Midlands State University
Department of African Languages and Culture
Module Outline:
HAFL 203 Research Methods in Language, Literature and Culture
Lecturer: Mpofu P
Course Description
This module concerns us with the topic of research. It attempts to define what
research is, why we do research, and the various methods that researchers use
to investigate problems. This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals
of social research in Language, Literature and Culture by comparing the
approaches of several different research methods. It covers four broad topics:
the foundations of social science, research design, data collection, and data
analysis and focusing on research design, data collection, data analysis, and the
ethics of research, we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the different
methods. Social research is a craft, and like any other craft, it takes practice to
do it well. Particular attention will be placed on qualitative research
Course Objectives
1. to have developed the ability to critically evaluate various forms of social
research from a methodological standpoint and
2. 2. to be able to conceptualize and design your own research project
3. to familiarize you with the methodological and epistemological debates
concerning qualitative research.
4. to give you a number of practical, applied tools during the course of the
semester.
5. to allow you to practice and implement these tools.
6. to help you understand how to move from project design, to project
implementation, to data analysis and reporting Formulate good research
questions and design appropriate research.
7. Formulate good research questions and design appropriate research.
8. Collect your own data using a variety of methods
Module Content
Foundations of Social Science Research
I.
The nature and scope of social research- what is social
research? ; Research history; the scientific approach; Research
traditions; Types of research; Stages of the research process
II.
Formulation of the research problem- Selection of a general
topic; Literature review and the exploratory study; Specification
of objectives and hypotheses; Concepts and variables
Research Designs
III.
Selection of research design- Basic elements of research
design; Major types of design and their relative functions;
Experimental design; Social survey; Ethnographical/Case study:
its exploratory nature; Historical design; Evaluative research
Data Collection
IV.
Data collection Instruments and techniques, questionnaire,
interview, observation etc
V.
Sampling- Why Sampling; types
VI.
Research ethics
VII.
Measurement and the problem of causality-. Levels of
measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio; Reliability and
validity; Construction of composite scores: typology, index and
scaling; Problems of making causal inference
Data Analysis
VIII
Processing and presenting data- Qualitative and Quantitative
analysis of data; detailed descriptions, frequency distribution, stem and
leaf diagrams, graphs (histogram, polygon, ogive), charts (bar and pie),
pictograms; Statistics- mean, mode, median, range, variance, standard
deviation
Publishing/Reporting of Findings
IX . Writing a research report/ dissertation/ thesis- Research proposal
(the research topic, background of study, objectives, research
questions, significance of study, delimitations, limitations, definition of
terms, literature review, theoretical framework, methodology, data
presentation and analysis plan, chapter headings, timeline, budget;
Conducting the research (fieldwork); Writing the research report –
Preliminaries- title page, abstract, acknowledgements, dedication,
table of contents, list of tables, list of figures; The text-Introductory
chapter (chapter 1), chapters forming the study, concluding chapter;
Referencing techniques (books, journals etc ), Appendices
(questionnaires, letters, interviews etc)
Course Requirements & Grading
Coursework (30%)
Assignments: There will be one individual assignment for the semester that
requires you to implement and analyze various qualitative methods. Your
analyses should be thoughtful, specific, and detailed. Always provide relevant
examples when making arguments. Always be specific. These will be graded and
returned to you one to two weeks after they are due.
Seminar presentations: There shall be group presentations on given topics,
which should show detailed coverage, sound analysis and argument, augmented
by good presentation skills.
Research Proposal: The course will culminate in a formal proposal, or plan, for
future research. The proposal could be an early version of your dissertation or
thesis proposal. It could also be a plan for an article, or series of articles you wish
to do. The proposal should entail a discussion of your research question, the
motivation and background for that question, a brief literature review, your
defense of the research methodology, an overview of your project (the sections
or chapters you will write and what they will include). We will discuss each
proposal in class. Be prepared to give a brief ?defense? of your proposal (10-15
minutes) .
Examination 75%: Consists of a three hour paper written at the end of the
semester.
What ethical obligations do qualitative researchers have?
A NOTE ON WRITING AND PLAGIARISM
I expect that the papers/reviews/projects you turn in to me reflect college level
writing skills. What does this mean? 1) There will be no spelling errors. For those
of you with access to computers with fancy word processing programs and spell
checker programs, there is absolutely no excuse to misspell a word. For those of
you who still rely on typewriters, you will have to resort to old-fashioned
proofreading. Even those with computers should proofread your papers before
turning them in or have a friend proofread them for you. 2) There will be few
grammatical errors. Again, I know of at least two grammar checker programs out
there for computers. If you don’t have access to a computer with such programs,
I suggest The Little, Brown Handbook or the Chicago Manual of Style as
grammar references. They are available at bookstores and in the library. 3) The
papers/reviews/projects will be well-organized and cohesive. If you know your
writing is not as good as it should be, please use one of the academic resource
centers on campus. That is why they are there.
As for plagiarism or other forms of cheating, they will simply not be tolerated.
Familiarize yourself with the policy here at C.C.S.U. I would rather you hand in a
paper/review/project with too many footnotes and references than one in which
you do not cite your sources. Any person guilty of plagiarism will immediately
receive an F for the paper/review/project and the matter will be brought to the
attention of the Dean of Student Academic Affairs for further action. So please,
don’t even think it... I have caught several students before. It was not a pleasant
experience for me, and you can be sure it was not pleasant for the students.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not accepted. Included in the definition of plagiarism are:




deliberately copying the work of another student;
copying directly from any published work without using quotation marks;
failing to acknowledge sources used in submitted assignments with proper
citation methods;
re-submitting an assignment used in one course as an original piece of
work for another course
1. In the phrase “qualitative data analysis”, the adjective “qualitative” can be
read as modifying either “data” or “analysis”. This suggests the possibility
that both data and methods can be classified in terms of a qualitative vs
quantitative dimension, as shown in the table below.
Data
Qualitative Quantitative
Analyses
Qualitative
Quantitative
Discuss each of the four cells of the table, giving examples of
specific methodologies that fit in each one. In addition, discuss the
usefulness and sharpness of the qual-quant distinction, and as well
as the data-analysis distinction
2. Sampling errors and sample size 3. Selection of sample units: probability and
non-probability VI. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION 1. Interview and
questionnaire 2. Observation 3. Documents and content analysis 4. Unobtrusive
measures VII. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 1. Editing, coding,
and tabulation 2. Statistical analysis: Description and inference 3. The meanings
and implications of results: why so and so what? VIII. CONCLUDING REMARKS
1. Formulating the research proposal 2. Writing the research report
Grading: Exercise 30% Tutorial performance 20% Examina