Stephen van Vlack Sookmyung Women’s University

Graduate School of TESOL Research Methodology

Spring 2019 Week 2 – Notes Creswell (2013) Chapter 1 – The Selection of a Research Approach Nunan & Bailey (2008) Chapter 1 – Introducing Second Language Classroom Research Three Approaches to Research Creswell (2013) mentions three main approaches to the research that have been common throughout the history of science. They are quantitative, qualitative, and mixed. Traditionally, quantitative research has been the dominant research approach. More recently qualitative has been emerging as a powerful approach even in the physical sciences. In the social sciences and in our field mixed methods are very commonly employed as the dominant research approach. As Creswell (2013) mentions, mixed methods allow for a more sophisticated treatment of data gathered. Quantitative Uses numbers Close-ended questions Experiments Instruments Testing theories - deductive Theoretical frameworks Qualitative Uses words Open-ended questions Case-studies Observation Inductive in design Philosophical assumptions

The exploration of meaning Mixed methods Use of both quantitative and qualitative Show more complexity The choice to use one of these 3 approaches comes from internal considerations grounded in the beliefs of the researcher as well as contextual variables, and as is often the case for us, limitations. There are strong different philosophies underlying the use of each of these approaches. Researchers tend to chose an approach based on their underlying beliefs about the world, which in turn affect the way they think about how to best investigate. And of course this is also strongly affected by the research tradition in the field of inquiry. Qualitative analysis is still more popular in some fields of the social sciences as opposed to the natural sciences based on the general beliefs deemed valid in the field in general. Thus, in our field there has been a shift toward more qualitative research based on shifts in beliefs about learning. The external factors that determine the choice of an approach are typically determined by the number and type of participants available for the research as well as the possible duration of the study and type of accessibility to the participants.

The Research Plan Underlying philosophy Research design Research methods Bring one’s philosophical worldview into research. Positivist or Postpositivist views

Cause and effect is the focus Laws govern the world and these need to be found Research supports or refutes claims The data we collect helps shape knowledge about the theories we hold Develop true statements about a situation

Constructivist views

Individuals construct their own idiosyncratic way if dealing with the world Researchers seek to collect the different meanings people have in an open-ended way Interpretation of these meanings

Transformative views

Research contains an action agenda for reform Looks at at-risk or marginalized communities Research is interwoven with politics Highlights the plight of these groups – suggests reform

PragmaticviewsFocusesonactions,situations,andconsequencesAconcernwithapplicationsResearchoccursincontexts

ResearchDesign-StrategiesofInquiryThiscanbesummarizedinthetablebelow

Creswell (2013:12) QuantitativeExperimentaldesigns–beforeandafter–withorwithoutacontrolgroupDoesatreatmentinfluenceanoutcome?Randomized-vs-non-randomizedsamplesHowdodifferentgroupsreact(cross-sections)Onegooroveraperiodoftime(longitudinal)

Non-experimentaldesigns–surveysIdentifyingvariables–causalcomparativeCorrelational–howarevariablesrelated?Factoranalysis–howdovariableeffecteachother

QualitativeElicitationtechniques-Interview–observationResearcher’suseofinformation–categorizationDepthofinquiryScopeofinquiry

MixedMethodsUsesmultipleformsofdata–triangulatingdataDatacollectedatthesametime.Datacollectedatadifferenttime–explanatory/exploratoryTransformative–ActionResearch

ResearchMethodsBringingitalltogether

Creswell (2013:17) TheResearchQuestionsPivotaltodecidingtheapproachandthemethodsasmentionedaboveistheformulationoftheresearchproblemandtheresultingquestions.Theproblemonechoosesandhowtheychoosetoaddressthatproblem is generally an indicator of ones philosophical worldview. The question and theway thequestionisposedlargelydeterminehowtheresearcherwillconducttheresearch.Theapproachandtheensuingmethodsneedtomoreor less followthequestionsthat theresearcherhasmadeat theonsetoftheproject.AsNunan & Bailey (2008: 5) point out, it is important for researchers to choose data collection approaches and analysis that are appropriate to the research questions. We need to stay true to our initial mode of inquiry. Nunan & Bailey (2008) take these same distinctions and bring them into the language classroom for us. They provide us with concrete, historical developments of these

research approaches in our chosen field. They start the chapter by explaining why teachers should do research in the first place. Here are some of the reasons they mention: -Shedding light on methodological variations/issues -Raising awareness of issues and ways of investigating them -Improving teaching -Developing teaching approaches through critical thinking and analysis The psychometric tradition As Creswell briefly points out the quantitative research tradition came from the area of psychology and the term often used for this is the psychometric tradition. The focus here is on measuring attitudes and properties of knowledge. For language this started with verbal learning and has since moved to other areas of language. It is a used as a way of testing theories. In the language classroom researcher use this approach to measure the affects or methods, techniques, materials, approaches, etc. The trick here is limiting the variable so the specific area of inquiry. So, for example, if the researcher wants to investigate the effects of using visuals on vocabulary learning, then they have to make sure that other variables, like textual or input variables are controlled for. Research in this tradition needs to be tightly controlled from the very beginning. As we mentioned above, it is characteristically deductive. The naturalistic tradition The naturalistic tradition is the term that Nunan & Bailey (2008) use to refer to qualitative approaches to research. In the classroom, this has traditionally centered ion two main approaches – ethnography and case studies. Part of the rationale for using these kinds of approaches is to find out what is actually going on in the classroom and with learners. Researchers in their area are interested in the real behavior of teachers and students in the classroom. They therefore observe and inquire and then interpret what they have seen. In an ethnographic analysis the researcher is looking at the classroom as a cultural setting. A case study looks specifically and usually over a period of time at one student, teacher or program. Combining Traditions Common in our field these days is to combine elements of quantitative and qualitative research. This can be as easy as combining data collection approaches from one tradition with the data analysis of the other. As Nunan & Bailey (2008) we can use a tool to give a test (following the psychometric tradition) but analyze the results by putting respondents in groups. Alternatively, as mentioned above, the researcher could use the data collected and analyzed in the psychometric tradition and do further analysis in a more naturalistic way. ActionResearchAsNunan & Bailey (2008) point out, Action Research is a developing tradition in the field of language education and education in general. It differs from the other research traditions in that it does try to test a theory or method, nor does it seek to describe a situation. Rather, Action Research centers on a problem in the classroom (or maybe beyond) and seeks to run a cyclic type of research in order to confront and possibly solve the problem. Action research often uses mixed methods as a way of moving through the different cycles.