Descriptive
Studies
A descriptive study is concerned with conditions or relationships
that exist, opinion that are help, processes that are going on,
effect that are evident, or trends that are developing.
It is primarily concerned with present, although it often considers
past events and influences as they relate to current conditions.
In carrying out a descriptive research project, the researcher
does not manipulate the variable, decide who receive the
treatment, or arrange an event to happen
The researcher has no control over the variables, the researcher
cannot assign the participants to control and experimental
groups, the researcher doesn’t manipulate the environment or
teaching method
Types of Descriptive
Methods
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1. Survey
2. Interrelational
It deals with the relationship between
variables, the testing of a hypothesis, and
the development of generalization,
principles, and theories that have
universal validity.
Developmental
Survey method
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The survey method gathers data from a
relatively large number of cases at a
particular time. It is not concerned with
characteristics of individuals as
individuals.
Ninety-nine percent of American have at
least one television set .
99% of students entering a university
remain to graduate.
In 1977, 99% of Iranians vote for The
Islamic Republic.
68% of graduate students haven’t found a
Factors that should be
taken into consideration
in a Survey method
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1. The specification of the exact purpose of the study.
Teacher views about teaching English (too broad)
2. The type of information to be obtained:
 Fact (e.g., gender, ethnicity, race, income, years of
education)
 opinion( respondent’s preferences, feelings, likes and
dislikes)
 behavior (how many time has a person attempted a
particular activity?)
3. The instrument to be used in data collection
Questionnaire
Interviews of different types
observations
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Types of Survey
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1. School survey
-- to gather detailed information for judging the effectiveness of instructional
facilities, curriculum, teaching and supervisory personnel, quality and quantity of
services.
Setting for learning
Characteristics of educational personnel
The nature of students
2. Social Survey
Public opinions, attitudes, and preferences
The television viewing habits of school children
Health services
Employment
Public opinion surveys
People’s opinion about Foreign aid programs, the adequacy of the public schools, the
incumbent president
Interrelational Methods
Investigating the relationship among existing
factors.
 1. Case study
The data are collected about the present status,
past events, and environmental factors which
contribute to the identity, individuality, and the
behavioral patters of the unit.
2. Field study
The researcher directly observes a naturally
occurring event ( Direct observation
3. Correlational Studies
Correlation indicates the strength and direction of a
linear relationship between variables.
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Correlation and
Significance
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Is there a relationship
between two
variables/data?
What is the direction of
the relationship?
What is the
magnitude?
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Pearson’s product
moment coefficient
correlation: -1.0 to
+1.0
Ex post facto Design
‘from what is done afterwards’
You do not randomly assign participants to different
groups.
You are purposely putting them in a particular group
based on some prior thing they have
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Studies that investigate possible cause
and effect relationships by observing an
existing condition or state of affairs and
searching back in time for plausible causal
factors.
Characteristics of Ex Post
Facto
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Researcher takes the effect/dependent
variable and examines it retrospectively
Establishes causes, relationships or
associations and their meanings.
Researcher has little to no control over
independent variables.
Flexible by nature.
When to use this?
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You can use this where more powerful
experimental designs are not possible;
when you are unable to select, control and
manipulate the factors necessary to study
cause and effect relationships directly, or
when control variables except a single
independent variable may be unrealistic
and artificial.
Causal –Comparative
Studies
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The researcher can go further and
determine the reason for or the cause of
the current status of the phenomenon
under investigation.
It enables researchers to investigate
possible cause-effect relationships by
observing existing consequences and
searching back through the data for
plausible causal factors.
Causal-comparative (ex
post facto) research
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The independent variable (IV) is not
manipulated; it has already occurred
Independent variables sometimes called
“attribute variables”
Less costly and time-consuming to
conduct
Establishing cause-effect relationships is
more difficult than in experiments
The Post Hoc Fallacy
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The conclusion that because two factors
go together, one must be the cause and
the other the effect.
The numbers of years of education and
earned income
Cigarette-cancer
Causal comparative vs.
correlational research
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Causal
comparative
– Attempts to identify
cause-effect
relationships
– At least one
independent
variable
– Two or more
groups
– Involves a
comparison
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Correlational
– No attempt to
understand cause
and effect
– Two or more
variables
– Only one group
Comparison to
experiments
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Causal
comparative
– Individuals already
in groups before
study begins
– Independent
variable has
already occurred
– Independent
variable is not
manipulated
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Experiment
– Individuals
randomly assigned
to groups (e.g.,
treatment or
control)
– Independent
variable
manipulated by the
researcher
Examples of nonmanipulated independent
variables
Age
 Sex
 Ethnicity
 “Learning style”
Socioeconomic status (SES)
 Parent educational level
 Family environment
 Type of school attended
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Follow- up Study
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It investigates individual who have left an
institution after having completed a
program, a treatment, or a course of
study.
The study concerns what has happened
to them and what impact the institution
and its program has had on them.
By examining their status or seeking their
opinions, one may get some ideas of the
adequacy or inadequacy of the
institution's program.
Developmental Methods (
Chapter Four of Zoltan
Dornyei)
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They are concerned with changes that take place
over time.
In such studies, researchers describe variables in
the course of their development over time.
Language acquisition
Language development
1. Longitudinal (the ongoing examination of
people or phenomena over time)
2. Cross-sectional (a snap-shot-like analysis of
the target phenomenon at one particular point in
time, focusing on a singl time interval
Longitudinal Studies
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1. Panel study (prospective longitudinal study; cohort study)
It involves taking a group of people and following their
development by multiple investigations over a period of time
It allows us to collect information about change at the micro level
as it really happens.
Drawbacks
Expensive and time consuming
Attrition ( a number of participant may drop out of the panel in
the successive waves because of non-availability, changing
address or telephone number,; panel members may become ill or
simply unwilling to continue because of a lack of time or loss of
interest
Panel conditioning
altering the panel members’ behavior and responses ( Howthorne
effect)
2. Trend
studies(Repeated crosssectional studies)
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Administering repeated questionnaire
survey to different samples of
respondents.
If the subsequent waves examine
samples that are representative of the
same population, then the result can be
seen to carry longitudinal information at
the aggregate level (for the whole group
rather than for the individuals.
They are usually cheaper and easier to
arrange and conduct
They do not suffer attrition or
3. Retrospective
longitudinal studies
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They gather information during a single
investigation in which respondents are
asked to think back and answer questions
about the past.
4. Simultaneous cross-sectional
studies
It is conducted with different age groups
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Useful Terms
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Correlation- Indicates the strength and
direction of a linear relationship between
two random variables.
Ex post facto- from the Latin for "from
something done afterward"
Quasi- the prefix 'quasi' denotes methods
that are "almost" or "socially approximate"
Variable- a measurable factor,
characteristic, or attribute of an individual
or a system