Introductory concepts

and definitions
Dr. Codruta Gosa
codrutagosa@yahoo.co.uk
Major issues to be discussed
 Introductory concepts
 Ethics in research
 The research proposal
 Quantitative research: logic,
methodology, methods, analysis
 Data analysis in quantitative
research
 Qualitative research: logic,
methodology, methods, analysis
 Data analysis in qualitative research
 The research report
What is research?

 ‘In the most profound sense,

research simply means trying to
find answers to questions…to
learn more about the world
around us. …Or in short,
research is disciplined inquiry.’
(Dörnyei, 2007: 15)
Keywords

 Rigorous
 Systematic
 Through appropriate

 Research question(s)

 Research method(s)
Research is Question(s)
driven

 Think of your BA
paper
Tryto formulate a
question that drives
it
Two ways to find answers to
questions
 By looking at what other people
have said (labelled as
‘secondary’, ‘conceptual’,
‘library’ research)
 By conducting your own data-
based investigation (labelled as
‘primary’, ‘empirical’ research)
Classification of research

 According to the research

strategies
 According to the purpose of
research
 According to the basic
location of research
 Types of research: purpose of
research

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

 Experiments are seen as most

appropriate for explanatory work
 Descriptive: seeks to elicit the
characteristics of a particular
social phenomena from a
certain group of people, i.e.
present a certain social status
quo

 Surveys are seen as most

appropriate for descriptive work
 Exploratory: to find out what is
happening, seek new insights,
to assess phenomena in anew
light, usually qualitative
 Case studies are seen as most
appropriate for exploratory work
Types of research: in the field,
at the desk?
 Library
 Natural environment: associated
with ethnography (the researcher
becomes part of the group under
study)
 Fieldwork: used to refer to the
collection of data using
observational methods
 Laboratory
Research paradigms

They are both ontologically and

epistemologically grounded

 Objective versus subjective

 Quantitative versus qualitative
 References

Dörnyei, Z, 2007: Research Methods in

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