RESEARCH DESIGN AND APPROPRIATENESS’

The purpose of this study will be to explore factors that ……………………… to

……………. graders at Institución Educativa……. At this stage of the research, the
……………………………….. are making students
…………………………………………….. This study will be conducted using a
qualitative research design which attempts to explore, and question problems and
situations that are closely related to human being population. Such a qualitative
approach was the most suitable because of the density of the research questions,
the social context of study, the level of human participation involved and the need
to capture each participant’s world view. “The aim of qualitative approaches is to
offer descriptions, interpretations and clarifications of naturalistic social contexts.
Thus, in contrast to formulating, testing and confirming or disconfirming
hypotheses, qualitative research draws on the data collected by the researcher to
make sense of the human behavior within the research context” (Burns, 1998). “In
qualitative research the researcher is actively involved in understanding the
situation and, in describing this understanding, creates
knowledge” (Kenneth Harling, N.D).

This study will be carried out with a case study strategy due to the capacity of case
studies to capture the unique nature of each participant and to recognize that they
work in complex context based situations. Yin defines the case study research
method as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon
within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context
are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin,
1984, p. 23).The strengths of a case study approach are explained by Hitchcock
and Hughes (1995) who consider that the case study:

Provides a unique example of real people, in real situations and allows for a rich
and vivid description of events relevant to the case and the intention to seek and
understand the perception of the participants of the study. Case studies are strong
on reality and can provide insights into other, similar situations and cases. (p.317)
DATA COLLECTION

As Berg (quoted in Hagan, 1993, Yin, 1994) states “case study may focus on an
individual, a group, or an entire community and may utilize a number of data
collection techniques such as documents, interviews, and participant observation”
The researcher must collect and store multiple sources of evidence
comprehensively and systematically, in formats that can be referenced and sorted
so that converging lines of inquiry and patterns can be uncovered. Researchers
carefully observe the object of the case study and identify causal factors
associated with the observed phenomenon. Case study research is flexible, but
when changes are made, they are documented systematically.

Case studies use field notes and databases to categorize and reference data so
that it is readily available for subsequent reinterpretation. Field notes record
feelings and intuitive hunches, pose questions, and document the work in
progress. They record testimonies, stories, and illustrations which can be used in
later reports. They may warn of impending bias because of the detailed exposure
of the client to special attention or give an early signal that a pattern is emerging.
They assist in determining whether the inquiry needs to be reformulated or
redefined based on what is being observed. Field notes should be kept separately
from the data being collected and stored for analysis. Based on these facts the
instruments for collecting data will be:

Observations. “Observation and description and the gathering of data from

a range of different resources are the main methodological tools. The process of
observation and the emerging descriptions and insights of the researchers
themselves become an important aspect of the research findings” (Burns, 1998)
Observations have always been considered a major data collection tool in
qualitative research. Recently, however, the more structured types of observation
have also been used for collection data in quantitative studies. In second language
acquisition research, observations are most used to collect data on how learners
use language in a variety of settings, to study language learning and teaching
processes in the classroom, and to study teacher’s and students’ behavior.

The main advantages of using observations for collecting data are that they allow
the study of phenomenon at close range with many of the contextual variables
present a feature which is very important in studying language behavior.

Interviews. The purpose of the interview is to obtain information by talking

to the subject, the interviewer asks questions, and the subject responds either in a
face-to-face situation or by telephone. Interviews are personalized and therefore
permit a level of in-depth information-gathering, free response, and flexibility that
cannot be obtained by other procedures. In this language process research
interviews are used to collect data on covert variables such as attitudes and
motivation for learning the second language. The use of the interview as a data
collection procedure in foreign language learning research has increased recently
with the growing emphasis on collecting data about linguistic and cognitive aspects
involved in processing language.

Semi-structured interviews. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for the

individual voice of each participant to be heard. The degree of flexibility that a
semi-structured approach allowed meant that during the interviews, the researcher
could follow leads as they arose, probe further into areas of interest that emerged
and allow the interviewees more scope for speaking further about areas that they
considered important in their own voice.

Questionnaires. In foreign language learning research, questionnaires are used to

collect data on phenomena which are not easily observed, such as attitudes,
motivation, and self-concepts. “They are also used to collect data on the processes
involved in using language and to obtain background information about research
subjects, such as age, previous background in language learning, number of
languages spoken, and years of studying the language” (Seliger & Shohamy,
1986)
Checklists. They are known as a list of items to be checked, noted or consulted
when carrying out a task (Berliss, J., 1992). Using checklist, it is possible to identify
specific aspects of the English classroom, as the teacher pedagogic characteristics
and students’ behavior.

All these instruments help to give answer to the research questions and to reach
the objective proposed.