Introduction to Research Methods

2022/2023

Category 'Best Course for Career Development'

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Mago-Lego

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 2 module

Online hours: 20

Open to: everyone

Instructors: Alexey Bakulev

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Contact hours: 20

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course is primarily designed for first-year students of the Master's program “Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication” who have had no experience of studying a similar course at the undergraduate level. The course is recommended for students who intend to pick the specialization "Linguistic Research in a Modern Interdisciplinary Context"; however, students of the other specializations and even other Master's programs are welcome to sign up. The course gives a brief and comprehensive overview of different aspects of research theory and practice; basic research methods for completing a successful research project; methods of data analysis; data collection techniques; methods of sampling and measurement; analytic frameworks and methods of contemporary linguistics.

Learning Objectives

To familiarize students with research frameworks and approaches
To familiarize students with various methods and techniques applicaple to research in linguistics, language teaching, translation and interpreting, and intercultural communication
To provide students with an opprotunity to test empirically how some of the studied methods and techniques work

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students will develop a comprehensive view on different types of research.
Students will distinguish between different research frameworks and approaches.
Students will distinguish between different types of sampling.
Students will be able to determine which type of sampling is best for their study.
Students will distinguish between different types of surveys.
Students will be able to formulate survey questions.
Students will be able to distinguish between types of interviews.
Students will be able to design interview guides.
Students will be able to employ different kinds of coding.
Students will be able to design a case study for their field.
Students will distinguish between types of experiment.
Students will be able to plan and design a (quazi)experiment.
Students will familiarize themselves with digital methods for linguistics.
Students will be able to apply methods for linguistic research to various language samples.

Course Contents

Frameworks and approaches to research
Sampling
Survey
Interview
Coding
Case study
Experiment
Methods for linguistic studies

Assessment Elements

Class Participation
Class participation involves taking part in discussions, debates, round-table talks, case studies; independent preparation for seminars (information search; reading papers; watching videos; annotating and rendering the obtained materials). If a student is online, class participation is graded under the condition that the student keeps their camera on. Online participation via chat only is worth 1 point maximum.
Online Course Test
The online couse test may feature both open-ended and close-ended questions.
Quizzes
Quizzes may feature open-ended and close-ended questions.
Project
You will carry out a project featuring one or more methods studied in the course. The project will comprise a written research report and an oral presentation. The grade will be calculated as a mean value of the two grades.

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 2nd module
0.25 * Quizzes + 0.15 * Online Course Test + 0.35 * Project + 0.25 * Class Participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Ted Gournelos, Joshua R. Hammonds, & Maridath A. Wilson. (2019). Doing Academic Research : A Practical Guide to Research Methods and Analysis. Routledge.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Cross-cultural research methods in sociology. (2015) (Vol. 5). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.44014-6
Handford, M., & Gee, J. P. (2012). The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=444001
Interpretation and Method
Rugg, G., & Petre, M. (2007). A Gentle Guide to Research Methods. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=234246
Tannen, Deborah, et al. The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1895501.
Teun A. Van Dijk. (2001). Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis.

Course Syllabus