “I can learn a lot from research”
Tutik: “Things that you do every single day but not conscious of it.”
Alit: “Confusing.”
Lila: “Make me feel stupid.”
Rio: “Never understand it.”
John: “Loving it.”
Sherly: “Challenging, exciting.”
To develop substantive categories from your data, as mentioned earlier,

you need to group your data according to the organizational categories you
have set up. Inputting your data in a table, such as Table 4.2 below, helps
you to visualize your data.
From the organizational category ‘positive,’ substantive categories such as

‘benefits of research’ and ‘triggering positive emotions’ can be developed.
Similarly, from an organizational category ‘negative,’ substantive categories

such as ‘causing negative emotions’ and ‘triggering negative self-
identification’ can be constructed. From Table 4.2, it can be seen that
substantive categories are an attempt to refocus the organizational
categories according to the data gathered.
Since research is a process, there are times when you cannot figure out
appropriate substantive categories such as the data gathered from Rio and
Tutik. In such cases it is important to write “in progress” such as examples
above show. The term “in progress” serves as a reminder for yourself to
revisit the data later.
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Table 4.2 Developing substantive categories from your data
No Organizational Data Substantive

categories categories
1. Positive I can learn a lot from
research. (Sisi) Benefits of
Something necessary research
(Tono).
Loving it (John).
Triggering
Challenging, exciting
positive emotions
(Sherly).
2. Negative I hate research (Anton). Causing negative
Confusing (Alit). emotions
Never understand it (Rio). (in progress)
Make me feel stupid Triggering
(Lila). negative self-
identification.
3. Neutral Things that you do every (in progress)
single day but not
conscious of it (Tutik).
4. ??? Confusing, exciting, Creates a mixture
interesting, boring. So a of feelings
mixture of those (Sila)
Similarly, it is useful to have an open organizational category. I personally

like to use the symbol (???) to group all my data that cannot be categorized
into the organizational categories I developed prior to collecting the data.

Take for example, the data from Silla “confusing, exciting, interesting,
boring. So a mixture of those” cannot be categorized neatly into ‘positive,’
‘negative,’ or ‘neutral’ because it is in a way a combination of those three
organizational categories. Thus, I placed it in the (???) column so that it
can be refocused when I create substantive categories for my data.
Maxwell (2005) notes that substantive categories drawn from the
participants’ own description/responses, such as the ones written in Table
4.2 above, are called “emic” (p.97).
However, it needs to be noted that not all organization categories above

can be developed into substantial categories. Remember that organizational
categories are established before the researcher collects the data. Thus,
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when the data collection process has ended, it is possible to have

organizational categories that are not found in the data. In a similar vein,
you can also end up adding more categories such as Table 4.2 shows.
Activity 4.8
Suppose you want to conduct a study on students’ definition and

understanding of culture. Write your organizational categories prior to
designing an open-ended questionnaire in column (2) below.
The study Organizational Substantial

(1) categories categories
(2) (3)
Purpose: to explore
students’ understanding
and definitions of
culture
Once you have finished writing your organizational categories, look back
at 20 students’ responses in Activity 4.5. From the data, try to develop
substantive categories and write them in column 3.
Theoretical categories
In making a theoretical category, as the name suggests, you construct the
categories based on existing theories, your topic or your ToI. Maxwell
(2005) calls this type of categorization “etic” (p.98). Theoretical categories
might be derived from:
(1) prior existing theory

(2) an inductively developed theory or from a combination of the two.
In practice theoretical categories are often used in conjunction with

substantive categories. It means themes drawn from participants’
responses might enrich or be added on to the themes developed prior to
collecting the data
A summary of the data analysis process using substantial and theoretical

categories can be seen in Appendix 4.3.
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Activity 4.9
Read the following text on “What is culture?” that I use in my CCU class
in Appendix 4.1 and answer the following questions:
1. From reading the text, what “theoretical categories” can you develop
about ‘What is culture?’ Write your answer in the table below,
column 3.
2. Write your substantive categories drawn from the student participants
in Activity 4.5 in column 2.
The study Substantial Theoretical

(1) categories categories
(2) (3)
Purpose: to explore
students’ understanding
and definitions of culture
3. Once you have finished, study your answers in column (2) and (3)
and answer the following:
a. To what extent do the theoretical categories relate to
substantial categories?
b. Do the theoretical categories ‘enrich’ substantial
categories or vice versa?
4. After doing no 1-3 above, reflect on the following questions:
a. To what extent does your coding system help you in the
data analysis process?

b. Brown and Rodgers (2002) state that the initial coding
can change as a researcher analyzes and interprets the
data. Did you ‘change’ (e.g. omit or add) any coding
during the data analysis process? If so, explain what
coding you started with and what coding you ended up
with. If you did not change your coding system, why do
you think that happened?
It needs to be noted that in practice these three types of coding are not
completely separate from one another and could be done simultaneously.
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What all these strategies have in common is that they focus on the
relationship that “connects” (Maxwell, 2005, p.98) the data in some ways
into a coherent whole and does not only attempt to find similarities among
participants’ responses.
References
Allison, D. (2002). Approaching English language research. Singapore:
Singapore University Press.
Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data.
Cohen, L., & Manion, L. (1994). Research methods in education (Fourth
edition). London: Routledge.
Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research.
Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive
approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2001). Research in education: A
conceptual introduction. New York: Longman.
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge:
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Appendix 4.1
Actually, I like doing research because I can get some new knowledge
from the process of doing research. Although research is interesting, there
are many difficulties that I have to face in the process of carrying out the
research (Student A).
I like research because I can find answers to the questions or solutions for
the problems, but sometimes research is difficult to do (Student B).
I am interested in doing research because when I obtain the results, I feel

satisfied because finally I can solve the problem. However, I also feel
afraid if I can not do better in analyzing the data. It is because the analysis
will really affect the results (Student C).
I like doing research in order to discover my curiosity (Student D).
I find research is very challenging. Research may prove things that

initially seem unclear. Research also can be done to answer questions
(Student E).
It is challenging for me because it is about something that I do not know

what the result will be. So, I’m curious to find or discover the facts/truth
about something (problem) (Student F).
My attitude towards research is that I know what difficulties are faced by

ED students and how they will solve the problems (Student G).
Sometimes I unconsciously do research, even when I want to eat in a

warteg. I asked my friends whether the foods in this warteg are delicious
or not. It becomes one of my daily routines and I do it almost every day. I
believe by doing research, it can benefit me in many ways (Student H).
My attitude toward research is actually still confused and I think it is a

very complicated thing to do. But I am challenged to deal with it. So,
whenever I am asked to do it I will do my best! (Student I).
I’m interested in doing research (Student J).
I do research with a joyful heart because first of all, I like topics that are
related to technology. So I enjoyed doing my research at the time.
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Secondly, my classmates support me in doing my research well, so I can

become more motivated in doing my research (Student K).
My attitude toward research is curious but I like it because I doing

research is very challenging. Sometimes we will find unexpected data that
we had not thought about before (Student L).
When doing research I need to be more specific in making a research

question (Student M).
I like research, but I feel it is very hard to get the findings because I have
to face many problems (Student N).
It is so challenging and interesting. When I understand what is being

researched, I continue to learn (Student O).
Research is sometimes unconscious because we do not realize that we are

doing it. In my opinion, it is a useful and fun activity because by doing
research, we can have more information and even ‘enlarge’ our
knowledge. Our question or problem at the beginning will be ‘answered’
or solved at the end of the research (Student P).
I got a little bit bored because I had to stand in the back row to do a survey
in the class and do nothing. However, I always remained polite to the
teacher and the children in the class. I still focused on my survey even
though there were children who always bothered my research (Student Q).
I think research makes me confuse because it is a complicated activity and

analysis. But it is important to solve the problem that we have (Student R).
Conducting research is interesting for me. In spite of discovering

unpredictable results, research teaches me to be really careful with my
analysis of particular problems. On the other hand, research is time
consuming and also makes me stressful (Student S).
I hate research (Student T).
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Appendix 4.2
The complexities of defining culture
By Nugrahenny T Zacharias
In everyday life, the term culture is used in various ways to convey

different things. Brown and Eisterhold (2004) explain that historically
culture is used to refer to differences between groups of people. “Culture”
was what the colonized had. Recently, culture has also been used to
explain the problems of the modern world. Terms such as the culture of
crimes, the culture of welfare, and the culture of consumerism, to name a
few, have been used to label social issues in the globalization era.
Despite the pervasive use of the term culture, in the present article, I use
the word “culture” in relation to ethnic groups or a group of people. It is
not used in its connotative sense to refer to social issues or problems. It is
important to underline here that my aim in exploring the definition of
culture is not to propose an ‘ideal definition of culture.’ That would also
be impossible, considering the many different schools of thought from
which the various definitions of culture emerge. The aim of defining
culture is to explore the different ways culture has been discussed and
perceived, which can be used as a starting point for addressing, discussing,
and contesting culture in the classroom.
Following Thaman (2001), I use the term culture to mean the ways of life
of a group of people that includes cultural aspects such as language,
knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs together with the process of
acquiring, transmitting, and maintaining these cultural aspects. My use of
the term ‘culture’ is not the same as ethnicity. Thaman (2001) put forward
several distinctions between culture and ethnicity. Ethnicity is based on
biology and shared gene while culture is a social concept based on shared
values. Thus, membership of an ethnic group is determined by biology,
whereas membership of a cultural group is determined by behavior and
performance. People may belong to a particular ethnic group but not
identify culturally with that group.
Even though I have briefly explained what I mean when using the term
culture, defining the term is difficult, if not problematic. For one, there is
no one agreeable definition of what culture means as illustrated in the
following definitions that are most often cited in the literature.
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Culture is
…a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member
of a society (Tylor, 1871).
…best seen not as complexes of concrete behavior patterns—custom,

usages, traditions, habit clusters, as has been the case up to now, but as a
set of control mechanisms—plans, recipes, rules, instructions (what
computer engineers call ‘program’)—for governing behavior (Geertz,
1973).
…the pattern of meanings embodied in symbolic forms, including actions,

utterances and meaningful objects of various kinds, by virtue of which
individuals communicate with one another and share their experiences,
conceptions and beliefs (Thompson, 1990:132)
the knowledge acquired from the society where one lives (Alptekin, 1996)
…the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set

of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared
set of perspectives on the world and set within specific social contexts
(Moran, 2001:24)
It must be said that although these definitions put different emphasis on

culture, what unites them is the way they perceive culture as not
something one has or is born with, but rather as something that develops
during one’s life. Culture is a “knowledge” (Alptekin, 1996) or “a set of
control mechanism” (Geertz, 1973) or “capabilities and habits” (Tylor,
1981) or ways to communicate (Thompson, 1990) or shared practices
(Moran, 2001). It is a set of behaviors or ways of thinking that evolve as a
result of living in a particular community.
As a source of knowledge, culture provides two sources of knowledge:

propositional knowledge and procedural knowledge (Brown and
Eisterhold, 2004, p.21). Propositional knowledge is “knowledge that”
(p.21) whereas procedural knowledge is “knowledge how” (p.21). An
example of propositional knowledge is the view by most Westerners that
dogs are family. People who have propositional knowledge that dogs are
family will treat dogs differently from people who perceive dogs as pets or
simply animals. Procedural knowledge or “knowledge how” is, for
example, knowing how to greet people and what words or topic to use.
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Figure 1: Elements of culture
A more common way of discussing culture is by exploring the elements

that all culture share or what is often called “cultural universal” (Brown
and Eisterhold, 2004, p.27). According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993)
each culture has “big C” and “small c” components. Big C culture refers
to the products of cultures, which include food, costume, religious
practices, and arts, among others. While big C cultures are observable,
small c cultures are implicit, such as belief system and world views.
Similar to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), Robinson (1985) and Moran
(2001) believe that there are cultural universals that are similar across
cultures. Robinson (1985), an American researcher in the area of cross-

cultural education, argues that all cultures consist of products, ideas and
behaviors illustrated in Figure 1.
For Moran (2001), all cultures share the following five elements: products,
practices, communities, persons, and perspectives, which are represented
in a diamond-like figure (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2: The five dimensions of culture
He explains each entity as follows:
a. Products refer to all artifacts produced or adopted by the members of

the culture including those in the environment (e.g. plants and
animals). Products range from tangible objects such as tools,
clothing, written documents, or buildings to more intangible entities
such as written and spoken language, music, or family, education,
economy, politics and religion.
b. Practices refer to the actions and interactions that members of the
culture carry out, individually or with others. These include language
and other forms of communication and self-expression as well as
actions associated with social groups and use of products. Practices
also involve notions of appropriateness and inappropriateness,
including taboos.
c. Perspectives represent the perceptions, beliefs, values and attitudes

that underlie the products and that guide persons and communities in
the practices of the culture. These perspectives can be explicit, but
often they are implicit, outside conscious awareness.
d. Communities include the specific social contexts, circumstances, and
groups in which members carry out cultural practices.
e. Persons constitute the individual members who embody the culture
and its communities in unique ways. Culture resides both in the
individual members of the culture and in the various social groups or
communities that these persons form to carry out their way of life.
Culture is thus both individual and collective – psychological and
social.
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Robinson’s model is in a way more simplistic than Moran’s since it only

consists of three elements. However, regardless of their differences, both
models show that culture is not one entity: it is a body compromising
different but interrelated elements. Proper understanding of one element of
culture can only be achieved with the contribution of other elements
within the same culture.
Another way to think about culture is to see culture as a tool to “govern

behavior” (Geertz, 1973) of people living in a particular context. In short,
culture is an organizing tool. As an organizing tool, culture provides a
member of society with knowledge or scripts or schemata of what to
expect and how to behave in “a manner acceptable to its members”
(Goodenough, 1964, p.36). To be able to operate in a society, Brown and
Eisterhold (2004) believe that people need to have two types of
knowledge: propositional knowledge and procedural knowledge.
Propositional knowledge is “knowledge that” (p.21). An example of
propositional knowledge in Indonesia is the recognition that rice is the
staple food. By having this knowledge, people in Indonesia behave in a
different way from the people in a culture that has the knowledge that
bread is the staple food. Procedural knowledge is “knowledge how”
(p.21). Some examples of procedural knowledge are how to bargain, how
to express gratitude, and how to greet someone.
References
Brown, S. and Eisterhold, J. (2004). Topics in language and culture for
teachers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Goodenough, W. (1964). Cultural anthropology and linguistics. In D.

Hymes (ed.), Language in culture and society: A reader in linguistics
and anthropology, pp.36-39. New York: Harper and Row.
Taylor, E. (1871). Primitive culture: Researches into the development of
mythology, philosophy, religion, arts, and custom. London: John
Murray.
Thaman, K.H. (2007). Partnerships for progressing cultural democracy in
teacher education in Pacific Island countries. In T. Townsend and R.
Bates (eds), Handbook of teacher education: Globalization, standards
and professionalism in times of change (pp.53-66). Dordrecht:
Springer.
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Appendix 4.3: A Summary of the data analysis process

in qualitative research
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CHAPTER FIVE
INTERVIEWS
Activity 5.1
1. Read the following Text A and Text B. Which text is interview and
which is conversation?
Text A
John: Why are you taking Academic Writing?
Tinton: Well, I kinda have to.
John: Why?
Tinton: Coz my supervisor asked me to. You?
John: Not sure. Seems kinda boring. I am tempted though. What is it
about?
Tinton: I dunno.
John: You don’t know? That’s crazy.
Tinton: hahahahhaa… Welcome to my world!
Text B
Mary: Tell me about the class you are taking.
Tina: Well, I am taking an Academic Writing class.
Mary: What is the course about?
Tina: I think hmm… it teaches us how to write an academic paper.

Mary: What do you mean by academic paper?
Tina: Like the papers in journals with abstracts, data and stuff … I am not
quite sure to be honest with you.
Mary: Do you like it?
Tina: Hmm…
Mary: What’s your opinion about it?
Tina: I just take the course because I have to.
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2. Fill in the table below with regards to the similarities & differences
between interview and conversation.
Points of Interview Conversation

comparison
Length Controlled/limited Can be both
controlled and free
5.1 What is an interview?

Activity 5.1 above shows that an interview is not the same as a
conversation even though there are elements of conversation that might be
present in an interview. Indeed, Burgess (1984) describes an interview as
“conversation with a purpose” (p.102).
5.2 What are the different types of interview?

In the literature, interview is divided into:
1. Structured interview
Structured interview or what Patton (1990) called “standardized open-
ended interview,” is a form of interview which is highly structured
(McKay, 2006). This means the order of the questions is strictly specified
in advance (before the actual interview process), and all the participants
are asked the same questions in the same order. According to Cohen and
Manion (1994, p. 312), the questions in structured interview mainly
consist of:
a. Fixed alternative: yes/no

b. Open-ended (E.g. What TV programs do you like?)
c. Scale: usually in the forms of degree (e.g. agree/disagree,
like/dislike)
Structured interview is often conducted by a market researcher in a

shopping centre to explore potential customers’ views on a certain
product.
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The data gathered from structured interviews is most often analyzed

numerically because the interviewer often uses “a checklist format”
(McDonough & McDonough, 1997) and a “tick-the-box” (Burns, 2010, p.
75) coding procedure.
The following are the benefits of structured interview summarized from

different sources (McDonough & McDonough, 1997; McKay, 2006;
Patton, 1990):
− To survey a relatively large population in a relatively short time.

− The data collected from this interview is relatively easy to analyze
because it follows the same order and is thus, easily comparable.
− Compared to data collected through open-ended questionnaires, a
structured interview is able to seek clarification in limited ways, to
“disambiguate questions” (McDonough & McDonough, 1997,
p.183), and normally to yield richer data.
On the negative side, structured interview provides no flexibility in the

format of the interview. Thus, the researcher cannot probe further into
interesting responses (Patton, 1990).
2. Semi-structured interview
Semi-structured interview or “interview guided approach” (Patton, 1990)
is similar to structured interview but it allows for greater flexibility. The
flexibility includes changing the order of the questions to provide
opportunity for follow-up questions.
The advantage of semi-structured interview lays in the ease it gives to the

data analysis process. Since the semi-structured interview provides some
sort of structure, the data collected from this interview allows you to
compare responses across participants. It also allows for individual
diversity and flexibility. Therefore, compared to structured interview,
semi-structured interview provides richer data.
However, Burns (2010) notes that this kind of interview is difficult to

conduct for beginning researchers. It is difficult to manage because it
requires skills and ‘research intuition’ to follow up the lead of the
participants.
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3. Unstructured interview
Unstructured interview or “informal conversational interview” (Patton,
1990) or “open interview” (Burns, 2010) has the most flexible structure.
The order of the questions asked is not specifically pre-determined. You
start with a set of questions or topics in mind but allow the direction of the
interview to be determined by the responses of the participants.
According to Stake (1994), the purpose of unstructured interview is not to

get simple yes and no answers. Rather, it allows for “descriptions of an
episode, linkage, an explanation” (p.65). In other words, unstructured
interview aims to understand people’s stories and their understanding of
them.
According to Patton (1990), informal conversational interview is

characterized by:
− different questions asked of each interviewee;

− the same person being interviewed on several occasions; and
− the length of the interview being completely open-ended.
Although Patton (1990) suggests the use of different questions for

different participants, based on my experience it is helpful if you develop a
set of guiding questions that are similar for all of your participants.
Certainly, during the interview process, you can depart from the questions
and add or omit questions you think are unnecessary. The availability of a
set of predetermined interview questions will give you ease and some sort
of comfort, especially if it is your first time conducting an interview,
because you are aware that you have a set of questions to fall back on to
fill those silent moments and keep your participants ‘talking.’
On the positive side, unstructured interview offers the most ‘richest’ data
(Burns, 2010) because unexpected insights or responses might appear
during the interview process. Moreover, due to the conversational nature
of the interview, it is possibly that the interviewee is more willing to talk
and share more information, which of course, adds to the quality of your
data.
Despite the benefits of unstructured interview, data gathered through

unstructured interviews is difficult to analyze because the kinds of data
elicited are unpredictable and open in nature (Allison, 2002). Thus, it
might be hard to make comparisons across data. In interpreting unstructured
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interview data, Burns (2010) warns that you need to make sure that
insights are based on the participants’ interpretations, not your own.
Activity 5.2
Fill in the following table to contrast and compare structured, semi-

structured and unstructured interviews.
Points of Structured Semi- Unstructured

comparison Interview structured Interview
Interview
Structure
Kinds of
questions
Advantages
Disadvantages
Participants
Length of time
to gather the
data
Activity 5.3
Study the following research questions and suggest the kind of interview
(structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interview) most suitable to
gather the data.
(a) What kind of fried rice is most popular in Salatiga?

(b) Why do English Department students enter the Faculty of Language
and Literature?
(c) What are the strategies of three bilingual English students in revising
their first drafts?
(d) Why most of the students are silent in a Speaking 1 class?
(e) What are the writing strategies used in the Academic Writing class to
choose an argumentative topic?
Phenomenologically-based interview
This form of interview is proposed by Seidman (2006). The purpose of
phenomenologically-based interviewing is to have participants reconstruct
their experience about the topic under study. Due to the nature of the
interview, the approach primarily uses open-ended questions.
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The interview is conducted in a series of three separate interviews with

each participant (Schuman, 1982) . The series of interviews follow the
format below:
1. First interview: Focus on life history

The aim of the first interview is to establish the context of the
participants’ experience. This is significant because people’s behavior
becomes meaningful and understandable when placed in the context of
their lives and the lives of those around them. Patton (1990) argues that
without exploring the context of an experience, there is little possibility of
understanding the meaning of the experience. In this phase, you need to
ask the participants to tell as much as possible about themselves with
regard to the topic up to the present time. For example, in studying
students’ experience with teacher feedback, you can ask the participants
to tell about their past experiences (e.g.in elementary school, middle
school, previous classes, etc.) with teacher feedback up until the time of
the interview.
In asking the participants to narrate their experiences, Gergen (2001) and

Seidman (2006) recommend the use of “How?” questions rather than
“Why?” questions because “How?” questions stimulate participants to
reconstruct and narrate a range of constitutive events related to the
research topic.
2. Second interview: Focus on the details of experience

The second interview allows the participants to reconstruct the details of
their experience within the context in which it occurs. It focuses on the
concrete details of the participants’ present lived experiences. Your task,
as an interviewer, in this stage is to ask the participants to reconstruct,
however incompletely, the details of their experiences in the area you are
studying.
Going back to the example of studying students’ experiences with teacher

feedback, in the second interview you might ask your participants to
reconstruct an event from the time they received teacher feedback up to
the time they finished their final draft. This includes the actual step-by-
step strategies that they employed in responding to teacher feedback. It
also includes the factors underlying the choices they made in addressing
teacher feedback: Did they follow all teacher feedback? If not, which
teacher feedback did they follow and which did they not? Asking the
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participants to narrate their strategies in responding to teacher feedback is

a way to elicit details of their experiences with teacher feedback.
3. The third interview: Reflection on the meaning

This stage of the interview encourages the participants to reflect on the
meaning of their experience shared in the first and second stages of the
interview. It addresses the intellectual and emotional connections that the
participants have to that particular topic. In other words, the third
interview provides opportunity for the participants to make meaning
(their own meaning) of the topic under research. It requires them to look
at how the factors in their lives interacted to bring them to the present
situation. It also asks them to look at their present experience in detail and
within the context in which it occurs.
Example of questions at this stage: “Given what you have shared about
your experiences with teacher feedback, how do you understand the role
of teacher feedback in your writing process?
The question at this stage can also be future oriented. For example,
“Given what you have reconstructed in these interviews, do you think you
will respond to teacher feedback the way you did in the past?
Seidman (2006) maintains that although it is in the third interview that the
participants reflect on their experience, they are involved in the meaning-
making process in the previous two interviews as well. Vygotsky (1987)
notes that the process of putting or reconstructing experience into words
(language) is a meaning-making process. Thus, when you ask the
participants to reconstruct details from their experience, whether it is
interview one, two, or three, they are selecting events from their past and
in so doing giving meaning to them. In constructing their experience, they

frame some aspects of it with a beginning, a middle, and an end and thus
make that experience meaningful.
Seidman (2006) notes that compared to other interviews, the

phenomenological interview has a stricter time line. This means you
should organize the three stages of the interview so that they are not too
far apart from one another. The ideal timeline for each interview is
conducting the three stages consecutively in three days or by leaving a one
day break within the three stages. By doing this, the participants will not
forget what they have shared in each stage of the interview, and it will be
easier for them and for you to follow it up.
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Activity 5.4
As you may know, the questions for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stage of the
phenomenological interview are distinct from one another. Read the
following questions and identify which question belongs to the 1st, 2nd, or
3rd stage of the phenomenological interviews by putting a check mark (√)
in the appropriate column.
No Interview Questions 1st 2nd 3rd

1. What have you learned from telling me about the
different ways you viewed English throughout
your high school years?
2. Please share how English has affected your life.
3. Describe how you wrote when you were a child.
What kinds of topics did you usually write
about?
4. If you knew before what you know now about
writing, how would that knowledge or
understanding have affected the way you write at
present?
5. Who do you think was your best model of
learning English growing up?
6. When studying English, what do you use your
mother tongue for?
7. Do you use your mother tongue in Intermediate
Grammar class? Explain for what purpose.
8. How would you reflect on the ways you use your
mother tongue in the classroom?
9. To what extent is pronouncing English with a

certain accent important for you?
10. Describe in a step-by-step manner what you do
when you are going to write an argumentative
writing.
Focus group
If the interview tends to be one on one, in a focus group the interviewer
interviews a group of participants (up to 8 people). They are asked to
answer a series of questions. The Focus group has several benefits not
found in one-to-one interviews. Those benefits are:
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− Participants can “spark” each other when discussing certain issues

(Hopkins, 1993) because they can hear what others say and perhaps
add on to what others have said or even challenged them.
− It is a way to elicit data from many people in a relatively short time
(McKay, 2006).
− For people from collective cultures, being in a group might provide
a “safe” atmosphere in which to share opinions and a supportive
environment.
Despite the benefits, the drawbacks of a focus group are:
− The individual participant might have less time to offer personal

opinions.
− It is difficult to know if a participant is led to answer in a certain
way in order to fit in and keep in harmony with the rest of the
group.
− There is a danger that one or two participants might dominate the
discussion. To avoid this, McKay (2005) suggests that the
interviewer need to adopt a more proactive role in managing the
group and encouraging everyone to contribute to the discussion.
To address these drawbacks, I personally think a focus group can serve as

an excellent screening process to select participants for both semi-
structured, unstructured, and/or phenomenologically-based interviews.
This means you start with several participants and do a focus group with
them on the selected topic. Then you can select participants who offer
interesting views to be interviewed individually.
Stimulated-recall interview
Stimulated recall interview is a technique in which the researcher records

and transcribes parts of a lesson and then gets the participants to comment
on what was happening at the time the activity under study took place
(Brown & Rodgers, 2002; Nunan, 1989). In other words, stimulated recall
interview gives access into teachers’ cognitive domains as they teach.
Since the interview is conducted after they teach, it provides a space for
the teachers themselves to make sense of their decision-making process
during teaching.
Stimulated-recall interview also accommodates teacher reflective practice.

Schon (1983; 1987) makes a distinction between reflection-in-action and
reflection-on-action. ‘Reflection-in-action’ is the decision that a teacher
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makes during teaching whereas ‘reflection-on-action’ is the decision that

occurs before and after a lesson. By doing stimulated-recall interview, you
can tap into both teachers’ reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action
processes.
Verbal reports or think-aloud techniques

According to Nunan (1992), a think-aloud technique requires the
participants to complete a task or solve a problem and verbalize their
thought processes as they do so. The task of a researcher is to record the
think-aloud protocol and then analyze the protocol for the cognitive
(thinking) strategies involved.
Brown and Rodgers (2002) suggest the following categories for coding
verbal protocol data which was originally developed for a verbal protocol
on reading activities but can be adapted to others.
Table 5.1: Coding scheme for reading verbal protocols
No Categories Examples of data Explanation

1. Monitoring “I don’t understand.” Manifested in statements or
(M) “This does not make questions indicating the reader
sense.” doubts his/her understanding
(including conflicts)
2. Signaling “What do I This deals with statements in
(S) understand?” which the reader signals his/her
current understanding of the text’s
meaning (E.g. agrees, paraphrases,
summarizes).
3. Analyzing “How does this text Such as in statements in which the
(A) work?” reader viewing the text as an

object notices, describes, or
comments on the features of text
(e.g. words, sentences, text
structures, styles). Thus, for the
purpose of observing a reader’s
sense of text structure, we would
expect to see this move occur
within the think-aloud process.
4. Elaborating “What does this make Such as in statements describing
(E) me think of?” the ways the reader is responding
to or experiencing the text such as
imagery, recalling prior
knowledge, and liking/disliking.
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5. Judging (J) “How good is this?” Such as in statements indicating

or what I the reader is evaluating the text
called (ideas or text features).
“Evaluating”
6. Reasoning “How can I figure this Manifested in statements or
(R) out?” “What might X questions indicating the reader is
mean?” trying to resolve doubts and
interpret the text (E.g. hypothesis,
question, predication and use of
evidence).
(Adapted from Brown & Rodgers, 2002, p. 67)
Activity 5.5
Work in a group of three. Take turns to play the following roles:
The participant: needs to read aloud through the following passage (pick
one passage in Appendix 5.1) and voice out whatever thoughts
come to mind as he/she is reading it. Make sure each participant
reads different texts.
The interviewer: needs to monitor the think-aloud process and ask

necessary questions to remind the participant that he/she needs to
voice out his thought process.
The note-taker: needs to take necessary notes that might seem important in
the data analysis process.
After each member of the group takes turns at being the participant, the
note-taker and the interviewer, reflect on the following:
1. How did you feel enacting each role?

2. Now choose one of the participants and transcribe the think-aloud
protocol and try:
a. Coding the transcription using Brown and Rodgers
(2002) coding system in Table 5.2.
b. What problems, if any, do you have when attempting to
apply Brown and Rodgers coding system?
c. Are there any ambiguous categories? Do you want to
apply more than one code for an utterance?
d. Are there instances where you felt none of the categories
applied to your data?
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e. Could you create new categories in the same category

format as Brown and Rodgers’ coding scheme?
One of the main criticisms of this technique is whether the act of spelling
out the thought process of the participants per se might alter or affect the
actual thought process. However, this might be overcome by training the
participants prior to the actual interview process and by allowing the
participants to use their mother tongue in voicing out their thought
processes.
5.3 What are the criteria of a good interview question?

Here is some criteria of a good interview question summarized from
different sources (McKay, 2006; Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). A good
interview question:
− Does not require a yes/no answer. A yes/no question (e.g. “Do you
often use English in the classroom?”) does not allow the participants
to elaborate on their answers.
− Addresses one idea/topic at a time. If an interview question deals
with more than one topic, it may confuse the participants.
Additionally, it might be difficult to track which responses go to
which topic.
− Is constructed according to the participants’ linguistic level,
background and educational level. If you are interviewing beginning
English language learners, it might be helpful not to use a lot of
jargon, difficult words, and complex grammatical structures.
− Does not lead the participants to answer in a certain way. According
to Seidman (2006), a leading question “influences the direction the

response will take” (p. 85). Sometimes the word choice is also
leading. For example, rather than asking “Do you like teacher
feedback?”, you can ask “What do you think of teacher feedback?”,
“What is your attitude towards teacher feedback?” or “What is your
impression of teacher feedback?” Even, the tone you are using to ask
a question can be leading. Thus, tones that imply an expectation
should at best be avoided.
− Is open-ended. Unlike a leading question, an open-ended question
provides “the territory to be explored while allowing the participant
to take any direction he or she wants” (Seidman, 2006, p.84). There
are two kinds of open-ended questions:
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1. A “mini tour” question (Spradley, 1979, pp. 86-87) allows the

participants to narrate their experiences related to the topic you are
about to investigate. By asking this kind of question, you are asking the
participants to construct an event or how they tackle a problem (e.g.
What they did to prepare themselves for an oral presentation.) in a
step-by-step manner.
Examples of such questions are, “Explain in detail what you did as
soon as you received teacher feedback” or “What did you do the night
before you did your mini-teaching? What did you do first, second,
third, and so on?”
2. A ‘subjective’ question (Seidman, 2006, pp.85) addresses the

participants’ cognitive domains. This question allows the participants
to share their opinions, feelings, and attitudes, among others.
For example, a participant might describe her different revision
strategies in revising her first draft. After asking a mini-tour question,
you can ask her about how she felt about these different revising
strategies: Which one did she like the most? Which one is the easiest?
Which is the most difficult? Etc.
Seidman further states that a question such as “What was that like for
you?” is a very useful subjective question because it can give you an
idea of the participants‘ impression, feelings and emotions of a
particular event, which may be useful in the data analysis process.
Apparently, constructing a good research question is a learning experience

and a process in itself. Based on my personal experience on doing
interview research, I found piloting the questions to be very useful. Just
trying out the question give a safe space to explore different questions as
well as develop your skill as an interviewer. Asking the piloted
participants is also important as you can hear from their perspectives how
they feel about the various questions.
Activity 5.6
Evaluate the following interview questions. For questions that are

considered poor, try to revise them.
The study’s purpose is to explore the strategies used by student-writers in

responding to teacher feedback. The participants are ESL writers (First-
year students).
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No Questions Good Poor Revision

1. Throughout the
writing process,
from whom do you
often receive
feedback?
2. What is the focus of
the teacher
feedback?
3. How is the teacher
feedback usually
given?
4. What is your
understanding of the
word ‘teacher
feedback’?
5. Have you ever
experienced teacher
feedback that was
not clear? Explain
why it was not clear!
6. After receiving
teacher feedback,
what do you usually
do with it?
7. What do you dislike
about teacher
feedback?
8. Do you think teacher

feedback and peer
feedback are
important in the
revision stage?
9. Do you think your
writing strategies in
addressing teacher
feedback follow a
recursive pattern?
10. What is your
concern with teacher
feedback?
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5.4 What are the different types of interview questions?

Other than assuring that your interview questions are good, you also need
to know the different kinds of interview questions so that you can vary
your questions. By knowing different kinds of interview questions, you
can also ensure that your questions cover the range of information you
want to obtain.
Dornyei (2003, pp. 8-9) notes that questions can help you to obtain the
following information:
A Factual or demographic information

These questions ask the participants to share facts about them, for
example, information related to gender, length of time learning English,
language repertoire, and ethnicity. Factual or demographic information can
also be obtained by asking the participants to narrate or introduce
themselves.
B Behavioral information
These are questions focusing on what participants do or did in the past.
Examples of such questions are:
− What did you do after receiving teacher feedback?

− Explain how you learned English.
− Describe in detail the things you did to find a topic for your writing.
C Attitudinal information
These are questions related to the participants’ attitudes, opinions, beliefs,
interests, and values. Examples of such questions are:
− What do you think of teacher feedback?

− Do you believe teacher feedback is useful? Why or why not?
− Why are you interested in learning English?
I would add one more category commonly found in interview questions:
D Affect information
These are questions addressing the participants’ affect. Dulay, Burt, and
Krashen (1982) explains ‘affect’ as it relates to aspects compromising
one’s emotions and feelings. This can be negative emotions such as
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worries or positive emotions such as excitement and joys. Examples of

questions that belong to this category are:
− How do you feel after receiving teacher feedback?

− How does learning English make you feel?
− Explain the joys you feel when learning English.
− What is your most demotivating moment when learning English?
Activity 5.7
Here is a list of 15 interview questions. Classify them into factual (F),

behavioral (B), attitudinal (A) or Affect (Af). Put a check mark (√) in the
appropriate column.
No Question F B A Af
1. How long have you been learning English?
2. What do you think are the most effective strategies
to teach pronunciation?
3. Explain what you do when you have pronunciation
problems.
4. How do you feel when your teacher corrects your
pronunciation?
5. How old are you?
6. Please describe the most frustrating moment you
have ever experienced when learning English.
7. Who helps you the most when learning English?
8. What is your ethnicity?
9. Who do you prefer to be the best model in speaking
English?
10. Have you ever written a diary?

11. How does the term ‘non-native’ speaker make you
feel as a multilingual English speaker?
12. Do you ever translate to your mother tongue when
speaking English? Explain your answer.
13. Is writing in English different from writing in your
mother tongue?
14. What does a person need to know in speaking
English?
15. Does learning English affect you as a person?
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5.5 What is the structure of an interview?

In structuring your interview session, it might be a good idea to break it
down into the following phases (Adapted from Altrichter, Posch, &
Somekh, 1993):
1 Warm-up phase
The aim of the warm-up phase is to establish good rapport with your
interviewees. It provides the interviewee with a relaxed atmosphere. The
kinds of questions that can be asked in this section include: “How did you
get here?”, “Isn’t the weather a nuisance?”, and “How long do you think
we can do the interview?” In the warm-up phase, it is also crucial for you
to introduce yourself (if the interviewees do not know you) and remind
them of the purpose of the interview. You also need to ask the time
availability of the interviewees and how much time they are willing to
spare for the interview.
2 Opening phase
In the opening phase, you can start by asking your pre-planned question.
These questions usually begin with how, what, why, when, and where.
Examples of questions in this phase can be “Why are you learning
English?”, “How are you learning English?” and “When was the first time
you learned English?”
3 Expanding/clarifying phase
This is the phase where you really focus and refocus on getting the
interviewees’ detailed responses. Due to the nature of the phase, you need
to have probing strategies ready to clarify, expand, rephrase and so on. In
addition to getting more detailed answers, probing strategies are useful
because they give the impression that you are really interested in what they
are saying. The following can be used as probing strategies:
− Confirming. E.g. “So what you are saying is …..”

− Exemplifying. E.g. “Can you give me an example of how ….?”
− Interpreting. E.g. “Why do you think …?”, “What do you think was
meant to happen about …?”
− Clarifying. E.g. “So was it X or Y that happened?” “So what do you
mean by ….?”
− Reviewing. E.g. “So can you summarize that ….?”
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4 Closing phase
The purpose of the closing phase is to wind down the interview. In this
phase, give an opportunity for your interviewees to say their final words.
Thus, you can ask them questions like, “Is there anything else you’d like
to add?” or “Is there anything else I should have asked you about this?”
Before completely ending the interview, do not forget to say “thank you”
to your interviewees.
Within each of these questions, it might be important to ask “clarifying/

expanding questions” (Altrichter et al., 1993; Burns, 2010).
5.6 How do i capture interview data?

Commonly, there are two ways to capture interview data: Taking notes
and tape-recording the interview process.
Taking notes
McKay (2006) explains that note-taking the interview allows you to record
the central facts and issues in an interview. In other words, the information
you get is more selective than tape-recording the interview. Also, taking
notes of interesting utterances that the participant is saying will keep you
from interrupting the participants. It is also a way to keep track of the
questions and note down additional questions that you might ask when the
timing is right.
Tape recording the interview process

Perhaps, tape recording is the easiest way to gather the interview data
because it can capture all the words and fillers of the participants.
However, prior to using the tape recorder, make sure you check the
equipment and are ready with extra batteries and extra tapes. Also, it is
important to check the quality of the sound because this will determine the
placing of the microphone.
Table 5.2 below summarizes both the advantages and disadvantages of

note-taking and tape recording interviews.
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Table 5.2: Advantages vs. disadvantages of note-taking and tape

recording interviews (Adapted from McKay, 2006)
Note-taking Tape recording

Advantages − Far easier to analyze − Preserves the actual
the data summarized language use
in notes then in the − Provides an objective
transcription account of what was
said.
Disadvantages − You might lose the − The presence of a tape
context in which an recorder can add to the
utterance is said. anxiety of the
− Taking notes while participants.
listening is extremely − Transcribing the
difficult, and trying to recording can be quite
do it can reduce the time-consuming and
rapport and richness result in a great deal of
of the data. data, some of which
might not be
necessary.
Because of the advantages and disadvantages of both ways of gathering

the data, it might be useful to tape record the interview while taking-notes
at the same time. According to McKay (2006), combining the two
methods has the following benefits:
− Taking a brief-note (e.g. key phrases and major points in the

interview) while the interview is being tape recorded can remind
you of the topics that have been covered, or jot down interesting
utterances that need to be followed up when time allows.
− Having the notes will facilitate the data analysis process because it
can remind you of the important parts that need to be analyzed.
After each interview, I found it useful to immediately write a journal item

on how the interview process went. This helps you to recall information
that might be useful during the data analysis process.
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5.7 What do I need to pay attention TO when conducting

an interview?
Activity 5.8
Read the two samples of interview transcripts in Appendix 5.2. Ani is the
interviewer in Text A and Titi is the interviewer in Text B. As you read the
interview transcript, find three things to compare & contrast with regard to
the interviewing skills of Ani and Titi and write your answer in the table
below.
No Ani Titi
1.
2.
3.
From Activity 5.1 at the beginning of this chapter, we learn that

interviewing is different from conversation although there are parts of
interviewing that are somewhat similar to conversation. Some researchers
believe interviewing is an art. This means it cannot be taught, and you are
either good at it or not. However, based on my personal experience,

interviewing is more of a skill. As a skill, interviewing needs to be trained
since it does not just “happen”. The following are some important
techniques to pay attention to during the interview session summarized
from different sources (McKay, 2006; Riessman, 2008; Seidman, 2006) as
well as my own personal experience of interviewing.
Be an active listener, not a talker

Seidman (2006) argues that listening is the most important skill in
interviewing. According to Seidman, in an interview session, you need to
be an active listener at least for two sources of information:
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1. You must listen to what the participant is saying. This means you
need to actively listen to what the participant is really saying and
internalize it. This early listening is vital because it directs your
next successive questions.
2. You also need to listen to the non-verbal gestures of your
participants. This means being sensitive to the participant’s energy
level as well as any non-verbal cues that she or he may be offering.
Sometimes when the participant pauses, you may be tempted to
interrupt or “offer” help. However, your good intention in helping
the participants may indeed interrupt their train of thought. So, be
careful. Sometimes giving the participant time to think is fruitful.
It is very easy to evaluate if you are a good listener or not. After

transcribing the interview, you can compare the length of the participant’s
lines with your lines. If the interviewers listen well, their lines will be
relatively shorter than the participants’ lines.
Follow up on what the participant says

Try not to stick to your present interview questions strictly. There are
times when you need to ask for clarification, concrete details or even
request examples or stories that exemplify your questions.
Ask questions when you do not understand

It is hard to understand everything that the participants say because
sometimes the context is not clear. At other times, the referent is not clear.
In a natural conversation as in Activity 5.1, John does not need to have a
thorough understanding about the reasons why Tinton is taking Academic
Writing class. However, in an interview this is not the case. When you just
let unclear utterances slide, you might miss the significance of them.
Seidman (2006) points out that if you let the participants know when you
do not understand, this might indicate your interest in what they say.
When the participants share a story or detailed experience, it might be

crucial for you to understand it in the context of time so that you have a
vivid description of what happens. Thus, clarification and contextual
questions, such as “Can you tell me again in chronological order what
happened?” “Where and when did this happen?” and “Can you describe in
detail what happened?” is really important.
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Clarify “vague” words

When giving responses, sometimes participants give “vague” words.
Examples of such words include, for example, “nice,” “interesting,” and
“OK,” These words need to be clarified because the meaning is not quite
explicit enough. For example, when I interviewed one participant on his
experiences of learning English in the past, he constantly described them
as ‘interesting.’ I was not clear what he meant by interesting so I asked
him further to explain what he meant by interesting. He gave me the
following answer:
Well, learning English was fun until you had to learn all the grammatical
rules and needed to talk by following those rules obediently. Once you
don’t talk that way your English was considered wrong and you are stupid.
I hate that. That really makes me nervous when I talk. I focus more on the
grammatical than what I really want to talk about. So I say interesting
because I like English but classroom English … the way English was
taught is boring.
In responding to my request for clarification about his use of the word

‘interesting,’ he went more deeply into the nature of his learning
experience. By asking him to clarify the word ‘interesting,’ I understood
better the complexities implied in his use of a simple but vague word such
as ‘interesting.’
Try not to interrupt

Try your best not to interrupt the participants when they are talking. I
know from personal experience that sometimes the participants said
something that was so intriguing that you would like to follow up
immediately because you did not want to forget it. In such cases, write
down whatever questions or key words come into your mind to be
followed up later. When interrupting the participants, you might interrupt

their train of thought and in some cultures, that might come across as rude.
Show that you are interested in what the participants are saying
When interviewing, it is important that you show that you are interested in
what the participants are saying. This can include giving non-verbal cues
such as nodding and smiles. Other than non-verbal cues, you can also give
verbal cues such as “That’s very interesting” or “Wow”, any words that
motivate the participants to share information with you.
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5.8 What kinds of transcription should I choose?

Activity 5.9
Try to interview your friends for five minutes, and then try to transcribe
the interview. Before interviewing decide on the following:
1. What gadgets are you going to use to transcribe the interview? Are
you going to use a computer? Computer software? Other tools?
2. Are you going to transcribe everything? Why or why not?
After you do the activity above, it might be clear at this point that it is
impossible to produce a transcript of a research interview that completely
captures all the meanings intended by the interviewee. Elliot (2005)
believes that the transcribing process is better understood as a
compromise. The more detailed you transcribe your interview, the more
clues you provide which might be important in the data analysis process.
However, attempting to transcribe everything is not only impossible but
also time-consuming and perhaps unnecessary. What and how much to
transcribe have much to do with the purpose of your research.
Prior to choosing the kinds of transcription you need, first you need to
know the different types of transcription available. Elliot (2005) offers
three ways of transcribing interview data:
Clean transcription
When you do a clean transcript of interview data, you only focus on the
content of the interview. It does not provide any extra information as to the
manner in which the content is communicated. Following are examples of
interview extracts that are using clean transcription:
(A)In many cases mum’s at home on her own because dad’s either out
working or out, you know, out, so there’s a mother at home with
five, six kids, now it’s very hard to have time. Who are you going to
choose to be with and you’ve got often small babies, you know,
incredibly busy people … I think reading is the last thing on their
minds really, even though I think they’re willing but it’s just not
possible.
(B)They give out books which have two languages, the Bengali at the
bottom and the English at the top. I read to them now, I think that’s
a very good idea, I wouldn’t have understood them otherwise, I
think that’s a very good idea that they are in two languages.
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(C) We have stressed that most of the help they can give their children
is talking about books, you don’t have to be able to read the book
yourself, you can ask questions, or just say “What is your book
about?”
The three excerpts show that the researchers have “tidied up” the language
because in reality people do not speak as neat as those in the excerpts. In
excerpts (A), (B), and (C), the researchers have obviously edited the
interview transcripts by adding punctuation (such as, among others,
commas, periods, and question marks.) and by omitting phrases and words
such as in excerpt (A) so that they become more accessible to the readers
or even lay persons.
Detailed transcription
You do a detailed transcription when the focus is not only on the content
of the interview but also the way the narrative is conveyed. The belief in
the way the message is conveyed contributes to the meaning of the
interview. Following are two interview excerpts using detailed
transcription:
(A)The BAD part (emphatic) [of motherhood] is that, FOR ME, is that
it brings out a side of me that I didn’t even know existed (in
regretful tone). Um (pause).
(B)And so long that this is not, I, you know, the moment that I regret
the most of today is not what I am feeding my child (Kate: yeah)
every single day. . . . I think we’re going to be OK (Kate: yeah).
You know? Uh, but, yeah it’s a hard reality to find out about
yourself that you’ll act in ways that (whispering) you don’t WANT
anybody else to know about … (Kate: right). So I don’t even
remember the question …
As you may notice in the above transcripts, the researchers capitalized the
word (e.g. BAD and FOR ME) when the interviewee put emphasis and
added the tone (E.g. in a regretful tone, whispering) in which the words
were conveyed. The researcher also transcribed the fillers (e.g. Uh, yeah,
and um).
Gee’s unit of analysis

James Gee is a sociolinguist who has worked on the structure of oral
language. In transcribing interview data, he suggests that it is important to
maintain the basic unit of discourse that organizes speech. What he means
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by the basic unit of discourse is the line. Each line is made up of a short
sequence of words comprising one ‘idea unit.’ The ends of lines are
typically marked by the speaker with a short pause and a fall in the pitch
of the voice. Using examples A and B of detailed transcription above, we
can change it using Gee’s unit analysis to become:
(A)
1. The BAD part (emphatic) [of motherhood] is that,
2. FOR ME, is that it brings out a side of me
3. that I didn’t even know existed (in regretful tone).
(B)
1. And so long that this is not, I, you know,
2. the moment that I regret the most of today is not
3. what I am feeding my child every single day. . . .
4. I think we’re going to be OK. You know?
5. Uh, but, yeah it’s a hard reality to find out about yourself
6. that you’ll act in ways that (whispering)
7. you don’t WANT anybody else to know about …
8. So I don’t even remember the question …
Elliot (2005) notes that one advantage of transcribing interview data using
Gee’s unit of analysis is by breaking the text into relatively small units. By
doing so, it focuses attention on the precise detail of what is said. A major
drawback of this type of transcription, however, is the amount of time it
takes to listen to the tape and identify the beginning and end of the line.
Therefore, Elliot advises not to use this type of analysis for the whole
interview transcript. Rather, it is generally more appropriate to use it with
short sections that you have already identified as being of specific interest
and needing particular analytic attention.
5.9 How can I analyze interview data?

The following are techniques to analyze interview data summarized from
different sources (Burns, 2010; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, & Zilber, 1998;
Riessman, 2008):
1. Turn the interview into some sort of ‘analyzeable’ form. This means:
a. If you tape-recorded the interview, you need to transcribe it.
Prior to transcribing the interview you may want to decide
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the kinds of transcription you would like to employ (See

section 5.8).
b. If you note-take the interviews, reorganize your notes so
that it is easy to read for the analysis stage of the interview.
2. Read the data several times so you can get the “feel” of what the data
says. As you read, you can take notes or highlight lines that impress
you (e.g. exciting, surprising, unexpected, etc.).
3. After you get the feel of your data, you need to decide on the themes
or categories that emerge from the data. Lieblich, Tuval-Mashich,
and Zilber (1998) describes ‘category’ or ‘theme’ as perspectives that
provide a means to classify the data. The categories can be informed
from:
a. Existing theory (See Chapter 4, section 4.7 on “Theoretical
categories”). For example, in studying the functions of
students’ silence in the classroom, the following functions
of silence from Nakane (2007, pp. 11-12) can serve as a
starting point to search the data for evidence of different
functions of silence. According to Nakane, silence can serve
the following function:
− Cognitive. Take for example, pauses, hesitation for
cognitive or language processing.
− Discursive, such as to mark the boundaries of
discourse.
− Social, which can serve:
o To negotiate and maintaining social
distance
o To impress people through pause length,
frequency and speed of talk
o To socially control the flow of interaction

with specific individuals or group of people.
o To maintain power through avoiding certain
content of verbal expression
o To negotiate power, maintain and reinforce
power relationship.
o As politeness strategies
− Affective, that is, as a means of emotion management.

b. Reading the data repeatedly and as openly as possible to
define the major themes that emerge from reading the data
(See Chapter 4, section 4.7 on “substantial categories”).
This means you read the data without having any pre-
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determined themes and allow the themes to “emerge” from

the data.
Based on my experience as an emerging researcher, you can also

determine the themes based on a combination of the two, from theory and
from the participants’ data, which I found to be most helpful. You can start
by classifying the data based on the existing theories on the topic and
remain “open-minded” about new categories that might emerge from the
data.
4. When reading the data, another important point is to decide how you
are going to read or analyze the data. This is because different types
of analysis require different types of reading.
The following are different ways of analyzing interview data found in the
literature (Elliott, 2005; Lieblich et al., 1998; McKay, 2006; Riessman,
2008)
Holistic-content Analysis
In a holistic-content analysis, you focus on the entire interview transcript
for each participant. This is most common when you have a small number
of participants, for example one (such as in autoethnographic methods) or
three. But normally, it is no more than five participants.
When you read the transcript/notes of each participant, decide on a major

theme - one or more - that you want to focus on in analyzing the data.
When you have decided on the themes you can reread the transcript and
“color-code” (Brown, 2001; Brown & Rodgers, 2002) the lines in the
interview transcript that support/are related to the major theme.
An example of holistic-content analysis can be seen from a study

conducted by Malcolm (2004). Malcom conducted a study using one
participant, Hamad. The purpose of the study was to explore Hamad’s
learning strategies to learn English over a period of time and throughout
different learning contexts. The methods of data collection were 1)
preliminary questionnaire to identify his learning strategies and 2) four
half-hour to one-hour interview sessions conducted over a two-week
period.
The major theme she decided to focus on was Hamad’s strong belief about
the role reading played in learning English. Therefore, she organized the
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data analysis and interpretation section according to the following sub-

themes:
a. Initial beliefs. In this section, Malcom wrote about how reading

played the central role in Hamad’s English language development.
In addition, she also wrote the journey of how Hamad came to
realize that reading in English was the basis of acquiring English.
b. The need to study English. In this section, Malcom explained the
different reading strategies Hamad used to learn and study English.
c. Reading as the key to learning English. In this section, Malcom
narrated the various contributions of reading for Hamad. This
included, among others, how reading increased his confidence, the
function of reading in improving other skills, and the correlation
between reading and his belief system.
d. The habit of reading. In this section, Malcom shared Hamad’s
struggle to become a good reader, including his efforts to break his
own bad habit of not wanting to read.
Notice that for each sub-theme, Malcom tried to connect with the major
theme, that is, Hamad’s strong belief in the role of reading in English
language learning. In other words, each sub-theme (a-d) contributed or
gave further information about the major theme.
Categorical content or content/thematic analysis

Other than analyzing the data holistically, another way to analyze the data
is by focusing on the contents or themes across the participants. This is
mostly called “categorical content” (Lieblich et al., 1998) or
“content/thematic analysis” (Riessman, 2008). It begins by assigning
categories to the participants’ transcripts. The categories as mentioned in
Chapter 4, can be based on substantial, theoretical or the combination of

both categories. Then separate utterances of the interview transcript are
extracted, classified, and gathered into these categories.
One example of a study using thematic analysis was conducted by

Murphey et al. (Murphey, Jin, & Li-Chi, 2004). The study aimed to
explore the social construction of learner identities and imagined
communities that can nourish English learning. The data was collected
from Language Learning History (LLH) written by 84 Japanese English
learners. Below are the eight themes that emerged from the data:
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1. Lack of imagined communities;

2. The social construction of imagined communities
3. The past’s future imagination updated by the present
4. Future communities
5. Desire to join a non-native teacher’s community
6. Riding the roller coaster
7. The impact of making friends and near peer role modeling
8. Activities leading to de-investing and dis-identifying
9. Identities as successful L2 users.
The main criticism of categorical-content analysis is that it disregards

contextual factors because it extracts parts of life stories out of the whole.
Thus, prior to assigning themes to the data, it is important to read the
whole transcript to understand the overall context.
Categorical form
Finally, categorical-form mode of analysis focuses on discrete stylistic or
linguistic characteristics of defined units of narratives. You use
categorical-form analysis when you want to learn something about the
participants that might not have been clear from analyzing content of the
transcript only.
Lieblich,Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber (1998) assert that when conducting

narrative research and interpretation, these distinctions between the
different types of analysis are not always clear-cut. They further state that
each of the four modes of analysis is related to certain types of research
questions, requires different kinds of texts, and is more appropriate for
certain sample sizes. They mention that categorical content analysis is
most useful when “the researcher is primarily interested in a problem or a
phenomena shared by a group of people” (p.12).
5.10 When should I stop analyzing the data?

Data analysis is an ongoing process that could go on forever. Lincoln and
Guba (1985) suggest researchers use four specific criteria to decide when
to stop gathering data:
1. The exhaustion of resources. This means you have no other resources

to analyze the data.
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2. Saturation of categories, which is reached at the point that

continuing data collection only produces insignificant amounts of
new information.
3. Emergence of regularities, data continually generating similar
results. This means when reading and rereading the participants’
transcripts you do not come up with new insight. Rather, it only
brings you to the same information that you have collected.
4. Over-extension, which means that new information no longer applies
to the categories that have emerged, nor does the new information
contribute to any viable new categories.
References
Allison, D. (2002). Approaching English language research. Singapore:
Singapore University Press.
Altrichter, H., Posch, P., & Somekh, B. (1993). Teachers investigate their
work: An introduction to methods of action research. Abingdon:
Routledge.
Brown, J. D. (2001). Using surveys in language programs. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Burgess, R. G. (1984). In the field. London: Allen and Unwin.
Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A
guide for practitioners. New York: Routledge.
Cohen, L., & Manion, L. (1994). Research methods in education (Fourth
edition). London: Routledge.
Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research.
Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language two. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Elliott, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research: Qualitative and
quantitative approaches. London: Sage.
Gergen, K. J. (2001). Foreword. In S. Wortham (Ed.), Narratives in
action: A strategy for research and analysis. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Hopkins, D. (1993). A teacher's guide to classroom research.
Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research:
Reading, analysis and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
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Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park:

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stories: Difference and diversity in language learning (pp. 69-82).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Murphey, T., Jin, C., & Li-Chi, C. (2004). Learners' constructions of
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Nakane, I. (2007). Silence in intercultural communication: Perceptions
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Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences.
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—. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-
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researchers in education and the social sciences (3rd ed.). New York,
NY: Teacher College Press.
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Appendix 5.1
Following are the reading texts for the think aloud research. Choose a
different reading text for each participant.
TEXT A
Early that year, I had been married for nearly two years. Although I knew I
was with the right person, I had the usual angst of a young woman who
felt she had traded her soul’s identity for a joint return. Lou and I lived in
Danville, California in a brand new two-bedroom apartment with gold
shag carpeting, a burgundy velour sofa, and a rotating variety of uncuddly
pets, including a bull snake that was an escape artist and a tarantula that
required a diet of live crickets.
TEXT B
Pete liked to argue about what was impossible to know, from conspiracies
to eternities. His philosophical meanderings depended on how much beer
he had imbibed and were often related to the intersection of philosophy
and science – the physics of infinity, say, or the ecology of ideas. He had a
particular fascination with the I Ching, that art of tossing three coins three
times and divining patterns out of heads and tails. Pete would begin with
questions: What determined the pattern? Was it random? Was it a higher
power? What is mathematical? Wasn’t poker based on mathematical
probability and not just luck? Did that mean randomness was actually
mathematical?
TEXT C
To help us pay the rent, we had a roommate, Pete, a young man who was
around our age, a bioengineering student also at Berkeley. He had pale
blond hair, an amblyopic eye, and a Wisconsin accent. We had met him
two years before when we all worked at a Round Table pizza parlor in San
Jose. We continued to work at Round Tables in Berkeley and Danville,
where we often took the closing shift and wound up sharing conversations
over after-hours pitchers of beers.
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Appendix 5.2
The following are the interview transcripts of both Ani and Titi. Both
researchers are trying to explore the participants’ perceptions toward
feedback in the classroom.
Interview transcript sample A. Ani is the interviewer and Tira is the

interviewee.
Ani: What kind of feedback do you often give in the classroom?

Tira: Usually I give written teacher feedback and then I give an overall
feedback,
Ani: What about peer feedback?
Tira: I tried peer feedback maybe a few times in Writing 4. In my opinion,
not all students were very responsible or did the job with a lot of
responsibility. Maybe they think it is something like …because it is not
graded…they did it like to have fun or they just did it as long as they did.
So their friends did not get a lot of benefit from peer feedback.
Ani: What do you mean by ‘they are not responsible’?
Tira Maybe they are not responsible because I assume they could detect
simple mistakes but they just let it go.
Ani: What do you mean by simple mistake?
Tira: like MRM…grammatical mistake or content. In content they should
have thought if the content were logical or not. but then they did not
identify the illogical content something like that…or MRM.
Ani: Do you think peer feedback is useful?
Tira: It’s useful or it should be very useful for the students because peer
feedback trained students to be more critical to what they write and later
when they write they will be more careful and more aware of the mistakes
they usually make.
Ani: So peer feedback and teacher feedback is useful?
Tira: yes, sort of.

Ani: To what extent, teacher feedback is useful to improve the students’
writing?
Tira: to what extent, it is difficult. If the feedback is very specific, it is
useful. It means the students know exactly what they have to do, but if the
feedback is general, for instance, ‘please consider the content, it is not
logical’ or we just give a…we just mark the wrong grammatical sentences,
sometimes the students could not know they could not know what to do
with the underlined phrase or words so they still repeat the same mistakes.
Ani: so when you give teacher feedback, do you try to be very specific?
Tira: Yes but that would be time-consuming especially when it is related to
language so usually I try to be specific as long as their mistakes are limited
to content but then with language, usually in writing 4, students had to
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write 3 papers. The first paper I try to be specific. Maybe I gave examples
how to combine sentences, how to combine simple sentences
Ani: Is that for individual students?
Tira: individually but then once I didn’t have time and I got so tired in
doing it so I gave examples in doing it in class. This is the original
sentence and this is what students can do but that did not really help. Only
a few students could get or understand what they should have done. And I
think that was not fair…
Ani: in terms of what?
Tira: I took the sentences from a few of the students’ works so that the
students…it seems they got a lot of help from me, so they took my
sentences in their revised drafts. And the others have to think.
Ani: so you do both teacher feedback and peer feedback?
Tira: more teacher feedback still.
Ani: Why?
Tira: Because I found …first of all they did their paper at home and we did
not allocate time for the students to do peer feedback in class. But I did
peer feedback with other classes when students have to do exercises in
class, so I asked them to do peer feedback.
Interview transcript sample B. Titi is the interviewer and Ronald is the

interviewee.
Titi: Do you like teacher feedback?

Ronald: Hmm…
Titi: I always love teacher feedback, you know. Because you kinda know
your mistakes and which parts in your writing that you can improve. What
about you?
Ronald: It was OK.
Titi: OK. What about peer feedback?
Ronald: What do you mean by peer feedback?
Titi: Peer feedback is feedback from friends, you know like your
classmates. When writing I usually ask my friends to read it … of course, I
always read it first to make sure it was good - it was OK before I ask
somebody else to read it. Then, after several times reading it, I gave it to
my friends.
Ronald: I read it myself.
Titi: O you don’t have any friends to help you to proof read your writing?
Ronald: NO
Titi: What about in the classroom?
Ronald: Yes?
Titi: Is there a peer feedback session? When the teacher gives you time for
you to exchange each other’s work … you read your friends’ writing and
your friends read yours. Is there such kind of session?
Ronald: Yes there is.
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Titi: What do you think about it?

Ronald: It’s kinda boring. Because we just exchange the writing, and
sometimes my friends did not really read it, so I ended up with a lot more
mistakes.
Titi: Can you tell me more about that?
Ronald: What?
Titi: The time when you did peer feedback in the classroom. What was the
technique, for example.
Ronald: Well the teacher just asked us to do peer feedback.
Titi: Does the teacher give you any guidance?
Ronald: No guidance at all. That’s why it’s confusing. She just asked us to
exchange our papers and give feedback. How do I know how to give
feedback to somebody else’s writing? I am still even struggling with my
own. I think peer feedback is really silly. I don’t know the purpose.
Titi: So the teacher did not give you the training on how to do peer
feedback - what you need to focus on?
Ronald: NOPE. She just asked us to exchange our papers.
Titi: How many times do you think you have experienced teacher
feedback?
Ronald: Several times
Titi: I see and all those times, you have bad experiences of peer feedback?
Ronald: Hmmmm …
Titi: …
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CHAPTER SIX
OBSERVATION
Activity 6.1
a. Describe the last time you did an observation:
− What did you observe?

− Why did you do the observation? For what purpose?
− Where and at what time did you do the observation?
− What was the nature of the observation? Was it formal? Was it
informal?
− What did you learn from the observation process?
b. Describe the last time you were being observed:
− Who observed you?

− Why did he/she observe you?
− How did you feel when being observed?
− What kinds of feedback did you get after being observed?
Activity 6.1 above shows that whether you are the one who is doing the
observation or being observed, the observation process brings effects both

for the observee as well as for the observer.
6.1 What IS the purpose of conducting an observation?

Observation is one of the most common human activities that we do every
single day. Generally, observation has three purposes, which the following
paragraphs will explain.
Observation to learn
In teacher education programs, conducting a systematic observation of a
skilled and experienced teacher helps to acquire and develop “action-
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system knowledge” (Leinhardt & Smith, 1984). According to Leinhardt

and Smith (1984), action-system knowledge refers to any information
related to teaching and learning in general. In other words, action-system
knowledge has much to do with the “how” of teaching. Day (1990, p. 43)
points out the following as the benefits of having a systematic and guided
observation for pre-service teachers:
1. To develop an understanding and provide a space for discussing

the teaching-learning process.
2. To develop an awareness of the decision-making process that
underlies effective teaching.
3. To identify techniques and practices that student-teachers can
apply to their own teaching.
Observation to describe
The purpose of this kind of observation is to provide a rich and complete
description of what happens in the classroom. When you are teaching,
sometimes, you are not aware of the complexities of what is happening.
That is why having a colleague observe can provide a descriptive account
of what happens and provide a useful learning mirror to see yourself. For
Richards and Farrell (2005), peer observation offers several benefits for
the teacher observer:
− It provides an opportunity for you to see how other teachers deals

with many of the same problems teachers generally face on a daily
basis.
− You might learn effective teaching strategies that you have never
tried or thought of before.
− It may also trigger reflections about your own teaching practices.
And, for the teacher being observed, Richards and Farrell (2005) explain
the observation account/notes can provide a relatively “objective” view of
the lesson that the teacher being observed otherwise cannot gather.
Therefore, peer observation is useful for both the observer and the
observed teacher.
The descriptive account for this kind of observation can be conducted in

two ways:
1. General account. In this kind of account, you want the observer

to write down whatever is going on when you are teaching.
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2. Specific account. In this kind of account, you ask the observer

to focus on a specific thing about your teaching that you feel
needs improvement.
Observation to evaluate
Perhaps, observation to evaluate is the most popular. At least that is the
impression that many of my participants expressed when they were
observed. Observation to evaluate, labeled in different terms such as
‘monitoring’ or ‘supervision,’ is quite common in teacher education
programs. It is often conducted by those who are considered more
experienced on those who are considered new in the field.
In research, however, observation to evaluate is not necessarily conducted

by those who are considered “more experienced”. Novice teachers can
observe a more senior teacher to assess and learn from the way she
structures her lesson or how she uses feedback, for example.
Observation to evaluate is most often highly structured. That means you

are observing someone or something against a pre-determined set of
observational categories.
Although there are various purposes of observation, in the following I will

focus primarily on classroom observation because this is the data
collection method most commonly found in a teacher-training program.
Classroom observation generally aims to describe and evaluate the
different things happening in a classroom setting.
Activity 6.2
You will view a short video-taped segment (15 minutes) of a class several
times. For each observation, you will have different roles. As you observe,
make notes in the space provided according to the purpose of the
observation.
First Observation: Observation to evaluate

Watch the segment the first time as a critical teacher who will evaluate
teacher behavior in the classroom. Write down three evaluative statements
in the lesson segment.
1.
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2.
3.
Second Observation: Observation to describe

Watch the segment for the second time as a friend of the teacher you are
about to observe. This time the purpose of the observation is to describe
what happens in the classroom. Your aim is to facilitate the teacher’s self-
reflective skill. In other words, from reading your observation notes, your
friend can learn about the way he/she teaches. Jot down three things
illustrating your understanding of what happens in the classroom with
regard to the teacher’s behavior.
1.
2.
3.
Third observation: Observation to learn

Watch the third time as a beginning EFL teacher. Suppose the teacher is an
experienced teacher who will provide a model for your teaching. Write
three things that you can learn from him/her:
1.
2.
3.
Observation in research needs to be selective and systematic. One of the

important aspects to facilitate systematic observation is to understand your
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Topic of Inquiry (ToI) as discussed earlier in Chapter 1. From Activity 6.2

above we learn that the ToI for the observation is teacher behavior.
6.2 What are the different types of observation?

Descriptive Observation or Unstructured Observation
A descriptive or unstructured observation attempts to capture what is
going on during the observer’s presence, and is especially useful when the
observer wants to capture a broad picture of a lesson rather than focus on a
particular aspect of it. The field notes made as a result of descriptive
observation are called “written ethnographies” (Day, 1990, p. 44) or
“narrative field notes” (Dornyei, 2007, p. 179).
According to Day (1990), it requires a highly trained observer to do a

competent and reliable descriptive observation. This is because first-time
observers would be overwhelmed by what is going on in the classroom.
However, like any other research skills, observation is a skill that can be
trained and improved with practice.
Although narrative field notes are supposed to be descriptive, you cannot

focus on every single thing happens in the classroom. In other words,
narrative field notes need to be selective. To help you to be selective in
your observation, it might be helpful to develop an “observational
protocol” (Dornyei, 2001, p.179). Table 6.1 below is an example of
observational protocol to explore the teacher’s use of questions in the
classroom.
Note that when filling in a descriptive observation grid as in Table 6.1,

you only write things that you can observe, instead of your impression and
feelings of what happens. This means instead of writing, “Students seems

to be very active in participating in the classroom,” you can write, “Many
students raise their hands in response to teacher questions.” Another
example of descriptive observational account taken from Day (1990, p. 45)
is
“As the class ends, six students rush up to the teacher to talk to her, four
begin talking to each other in their first language, and six move slowly to
the door, attempting to use English.”
The above written ethnography is more observable rather than writing,

“The class ends in confusion with a lot of talking.”
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Table 6.1: A descriptive observation protocol for teacher’s questions
Descriptive observation protocol
Name of course: Reading 1 Name of instructor: Ms. Lida

Class time: from 11.00 to 12.30 Total number of students: 50
Class length: 90 minutes
Teacher use of question Time of Students’ behavior

occurrence
How are you today? 8.05 Most answers “I’m fine”;
some are still busy taking
out their books.
So, what did we learn last 8.15 Silence
week?? Anybody still
remember?
Anybody?
Etc.
Activity 6.3
Read the following observational account. Put a check mark (√) when the
accounts are descriptive and a cross (X) when they are not.
1. (…….) Students did not seem to understand the teacher’s

instruction.
2. (…….) The teacher started the class by saying “How are you
today?” and “Did you do the homework?” Then she took the
attendance list out.

3. (…….) The teacher used a picture for the word ‘car’ when
teaching vocabulary.
4. (…….) Most of the time the questions came from students sitting
in the front row.
5. (…….) Students were very active in responding to the teacher’s
questions.
6. (…….) When using the contract system, the students were more
focused on their tasks, and the teacher was able to move around,
helping individual students or groups.
7. (…….) Students seemed to have trouble in doing the activities.
8. (…….) The teacher started the class by explaining the topic of
today’s lesson and then wrote it on the board.
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9. (…….) When the teacher assigned students to work in groups, I

(the observer) noticed that this generated a great deal of interest and
a high degree of individual student participation.
10. (…….) The teacher was very confident in her teaching. However,
when she was unable to use the AVA in the classroom, this seemed
to affect her confidence level.
Because descriptive observation can be overwhelming for novice

researcher, Dornyei (2007) recommends the researcher to conduct a pilot
observation. A pilot observation can be useful in two ways. First, it gives
you an opportunity to evaluate the observation protocol you have
developed. For example, you have developed an observation protocol
focusing on the teacher’s use of the students’ mother tongue. When
conducting a pilot observation, you may indeed check if the teacher really
uses the students’ mother tongue in the classroom. Second, piloting the
observation protocol will give you practice to fill in the observation
protocol. During the actual observation, naturally there are many things
happening in the classroom simultaneously. Thus, having a piloted
observation will give you the chance to learn to note down or capture the
kind of data you need for your study.
Evaluative or Structured Observation

When conducting both evaluative and descriptive observation, you come
to the classroom with a specific observation focus. However, the kinds of
data or information you note down in an evaluative observation are
different from the ones in descriptive observation. In a descriptive
observation, your purpose is to illustrate what happens in the classroom in
a descriptive manner. By contrast, in an evaluative observation, your aim
is to illustrate what happens in the classroom against a set of
predetermined criteria. In other words, evaluative observation contains, to

some extent, a judgment.
Similar to designing any qualitative instruments, when designing an

observation protocol it is important to have organizational categories (See
Chapter 4 on Open-ended questionnaire). Organizational categories will
give focuses to the observation process. It will also prevent you from
becoming easily distracted by the many things happening in the classroom.
Dornyei (2007, p. 180) identifies two types of evaluative observation
protocol:
(a) An event-sampling protocol. In an event-sampling protocol, you
write a tally mark in the organizational categories. At the end of the
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observation, an event-sampling protocol gives an accurate description

of the total frequency of the events or procedures observed.
One example of an event sampling protocol below is the one adapted from
Yucel’s (2000) to investigate teacher error correction strategies in the
classroom, as written in Table 6.1 below. The organizational categories
would be the type of correction strategies the teacher uses in the classroom.
Table 6.2: An event-sampling protocol for teacher error correction

strategies in the classroom
Observation protocol
Name of course: Name of instructor:

Class time: from to Total number of students:
Class length: minutes
No Teacher Examples In-class

correction occurrences %
strategies
1. Negation Don’t say go, say went.
2. Repetition I went to the cinema
with change
3. Prompt Yesterday, I …
4. Explanation Go is the present tense. You
need the past tense here.
5. Question What is the second word?
What is the correct tense here?
6. Transfer Students? (Class helps to give

answer)
7. Disapproval Shaking head
8. Repeat (explicit) Please repeat the sentence;
Could you say that again?
9. Repeat (implicit) What?
10. Altered question Again, where did you go?
11. Provide and When you went to the cinema,
expand did you have a good time?
(b) A time-sampling protocol. In a time-sampling protocol, data is

recorded at a fixed interval, most often in time periods (e.g. every 30
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seconds, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes) depending on the topic being

observed.
Dornyei (2007) explains when observing using a time-sampling protocol,

you note what is happening on the stroke of the interval or chart what has
happened. Different from an event-sampling protocol, a time-sampling
protocol does not focus on the frequency of occurrence of the topic.
Rather, it gives a “chronological representation” (Dornyei, 2007, p.180) of
the topic. At the end of the observation, you will have a general idea of the
distribution of the particular phenomenon throughout the class.
Table 6.3 below gives an example of the use of a time-sampling protocol

for teacher error correction strategies in a grammar class. The class lasts
for 120 minutes, and at the time of the observation, the topic of the lesson
is teaching the past tense.
Table 6.3: A time-sampling protocol for teacher error correction

strategies in the classroom
Observation Protocol
Name of course: Intermediate grammar Name of instructor: Mr. Alex Lee

Class time: 8.00- 10.00 AM Topic: Teaching past tense
Class time: 120 minutes Total number of students: 35
Type of Examples of use Notes*

Time correction
strategies
8.00- Question; “So for past tense, we
8.10 Explanation need to use …..?”

8.10- Question; “So for past tense, we
8.20 Explanation need to add what?”
8.20-
8.30
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8.30- Negation; No no not that. Write is

8.40 Explanation; in the present tense. What
Question; is the past tense for
Transfer write? Anybody?
8.40- Question; Excellent. So go becomes Teacher also
8.50 Explanation; what in the past tense? praises or
prompt Remember ‘go’ is an validates a
irregular verb, so in the student
past tense it becomes … answer by
saying
‘excellent.’
8.50- Negation; prompt No no not goed. Go
9.00 becomes …
9.00-
9.10
9.10- Repeat; Question; Very good. So please Teacher also
9.20 Prompt repeat again: Go went. praises the
What is the past perfect student by
form of went? Go went saying very
… good.
9.20-
9.30
9.30- Negation; No [shaking heads]. Can
9.40 Disapproval; anybody help him? What
Transfer; is the past tense of
Question become?
9.40-
9.50
9.50-
10.00
*Notes: The ‘notes’ column provides you with space to note down any interesting
events or occurrences that might not relate to your organizational categories (in
this example, types of teacher correction strategies) but might be useful for data
analysis.
From Table 6.3 above, the kinds of teacher correction strategies used
within the 120 minutes of the Intermediate Grammar class can be seen.
You can see how often the teacher gives correction as well as the actual
words he used when giving the correction. These types of data might not
be captured if you develop an event-sampling protocol.
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Activity 6.4
From Table 6.3, what kinds of conclusion can you draw with regard to
teacher correction strategies in the Intermediate Grammar class?
Since evaluative observation may fail to show all aspects of classroom life,
Dornyei (2007) advises researchers to combine evaluative observation
with other kinds of data collection methods such as interviews or open-
ended questionnaires, which provide data that cannot be accessed through
observation.
Activity 6.5
Analyze the data of compliment and compliment responses in Appendix

6.1 gathered through observation and participant observation. If needed,
Table 6.4 below gives organizational categories of compliment responses.
Table 6.4: Categorization of Compliment Responses
No Compliment Response Example

Type Subtype
1. Acceptance Ritual ‘thank you’ (i.e. “Thank you”; “I think so,
agreement with no further too”; “I’m glad you like
elaboration) it”
2. Positive Account
Elaboration History “I bought it at Macy’s”;
Positive comment “Red is my favorite
Effort color”;
Return of compliment “I worked hard on the
project”
“I like yours, too.”
3. Neutral Seeking confirmation or “Really?”; “Do you think
Elaboration shift of credit so?”; “My assistant
selected them.”
4. Negative Downgrading “The house is a bit too
Elaboration Duty or responsibility small for us”;
Need for improvement “It’s my responsibility”;
“It still needs a lot of
improvement.”
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5. Denial No “No, not at all”;

Negative opinion “No, it is ugly.”
6. Smiling Non-verbal expression of
(laughing) embarrassment without
any verbal response
7. No No indication of having
response heard of the compliment
(Following Chiang & Pochtrager, 1993)
Participant Observation and non-participant observation

In a participant-observation, the researcher becomes a full member of the
group being observed (Dornyei, 2007; McKay, 2006). This means you
take part in all the activities happening in the classroom such as group
work, actively answering questions, and/or in role play. By contrast, you
as the researcher are a non-participant when you participate minimally in
the research setting.
Of course each type of observation has its own advantages and

disadvantages. By fully participating in the activities when observing, you
might loose insight and focus on what is happening. In addition, you might
not be able to observe fully what all the participants are doing because you
might focus on the activities at hand. However, by being involved in the
activities your participants are doing, you might develop a sense of what
being a participant in the research settings feels like. This feeling might be
missing if you conduct a non-participant type of observation.
6.3 What do I need to know to develop organizational

categories for observation?
A common feature shared by the different types of observation is

organizational categories. This means all types of observation need to have
some types of organizational categories to serve as a guideline for the
observation process. In Chapter 4, we have learned about organizational
categories for an open-ended questionnaire, which are somewhat similar to
interviews. The big question is to what extent organizational categories for
an observation is similar to or different from the ones use in open-ended
questionnaires as well as interviews.
Because the classroom is a very dynamic and complex setting where

different occurrences and interactions happen simultaneously, the range
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and kinds of organizational categories in observation can be broad and

varied, according to the purpose of the research.
The only criterion for the organizational categories developed for an

observation is that they need to be observable happenings. According to
Dornyei (2007, pp. 180-181), organizational categories for an observation
can be divided into:
(a) A low-inference category. You do a low-reference category when the

organizational categories are so straightforward that you can be
assured of perfect reliability when recording the focus of observation.
(b) A high-inference category. A high inference organizational category
calls for some judgment about the function or the meaning of the
focus of observation. For examples of a high-inference category, see
the types of correction strategies in Tables 6.1 and 6.2.
Activity 6.6
Read the following organizational categories and decide whether they are
low-inference (LI) or high-inference (HI).
1. (…….) Teacher’s use of questions in the classroom.

2. (…….) The classroom discourse patterns: IRE (Initiation,
Response, Evaluation) or IRF (Initiation Response Feedback).
3. (…….) Teacher’s use of the blackboard.
4. (…….) The number of student-asked questions in the classroom.
5. (…….) The kinds of feedback used by the teacher in the
classroom.
6. (…….) The number of times students initiate questions in the
classroom.
7. (…….) Learning arrangement in the classroom (e.g. whole-class
teaching, individual work, pair work, and group work).
8. (…….) Teacher waiting time.
9. (…….) The purpose of the teacher’s lectures.
10. (…….) Students’ use of mother tongue in group work.
6.4 What can be the focus of classroom observation?

Mackey and Gass (2005) point out that although organizational categories
for observation may vary, there are some common elements that
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organizational categories can focus on. Those elements can include one or
a combination of the following:
(a) The teachers. Observation focusing on the teacher can be narrowed

down into, for example:
− Teacher‘s talk, which include topics such as the teacher’s use of
questions, teachers’ feedback, teacher’s use of humor, teacher’s
narratives, teacher’s use of students’ mother tongue(s), and
classroom discourse.
− Teacher’s teaching behavior such as the use of space, classroom
management procedure, and the teacher’s use of the blackboard.
A well-known observation focusing on describing the teacher is the one

adapted from Brown (1975, p. 67):
− The functions of teacher lectures: to describe, explain, narrate, and

direct.
− The focuses of teacher questions: content or procedure.
− The different ways the teacher responds:
Accepts feelings of the class: describing past feelings and
future feelings in a non-threatening way.
Praises, providing encouragement.
Cracking jokes with pupils.
Accepts or uses pupils’ ideas such as building upon pupil
responses.
Uses mild criticism such as “no, not quite.”
Other focuses can be seen in:

− Grouping arrangement teachers utilize in the classroom (Richards

& Lockhart, 1996, pp. 146-147), such as:
Whole-class teaching: The teacher leads the whole class
through a learning task.
Individual work: Each student works individually on a task
without interacting with his peers or the teacher.
Pair work: Students work in pairs to complete a task.
Group work: Students work in groups on learning and
completing a task.
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− Types of language learning activities (Richards & Lockhart, 1996,

pp. 163-166):
Presentation activities: These are tasks in which new
learning materials are presented for the first time.
Practice activities: These are tasks which involve
performance or learning of an item that has been previously
presented.
Memorization activities: These are tasks that involve
memorization of information or learning material.
Comprehension activities: These are tasks that require
students to develop or demonstrate their understanding of
written or spoken texts.
Application activities: These are defined as tasks which
require learners to creatively use knowledge or skills that
have been previously presented or practiced.
Strategy activities: These are tasks that develop particular
learning strategies and approaches to learning.
Affective activities: These include tasks which have no
specific language learning goal but are intended to explore
or address students’ feelings and emotions.
(b) The students, which can include the way students use silence, the
way roles are distributed in group work, student-talk
initiation/response, the way students interact and so on.
(c) The context, which includes topics such as classroom layout, the
teaching aids available and so on.
Activity 6.7
Read the following texts taken from classroom discourse scripts. In

groups:
1. Decide the possible focus(es) of observation (as mentioned in

section 6.4) for each text.
2. Narrow the observational categories to develop observational
protocol.
3. Decide on the types of observational protocol you can develop for
each text.
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Text A (Adapted from Zacharias, 2006, p. 66)
T: Everyone here? Ok, today we are going to learn about the Simple Past
Tense. Yes. Open your book to page 83…got it? Titik, read the sentences
there.
Titik: Toni went to school yesterday. Mother went to the Market last
Sunday.
T: Good. Now based on those examples, when do we use the simple past
tense? Anybody?
Ss: [silence]
T: Yes, Toni?
Toni: Past
T: Past what?
Toni: Action.
T: Very good. Yes. So we use the simple past tense to talk about past
action. Okay now write three things you did this morning before you came
to class.
T: Now, anybody want to share their answers? What did you do before you
came to class today? Anybody? Hands up!
Roni: Eating.
T: Give me a complete sentence, please.
Roni: I eating.
T: You what?
Roni: Mmm I am eating?
T: Okay, can anybody help Roni? What tense will you use?
Ss: Simple past tense
T: Good. So what is the simple past tense of eating? Tina
Tina: Ate.
T: Yes… ate. So Roni … say your sentence again
Roni: I ate food.
T: Yes you ate your breakfast this morning. Very good.
Text B (Adapted from Zacharias, 2006, p. 67)
T: When you choose a book, how do you know if this book is interesting or
not?
Monica: See the pictures.
T: What pictures? In the book?
Monica: On the cover.
T: Yes. Good That’s one thing. So we look at the pictures. What else?
Andi: The title.
T: Yes, of course read the title. Only that? Are there others things?
Ss: ….
T: Do you read books in your mother tongue?
Ss: [nodding]
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T: Of course. So try to remember, when you read in Bahasa Indonesia and

after you have seen the picture and read the title you still don’t know if the
book is going to be interesting or not … then what do you do?
Tina: I read the summary
T: The summary hmmm yes… where can you find the summary?
Tina: At the back of the book.
T: Well done. Anything else? OK now let’s continue to the next activity
then.
Text C (Adapted from Zacharias, 2006, p. 128)
T: Today we are going to learn a new kind of reading. It is called jigsaw

reading.
S1: Jig .. what?
T: Jigsaw reading. Let me write it on the board.
S2: Is the meaning of jigsaw like the play thing, Miss?
T: Yes… it is related. Good. You are aware of that. Do you like it?
Ss: [nodding]
T: Ok, so what you need to do is I am going to put you in a group of five
students. Then I am going to give each of you a paragraph of a reading
text. Read the paragraph that you get and try to understand it.
S3: What if there are words that we don’t understand?
T: You do not need to understand every single word in the paragraph but
try to understand what it is about. I will give you ten minutes for this.
S4: Ten minutes?
T: Yes ten minutes. And then each of you is supposed to tell your friend
about your paragraph You can even ask questions. But you are not allowed
to show your paragraph to your friend. After each of you has explained
about the paragraph that you have, you have to put the paragraph in order
so that it becomes one good coherent text.
S5: Can we write?
T: Write what?
S5: Write the topic of the paragraph

T: Yes you could. The only thing you cannot do is show your paragraph to
your friend.
S6: What is coherent?
T: Coherent means flowing smoothly. So the … the paragraph I mean the
texts should be well connected from one paragraph to the next.
S6: Smoothly?
T: Read well. Easy to read. Clear?
S6: [nodding]
S7: How much time do we have for the whole process Miss?
T: Ok good question. The first phase which you read and understand the
text …. mmm …. I think …should last no more than ten minutes. Then, the
next phase in which you tell the others about your paragraph…mmm….
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What about twenty minutes for that? And then, the third phase where you
order the paragraph is another ten minutes.
S3: When can we ask questions?
T: You can ask questions in phase two. OK? Finally … the last
phase….phase four I want one representative… from …
S8: Repre…. What is that?
T: Representative… one person…. one student from each group to read the
complete text. Clear? So … now it is nine fifteen… the whole process
needs about …mmmm
S6: Forty, Miss…
T: Yes thank you … I am rather slow with numbers these days …O..I am
getting old…
Ss: [laugh]
T: Ok… so forty… so by around ten.. I hope all groups have finished…
S5: Ten o’clock sharp?
T: Yes… let’s make it ten o’clock sharp. Ok you can start now…. What are
you waiting for… you can start now … we don’t have much time ….
S9: But you haven’t given us the texts Mam…
T: Right… where’s my mind?! Here you go…
Although in the actual observational process, you do not have the luxury
to sit in the classroom you are about to observe, the activity above
underlines the importance of sitting in the class you are about to observe
so that you can develop a more suitable observational protocol.
6.4 What do I need to prepare to conduct an observation?

There are several things you need to pay attention to when doing an
observation, as summarized from different sources below (Day, 1990;
Dornyei, 2007; Nunan, 1992; Richards & Lockhart, 1996):
1. Pick strategic seating. Strategic seating allows you the widest

possible view of the entire classroom so that you can write a detailed
observation account.
2. Prepare your equipment. This includes tape- or video-recorder or a
good supply of paper and pens, and also, if needed, a watch to keep
track of the time as the observation progresses. If you are using a
digital recorder, do not forget to bring extra batteries.
3. Prepare you observation protocol. Whether you are going to do a
descriptive or evaluative type of observation, you need to make sure
your observation protocol is well-prepared. This means the
observation protocol has been piloted prior to being used for
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collecting data and that you have trained yourself on how to fill it
out.
6.5 How do i record my observational data?

Another important thing to think about when conducting an observation is
how you are going to record your observational data. Wallace (1998, pp.
106-107) suggests the following:
1. Real-time observation. In a real-time observation, you analyze the

data at the same time you are doing the observation without using
any electronic means to recall the data. This can be done by
developing observational protocol or taking notes.
2. Audio-taping. You audio-tape the classroom by using a portable
cassette/digital recorder. In doing so, the placing of the tape recorder
is vital. You need to know who is the focus of the observation. Make
sure you try it out so that you can capture the sound optimally.
However, it might be hard to capture all the voices in a large
classroom. Using a small digital recorder, of course, is more effective
in one-to-one teaching situations as well as in a small group work. In
addition to providing classroom data, audio-taping a classroom event
can also be exploited for teaching purposes later on.
3. Video-taping. Compared to all three methods, video-taping a
classroom is considered the most intrusive. The benefits of video-
taping your observation is that you can capture data that cannot be
captured in real-time or audio-taping. Data such as paralinguistic or
contextual features (e.g. facial expression, movement, gestures and
so on). Although in video-taped observation, you seem to be able to
capture more data, all video-taping is selective, that is, you cannot
capture everything.
6.6 How do I analyze my observational data?

Similar to any qualitative data, observational data can be analyzed both
quantitatively and qualitatively depending on the kinds of observation. For
an evaluative observation where you develop a stricter observational
protocol, data collected through this kind of observation tends to be
analyzed quantitatively. This means you count the frequency of
occurrences of your topic (see Table 6.2).
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Data collected through a descriptive observation, by contrast, is usually

analyzed qualitatively. This means you can find themes commonly
distributed across your observation protocol. There is also a possibility for
this kind of data to be analyzed quantitatively such as in data collected in
Tables 6.1 and 6.3.
References
Brown, G. (1975). Microteaching. New York: Methuen.
Chiang, B., & Pochtrager, F. (1993). A pilot study of compliment
responses of American-born English speakers and Chinese-born
English speakers (Publication., from ERIC_NO:ED356649:
Day, R. (1990). Teacher observation in second language teacher
education. In J. C. Richards & D. Nunan (Eds.), Second language
teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Leinhardt, G., & Smith, D. (1984). Expertise in mathematics instruction:
Subject matter knowledge. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of
the American Educational Research Association.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2005). Second language research:
Methodology and design. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge:
Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for
language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge:

Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (1996). Reflective teaching in second
language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wallace, M. J. (1998). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge:
Yucel, S. (2000). Snapshots of classroom interaction: Teacher questioning
behavior and error correction strategies. In S. Tuzel-Koymen & E.
Kortan (Eds.), Interaction on the threshold of a new millenium (pp.
144-154). Ankara: Middle Eastern University.
Zacharias, N. T. (2006). Discourse analysis made easy. Salatiga,
Indonesia: Widya Sari Press.
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Appendix 6.1
Context: Classroom. It was very hot today. I came early so that I could see
how the students interacted before the class started. I wanted to see if there
was a case of complimenting. When I came, I saw one student had already
come. She was sitting near the teacher’s desk, doing something with her
laptop. The seats were arranged in a circle. There were fifteen seats in the
class. I sat near the window next to my friend, June [an American in her
thirties]. June and I were classmates. We had only known each other for
two weeks.
1.
June: I like your blouse.
H: Really? Thanks
June: Is that from Indonesia?
H: No.
June: Where then?
H: Guess!
June: Here?
H: No! It’s from Singapore.
Around ten minutes later, Susi [Indonesian, mid thirties] entered the room.
She sat at a chair across from me. She smiled at me. May [an American,
forties] said:
2.
May: I love your shoes.
Susi: Thanks [smiling].
Context: C & T lunch, Folger Hall, at the lunch table

The place was crowded. Some people were chatting, and others were
already sitting at the round table. The atmosphere was friendly and
relaxed.
As my friends and I entered, we saw one of our teachers, Anna [American,

fifties]. We, Lee [Taiwanese, thirties] approached her and greeted her.
3.
Anna: Hi! So good to see you two. How are you?
Lee & H: Good [smile]
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Anna: X [mentioning the name of my friend] I have been meaning to tell

you. You have done an amazing job as my assistant. If I may I would like
to use you again.
Lee: Sure. Just let me know
Anna: You taking any classes this summer?
H: yes I am taking two.
Lee: I am taking only one class.
[one of the teachers then said we had to take a seat because we were going
to start.]
Anna: Ok I guess we need to get to our seats now.
I was looking around to find where to sit, and I saw some of my friends
from previous classes. I approached them. There were already four people
sitting at the table. I sat next to Sarah [American, early fifties]
4.
H: Somebody sitting here?
Sarah: You are. What a nice hat!
H: Thanks. It’s IUP see [pointing to the logo on the hat]. Perhaps I need to
take it off since I wanna get something to eat.
Apple: Thai, early thirties; Carol: American, late forties.

Context: at the lunch table. People are busy enjoying their lunch.
5.
Apple: So have you decided your supervisor?
Carol: Yes. I am going to go with Dr. M [pseudonym]. How is he?
Apple: Good. He told me you wrote the paper for discourse analysis class.
He said it was very good.
Carol: Thanks. I was researching a science article between nurses/patients.

Apple: I have to read it.
H: Wow, that seems interesting.
Carol: Yea.
Still at the same lunch table
6.
Carol: American, fifties; Lee: Taiwanese; Sandra: American, late thirties
Carol: So you used to teach children in Taiwanese?
Lee: I never thought you guys were 10 years old.
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Carol: That was pretty good what you did in the class. You are really good
with the computer.
Lee: [smile]
Sandra: I am not sure if we can really be 10 years old, but that was fun…
Sarah: What’s that?
Carol: We were talking about the class we just had. Second language
teaching. XX [name of the professor] asked us to do a kind of teaching
demonstration and X here [point to X] did a very good job. He asked us to
be 10 year olds and did a really good job with the computer job.
Sandra: … which will take me forever to do
Lee: For me the computer part is easy. I could help you if you have
computer problems
Carol: Oh you are so kind.
Lee: [smile]
After the dinner party F1 approached me and showed the handout we are
going to use for class presentation on Thursday. Susi and I have been
friends since we got to the United States. We also used to live in the same
apartment.
7.
Susi: Indonesian, mid thirties
Susi: Mbak, aku tadi aku ke kantornya Dr. L. [I went to Dr. L’s office]
H: O ya? Marah? [Really? Was he mad?]
Susi: Nggak kok dia malah bilang kalau presentasi kita nanti bakalan
yang paling bagus [showing the handout she has compiled from her
handout and mine] [No he even thinks that our presentation will be the
best].
H: wah handoutnya bagus. Apik tenan. [Wow the handouts are really
good… really good].

Susi: Aku kasih foto lho dibelakang [I put our pictures on the back]
H: wahh.. I look fat. Tapi apik kok. Thanks ya. Really good job. [it was
really good]
Susi: [laugh] sorry
Susi and I were having a conversation. We were standing near our lunch
table when Lee approached.
8.
Susi: Mbak aku masih bingung nih gimana caranya masukin video di
power point. [I really don’t know how to put the video in the power point].
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H: wah kebetulan itu ada temenku aku tanyain ya [waving at Lee]. [Don’t
worry. I will ask my friend].
H: X this is my friend, Y. She is also from Indonesia. I was telling her that
you were really great with computers.
Lee: [smiling]
Susi: yea…she told me you did a good job in the second language teaching
class. Would you mind helping me … how to put the video in? I don’t
know to put the video from U-tube into my presentation …
Lee: just let me know if you have computer problems and I’ll help you.
Susi: Ok, I’ll let you know.
Context: On my way back, Tony approaches looking excited.
9.
Tony: Indonesian, mid twenties
Tony: Mbak tau nggak? Aku dapat A ini dari Dr. Q. [Do you know that I
got A from Dr. Q?]
H: Wah hebat. [that’s great] Congratulations. Hebat bener. [really great]
Tony: Aku seneng banget. Nggak ngeri kok dia seperti yang dibilang
orang2. Asal kita persiapan. Pasti Oke. [I was very thrilled. He was not as
scary as people said. The important thing is that we are prepared].
H: Wah hebat bener. Berarti A semua dong selama ini… ceilee [wow you
are really great. You got all As].
Tony: [laugh] aku padahal udah takut banget sebelum ambil kelas dia.
Tapi yang penting kan kita baca and persiapan. Dia email aku papernya
terus dikasih A. Wah seneng and lega banget rasanya. [I was really afraid
of him at first but the important thing is that we read and are prepared. He
emailed me the paper, and he gave me an A. I am so very happy].
Context: hanging around at Lee’s house while killing time before going to
Dr. Rafoth’s house. Lee’s apartment is small but very comfortable. There
are a lot of snacks on the table. Lee said that those were the snacks that his
wife [Lucy: Taiwanese, thirties] brought from Taiwan. Other than the
snacks, there were also watermelon and banana. When we arrived, Lee’s
wife greeted us. Alice [an American, mid forties] was already there. Other
than Lee, I was coming with Olga [Kazak, forties].
10.
Olga: I love your apartment.
Alice: It’s smaller than mine but nice.
Lucy: cheap.
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Lucy made drinks for us.
11.
Alice: What a nice haircut. You got it here?
Lucy: In Taiwan [smile]
To Shim [Korean, late thirties] came. She said sorry because she was late.
12.
Alice: What a cute skirt!
To Shim: I am not feeling well, you know. I feel cold, and that’s why I am
wearing three shirts – look! [She shows the three shirts she is wearing
underneath her jacket].
Context: Ben’s house
Context: Waiting in line to get dinner. There was a long line. People were
chatting while they were waiting.
Participants: H & Susi
13.
H: Antingmu bagus.
Susi: [smile] dikasih orang nih [touching one of her earrings]
H: apik kok…
H: Nice earrings.
Susi: [smile] Someone gave them to me. [touching one of her earrings]
H: very nice.
Context: eating dinner, sitting on a couch

Michiko: Japanese, mid twenties
14.
Michiko: [touching Susi’s skirt] I love your skirt. From Indonesia?
Susi: Yea
H: Thank you [all laugh]
Michiko: Why do you say thank you? She should be the one who says
thank you. [indicating Susi]
H: Because you said something good about Indonesia [all laughed]
Teddy: American, fifties
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Conversation between: Lee, H, Carol, and Tony

Context: small talk after dinner
[I signaled Tony to come and join the group]
15.
Tony: What’s up?
H: They want to hear about your tsunami experience [M2 looked surprise..
smile]
Carol: My husband teaches science at school, and he often talks about the
tsunami. We want to send the video to you.
Tony: I have a better video of the tsunami. You can really see when it was
happening - the wave big wave [showing with his hand how big the waves
are]
Teddy: I have the video … I even have a picture from the satellite before
and after… so horrible.
Carol: He wants to know your story
Tony: I’m not good at telling stories.
Carol: O yes you are.
Teddy: [laughing] It was Sunday, so I was still sleeping, but at around 8
there was this earthquake. Not many people died from the earthquake -
nobody but one or two from some building that had collapsed. Not many
died. I thought shit what happened.
Teddy: You live with your family?
Tony: No, I live alone. My family lives in another town. I could not open
the door. I had locked the door before going to sleep, so I jumped out of
the window. [using his hand to show that he had jumped out of the
window] [laugh] I wasn’t wearing clothes, just shorts [laugh]. I went out
from the window. Then the earthquake stopped, so I went back in to get
T-shirt [laugh]. I took my motorcycle… I wanted to see what had
happened outside you know … some buildings had collapsed, and I

wanted to see if anybody needed help, so I took my motorcycle. Some
building collapsed suddenly. I heard the sound of water from everywhere –
there, there, everywhere. I was confused and didn’t know where to go
because I could see water everywhere.
Teddy: Then what do you do?
Tony: I left my motorcycle. [laugh] I just left it there. I ran and found a
three story building. I climbed and stayed up there.
Carol: I cannot imagine. It must have been really messy.
Tony: Just imagine … buildings, dead bodies, debris, dead animals - it was
horrible! [laugh]
Carol: oh my…
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Teddy: How many people died?

Tony: Three hundred thousand… the paper said about two hundred
thousand. I think it was more because during the first phase of the tsunami,
bodies were washed out to the sea. Many people died during the first
phase.
Carol: You told a good story.
Teddy: O yes!
Tony: Did I? [laugh]
Teddy: Yes you did!
Context: Lee was driving me home. We needed to make a U-turn, and the
space was really narrow.
16.
Lee: [able to make a U-turn, speaking to himself] Good job!
H: Right! Good job.
Lee: smile.
Context: Giant Eagle Dept. Store. Indiana. I was walking towards the food
section while looking at the chips rack.
17.
A stranger: Your hat is beautiful [talking from behind]
H:Thank you.
A stranger: I hope I didn’t scare you.
H:Oh no.
A Stranger: And you’re pretty, too.
H: Thank you.
A stranger: Ok, stop the flattery! [smile and walk away]
Context: Laundromat. I was doing my laundry. A stranger [American,

female, twenties] entered with a baby.
18.
H: What a cute baby!
Stranger: Thank you.
H: How old is she?
Stranger: Five months [smile].
Context: Classroom. It was very hot today. The class started at 1 PM. I
deliberately arrived 15 minutes early so that I could observe the students’
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interactions before the class started. I sat next to Alice. As usual, she was
busy with her laptop, finding today’s reading materials on her laptop.
19.
Alice: I love your sweater.
H: Thank you.
Alice: New?
H: no. I have had it for a while
Alice: Hmm I’ve never seen it.
[Olga approached us]
20.
Olga: Can I borrow your computer? Remember the computer I ordered
online? I had problems with that.
Alice: What do you mean?
Olga: This stupid guy did not place my order. So now I need to reorder it..
Alice: O I love your pants!
Olga: Thanks. May I?
Alice: Sure, here [moving the computer for Olga to use].
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Copyright © 2012. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. All rights reserved.

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative Research Methods for Second Language Education: A Coursebook,

This book first published 2012

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Copyright © 2012 by Nugrahenny T. Zacharias

ISBN (10): 1-4438-3505-6, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3505-3

Acknowledgements ................................................................................... vii

Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 19

Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 47

3.1 What is a research question?

Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 65

Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 97

Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 133

6.2 What are the different types of observation?

Several people have knowingly and unknowingly contributed to the

Above all, I would like to dedicate this book to my students in my

All mistakes and errors in this book are entirely mine.

Qualitative Research Methods for Second Language Education: A

As I personally believe that one learns about research by doing research

Although it is intended for a pre-service teacher education program, the

book can also be used in any second language education programs. It is

Figure 1: Word association for ‘research’

No Categories Examples of words

4. Answer the following question with regard to your categorization

Endless Sometimes painful

Combine your group’s word association with those of the Hawaiian

Experiments Experts Quantitative Literature Findings

Table 1.1 : Examples of fuzzy categorization

No Categories Examples of words

Table 1.2 : Examples of self-explanatory categorization

No Categories Examples of words

2. Methods of data collection observation, interview

3. Components in a research literature review, findings, analysis,

Second, when analyzing the data qualitatively, do not attempt to

Complete the short survey in Appendix A at the end of this section.

1.1 What is research?

Below are a few definitions I collected from different sources aiming to

No Nature Result Components Role of

1.2 Why do research?

Share with your friends:

There are several reasons why people do research:

Conducting research to gain knowledge is most often conducted by

Finding the Effectiveness of Doing an Activity

In other words, the contribution of research to teaching is not by giving a

Evaluating Existing Knowledge

different context of the study. The purpose of this kind of study is to

1. I did research last semester in the Introduction to Language

2. I did research just a week ago. It was about how to thicken my

3. My research was about the influence of culture on education. My

4. My last research was about deciding which shampoo that I should

5. The last time I did my research was someday before SIASAT (a

1.3 What are the types of research?

qualitative research. To put it simply, quantitative research deals with

In quantitative study, data is usually analyzed using computer software

Table 1.3 below gives a summary of the differences between qualitative