FOREIGN LANGUAGES COLLEGE-DNU Name:

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Class: Date of Testing:

END- TERM TEST ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (sample)

Time limit: 50 minutes

Score Examiner 1 Examiner 2 Invigilator 1 Invigilator 2

1. You have identified the problem of your study as mentioned below:

The difficulties in learning Reading skills experienced by 1st year students
1) Write the title for the research with the following topic/problem of study:
2) Write the aims and objectives of the study for this research
3) Write the research questions for this research (at least 3 questions)

2. List two primary sources and two secondary sources that a literature can include.

Primary sources Secondary sources

3. Provide a brief definition for each of the following terms (only two lines in the space provided in the
boxes below.

Term Definition
Reliability ………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Validity ………………………………………………………………………………………….
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How to ensure the reliability and validity of the data collection and data analysis?
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Validity
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4. Write the details of the following sources in order in a list of references

1. For a book:
Name of author: Joan Bybee & Suzanne Fleischman
Year of publication: 1992
Title of publication: Modality in Grammar and Discourse
Place of publication: Amsterdam/ Philadelphia
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Name of author: Ken Hyland
Year of publication: 1998
Title of publication: Hedging in Scientific Articles
Place of publication: Amsterdams / Philadelphia. 10
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2. For a journal article:
Name of author: Ross William Back
Year of publication: 1992
Title of publication: Epistemological Fundamentals: Knowledge by Acquaintance and Spontaneous
Communication
Title of journal: Journal of Pragmatics
Volume number: 17
Issue number:
Page number: 447-454
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Name of author: Irena Bellert
Year of publication: 1977
Title of publication: On Semantic and Distributional Properties of Sentential Adverbs
Title of journal: Linguistic Inquiry
Volume number: 8
Issue number: 2
Page number: 337 – 351
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5. Read the extract of the article below and answer the following questions

HONG KONG TERTIARY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND PROFICIENCY IN SPOKEN ENGLISH

This paper will address issues raised in two questionnaire surveys conducted as part of the LEAP Project.
One questionnaire was for first-year undergraduates at four universities in Hong Kong. The main purposes
were to investigate (a) students’ past learning experiences in English, (b) their preferred ways of learning
English, (c) their attitudes towards the learning and use of English, (d) their self-assessment of their
English proficiency and (e) their judgement of which domains of English competence are most important
for academic success.
The other questionnaire was for teachers at the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong
Kong. It aimed at finding out their perception of undergraduates’ English competence and their judgement
of the domains of competence most important for academic success.
The target population of the student survey was first-year undergraduates in Hong Kong’s universities.
Stratified sampling techniques were used to identify a representative sample of 3,002 students from 4
universities. The final analyzed sample was 2,156, representing 20% of the six universities’ 94/95 first-
year intake of 11,017.
The target population of the teacher survey was teachers at HKU and CUHK. All departments were
sampled, except those in which sample was 437, representing 35% of the two universities’ 1,700 teaching
staff.
(RELC Journal Vol.5 No.1, 1996, pp: 70 – 88)
Questions:
1. What is the research aim of this study?
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2. What is the population and sample of the study?
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3. What is the data collection method of the study?
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