The document summarizes chapters 1-5 of a research methods textbook. Chapter 1 introduces different types of research (quantitative and qualitative) and typical research paper sections. Chapter 2 discusses ethical issues around data collection from human subjects. Chapter 3 outlines common data collection measures like questionnaires. Chapter 4 covers key research concepts like variables, hypotheses, and ensuring validity and reliability. Chapter 5 describes quantitative research designs, both experimental and non-experimental.

1. Summary Chapters 1-5
Andrea Vallejo
English Project Design
First term
Activity 1.1

2. CHAPTER 1
Introduction to research

3. Main
types
Quantitative
Qualitative
Typical Research papers
1
•The title page
2
•The Abstract
3
•Introduction
4
•Methods
5
•Results

4.  The discussion and conclusion are often two separate
sections and are primarily interpretive and
explanatory in nature. The main idea of the study
maybe restated and the findings summarized. Many
studies include a section on the limitations of the
study and suggest ways of remediating the
limitations. Possible topics for future research may
also be included.

5.  Parenthetical material may appear in footnotes
 May appear in endnotes
 There may be author notes including contact
information/ information that was used to base the
research paper
 Different styles have different styles for references
Journals

6.  May include examples of actual materials used for the
study
 Necessary material that helps interpret the study but
may interrupt the flow of the paper if places in the
body.
Appendixes

7.  The central part of the development of any field of
inquiry
 The results of the original study might be questioned
if results haven't been replicated appropriately.
Replication

8. CHAPTER 2
Issues related to data gathering

9. Informed consent
Requires human
subjects to degree
that they are capable
Should be provided
with the opportunity
to choose what or
what nor shall happen
to them

10. Researchersmustkeepin
mind: Children cannot be treated just like
adults as research subjects
Invitations to participate in research
must involve neither threats of
harm nor offers of inappropriate
rewards
Undue influence may be exercised

11.  Various troubling practices of the past have raised
questions about the ethical treatment of human subjects in
research. Although the detail that follows on medical
experimentation may seem at first glance to be some
distance from second language research, it is important to
understand that the various principles developed out of
the statements and reports have direct consequences for
guidelines involved in carrying out all research involving
human subjects. This includes research involving second
language learners.
Human Subjects

12. Should avoid unnecessary physical and
mental suffering and injury
Where applicable should be based on prior
animal research
Human subjects should be protected against
possibilities of injury or death and be
allowed to withdraw from the experiment
The degree of risk should not outweigh the
experiments humanitarian importance
Ethical Issues of Human Subjects

13. CHAPTER 3
Common data collection measures

14. Processing based research
interaction-based research
Research on strategies and cognitive processes
Questionnaire
Survey based research
Methods and formal Models

15. Pilot Study
Proposed
procedures
Materials Methods
Might
include
Coding
sheets
Analytic
choices
Small scale
trial of

16.  Findings in second language research are highly
dependent on the data collection (often known as
data elicitation) measures used. One goal of research
is to uncover information about learner behavior or
learner knowledge independent of the context of
data collection. There is no single prescribed
elicitation measure, nor is there a "right" or "wrong"
elicitation measure, although many research
paradigms have common measures associated with
them.
Findings

17. Research on formal
models of language
emphasize constraints
on grammar formation
Psycholinguistics
emphasizes on actual
mechanisms involved in
learning
Psycholinguistic Processing vs.
Structure of linguistic forms

18.  Strategy-based research is aimed at determining the
strategies used when learning a second language together
with the variables that determine the selection of
strategies.
 Asking learners, observing learners while they work at their
language learning tasks, asking learners to give a
retrospective commentary on how they learn, asking
learners to provide a synchronic commentary on how they
accomplished a task and tracking learners.
 There are existing databases as well, consisting of data that
have already been collected, transcribed, and often
analyzed. If the research questions allow it, using an existing
database can save considerable amounts of time and effort.

19. CHAPTER 4
Research Variables validity and reliability

20.  A hypothesis is a type of prediction found in many
experimental studies; it is a statement about what we
expect to happen in a study. In research reports there
are generally two types of hypotheses: research
hypotheses and null hypotheses.
Hypothesis

21. Variables :
Characteristics
May vary from
person to
person, text to
text, object to
object
Independent
The one we
believe may
cause the
results
Dependent
The one we
measure to see
the effects the
independent
variable has on
it.

22.  Moderator variables are characteristics of individuals
or of treatment variables that may result in an
interaction between an independent variable and
other variables. Intervening variables are similar to
moderator variables, but they are not included in an
original study either because the researcher has not
considered the possibility of their effect or because
they cannot be identified in a precise way.
Moderator Variable

23.  When conducting research, one ideally wants to study
simply the effects of the independent variable on a
dependent variable. In many instances in second
language research it is difficult to measure variables
directly so researchers provide working definitions of
variables, known as operationalization.
Operationalization

24. Scales
interval
nominal
ordinal
Measuring variables

25.  There are many types of validity, including content,
face, construct, criterion-related, and predictive
validity. We deal with each of these in turn before
turning to internal and external validity, which are the
most common areas of concern. Reliability in its
simplest definition refers to consistency, often
meaning instrument consistency.
Validity and Reliability

26. CHAPTER 5
Designing a quantitative study

27.  Quantitative research can be conceptually divided into two
types: associational and experimental. What is common in
both types is that researchers are attempting to determine
a relationship between or within variables. The goal of
associational research is to determine whether a
relationship exists between variables and, if so, the strength
of that relationship.

28. Two designs
Independent Variable
Example: The researcher wants
to investigate the effect of
writing topics
Dependent variable
Example: Investigate on the
amount of coherence that is
produced in the form of
transition words
The ordering of test items or
tasks are different for
different participants
Counterbalancing

29. • Associational Research that can be used to test the
relationship between variables and make
predictions.
Correlational
• There are comparison group designs and control
group designs
Experimental and
quasi-experimental
• All treatments are given to different individuals in
different orders
Repeated
measures design
• Involves more than one independent variable and
can occur with or without randomization
• Allows researchers to consider more than one
independent variable, generally moderator variables
Factorial Design
• Frequently used with small groups of learnersTime-series design
• Are not usually considered part of a true
experimental paradigm, because it isn't a treatmentOne-shot designs
Research Design Types

30.  It is a checklist of some of the most common areas to
think about as you are putting together you design:
Following

31.  Are your groups matched for proficiency?
 If you are using a particular type of task, are your groups matched for abilities?
 Are your participants randomized?
 If intact classes are used, are their treatments randomly assigned?
 Are your variables clear and well described? Do you have a control group?
 Are control groups and experimental groups matched for everything but the specific
treatment?
 Have you described your control and experimental groups?
 Do you have a pretest?
 If you are testing development, do you have a posttest or even multiple posttests?
 If using a repeated-measures design, are the treatments counterbalanced?
Check list: