Designing an internationally publishable research study Richard Watson Todd KMUTT
Jan 13, 2016
Designing an internationally publishable research study
Richard Watson Todd
KMUTT
What is research?
• Research is an attempt to understand something better through the systematic and formal collection and analysis of empirical data.
– Shanahan (2002)
What is research?
• Research is an attempt to understand something better through the systematic and formal collection and analysis of empirical data.
– Shanahan (2002)
Research does not try to prove something
For internationally publishable research, the audience should be motivated to want to understand the “something”
What is research?
• Research is an attempt to understand something better through the systematic and formal collection and analysis of empirical data.
– Shanahan (2002)
The collection and analysis needs to be grounded in theory
What is research?
• Research is an attempt to understand something better through the systematic and formal collection and analysis of empirical data.
– Shanahan (2002)
The research needs to be rigorous
What are your research ideas?
Key issues
• You want to investigate how assigning roles in groupwork promotes meaningful interaction between students
• You cannot make a prediction if you don’t know why something happens
• You cannot know why something happens if you don’t know what is happening
• Description• Explanation• Prediction
Key issues
• You want to investigate the extent to which there is meaningful interaction between students in groupwork
• What terms need defining and operationalising?
Key issues
• You want to investigate the extent to which there is meaningful interaction between students in groupwork
• What terms need defining and operationalising?
What is meant by ‘interaction’? Should non-verbal interaction be included?
Key issues
• You want to investigate the extent to which there is meaningful interaction between students in groupwork
• What terms need defining and operationalising?
How can “meaningful interaction” be identified? What makes interaction meaningful?
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/books/main.asp
Key issues
• You want to investigate the extent to which there is meaningful interaction between students in groupwork
• What framework to use?– Previous research into groupwork– Previous research using video recordings– Previous research into interaction
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/rmd/home.phpGroupwork
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/rmd/home.phpVideo recordings
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/rmd/home.phpInteraction
Key issues
• What theoretical framework to use?– Previous research into groupwork:
• Coded interaction analysis• Discourse function analysis
– Previous research using video recordings• Conversation analysis• Categorical function analysis
– Previous research into interaction• LRE (language-related episode) analysis• Conversation analysis
Strengthening research ideas
• Building on traditional research approaches to provide insights or rigour
• 3 cases
Case 1: Teaching method evaluation
• Traditional: Pre- and post-test on a teaching method
• Problems– How does this lead to understanding?– Why should others be interested?– Where’s the explanation?
Case 1: Teaching method evaluation
• Investigation of effectiveness of data-Driven Learning (DDL): use of concordances to improve writing
• For a word in their writing, students generate concordance lines, identify patterns of use, apply these to their writing
• What types of words is DDL effective for?– Parts of speech– Polysemy– Variation in possible patterns
Case 2: Interviews on attitudes and beliefs
• Traditional: conduct interviews, group responses into themes intuitively
• Problems– Themes reflect interview questions– Lack of rigour
Case 2: Interviews on attitudes and beliefs
• Investigation of long-term changes after curriculum innovation
• Teachers interviewed with course outlines (changes over 4 years) as stimulus
• Interviews conducted using active listening
• Themes identified from frequency list/keyword analysis
Case 3: Attitude survey
• Traditional: distribute rating-scale questionnaires, calculate means for questions
• Problems– Validity of the responses– Perceptions, not behaviours
Case 3: Attitude survey
• Survey of Thai students’ attitudes to native-English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-NESTs
• 2 surveys focusing on different issues:– Stated preference– Level of comfort
• Implicit Association Test for unconscious attitudes
Summary
• Internationally publishable research needs to– Improve understanding of an issue– Be relevant to the audience– Be grounded in theory– Be rigorous– Consider the Description – Explanation – Prediction
sequence– Have clearly and thoughtfully operationalised
variables