This document provides an overview of various research methods that can be used in English literature and language research. It discusses approaches such as thematic analysis, comparative studies, translation studies, linguistic theories, discourse analysis, archival research, biography, visual methodologies, digital humanities, quantitative analysis, bibliography and textual criticism, narratology, ethnographic methods, creative writing, interviewing, and interdisciplinary approaches. It also outlines specific tools and resources that can be used, including online databases, library catalogs, primary sources, and evaluating information found on the internet or in digital archives.

1. RESEARCH METHODS
IN ENGLISH

2. •“A research starts with an empty
notebook”
- Paul Watson

3. English???
•Research in English Literature
•Vs.
•Research in English Language

4. Research in English Literature
• Application of Theory/Idea/Philosophy
• Thematic Analysis (Survival, Violence,
Etc. )
• Comparative Study
• Translation Studies
• Stylistic Appreciation/Criticism

5. Research in (English) Language
• ELT Methods (Innovation, Criticize, Etc.
)
• Linguistic Oriented Language Theories:
Problems, Application, Etc.
• Comparative, Historical Linguistics
• Culture and Language

6. Application of Theories/ Thematic Analysis
• Gender roles/ Gender Victimization
• Colonial/Cultural/Class/Age effect on
Writer
• Historical background/ Biographical
• “Deconstruction” – Postmodern
Characteristics
•Particular Aspect of Writer

7. Comparative Literature
• World literature/ Archetypal Criticism
• Parallelism
• Intertextuality
• Similarity
• Contrastive Criticism (Dissimilarity)
• Influence/Confluence/Reception/Imitation
• Thematology / Genre / Translation

8. Translation Studies
• Problems of Translation
• Influence of Culture in Translation
• Language Inadequacy
• Translation Methods
• Coding Decoding, Untranslatability
•

9. Research Methods vs. Research
Methodology
• Theoretical and systematic analysis of the strategies
employed
• methods are approaches you intend to use to collect data
• Skills – handling material
• Methods – how you carry your research , it determines
the kind of research.
• Methodology – perspective, feminist,
• Materials -

10. Textual Analysis as a Research Method
• Catherine Belsey
• Interpretation
• What says? Who says? To whom it says? How? What kinda effect?
• Tatquin and Lucretia (1571)
• Literally vs in-depth
• Sparing use of secondary source, it may hinder your imagination
• Minute details of cultural artefacts
•

12. Discourse Analysis as A Research Method

13. Archival Method
• Carolyne Steedman

14. Biography as Research Method
• (a) Study of the available literary texts and relevant
criticism of the author, and autobiography and
biography/biographies if available.
• (b) Collection of material published and unpublished
in the form of letters, journals, memoirs, official
records and semi-official reports.
• (c) Study and critical analysis of the collected
material. This stage is very important and here the
biographer must be a thorough going sceptic.
- Sinha, M.P.. Research Methods in English . Kindle Edition.

15. Visual Methodologies

16. Digital Humanities

17. Numbers and Words: Quantitative

18. Bibliography and Textual Criticism
•Editing
•Manuscript Vs. Holograph
•Collation: Comparision
•Authenticity of the manuscript

19. Oral History

20. History of Ideas

21. Narratology / technique
• The researcher can do research on an author’s art of
characterization, plot construction, style, use of
symbols and imagery, narrative technique, irony and
poetic diction. But he or she should know that
research on these is not an easy task. It may be that
a particular character is a mythical or historical or
literary figure.
• Sinha, M.P.. Research Methods in English . Kindle
Edition.

22. Ethnographic Methods

23. Creative Writing

24. Interviewing

25. Digital Humanities
•Masterfile
•Endnote

26. Materials
• Articles
• Journals
• Libraries
• https://sci-hub.tw

27. Literary research and interdisciplinary

28. Tools and techniques for literary
research
• Using online and printed sources
• online sources - institution’s
authenticated gateway -your user ID
and password to log on to your
university account.
• University library will usually have an
institutional subscription to a variety of
online resources

29. • Scholarly journals, books (both primary sources
and criticism) and reference works are now
available online.
• identify what is available online
• identify your nearest major research library

30. Using Google for Academic Research
• Delimit search fields and maximise the
retrieval of relevant information
(Boolean)
• Use quotes – “Smoking causes Cancer”
• Use a hyphen to exclude words – Cars - Audi
• Use a colon to search specific sites - Chaucer:
Sparknotes
• Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com)
• Google Book Search (http://books.google.com)

31. • Wikipedia and evaluating data
• Participating in scholarly communities
• biographical dictionaries online. The Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography
(www.oxforddnb.com)
• American National Biography
• Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.britannica.com)
•

32. Using Online Database
• Indexes and abstracts
• e Modern Language Association International
Bibliography , http://firstsearch.oclc.org
• Annual Bibliography of English Language and
Literature http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk
• Routledge Annotated Bibliography of English Studies
(ABES, http://abe.informaworld.com)
• British Humanities Index (BHI, available through
www-md4.csa.
• com).

33. •Research Gate
•Shodhganga (Thesis Reservoir)

34. Library catalogues
• COPAC (http://copac.ac.uk) is the best British
cumulative catalogue
• WorldCat – bibliographic details/ Workcited

35. USING DARKWEB AND DEEP WEB

36. Full-text journal articles
• JSTOR (www.jstor.org).
• Project Muse (http://muse.jhu.edu)
• The Journal of Commonwealth Literature
• Language and Literature – SAGE Pub
• DOI - Digital Object Identifier

37. Primary sources and eBooks
• Bartleby (http://bartleby.com)
• Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/catalog)
• Literature Online (LION;
http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk)
• British National Archives’ Documents
Online site
(www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline

38. INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO
LITERARY TEXTS
• Literature and Cultural Studies
• Literature and Other Media
• Literature and Film, Literature and
Graphic Narratives, Music
• Linda Hutcheon’s A Theory of Adaptation
(2006)

39. TERMS
• Ibid
• ISBN International Standard Book Number

40. MATERIALS IN ENGLISH RESEARCH
• Primary Text
• Secondary Text
• Manuscripts
• Tools – Note Pad, Recorder, Camera, Etc.

41. Works Consulted