Research in Applied Linguistics: Becoming a Discerning Consumer

by Perry, Jr.; Fred L.

• ISBN13: 9780415885713
• ISBN10: 041588571X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-03-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Newly updated and revised, this popular text provides a solid introduction to the foundations of research methods, with the goal of enabling students and professionals in the field of applied linguistics to become not just casual consumers of research who passively read bits and pieces of a research article, but discerning consumers able to effectively use published research for practical purposes in educational settings. All issues important for understanding and using published research for these purposes are covered. Key principles are illustrated with research studies published in refereed journals across a wide spectrum of applied linguistics. Exercises throughout the text encourage readers to engage interactively with what they are reading at the point when the information is fresh in their minds.Changes in the Second Edition:New examples in chapter 2 reflecting formatting changes made by ERICMajor reordering in chapter 4 to better represent the sample typesReorganization of chapters 6 and 7 to enhance cohesion of the themes being discussedUpdated references and recommended reading lists in all chapters

Author Biography

Professor Fred L. Perry, Jr. has spent over half his life outside of the U.S.A., where he and his family have lived and worked in nine countries. He is Professor Emeritus at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, where he taught research methods and language assessment in the M.A. TEFL program and also headed their Testing Evaluation Service over a 19-year period.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
List of Figures	p. xxi
List of Text Boxes	p. xxiii
List of Tables	p. xxiv
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xxv
Fundamentals for Discerning Consumers	p. 1
Understanding the Nature of Research	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
What Is All This Research About?	p. 3
Who Is All This Research For?	p. 4
Is All of this Research Really That Important?	p. 4
If Applied Linguistics Research Is So Important, How Can We Understand It Better?	p. 4
Overview	p. 5
Why Be a Consumer of Research?	p. 6
The Motivation Behind Research	p. 7
Demythologizing Research	p. 7
The Meaning of True Research	p. 8
Identifying Important Questions	p. 9
Where Are the Answers?	p. 12
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 19
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 20
How to Locate Research	p. 21
Chapter Overview	p. 21
Where to Look and What to Look For	p. 21
Preliminary Sources	p. 22
Secondary Sources	p. 27
Tables of References/Bibliographies	p. 30
Is All Primary Research of Equal Weight?	p. 30
Differentiating Primary From Secondary	p. 33
How to Obtain Research Articles	p. 35
What Journals Are Related to Applied Linguistics?	p. 36
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 36
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 37
The Major Components of Published Research	p. 39
Understanding the Framework of a Primary Research Article	p. 41
Chapter Overview	p. 41
The Framework of a Research Article	p. 41
The Title	p. 41
The Abstract	p. 43
The Introduction of a Study	p. 45
Method	p. 48
Results	p. 54
Discussion/Conclusion	p. 54
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 55
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 55
Understanding Where Data Come From: The Sample	p. 56
Chapter Overview	p. 56
Sampling Terminology	p. 56
Sampling Paradigms	p. 57
The Representative Sampling Paradigm	p. 59
The Purposeful Sampling Paradigm: Sample Strategies for Maximizing Information	p. 65
Ethics in Sampling of Human Participants	p. 71
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 72
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 73
Understanding Research Designs	p. 75
Chapter Overview	p. 75
Classifying Research Designs	p. 75
The BasicùApplied Continuum	p. 76
The QualitativeùQuantitative Continuum	p. 78
The ExploratoryùConfirmatory Continuum	p. 85
Questions and Designs	p. 87
The What Questions	p. 88
The Why Questions	p. 91
Internal Validity	p. 96
Key Terms and- Concepts	p. 111
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 112
Understanding Data Gathering	p. 115
Chapter Overview	p. 115
Collecting and Evaluating VerbalData	p. 116
Observational Procedures	p. 116
Evaluating the Dependability of Verbal Data Procedures	p. 126
Collecting and Evaluating Numerical Data	p. 131
Procedures for Gathering Numerical Data	p. 132
Evaluating the Qualities of Numerical Data Gathering Procedures	p. 142
Reliability	p. 142
Validity	p. 149
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 157
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 158
Understanding Research Results	p. 159
Chapter Overview	p. 159
Introduction to Data Analysis	p. 159
Numerical Versus Verbal Data	p. 159
Common Practice	p. 160
Analysis of Verbal Data	p. 160
Evaluating Patterns and Themes	p. 163
Evaluating Explanations and Conclusions	p. 165
Analysis of Numerical Data	p. 170
Overview of Statistics	p. 171
Understanding Descriptive Statistics	p. 172
Understanding Inferential Statistics	p. 174
Statistical Procedures	p. 178
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 198
Additional Recommended Reading	p. 198
Discerning Discussions and Conclusions: Completing the Picture	p. 199
Chapter Overview	p. 199
The Needed Ingredients	p. 200
Questions Every Consumer Should Ask	p. 200
Summarizing Research	p. 207
Review of Research	p. 207
Where to Begin	p. 209
Abstracting Primary Literature	p. 211
Writing a Review of Research	p. 212
eta-Analysis	p. 214
Going to the Next Level of Statistics	p. 216
More About Descriptive Statistics	p. 216
Types of Scales	p. 216
Shape of the Data Distribution	p. 219
The Average	p. 222
Data Variance	p. 224
More About Inferential Statistics	p. 225
Univariate Versus Multivariate Procedures	p. 225
More on Univariate ANOVAs	p. 226
Multivariate ANOVAs	p. 228
Degrees of Freedom	p. 230
Type II Error and Power	p. 231
Effect Size	p. 233
More on the Null Hypothesis	p. 234
The Logic of Testing the Null Hypothesis	p. 234
Key Terms and Concepts	p. 236
Journals Related to Applied Linguistics	p. 237
Glossary	p. 250
Notes	p. 260
References	p. 263
Website Reference	p. 276
Author Index	p. 277
Subject Index	p. 282
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