INTRODUCTION

 How do you feel when you are

assigned a research project?
 Do research projects frighten you ?
.
 RESEARCH FRIGHT
This module is designed to help you overcome
your "research fright" by...
   ...helping you to understand what research is
and why it is important, and...
   ...showing you how to go about planning your
own research projects, and...
   ...getting you started on the actual writing of
the research project you have planned
GOALS

By the time you're finished with this whole

module, you should be able to...
  ...Understand and interpret research reports
when you read them,
 identifying their major elements and
underlying methodologies. ...
 Plan and carry out your own research
projects
GOALS
In addition...
  ...This module is intended to supplement
what you will learn from your coursework
and reading.
 It may also help you get an idea of what
research is before you take courses in
research methods.
 ...This module will also introduce you to
basic terminology and concepts common to
the research.
Definition of Research

 In order to plan and carry out

research, it is necessary for you
to know what we mean by
research-in general
 Research is an ORGANIZED
and SYSTEMATIC way of
FINDING ANSWERS to
QUESTIONS.
Definition of Research

 ORGANIZED in that there is a

structure or method in going
about doing research. It is a
planned procedure, not a
spontaneous one. It is focused
and limited to a specific scope.
Definition of Research

 SYSTEMATIC because there is a

definite set of procedures and steps
which you will follow. There are certain
things in the research process which
are always done in order to get the
most accurate results.
Definition of Research

 FINDING ANSWERS is the end of

all research. Whether it is the
answer to a hypothesis or even a
simple question, research is
successful when we find answers.
Sometimes the answer is no, but
it is still an answer.
Definition of Research

 QUESTIONS are central to

research. If there is no question,
then the answer is of no use.
Research is focused on relevant,
useful, and important questions.
Without a question, research has
no focus, drive, or purpose.
EPISTEMOLOGY

 First of all, you should realize that research is only one

of several ways of "knowing."
 The branch of philosophy that deals with this subject is
called EPISTEMOLOGY. Epistemologists generally
recognize at least four different sources of knowledge:
 INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE takes forms such as belief,
faith, intuition, etc. It is based on feelings rather than
hard, cold "facts." AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE is
based on information received from people, books, a
supreme being, etc. Its strength depends on the
strength of these sources.
 LOGICAL KNOWLEDGE is arrived at by reasoning from
"point A" (which is generally accepted) to "point B" (the
new knowledge).
EPISTEMOLOGY

 EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE is based on

demonstrable, objective facts (which are determined
through observation and/or experimentation).
 Research often makes use of all four of these ways
of knowing:
 INTUITIVE (when coming up with an initial idea for
research) AUTHORITATIVE (when reviewing the
professional literature)
 LOGICAL (when reasoning from findings to
conclusions)
 EMPIRICAL (when engaging in procedures that lead
to these findings)
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

What is EMPIRICAL RESEARCH?

A common image of "research" is a person in a laboratory wearing
a white coat, mixing chemicals or looking through a microscope to
find a cure for an exotic disease.
Well, empirical research about language learning and teaching is
similar to that in some ways, but different in many others.
There are many organized and systematic ways of conducting
empirical research:
 Questioning

 Eliciting behavior

 Observing/describing

 Experimenting
This list is certainly not complete. Each form of empirical research
offers its own perspective and follows its own set of procedures.
These methods will be discussed later in this module.
KINDS OF RESEARCH

 Generally speaking, in second language research it is

useful to distinguish between BASIC (or theoretical ),
APPLIED, and PRACTICAL research.
 BASIC RESEARCH is concerned with knowledge for
the sake of theory. Its design is not controlled by the
practical usefulness of the findings. APPLIED
RESEARCH is concerned with showing how the
findings can be applied or summarized into some type
of teaching methodology.
 PRACTICAL RESEARCH goes one step further and
applies the findings of research to a specific
"practical" teaching situation.
KINDS OF RESEARCH
 A useful way to look at the relationships among these
three research types is illustrated in the diagram below.
Each of the three different types of research contributes
to the other in helping revise and frame the research from
each category.

 For example, practical research may be based on theory
that came from previously done basic research. Or, theory
may be generated by the combination of results from
various practical research projects. The same bidirectional
relationship exists between applied research and basic
research or practical research.
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS

 Research is like a plant

that grows and grows
and grows and grows...
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS

 When it is grown
it throws off seeds of all types
(basic, applied, and practical),
which in turn sprout and
create more research projects.
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS

 The process continues with

all of the new research 'plants'
throwing off seeds, creating
additional, related research
projects
of various types.
INTER-RELATIONSHIPS

 Soon there is a body of basic,

applied, and practical research
projects related to similar topics.
 And the process goes on and on...
INTRODUCING THE
PARAMETERS

 Because the scope of research is so broad and there are

so many variables involved, it is sometimes difficult to
find any hard and fast rules to follow when doing
research.
 On the next few screens you will see a useful set of
interrelated and independent PARAMETERS to guide you
as you plan research. They are independent in that they
can be considered separately. But they are interrelated
because in actual practice researchers' choices within one
parameter will influence choices in others.
INTRODUCING THE
PARAMETERS
 The parameters are...

 GENERAL APPROACH
 Synthetic (Holistic)
 Analytic (Constituent)

 RESEARCH AIM
 Deductive (Hypothesis Testing)
 Heuristic (Hypothesis Generating)

 CONTROL OVER THE RESEARCH CONTEXT

 Low
 High

 EXPLICITNESS OF DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

 Low
 High
 PARAMETERS IN DEPTH
 The choices you make in one parameter may reduce your options in
the other parameters. In order to understand this system better, let's
look at each parameter in a little greater depth.
 GENERAL APPROACH
 Synthetic
A synthetic approach to research looks at the research question or
topic from a holistic point of view. The researcher tries to understand
the parts of the problem by looking at the whole (Holistic)
 Analytic (Constituent) .
 An analytic approach to research would look at a topic from a
constituent point of view. The researcher tries to understand the
whole phenomenon by looking at the separate parts.
 RESEARCH AIM
 Deductive (Hypothesis Testing) The deductive approach is driven
by a particular hypothesis. The researcher has a specific, focused
statement in mind and his/her objective is to prove or disprove that
specific hypothesis
 Heuristic (Hypothesis Generating)
 .A heuristic approach starts with few preconceived notions or
hypotheses about the focus of the research. The researcher observes
a phenomenon in order to generate questions or hypotheses for
subsequent research.
 PARAMETERS IN DEPTH
 CONTROL OVER THE RESEARCH CONTEXT
 Low
 A low degree of control would exist in a situation where the researcher does
little to affect the context in which the research is carried out. The researcher
may observe classes that are already set up. The researcher does not
introduce any kind of treatment to the testing group
 High
 . In a study with high control, the researcher manipulates the research
context in various ways. The researcher could choose and arrange the groups
to be tested, or a specific treatment could be administered to the subjects.
 EXPLICITNESS OF DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES
 Low
 Many kinds of data are collected by researchers. Sometimes the data
collection procedures or instruments are relatively "loose" or open. Subjects
have more latitude in the ways they can respond. Also, there is more room
for the personal judgments of the researcher to enter in
 High
 . Other data-collection procedures or instruments are highly explicit. They
follow carefully controlled, objective procedures which allow for little
variation in subjects' responses or researchers' interpretations