Lesson 1 introduction to research in language studies

Rose A. Upor PhD. upor@udsm.ac.tz
Introduction to Research
Lesson One

Definition
• Research is the investigation of a particular
topic using a variety of reliable, scholarly
resources.
• Research is the systematic process of
collecting and analyzing information to
increase our understanding of the
phenomenon under study.
• Research is the systematic investigation into
and study of materials and sources in order
to establish facts and reach new
conclusions.

3
Nature of Research
• Systematic – plan, identify, design, collect
data, evaluate
• Logical – examine procedures to evaluate
conclusions
• Empirical – decisions are based on data
(observation)
• Reductive – general relationships are
established from data
• Replicable – actions are recorded

Why?
• The three major goals of research are;
• establishing facts,
• analyzing information, and
• reaching new conclusions.
• The three main acts of doing research are;
• searching for,
• reviewing, and
• evaluating information.

Some Basic Concepts
• Research methodology
– Quantitative vs. Qualitative vs.
Participatory/action research
• Research methods
– Methods of sampling, data collection and data
analysis
• Research design
– Experimental, descriptive, exploratory

Stages
in the
Research
Process
Determine Research Design
Analyze and Interpret the Data
Design Sample and Collect Data
Formulate Problem
Design Data Collection
Method and Forms
Prepare the Research Report

What is a Research Design?
• This is the plan of attack:
– What approach to the problem will be taken?
– What methods will be used?
– What strategies will be most effective?
• Decisions on the design will depend upon;
– The purpose of the study
– The nature of the problem
– The alternatives appropriate for its
investigation

A Good Research Design
will be able to………….
• Identify the research problem clearly and
justify its selection,
• Review previously published literature
associated with the problem area,
• Clearly and explicitly specify hypotheses
[i.e., research questions] central to the
problem selected,

…….contd.
• Effectively describe the data which will be
necessary for an adequate test of the
hypotheses and explain how such data will
be obtained, and
• Describe the methods of analysis which will
be applied to the data in determining
whether or not the hypotheses are true or
false.

Types of research designs
• Design alternatives can be organized into NINE
functional categories
– Historical
– Descriptive
– Longitudinal
– Case
– Cross-Sectional
– Causal
– Experimental
– Action
– Exploratory

Action Research Design
• Aim
– To develop new skills or new approaches and to
solve problems with direct application to the
classroom or other applied setting.
• Examples
– An in-service language training programme to
help language teachers develop new skills in
facilitating class discussions i.e. to experiment
with new approaches to teaching reading to
bilingual children

Case Study Design
• Aim
– To study intensively the background, current
status and environmental interactions of a given
social unit; an individual, group, institution or
community
• Examples
– The case history of a child with an above
average IQ but with severe learning
disabilities/The study of the discourse in a
dowry negotiation ceremony of the Bena
Community

Causal Design
• Sometimes referred to as “Causal-Comparative/Ex
Post Facto”
• Aim
– To investigate possible cause-effect relationships by
observing some existing consequence and searching
back through the data for a plausible causal factors.
• Example
– To identify factors for poor performance in English
language examinations using records over the past 4
years

Descriptive Design
• Aim
– To describe systematically a situation or area of interest
factually and accurately. Descriptive research designs
help provide answers to the questions of who, what,
when, where, and how associated with a particular
research problem; a descriptive study cannot
conclusively ascertain answers to why.
• Examples
– Population study, public opinion survey, questionnaire
and interview studies, anecdotal records

Exploratory Design
• Aim
– An exploratory design is conducted about a research
problem when there are few or no earlier studies to
refer to. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity
for later investigation or undertaken when problems
are in a preliminary stage of investigation.
• Example:
– Understanding the English Language Needs for
Secretarial and Administrative Officers

Experimental Design
• Aim
– To investigate possible cause-and-effect relationships
by exposing one or more experimental groups to one or
more treatment conditions and comparing the results to
one or more control groups not receiving the treatment
• Examples
– Investigation of the effectiveness of 3 methods of
teaching reading to Standard One pupils

Longitudinal Design
• Aim
– To investigate patterns and sequences of growth
and/or changes as a function of time. A
longitudinal study follows the same sample over
time and makes repeated observations.
• Example
– The Development of the Past Tense among
Primary School Children in Tanzania

Cross-Sectional Design
• Aim
– Cross-sectional research designs have three distinctive
features: no time dimension, a reliance on existing
differences rather than change following intervention;
and, groups are selected based on existing differences
rather than random allocation. The cross-sectional design
can only measure differences between or from among a
variety of people, subjects, or phenomena rather than
change. However, they are often used to examine changes
in similar groups at different ages
• Example
– The Development of the Past Tense among Primary
School Children in Tanzania

Historical Design
• Aim
– To reconstruct the past objectively and
accurately, often in relation to the tenability of
an hypothesis
• Example
– A study reconstructing practices in the teaching
of the English spelling in Tanzania during the
past 30 years

CLASS ACTIVITY ONE

• In groups of two and choose one research
design to study. Prepare for discussion the
following items about that particular
research design
– An example of a study that would use this type
of research design
– the characteristics of the research design
– Steps a researcher would take to do a study
using the research design
– Weaknesses of the research design

Lesson 1 introduction to research in language studies

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