34 Research Methods III

Dr. Neeru Tandon

epgp books

 

 

 

 

 

This chapter deals with the format of the standard research paper, and how to structure, search, and write a research paper that includes a literature review.

 

The role of research methods training for ELT will also be discussed. Multiple-choice exercises will help them in assessing their knowledge and understanding of the work. Bibliography, list of websites and You Tube videos will help them in their in-depth study and further reading. Critical quotes and quotes from the book will also help them in understanding various aspects of the chapter.

 Introduction:

 

Research should be taken as a studious inquiry or examination for the purpose of gaining new knowledge. One should try to grasp the fundamentals like what are the modes of research and what is the difference between Academic research and classroom research. What are the various Tools for research? The other things to be discussed are Variables (Attributes, values, types of variables) and the features of good research. It should be done after consulting Guides for writing research papers (APA, MLA, Chicago Style, Oxford, Cambridge) – general requirements and specific rules.

 STRUCTURE OF A RESEARCH PAPER

 

Even though every research paper is unique, there is an organizational pattern that many research papers manage to follow. In this context, it is important to remember that the process of writing and research is recursive–you may write a section, move on to another section, and then go back and revise. In that sense, writing a research paper is not always a straightforward process. The standard form of the research paper can be used as a checklist at the early stage of your research project, and again later as a writing model at the final phase of your research.

 

IMRD:

  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion

 The Title and the Hypothesis

Creating a good title for a research paper does not usually receive attention, but for many TREEs it can be a challenge. The title of a research paper is important because it creates the first impression of a paper. People may decide to read or not read a paper simply by the title. If you send your manuscript to a journal, your title may determine to whom the journal editor assigns it for review. The APA Publication Manual recommends titles be 10 to 12 words long (APA, 2010, p. 23). A major consideration is that the title will be catalogued in various databases. Title case refers to a system in which the first letters of main words in a title are capitalized, but all other letters are in lower case. An example of title case is: Feminine Psyche and Theatre. You’ll notice that the word ‘and’ is not capitalized.

A title contains keywords to describe your topic that can be used by others to explore the same. For example, if you write a paper on LSRW, you would want others interested in LSRW to be able to explore your paper. If you have titled your paper as “ The Right and the Wrong,” but The research hypotheses (if any) also need to be clearly stated and presented as part of a theoretical framework in the research report. It is important to note that not all quantitatively oriented papers specify hypotheses or predictions.

  • Are the hypotheses clearly stated?
  • Do the hypotheses clearly specify the variables that might be related?
  • Are the hypotheses appropriate for the theoretical framework?
  • Are the hypotheses testable given the methods adopted for the research?
  • Will the results lead to the generation of additional hypotheses to be tested in subsequent research?

 The Abstract

 

Abstracts force us to amalgamate and integrate what our research is about. An abstract must include a lot of information in a short space, and are typically limited to a specified number of words. There are principally three reasons for writing abstracts:

 

They are submitted as part of paper manuscripts to journals; a list of materials used in the research, an explanation of materials, the statistical analyses used, a summary of results, and implications for the field.

Tuckman (1999) suggests that an abstract should be 100 to 175 words, single-spaced in block form, which means no indentations, and include sections on problem, method, results, participants, type of research design, statistical significance levels, and conclusions. Finally, use only standard abbreviations and acronyms in the abstract.

  • Does it provide a concise yet representative overview of the topic and aim of the research?
  • Are the sample and materials/methods briefly described?
  • Are the results of the study summarized, and is the relevance and importance of the study clear?

 The Introduction

 

The word “Introduction” is not used, one just begins. Introductions to academic papers/research have no specified size but it must convey sense. One can get its experience by going through question, your paper answers this question, if you are continuing a tradition, your paper is making a contribution, and if you are refuting a claim, your paper substantiates a counter claim.’’

 

Many research papers put their purpose next followed by a literature review and research questions (RQs). A literature review can be understood as its own form of research, which is called secondary research and is sometimes referred to as library research. If don’t study any literature or background information, then your only resource is your personal experience. Its not good because it appears you are unaware of the published findings of others. ‘The literature review keeps TREEs from “reinventing the wheel” in that it tells them and their readers what researchers in the field have done, so they can build on their results and not keep repeating.’

 

A complete introduction to a research paper includes five parts: a general topic indictor, a statement of the specific aspect of the topic or a statement of the problem, a literature review, the purpose of the paper, and one or more research questions (see Swales, 1990; 2004). It is not always necessary to follow this order strictly. For example, if the literature review is long, it might be good to put a preliminary purpose before the literature to remind readers of your research purpose while they are reading the long literature review. You do not want readers asking themselves halfway through your literature review, “Why am I reading this?” Another approach is to spread the literature review throughout the entire paper (Boote & Beile, 2005), in which case a research question might be the final product of a paper using an ethnographic design rather than a starting point of a paper using an experimental design.

 Data Gathering

 

Questions addressing how the data were gathered should also be considered.

  • Is it clear that the choice of sample (e.g., random, nonrandom, stratified random) was appropriate given the purpose of the study?
  • Is it clear that the means for gathering data was appropriate for the research question?
  • Was evidence of the validity and reliability of the instruments provided in the write-up?
  • Is sufficient and detailed information provided about how, when, and where the data were gathered?
  • Was the status of the researcher made explicit in the data-gathering process? (Was the researcher an observer? A participant? What, if any, was the relationship of the researcher to the participants?)

USE OF TENSE

 

It’s the problem of every researcher, which tense to use in writing various parts of a research paper. Generally using the past tense in all sections is common because the research had already been accomplished. However, Swales and Feak (2004) have surveyed research papers using the IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) model, and conclude that the present tense is more common in the introduction and discussion while the past tense is more common in the method and results section. While “common” does not mean “always”, this is good advice.

How to write a Literature Review

 

The literature  review is  very noticeable  and many TREEs,  if they do not  read   journal articles carefully, may overlook other important parts of the introduction such as statement of the problem, the purpose, and the research questions. The most obvious feature of a literature review is the discussion and citation of relevant published material, including journal articles, books, reviews, reports, conference papers, and even personal communication, all of which taken together can be called the literature.

 

Citation of claims is important because at this point, readers are not interested in opinions. A literature review can be from one paragraph to several pages, but regardless of length, it should be a synthesis of what is relevant, not just a list of one thing after another, and it must directly support your research questions.

 

‘’First, state why this problem is interesting to your field. It is generally acknowledged that textbooks play an important role in language classes. For example, Author (19xx) states that textbooks provide significant language input. Second, state a problem, contradiction, gap, or question using words such as: however, nevertheless, yet, but. Nevertheless, some researchers (Author, 19xx; Author, 20xx) have shown that many text authors employ artificial dialogues that lack normal language features. Third, state the purpose of the paper. The purpose of this paper is to investigate current textbooks comparing their dialogues with those of native speakers.’’

 Literature Review 

What usually happens is that we receive an assignment to do a research paper, go on-line or to the library, find some material, read the materials, take random notes, and from our notes write our literature review. Often we are sensitive to certain issues that are on our mind at the time. Then, later, we read another paper with another set of interests and issues. This random note taking process makes it very difficult to write a synthesis, because our notes reflect our various interests at different times. As a result we often write a “beads-on-a-string” literature review– a one-thing-after another literature review.

For many TREEs, there is a misinterpretation about what goes into a literature review and why. It is often alleged that a literature review is a collection and evaluation of the written material available on a topic, but it must be pertinent to your topic as well. It may be helpful to look at your research question (RQ) The RQs guide the composition of a literature review. If material doesn’t justify your research question, then it is not significant to your literature review. The literature review is also concerned with the location of theory in your paper. ‘Even if there is no formal theory about your topic, the selection, argument, and synthesis of relevant papers constitute the working theory of your paper.’

The literature review explains the context for the research, together with details about the findings, strengths, and weaknesses of previous studies in the area.

Are all the relevant studies surveyed?

Does the review provide an accurate and objective summary of the current state of the art and the theoretical framework of the study?

Does the review present readers with enough background to understand how the study fits in with other research?

Purposes of a literature review

 

The literature review serves many purposes:

  1. It motivates the study and provides background (Bill Van Patten, personal correspondence, February 14, 2009).
  2. It informs readers about the relevance of your topic.
  3. A literature review identifies your academic records by expressing whatever knowledge you have gained and from which source.
  4. The literature review stipulates a paper track indicating where to find the articles, books, and other resources used. In that sense, it is a source file for others to access.
  5. It provides researcher and readers alike ideas for further research.
  6. Literature read for the literature review may give a researcher idea as well as possible research designs to draw from, replicate, or modify. For example, in doing a literature review, you may come across problems, which can be addressed or may become research questions.

PROBLEMS

 

The obstacle is that it is arduous to write a literature review. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to include or exclude, find sources, and other times there is too much material. Knowing how to amalgamate material is a major problem for most writers. Lastly, it is often difficult to know how or where to begin a literature review because it requires special search skills.

 

The relationship of Literature Review, Purpose, and Research Questions 

 

It would appear when reading a typical journal article that RQs come from the literature review, since if one reads a paper from the beginning, one reads the literature review before reading the research questions. However, probably the reverse is true. The literature review is inspired by and must support the research question, not the other way around.

 

A statement of purpose and one or more research questions (RQs) typically follow the literature review. Since the purpose statement is often only a paragraph and a single research question is often only one sentence, it is easy to ignore the significance of this critical section. There is no rule as to how many RQs to have, but most papers have two or three. On the other hand, a thesis or dissertation may have five or six since it is typically a book-length work.

 

The purpose and RQ function as the fulcrum balancing the question (statement of the problem, literature review) and the answer (method, results, discussion). The power of this image is that it illustrates that the purpose and RQ not only balance the question and answer, but they connect them. For example, a literature review is justified by the purpose and RQ in that it is the purpose and RQ that help the researcher decide what in the literature review to include and exclude.

Research methods in ELT 

 

Research Methods to some extent would concentrate on topics such as ESP, teaching young learners, language teaching, materials/syllabus design, testing etc, and with other applicable believed to be relatively inadequate. Research skills may only be significant for those targeting at University posts, overseas Development posts and typically involving programme evaluation. No doubt in India and other countries as well the enthusiasm for teacher-research and action research may be strong but the prospects in many ELT contexts is low in terms of benefits.

 

Appropriate Research Methods 

 

It seems obvious that research and teaching are different activities, at least to the extent that research draws out general statements from particular observations or manipulated events, and teaching strives to bring about the best achievement possible for individuals in learning or acquiring some given content or skill. It is precisely this opposition that gives Action Research its particular attraction, and many of its problems. This is not to deny, of course, that a ‘research stance’ in teaching is a desirable quality.

 

The research methods module under discussion was developed to provide adequate coverage of techniques which teachers could actually use themselves as part of their work, responding partly to a perceived need for such immediacy in calls for such teacher-initiated and -executed research, and partly to a wish to stimulate relevant research by practitioners.

Researchers must try to include enough detail about the design to allow other researchers to replicate the study and to be able to understand and evaluate the validity of the results, based on the methods used.

  • Is it clear that the research design (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, qualitative, split method, etc.) was appropriate given the theoretical framework, purpose, and research questions of the study?
  • Are all of the terms clearly defined and operationalized, with examples wherever space permits?
  • Are each of the variables clearly defined?
  • Is the design explained in sufficient detail to permit replication wherever possible?

The ‘action research spiral’ (Hopkins, 1993: Chap 4), perhaps surprisingly, is a difficult concept to relate to in terms of a busy working EFL teacher’s normal life – especially given the variety of course length, which is typical of the profession. Major points to be taken care of depends on various elements:

 

Classroom observation

Diary studies

Questionnaires

Ethnography

Case studies

Action research

The reflective approach

Numerical methods

Experimentation

 

Teachers getting involved in doing research themselves has been associated with involvement in innovation and change, with ‘empowerment’, and with both personal development, satisfaction and self-esteem from widening one’s personal engagement with teaching issues, and professional development, enlarging one’s range of expertise, and effectiveness as a teacher.

Evidence-based practice:

 

In the light of highly publicized arguments about the quality of educational research has in recent years been characterized by a drive to engage classroom teachers more fully both with and in educational research and thus to make teaching an evidence-based profession.One fundamental argument is that when teachers engage with and in research and make pedagogical decisions informed by sound research evidence, this will have a beneficial effect on both teaching and learning (Hargreaves, 2001). While the validity of the EBP metaphor to education is by no means unquestionably accepted (e.g. Hammersley, 2004), and debates continue about what counts as appropriate evidence in EBP (e.g. Maxwell, 2004; Morrison, 2001) and how the relationship between research evidence and professional practice can be best conceived (Thomas, 2004), it is generally accepted that more informed use of and involvement in research by teachers can enhance the quality of education.

Teachers’ views of research:

 

one strand of inquiry has focused on examining what teachers actually think about research (Everton, Galton, & Pell, 2000, 2002; McNamara, 2002. An understanding of teachers’ conceptions of research and of the role research plays in their work is worth considering. Studies suggest that teachers acknowledged the potential positive impact of research on various aspects of professional practice. By far the most common reason cited was ‘to generate a greater understanding of specific issues in teaching and learning’. This study also highlighted three reasons why teachers did not sustain their engagement in research: (a) the lack of external pressure to do so; (b) lack of time; and (c) personal dispositions.

 

In this case, the main reason teachers participated in research was found to be a desire to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

 

Research engagement in English language teaching In comparison to the volume of empirical work, which has been conducted into teachers’ research engagement in education generally, little research into this area has been conducted in the field of English language teaching (ELT). In the work, which does exist, McDonough and McDonough (1990) conducted a brief survey of the views of research of 34 teachers of English as a foreign language, while Brown (1992) surveyed 334 members of an international association for ELT.

  1. What are the characteristics of ‘research’ according to ELT teachers?
  2. To what extent do teachers say they read published research? a. What impact do they believe this reading has on their practices? b. Where teachers do not read research, what reasons do they cite?
  3. To what extent do teachers say they do research? a. What are their reasons for engaging in research? b. Where teachers do not do research, what reasons do they cite?
  4. What are teachers’ perceptions of their institutional culture in relation to research?
  5. How do these perceptions relate to teachers’ research engagement?
  6. Do teachers’ experience and qualifications relate to the degree of research engagement they report?

Research Methodology

 

Methodology describes your basic research plan restating research question and purpose. The introduction should state the goals of the research experiments and should ideally be a single paragraph. Few teachers have been prepared to undertake research other than what might be required for their graduate school programs. Often these research projects have little applicability to the activities and interests of practicing teachers. Where to start? Which to do: applied research, action research, classroom (based) research, teacher research, and experimental research? Why? There is no consensus.

Jo and Steven McDonough provide a clear roadmap of options in their little publicized reference Research Methods for English Language Teachers. This text has a number of advantages over many of the more popular “teacher research” books, and is a very useful starting point for those considering engaging in a research project.

 

The hot  debates  carried  on  in  the  past  over  the  superiority and  application  of  two research traditions, quantitative and qualitative, highlighting their distinct ontological and epistemological foundations and dissimilar principles of research conduct, have resulted in the increasing interest in the third research orientation – mixed methods – which integrates the two above-mentioned approaches.

RESULTS and DISCUSSIONS

The objective is to present the results obtained after doing research.

This can usually be best achieved by presenting the data mainly in Tables and Figures with necessary verbal explanation.

State each result and discuss it immediately. Technicalities can be included.

Interpret the magnitude of each outcome in a qualitative way.

In addition the possible theoretical or practical significance of results should be discussed. Possible areas for future research are to be mentioned.

Avoid repetition in the discussion.

Interpret findings

Author’s opinions should be included.

REFERENCES

 

At the end of all pieces of academic writing, you need a list of materials that you have used or referred  to.  This  usually  has  a   heading: references but   may   be bibliography or works   cited depending on the conventions of the system you use.

 

The object of your writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people’s ideas, rather than reproducing their words. The references of the ideas and people need to be made explicit by a system of referencing. This consists of a list of materials that you have used at the end of the piece of writing and references to this list at various points throughout the essay. The purpose of this is to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source.

 

Therefore, at the end of your assignment you need a list of the materials you have used – a bibliography or a reference list. There are many ways of writing a list of references – check with your department for specific information.

 

Most style guides require researchers to ensure that all citations in reports of research, (whether books, articles, chapters, etc.), and only those citations, are included in the correct format in the reference list. Also, all citations in the research report should be consistent with the same style guide. It is important to consider carefully how secondary sources will be cited (e.g., when to include the complete and original reference in cases when you cite someone who cited someone).

 

To illustrate the variation in referencing, following is a list of the different referencing styles used in seven journals specializing in second language research: The style guide also needs to be followed for details such as the ordering of references in the text. Some guides require multiple citations to be in alphabetical order; others allow ordering to be chronological or selected by the researcher, perhaps in order of relevance to the point being made. Guidelines as to how to cite multiple publications by the same author in the same year—for example, Smith (1994a, 1994b)—also need to be checked with the style guide used. Meticulous checking of references and reference formatting, especially in cases in which multiple revisions have been made to a document, can be one of the most tedious and time-consuming factors involved in preparing reports of research.

 

Software programs such as EndNote1 (ISI ResearchSoft) have been designed to automate this task. In terms of the content, it is also obviously the responsibility of the author to ensure that the references are appropriate for the study described. The selection of sources is usually seen as related to the issues involved in writing the literature review and statement of the problem.

 

Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:

 

author name(s)

titles of books, articles, and journals date of publication

page numbers

volume and issue numbers (for articles)

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them. Choose an appropriate style guide for your needs. Here is an example of an article

citation using four different citation styles. Modern Language Association (MLA) style:

Tandon,Neeru. ‘Feminism: A Paradigm Shift’. Atlantic Publishers and Distributors,New Delhi. 2008.

All references cited should be presented in the alphabetical order of the first author, and where necessary by the second and subsequent authors.

 

Footnotes, Endnotes, Figures, and Tables

Like the reference list, footnotes, endnotes, figures, and tables must adhere to a standardized presentation that is consistent with a single style guide. Whereas for theses and dissertations they are customarily placed at appropriate points throughout the text (footnotes), journals and other publications often require that they appear at the end of the research article (endnotes).

Because many style guides suggest citing authors parenthetically within the text itself, footnotes and endnotes are generally not used for citing sources; rather, they are used to include information that, although relevant, does not fit into the flow of the text. They may include supplemental content supporting an idea expounded on in the text, concessions to a contrasting point of view additional sources for further reading on the topic, or copyright information. It is generally advised that footnotes containing supplemental content should explain only one basic Figures are used to display information discussed in the text in a concise format that is easy to comprehend. They generally consist of graphs, diagrams, charts, illustrations, or photographs. Second language researchers commonly use figures when an image would make an arrangement or relationship easier to visualize, or when a pattern of results would be dearer in visual format to augment or supplement a list of numbers in a table. A general rule of thumb is that a figure should not be used simply to duplicate textual information, nor as extra material, but rather as a helpful complement to or amplification of what is expressed verbally in the text. Stylistically, each figure should be referred to in the body of the paper, where the author should also indicate what in the figure is relevant to the issue under discussion. Also, each figure must be identified by a number, ordered consecutively, and given a brief and descriptive caption. It is often the case with most theses or dissertations, in which figures appear in the text itself, that the figures are also listed in a separate table.

Tables are often used to present quantitative data, statistics, and analyses in a format that makes them easy to understand and facilitates comparisons. In writing research reports, it is important for researchers to decide what in their data is relevant and worthy of notice rather than to present every aspect of a large dataset. When discussing the data in a table, researchers should guide the audience toward the information they feel is significant. As with figures, tables must be identified numerically, numbered consecutively, and referred to in the text. They should be given brief, descriptive tides, and notes can be added to the bottom of the tables to explain specific aspects of their content. Even though they are discussed in the text, tables should also be relatively freestanding; any abbreviations and units of measurement should be defined, and all of the rows and columns must be appropriately labeled.

Tables are placed at the end of articles submitted for publication. In the text of a thesis or dissertation, however, it is important that they be placed as close as possible to where they are mentioned in the body of the paper.

Table formatting: Table 1 Title of Table Underlined with Key Words in Caps but No Period. Content of the table between the lines here Figure formatting: Insert the figure. Figure 1 in (italics). In the caption, capitalize only the first word and proper names. If the caption takes more than one line, double-space and continue aligned left.

Author’s Note/Acknowledgments

Many reports of research include a section in which people who have helped with the research are thanked. These notes appear in different sections, depending on the format of the report. For example, in journal articles and book chapters, an author’s note of thanks may appear either as a footnote or as an endnote, whereas in a book it may be part of the preface or even the dedication.

Researchers often wish to thank (a) their participants—for example, learners, native speakers, teachers, and so on; (b) any colleagues who may have read earlier drafts of the work and offered suggestions or feedback; (c) any assistants—including students, colleagues, or co-workers—who may have helped with data collection, materials development, transcribing, coding, or library work, etc.; and (d) any consultants who may have helped with statistics or ideas. Grant support is also often acknowledged in the author’s note, usually with the grant number included. Anonymous reviewers are often thanked as well. Many authors finish their notes by stating that despite the help they have received with their articles, they are solely responsible for the content and for any errors.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing(3rd ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

RESEARCH ETHICS

The research demands objectivity, balanced views, exact reference to source and presentation of facts. The researcher must take care of following research ethics:

1.PLAGIARISM: Borrowing the material from others without acknowledging them. In all cases it should be avoided. Plagiarism occurs when you borrow another’s words (or ideas) and do not acknowledge that you have done so. In this culture, we consider our words and ideas intellectual property. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources – both within the body of your paper.

2.STYLE: Style of research should be different from an essay, prose, biography or autobiography.  Colloquial  words  and  expressions  should  be  avoided.  Even  contractions like won’t, shouldn’t, I’ll he’s are not permissible. The sentences should not be ambiguous. Balanced, short and precise sentences are always preferred.

3. THESIS WRITING: Research project should make a tangible research contribution. Researchers need to evaluate the quality of any work before citing it. In summarizing, paraphrasing or quoting, keep an accurate record of the original source. Try to be both thorough and concise. Above all, strive for accuracy and originality. Do not expect your first draft to be the finished project. Review and rewriting are always necessary. Then a researcher may eliminate, rearrange or add some material as per their thought process. In later drafts one can pay more attention to mechanical kind of revision, economy of words, typographical errors, formatting, font size and above all proper method of giving references and Bibliography. Effecting writing depends on much on clarity and readability as on content. The organization and development of our ideas, the unity and coherence of your presentation, and your command of sentence structure, grammar and diction are all important considerations.

4. Citing Sources: Mostly scholars use the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. Anytime you cite a source, whether it be a direct quote or a paraphrase you must then insert an in line citation into the text of the paper. Typically the in line citation would consist of the authors last name followed by the page number with the entire citation in brackets. Here is an example:

around. It means taking the authors ideas, summarizing them into your own words and then  using them. Of course you must cite every paraphrase with an in line citation. Paraphrases are mostly used to summarize paragraphs and main themes. Paraphrases are also used to cite statistics and other information. YOU DO NOT USE QUOTATION MARKS WHEN PARAPHRASING.

6. Direct Quote: A direct quote is when you use someone else’s words directly in your paper. Do not quote everything. Most things should be paraphrased. Use a direct quote when you want the reader to read an important historical line or it is something someone said that is important. Use direct quotes sparingly, there should only be a few in the paper and they better be good ones. The key difference in citing a direct quote is that you must put quotation marks around the sentence and then cite at the end. IF YOU FAIL TO USE QUOTATION MARKS AROUND A DIRECT QUOTE YOU ARE SAYING YOU WROTE THE SENTENCE. THIS IS PLAGIARISM!!!

7. Works Cited Page: This is the last page of your paper where you list, using the format shown below, all the books, articles, web sites, SIRS articles, magazines articles, etc. you have used. This must be done in the proper format.

Justify the left hand margin only.

I highly recommend the following sites:

  • http://www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/
  • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
  • http://www.grammarnow.com/

Logistics

 

In the final stages of research and before reporting, researchers should also carefully address practical issues with a series of checks. For example: • Has the appropriate permission or consent from the participants and all other relevant bodies (e.g., school boards, guardians, teachers, parents) been appropriately checked and filed?

  • Are the data from the study kept in a secure place?
  • Have all identifying details been kept confidential in the report wherever possible?
  • Was there a contingency plan for a problem or unforeseen event that arose? If so, is information about how this was solved conveyed in the research report to assist future researchers who might face the same problem?
  • Did any problems interfere with the basic timeline for the completion of the study? If so, should they be reported in order to help others who collect data in the same context?

Submitting the Research Paper:

 

When the researcher is ready to draft the final paper, it is useful to carefully evaluate the research before submitting it for publication or review. It is best if researchers can consider where they might want to submit research for publication before writing the final sections, because research may need to be written up differently depending on the target journal or publisher. The Research problem and questions need to be clearly stated and presented as part of a theoretical framework. Some relevant questions posed by critics should be answered.

 

Are the research questions motivated by the literature review?

  • Are the research questions clearly formulated and unambiguously worded?
  • Are the research questions appropriate for the theoretical framework?
  • Why is the central research problem worth investigating?

Does the study fill a gap in the literature by addressing a relatively under researched area or an unresolved problem? Now that the study is concluded, are any organizational changes or new inclusions to the literature review necessary to better contextualize the discussion of the results?

 

Is the literature review relevant; that is, are studies that are peripheral to or irrelevant to the research question excluded?

 

Does the study address a methodological concern observed in previous research?

Does the study replicate previous research? If it is a partial replication, is the new element clear and well motivated)?

In general, how does addressing these research questions make an original contribution to the field?

How have practical constraints that the researcher has faced— such as time, money, availability, and energy limits—impacted the investigation? ‘’

Are the implications of the results for either theory or pedagogy (or both) discussed? Are suggestions as to the direction of future research provided?

Final Touches and Formatting

When writing reports in a manner appropriate to the research paradigm, in addition to the content and organization of what is being reported it is important to consider how the report is presented. For example, the front and back material (title page, abstract, author note, references, and appendixes) and the formatting can be very important to publication. This material will differ depending on where the report is to be submitted for publication.

Whether the research is to be submitted for conference presentation or poster display, clear guidelines are usually provided in the calls for papers. Researchers should carefully consult the relevant style manual when preparing to submit their manuscript. These manuals contain clear guidelines as to how the manuscripts are to be formatted. For example, as mentioned earlier, tables and figures are often treated as back matter and not included in the text. The 2001APA style manual specifies that tables should not include vertical lines to separate columns and that pages with figures should be numbered and titled on the back side so that the figure itself is “photo ready” (2001). Style guides also often suggest that researchers practice gender-neutral writing wherever possible, for example, by using the term the learner. As far as research proposals are concerned, when soliciting grants, researchers must pay close attention to the format requirements laid out by the relevant agency. Although compelling content and  arguments for the value of the research should be the most important component of a grant proposal, grant submitters must also adhere to the regulations for margins, font size, spacing, page length, and so on. Often a grant awarding body will have an office or web-based tool that evaluates proposals in order to ascertain their compliance with formatting regulations before the proposal is sent out, to be reviewed. Researchers should pay attention to the front and back material that needs to be included ahead of time, because scrambling to complete these at the last minute can lead to problems. For example, a grant-awarding institution may require the inclusion of such items as customized (and often abbreviated) curriculum vitae or biographical statements, a timeline for the research, and usually a budget proposal together with a prose justification for the budget. Reviewers can use all of these when determining whether the researcher has an appropriate research background, realistic expectations, and a feasible financial plan and timeline for implementing the proposed research. Equally important in reporting research are the guidelines outlined by particular universities for theses and dissertations. For example, some universities require that students follow a style manual approved by the mentor regarding formatting issues such as quotations, footnotes, and other stylistic details. Much of the front and back material, however, may also need to follow specific university guidelines. Among other elements, guidelines are often required in regard to the layout of the title page, the table of contents, the type of paper used, and the spacing and margins. Other common specifications include information about the formatting of the abstract; for example, for many schools, the abstract must contain a statement of the problem, the procedure or method followed, the results, and the conclusion; there is often a word limit. Stories of excellent dissertations that were sent back for revision by universities because of formatting violations often make the rounds of graduate schools, together with stories about how reformatting then held up graduation. In short, the “packaging” of a research report is crucial, whether it is being submitted to a university committee, a grant-awarding agency, a journal for publication, or a publisher for a book. In summary, the final stages of research consist of creating a complete product. Not only must ideas, theories, results, and conclusions of quantitative and qualitative research be clearly communicated, but the professionalism of the researcher should also be demonstrated through careful attention to the formatting and presentation of his or her work.

General Guidelines

Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.

Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).

Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

Suggested Topics for Research in ELT

The compilation, analysis and exploitation of learner corpora and pedagogic corpora. The study of evaluative language and the analysis of written academic English.

The analysis of academic discourse, particularly issues on writer identity and self-representation.

EAP research and research on academic writing development, including materials design for writing and the teaching of writing.

Cognitive Linguistics and the acquisition of metaphor and metonymy by language learners. Academic discourse and uses of educational technologies in language learning.

Applications of Integrationist Linguistics to second language learning and teaching.

Collocations; the way they operate in the English language compared with the way they are taught in the classroom.

The phraseological behaviour of high frequency nouns and verbs and how these are represented in mainstream EFL course books.

Conclusion

The word research originally had the same connotations as the words rewrite and redo mean in the context of language writing. But in fact it is purely a technical term, which means a systematic investigation in a field of knowledge to discover or establish facts or principles. It  also means a fresh approach to a subject or interpretation of facts. Research should be a genuine contribution to knowledge. Nature of research differs from subject to subject. There are three steps in research writing that cannot be avoided: Selecting the topic, using the library for data collection and compiling a working Bibliography.

you can view video on Research Methods III

Reference

  • McDonough, J. and S. McDonough. 1990. ‘What’s the use of research?’ ELT Journal 44/2, 102-9. – 1997 Research Methods for English Language Teachers. London.
  • Arnold Nunan, D. and K. Bailey. 1996. Voices from the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  • Wallace, M. J. 1991 Training Foreign Language Teachers: a reflective approach . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
(Expanded version of talk given at IATEFL, Keele, April 1996)
  • Elliot, J. (2002). Making evidence-based practice educational. British Educational Research Journal, 27, 555–574.
  • Ellis, R. (1997). Second language acquisition research and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Everton, T., Galton, M., & Pell, T. (2000). Teachers’ perspectives on educational research: Knowledge and context. Journal of Education for Teaching, 26, 167–182.
  • Hammersley, M. (2004). Some questions about evidence-based practice in education. In G. Thomas, & R. Pring (Eds.), Evidence-based practice in education (pp. 133– 149). Maidenhead: Open University Press. Handscomb, G., & Macbeath, J. (2003).
  • Hopkins, D. (2002). A teachers’ guide to classroom research (3rd ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.
  • Markee, N. (1997). Second language acquisition research: A resource for changing teachers’ professional cultures? Modern Language Journal, 81, 80–93.
  • McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1990). What’s the use of research? ELT Journal, 44, 102–109.
  • Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • London: Heinemann. Thomas, G. (2004). Introduction: Evidence and practice. In G. Thomas, & R. Pring (Eds.), Evidence-based Practice in education (pp. 1–18). Maidenhead: Open University Press.