Module 2- Data Collection.pdf

Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you must have:
a. sampling strategies for both quantitative and
qualitative designs;
b. determined the strengths and weaknesses of different
data collection methods; and
c. identified data collection method/s suited for the
proposed study or research topic.

Discussion Overview
01 Access and
Ethical Issues
02
Sampling for
Quantitative
Research
03
04
Sampling for
Qualitative
Research
Data Collection
Instruments/
Methods

Gaining access to people
and institutions for data
collection purposes
requires initiating a
relationship based on a
degree of trust.
The identity of the
participants in your
study should not be
revealed.
provide study participants with a statement in writing
informing them that their participation is voluntary,
that the data will be treated in a confidential manner

o Your research question(s) should guide your selection of participants
or informants.
o Once it is clear who your target group is, consider what the ideal
number of informants might be.
o A larger participant group (or data set) does not necessarily mean a
higher-quality research project or more reliable findings.
o The appropriate number of respondents depends on your research
question(s) and your data collection instrument.
Choosing Your Participants for
a Study (Sampling Strategies)

Sampling for quantitative
research
Probability Sampling Non-probability Sampling
 Random Sampling
 Systematic Sampling
 Stratified Sampling
 Cluster Sampling
 Convenience Sampling
 Voluntary Sampling
 Purposive Sampling
 Snowball Sampling
 Event Sampling

Probability Sampling
Random
Sampling
You select the participants randomly (e.g.
select a location, such as a busy pedestrian
zone, and distribute the questionnaire to
passers-by)
Systematic
Sampling
You select every second or every tenth person,
for instance (having the class attendance list
would help in identifying these).

Probability Sampling
Stratified
Sampling
You select randomly within a specific group.
Cluster
Sampling
You select clusters within a population (e.g.
select one student’s name from the attendance
list and then select five more students sitting
closest to this person in the class).

Sampling for qualitative
research
Qualitative research focuses on describing, understanding,
and clarifying a human experience and therefore
qualitative studies are directed at describing the aspects
that make up an idiosyncratic experience rather than
determining the most likely, or mean experience, within a
group (Polkinghorne 2005).

Main goal of Sampling
to find individuals who can provide rich
and varied insights into the phenomenon
under investigation so as to maximize
what we can learn. This goal is best
achieved by means of some sort of
'purposeful' or 'purposive' sampling’.

How big should the sample
size be in a qualitative study?
A well-designed qualitative study usually
requires a relatively small number of
respondents to yield the saturated and rich
data that is needed to understand even subtle
meanings in the phenomenon under focus.

Data Collection
Instruments/Methods
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observations
Focus Group Discussions
Diaries and Journal
Think Aloud Protocols

Questionnaires
good for collecting specific information about large numbers
of people
usually used to elicit short answers about a number of
different topics; these often include some biographical
information (age, gender, major, L1, length of time in a
particular job etc.) and topics relating to a person’s opinions
or habits

Closed Questions Open Questions
 limit the range of answers a
respondent can give
 the possible answers are
provided for the respondent to
choose from
 usually to elicit information
where the response is ‘Yes’ or
‘No’ or a category such as
gender or nationality
 allow you to calculate your
results relatively easily
 they don’t limit the range of
possible answers the respondent
can give and answers for such
questions are not predictable either
in length or content
 begin with ‘Why’, ‘How’, ‘What do
you think’ etc., and they are often
used to find out about people’s
beliefs or the reasons for their
actions.
 usually advisable to place open
questions towards the end of the
questionnaire

Interviews
Collecting data through an interview rather than
a questionnaire provides the opportunity to
explore a topic in conversation with the
interviewee; it is likely you don’t know exactly
how the conversation will develop and what
topics will be raised. This unknown quality is
one of the exciting things about interviews.

Interview Types
Structured
Interview
 interviewer asks the same set of questions
in the same order for each participant.
 Examples are marketing surveys or public-
opinion polls.
 The interviewer may call at people’s homes
or telephone them and will run through a
pre-established set of questions.
 No follow-up questions are posed.

Interview Types
Semi-
structured
Interview
 enables the researcher to elicit richer, more
descriptive data
 a more flexible approach, as the exact order of
the questions and the formulation of each
question may vary depending on the
circumstances
 uses a set of questions or topics as a guide and
may also ask additional follow-up questions.

Interview Types
Unstructured
Interview
 interviewer does not arrive with a pre-established list of
questions, but rather allows the questions to evolve
naturally out of the conversation
 the interviewer needs to be very skilled to ensure that
the conversation is still directed towards the topics or
themes he/she wishes to discuss
 tend to be more time-consuming and the data are less
reliable as you may not actually ask every participant
the same questions.

Observations
 Observations can provide valuable insight into real life practice; what
people say they do and what they actually do in practice may be quite
different.
 Observation is a widely used method for data collection in the field of
applied linguistics, especially for those involving qualitative research
designs.
 it provides researchers with the opportunity to collect ‘live’ and first-
hand data from naturally occurring situations around language
(Cohen, Maion, & Morrison, 2011).

As a non-participant, you don’t take part in any activities
and the goal is to be as unobtrusive as possible. You will
probably have a checklist of things you are looking for and
you will be taking detailed notes during your observation. As
a participant, you take an active part in the usual activities
undertaken at this location.
The researcher may take a non-participatory or
participatory role during the observation.

 The unstructured approach involves the researcher
undertaking observations without a preconceived plan of
what to focus on; in this case, the researcher needs to take
notes on everything that is happening. Later, the researcher
looks through the data to find patterns.
There are two approaches to observations:
unstructured or structured (or planned).

 Alternatively, during a structured or planned observation,
the researcher has a clear framework of what he/she is
intending to observe, usually in the form of a worksheet
with a list of topics.
There are two approaches to observations:
unstructured or structured (or planned).

A focus group is a gathering of people brought together by
the researcher for the specific purpose of discussing
topics related to an area of research.
The point of a focus group is to elicit people’s views in
relation to a topic and to examine how people make sense
of certain situations and experiences through talk.

Focus groups are not suitable for all types of studies.
A focus-group discussion is not a suitable method to
compile data on whether people agree or disagree with a
particular idea or phenomenon.
A focus group is a public setting and, just as in any other
interaction, people may not necessarily disclose their true
opinion.

The typical group size of a focus group is around six. Larger
groups offer fewer opportunities for individuals to participate;
however, if you have too few participants, the range of views
and experiences within the group will likely be narrower.
The discussion may last around 60–90 minutes depending on
the group. If the discussion continues too long, participants
may start leaving, which will inevitably change the discussion
dynamics.

Collecting data through think-aloud protocols allows insight
into students’ thought processes while completing an activity.
Activities typically suited for this data collection method
involve decision making, judgements or reasoning processes.
Students are instructed to voice all thoughts that run through
their mind (‘think aloud’) and these verbalizations are
recorded and later analyzed by the researcher.

The think-aloud approach to data collection is most
typically used while participants undertake a task.
This is known as concurrent think-aloud and it gives
the researcher insights into the participants’ thought
processes while experiencing a particular task or
activity.

Participants can also be asked to think aloud after the
activity, while watching a recording of themselves
undertaking a task. This version is known as
retrospective think-aloud or stimulated recall. The
think-aloud technique is only suitable for certain
research topics, as the act of thinking aloud may
interfere with how participants undertake a task (Gu,
2014).

If this technique is chosen and implemented with care,
however, it can be an effective means of investigating
how learners use the knowledge they have of the
language or the information that is provided to them to
complete certain tasks (Bowles, 2010; Koro- Ljungberg
et al., 2012).

To ensure this metacognitive approach is successful,
the instructions need to be carefully worded so that
participants are prompted to provide justifications for
their answers (Bowles, 2010, p. 119).

1. The first step of these instructions should include a brief statement
of the purpose of the activity and a simple explanation of why
students need to verbalize their thoughts (e.g. ‘I am interested in
what you think about as you use the correction code symbols to
revise your text. Please think aloud as you revise the text. Let me
understand what is going through your mind.’). It is best not to
explain the goal of the research to participants, however, as this
could lead to students becoming overly conscious of the particular
feature under study.

2. Second, the instructions need to explain briefly what thinking
aloud means (i.e. describe the desired behaviour), the language the
participants should use.

Rather than using think-alouds as the sole data
collection method, Koro-Ljungberg et al. (2012, p. 742)
propose using them in conjunction with interviews. In
their study, they describe scheduling interviews with
participants two days after the think-aloud exercise.

Diaries and Journal
Diary methods are powerful data collection methods for
classroom-based L2 research, especially when students
are participants in a study. As they are completed by
the students themselves, diaries and journals can tap
directly into learners’ everyday language practices and
thoughts, which may otherwise be difficult to capture
with other data collection methods (Dörnyei, 2007).

Diaries and Journal
Porto (2007) notes that diary methods can be
used to promote reflection and introspection
into learner autonomy in particular, where
learning behaviours occur outside observable
learning contexts.

Diaries and Journal
Bolger, Davis, and Rafaeli (2003) state that diaries and
journals, as “self-report instruments used repeatedly to
examine ongoing experiences, offer the opportunity to
investigate social, psychological, and physiological
processes, within everyday situations” (p. 580).

Diaries and Journal
 As Krishnamurty (2008) observes: Data from diary
studies can be used to make cross-sectional comparisons
across people, track an individual over time, or study
processes within individuals or families.
 they allow events to be recorded in their natural setting
and, in theory, minimize the delay between the event and
the time it is recorded. (p. 197)

Diaries and Journal
An advantage of diary methods is their ability to
enable the investigation of behaviours and thoughts
surrounding events and experiences in their real-
world and unprompted context – something not
attainable via most other introspective research
methods (Reis & Gable, 2000).

Diaries and Journal
 Another advantage of diary methods is the agency they
transfer from the researcher to the participant.
 Dörnyei (2007) argues that diary methods provide an
insider account of the research construct, in that the
participants act as co-researchers in the study.

References:
Buckingham, L. (2016). Doing a research project in English studies.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Dornyei, Z. (2011). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford,
United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Mckinley J. & Rose, H. (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Research
Methods in Applied Linguistics. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Thanks!

Module 2- Data Collection.pdf

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