Sociolinguistics and Modern Research Methods

2025/2026

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

6

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Школа филологических наук

Статус:

Курс обязательный

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Зубалов Денис Юрьевич

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This blended course is designed for MA students enrolled in the “Language Policy in the Context of Ethnocultural Diversity” MA programme. The course objective is to introduce students to the theoretical and practical aspects of conducting research employing qualitative and quantitative methods. Students will learn to design research tasks and will be given the opportunity to conduct small-scale surveys applying the techniques they will have learnt in this course. Students will learn what types of interviews there are and in what research situations each one is used. Students will likewise learn how to conduct interviews (and how not to), how to analyze and classify the data. This course will also look at ethnographic approach when doing fieldwork. Finally, we will look at how we design questionnaires and how we disseminate them. In the first part of the course, students will have to pass the online course “Understanding Research Methods” available at the online platform COURSERA https://ru.coursera.org/learn/research-methods. The second part of the course consists of in-class lectures and seminars.

Learning Objectives

• Learning Objectives: to familiarize students with the latest trends in qualitative and qualitative methods; to teach students to be able to discern the types of interviews and be able to choose which type best suits each survey; to teach students to correctly design the survey and how to conduct interviews/ethnographic (case) studies; to teach students how to design questionnaires and how to disseminate them and analyze quantitative data.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Student will have learnt correctly design the survey and how to conduct interviews/ethnographic (case) studies.
• Student will have practiced various techniques and will have conducted their own small-scale survey.
• Students will have learnt the basic quantitative methods commonly used in sociolinguistics (and social sciences)
• Students will have learnt the latest trends in qualitative and qualitative methods
• Students will have learnt to discern the types of interviews and be able to choose which type best suits each survey
• Students will have learnt to formulate Research Questions and design a small-scale survey.
• Students will learn to design research tasks and will be given the opportunity to conduct small-scale surveys.
• Students will learnt to design questionnaires and how to disseminate them and analyze quantitative data.

Course Contents

• 1. Introduction: qualitative research
• 2. Fieldwork 1: entering the community
• 3. Fieldwork 2: observation. Assignment
• 4. Interviews and equipment
• 5. Quantitative research methods
• 6. Data analysis & interpretation. Assignment
• 7. Case study
• 8. Research ethics. Final exam

Assessment Elements

• Activity
• Data collection assignment - Interview
• Ethnographic observation in public
• Presentation
• Final Exam

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  0.05 * Activity + 0.05 * Activity + 0.2 * Data collection assignment - Interview + 0.2 * Ethnographic observation in public + 0.3 * Final Exam + 0.2 * Presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Cramer D. Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis. 2003.
• Fielding, N., & Schreier, M. (2012). Introduction: On the Compatibility between Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.7930192C
• Fundamentals of Qualitative Research
• Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research : Principles and Practices. New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=185849
• Harreveld, B., Danaher, M., Lawson, C., Knight, B. A., & Busch, G. (2016). Constructing Methodology for Qualitative Research : Researching Education and Social Practices. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1334554
• Mesthrie, R. (2011). The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=400558
• Qualitative Interviewing

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Claudio Morrison, & Devi Sacchetto. (2018). Research Ethics in an Unethical World: The Politics and Morality of Engaged Research. Work, Employment & Society, (6), 1118. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.sae.woemps.v32y2018i6p1118.1129
• Desai, P. (2002). Methods Beyond Interviewing in Qualitative Market Research. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=251305
• Gerring, J. (2002). What is a Case Study and What is it Good For? Conference Papers —— American Political Science Association, 1–41. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=poh&AN=17985439
• Mahoney, J., & Goertz, G. (2006). A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.18538E6D
• Meyerhoff, M. (2018). Introducing Sociolinguistics (Vol. Third edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1875703
• Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research : Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by Patricia Leavy, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1657789.
• Riemer, F. J., Quartaroli, M. T., & Lapan, S. D. (2012). Qualitative Research : An Introduction to Methods and Designs (Vol. 1st ed). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=407814
• Seidman, I. (2019). Interviewing As Qualitative Research : A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (Vol. Fifth edition). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2168597
• Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods. (2017). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.887088
• The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics, edited by Rajend Mesthrie, Cambridge University Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=803144.
• Willem Mertens, Amedeo Pugliese, & Jan Recker. (2017). Quantitative Data Analysis. Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.b.spr.sprbok.978.3.319.42700.3
• Yin, R. K. . (DE-588)136005616, (DE-576)163641544. (2014). Case study research : design and methods / Robert K. Yin. Los Angeles, Calif. [u.a.]: Sage. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.380931494

Authors

• BERGELSON MIRA BORISOVNA
• ZUBALOV DENIS Iurevich