Research Methods
What is a research
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Research Methods
MLA Handbook for •
writers of writers of
research papers
Gibaldi,Joseph,2009 •
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course the •
students will be able to write
research proposals.
Learning objectives. •
A scientific research •
is a systematic way
of finding answers to
questions.
Components of a research
Statement of the •
problem
Research questions •
Objectives •
Importance •
Limitations •
Literature review •
Research methodology •
Data analysis •
Conclusion •
&recommendations
Any well-developed design
will achieve the following:
1.Identify the research
problem clearly and justify
its selection, particularly in
relation to any valid
alternative designs that
could have been used,
2.Review and synethesize
previously published literature
associated with the problem.
3.Clearly and explicitly specify
research questions central to
the research problem.
Effectively describe the data and
explain how such data will be
obtained.
Describe the methods of analysis
to be applied to the data in
determining whether or not the
questions have been answered.
Lecture 2
Learning objectives :
to : select a topic, know
the research design, take
notes.
The research paper is
exploration
Types of research
Primary research is the study of •
subjects through investigation,
such as making a survey,
interview,lab experiments.
Secondary research includes •
examination of studies that other
researchers have done.
The research paper as a
form of communication
A research paper should present •
information and ideas clearly and
effectively. The researcher
applies the knowledge and skills
that have been acquired through
different pervious writing
experiences.
Different approaches to
research writing
All writers research papers do •
the following:
1.selecting a suitable topic •
2.conducting research •
3.compiling a working •
bibliography
4.taking notes. •
5.outlining. •
6.preparing the paper
1.selecting a suitable topic
Students submit topics for the
instructor for approval early in the
research project.
Finding a focus :
Choice of a topic depends on
The allotted time.
The length of the research paper
Begin with a general topic then
make it more specific.
Try to narrow your topic by
focusing on an aspect of the
subject or an approach to it.
Examples
The general subject:
‘violence in the media’ can
be narrowed into :
the effect of cartoon
violence in preschool
children’
Choose one lens through which to
view the research problem, or look at
just one facet of it .
For example: rather than studying
the role of food in Eastern religious
rituals; study:
the role of food in Hindu ceremonies,
or,
the role of one particular type of food
among several religions.
Your initial variables or unit of
analyses can be broken into
smaller parts : For example:
tobacco use among adolescents
chewing tobacco
female adolescents in a certain age
range who smoke].
the smaller the area of
analysis, the more narrow the
focus
Example:
trade relations in Gulf
countries.
trade relations between
Oman and Kwait.
how do two or more different
perspectives or variables relate
to one another?
[e.g., cause/effect,
compare/contrast,
contemporary/historical,
group/individual, male/female,
opinion/reason,
problem/solution.
Task: Select general
topics
Narrow your topics
Home work (individual)
Select two general topics
and narrow them.
Library research sources:
Information sources fall into 4
categories:
1.Electronic sources
2.Books and similar
publications
3.Articles and other publications
in print periodicals such as.
journals, newspapers,
and magazines
Additional sources:
Non-print sources like
video recordings and
unpublished writing.
Reference works
a.Print : May be located in a
reference room. i.General
reference books like
dictionaries, encyclopedias,
biographical sources,
yearbooks, atlases
ii. Specialized reference
books: They are grouped
according to subject
area-biology, business,
literature,. . .
b.Electronic
Reference works available
as electronic databases are
usually online or on CDROM OR DVD-ROM
Types of reference works:
i. reference works that provide
data about research materials,
like indexes and bibliographies,
they are lists of publications
usually classified by subjects
ii.collections of abstracts
Present summaries of
journal articles and other
literature.
Guides to research
Guides to research direct
you to the most source of
information in the area
you are searching.
B. Reference works that
give basic information
about subjects:
b.1.Dictionaries provides
information, usually
concise definitions about
words or topics.
B.2.
Encyclopedias give introductory
information about subjects.
B3.biographical sources describe
the lives of prominent persons.
B4.year books present facts about
years in the past.
B5.atlases are collections of
maps
B.6.Almances
Almanacs are annual
publications containing
data, espicially,
statistics about many
subjects
Lecture3 Searching a
reference database
Learning Objectives: •
1.To know types of searches
for a reference database.
2.To Evaluate sources.
In MLA Bibliography is
written in two:
electronic and print
versions.
Types of searches
-author searches
-title searches
-subject searches
-expanded searches
-Boolean searches
Author searches
By entering the name of a
scholar you can obtain a list of
the title by the author that are
collected in the database. For
example:
Gibaldi Joseph, Brown
Douglass
Activity 1
Enter the name of the following
authors:
1.Rod Ellis
2.Richards, J.& Schmidt, R
3.McDonough, S.
4.Littlewood
5.W. Krashen, S.
Title searches
By entering the title of a
work you can obtain a
complete bibliographic
information the work. For
example:
Applied linguistics in language
education
Foreign and second language
learning
Second language acquisition
and second
language learning.
Enter the following titles:
1.Principles of language
learning and teaching
2.Social psychological aspects
of second language acquisition
3.Attitudes and motivation in
second language learning
Subject searches
Subject searches is
accompanied by
description, a term that
describes the work .For
example:
language learning
Expanded searches
You can expand or
narrow your searches
to get a broad sense
of possibilties.If you
have a general idea
About a topic ‘detective
fiction’ you can find a related
subjects by entering the
word ‘detective’ you can
have:
Detective drama
Detective novel
Detective story
Boolean searches
You send request search
by entering and, or, not.
For examples:you can
use Boolean ‘or’ to
expand your search:
3.McDonough, S. Or W.
Krashen
If you want to perform
narrower searches the Boolean
‘not’ and ‘and’ can limit the
field of titles accessed.
Bibliographic information
provided
The databases allow you to
print out or download
bibliographic information.
This includes: author name,
title,and publication
details(year,publication type,.
,language of publication,
international standard
serial number ISSN, update
code, accessed number
and sequence number.See
figure 2 page19.
Evaluating sources
It is difficult to evaluate sources. •
Not all sources are equally
reliable or of equal quality. Some
material may be based on
incorrect or outdated information
poor logic ,and the author or on
view or knowledge is biased or
too limited.
How to evaluate sources?
The focus should be on:
a.Authority,
b.accuracy,
and c.currency of the
sources.
Authority
Most scholarly journals and
academic book publishers pass
through a policy of consultant
review by ‘peer review’ and
‘editorial board’.
In ‘peer review’ the publishers seek
the advice of expert readers or
referees before publication.
Each consultant read the work and
send the publisher a report
evaluating the manuscripts, either
recommending or not
recommending. Readers comment
on : The importance of the subject,
the originality and soundness of
the argument, the accuracy of the
facts, and the currency of the
research
Editorial board
An editorial board also
reviews the manuscript.
Evaluating the authority of an
Internet source
Considerations:
1.author: The of the author of the
work should be identified and the
persons responsible for the site.
2.text: Use reliable editions, look at
who the editor of the text and
when.
3.Editorial policy:
Look for statement of mission and
purpose and the evidence that the
document underwent consultant
review(e.g. the lists of an editorial
board.
4.Publisher or sponsoring
organization:
The name of the publisher or
sponsoring organization should
be clearly stated with access to
information about the
organization(e.g.www.npr.org
b.accuracy
Check to see the work sources that
appear in the list of works cited.
The titles in the list might also tell
you about the author knowledge
about the subject and about any
bias. A web publication might
supply hypertexual links to the
sources. Note whether there is
email address to the author or org.
Currency
Although online documents
and sites have potential for
continual updating ,many
may be out -of -date. A
document should record all
dates of publication.
the end