Language

Research
January 23, 2020
“Research is a high-hat word that scares a lot of
people. It needn’t. It is rather simple. Essentially, it is
nothing but a state of mind—a friendly, welcoming
attitude towards change. Going out to look for change,
instead of waiting for it to come. Research for practical
men, is an effort to do things better and not to be
caught asleep at a switch. The research state of mind
can apply to anything: Personal affairs or any kind of
business, big or little. It is the problem-solving mind as
contrasted with the let-well-enough-alone mind. It is
the composer mind, instead of a fiddler mind; it is the
‘tomorrow mind’, instead of the ‘yesterday mind’.”
--C. F. Kettering
 Language Research
• A careful, systematic study in a field of
linguistics, undertaken to discover or
establish facts or principles.
Undertaking a language research is similar
to a journey that demands two important
decisions:
– WHAT DO YOU WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT?
(research problem)
– HOW TO GO ABOUT FINDING THE ANSWERS?
(research design). This is where your knowledge
base of the research methods plays a very
crucial role.
 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
1. Formulating the Research Problem
2. Extensive Literature Review
3. Developing the objectives
4. Preparing the Research Design including Sample
Design
5. Devising the research instrument
6. Collecting the Data
7. Analysis of Data
8. Generalization and Interpretation
9. Preparation of the Report or Presentation of
Results - Formal write ups
FORMULATING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The first and most crucial step in the research

process.
– Main function is to decide what you want to
find out about.
– The way problems are formulated determines
almost every step that follows.
SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
1. NATIONAL AND SOCIAL CONCERNS
2. TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
3. EXPERIENCE – work on something related to
your personal and professional background
4. DEDUCTION FROM THEORIES – testing if the
theory work in a particular setting
5. PREVIOUS STUDIES – related literature
identifies research gaps –what has been done
and what needs to be done
HOW TO LOOK FOR RESEARCH PROBLEM

• Look for gaps/deficiencies/gray areas

• Watch out for incongruence and
contradictions
CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING RESEARCH PROBLEM
• Interest: One should select topic of great interest to
sustain the required motivation.
• Magnitude: It is extremely important to select a topic
that you can manage within the time and resources at
your disposal. Narrow the topic down to something
manageable, specific and clear.
• Measurement of concepts: Make sure that you are
clear about the indicators and measurement of concepts
(if used) in your study.
• Level of expertise: Make sure that you have adequate
level of expertise for the task you are proposing since
you need to do the work yourself.
CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING RESEARCH PROBLEM
• Relevance: Ensure that your study adds to the
existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps
and is useful in policy formulation.
• Availability of data: Before finalizing the topic,
make sure that data are available.
• Ethical issues: How ethical issues can affect the
study population and how ethical problems can be
overcome should be thoroughly examined at the
problem formulating stage.