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Introductory Concepts and Definitions: Dr. Codruta Gosa Codruta - Gosa@e-Uvt

This document provides an introduction to research concepts and definitions. It defines research as disciplined inquiry aimed at finding answers to questions and increasing understanding of the world. Research is described as rigorous and systematic, driven by well-formulated research questions and appropriate methods. The document outlines different types of research according to purpose (explanatory, descriptive, exploratory), location (library, fieldwork, laboratory), and strategy (quantitative vs qualitative). It encourages thinking about one's own research in terms of these classifications and choosing appropriate methods.

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Mădălina Todinca
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53 views

Introductory Concepts and Definitions: Dr. Codruta Gosa Codruta - Gosa@e-Uvt

This document provides an introduction to research concepts and definitions. It defines research as disciplined inquiry aimed at finding answers to questions and increasing understanding of the world. Research is described as rigorous and systematic, driven by well-formulated research questions and appropriate methods. The document outlines different types of research according to purpose (explanatory, descriptive, exploratory), location (library, fieldwork, laboratory), and strategy (quantitative vs qualitative). It encourages thinking about one's own research in terms of these classifications and choosing appropriate methods.

Uploaded by

Mădălina Todinca
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introductory concepts and

definitions
Dr. Codruta Gosa
[email protected]
[email protected]
Our course
• Introductory concepts
• Ethics in research
• The research proposal
• Quantitative research: logic, methodology,
methods, analysis
• Qualitative research: logic, methodology,
methods
• Data analysis in qualitative research
• The research report
Still, what is research?
In the most profound sense, research simply
means trying to find answers to questions…to
learn more about the world around us. …Or in
short, research is disciplined inquiry. (Dörnyei,
2007)
Key words
• Rigorous
• Systematic
▫ Through appropriate
 Research question(s)
 Research method(s)
Research is Question(s) driven

•Think of your BA paper


▫ Try to formulate a
question that drives it
Two ways to find answers to questions
• By looking at what other people have said
(labelled as ‘secondary’, ‘conceptual’, ‘library’
research)
• By conducting your own data-based
investigation (labelled as ‘primary’, ‘empirical’
research)
Classification of research
• According to the purpose of research
• According to the basic location of
research
• According to the research strategies
Types of research: purpose

• Explanatory: seeks an explanation of


a situation or problem (causal
relationships), quantitative and/or
qualitative
 Experiments are seen as most
appropriate for explanatory work
• Descriptive: seeks to elicit the characteristics
of a particular social phenomenon from a certain
group of people, i.e. present a certain social
status quo

▫ Surveys are seen as most appropriate for


descriptive work
• Exploratory: to find out what is happening,
seek new insights, to assess phenomena in a new
light, usually qualitative
▫ Case studies are seen as most appropriate for
exploratory work
Types of research: location
• Library
• Natural environment: associated with
ethnography (the researcher becomes part of the
group under study)
• Fieldwork: used to refer to the collection of
data using observational methods
• Laboratory
Types of research: strategy
Two research paradigms both ontologically and
epistemologically grounded

They are:
• Positivism versus interpretivism
• Quantitative versus qualitative
Quantitative vs. qualitative
Survey Case study
Bird’s eye view Worm’s eye view
Large amount of data Small amount of data
Numerical and statistical Word-based analyses
analyses
Generalisable Non-genearalisable
Test hypotheses Exploratory
Deductive Inductive
Etic Emic
Think…
• Re-visit your overarching research question
• What will be your corpus?
▫ Respondents-based?
▫ Document/texts-based?
▫ A combination?
• What approach will you use:
▫ Quantitative?
▫ Qualitative?
▫ Both?
• What methods will you employ?
▫ Survey?
▫ (Quasi) Experiment?
▫ Case study?
References
Dörnyei, Z, 2007: Research Methods in Applied
Linguistics, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Robson, C. 2002.: Real World Research; A Resource
for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers,
(2nd ed)Oxford: Blackwell

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