Research methods and the use of the SPSS

elective courses

The course shows how to collect empirical data, analyse it using IBM SPSS and interpret the results. The first part of the course will discuss ways of conducting empirical research in the field of linguistics and psycholinguistics, including language learning. The classes are intended to introduce the principles of scientific work starting from the formulation of a research problem, questions and hypotheses, through the selection of research methods and techniques, to the development of a research procedure and the control of variables.The second part of the course is designed to provide the doctoral student with essential tools for data analysis. The first two meetings will be more theoretical while the rest will be more practical, with the use of the IBM SPSS software (freely available for UW students’ and staff). Students will learn how to organize the data, analyse the data, check data assumptions, and how to conduct some of the most common statistical tests.

The course will discuss ways of conducting empirical research in the field of linguistics and psycholinguistics, including research on language learning. The classes are intended to introduce the principles of scientific work starting from the formulation of a research problem, questions and hypotheses, through the selection of research methods and techniques, to the development of a research procedure and the control of variables. The course shows how to collect empirical data, analyze it using IBM SPSS and interpret the results. The course emphasizes that a rigorous methodological approach more easily leads to success in the form of a scientific publication or a research chapter of the work.

In particular, the following issues will be discussed:

1. Types of research: quantitative and qualitative, exploratory and confirmatory, basic and applied

2. The process of scientific research: research questions, hypotheses, operationalization and control of variables

3. The research process: basic paradigms (correlation, experimental, causal-comparative)

4. Correlational and causal-comparative designs

5. Experimental and quasi-experimental research, comparisons between groups

6. Experimental research, within- and between-subject designs

7. Qualitative research. Triangulation. Quantitative approaches to qualitative data

8. Why we need statistics

9. Data organization and preparation

10. Assumptions of parametric tests and the alpha value

11. Comparing two independent/dependent groups

12. Comparing three or more independent/dependent groups

13. Correlations and linear regression

14. Final practice: Deciding on a test, analyzing the data and obtaining results.

Bedyńska, S & Cypiańska, M. (red.) (2013). Statystyczny drogowskaz. Praktyczne wprowadzenie do wnioskowania statystycznego. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie SEDNO.

Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th edition). London: Sage.

Howell, D. C. (2010). Statistical methods for psychology (7th Ed). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

Loewen, S & Plonsky, L (2016). An A-Z of Applied Research Methods. London: Palgrave.

Mackey, A. Gass, S. (eds.) (2012). Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition. A practical Guide. Wiley-Blackwell.

Perry Jr, F. L. (2011). Research in applied linguistics: Becoming a discerning consumer. Routledge.

Salkind, N. J. (2011). Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, United States: Sage Publications.

Van Peer, W. Hakemulder, F., Zyngier, S. (2012). Scientific Methods for the Humanities. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Winter, B (2020). Statistics for linguists: An introduction to R. New York: Routledge.

The course aims to provide knowledge on how to plan and conduct research, and how to analyse data and interpret the results. The course covers the formulation of research problems, the measurement of variables, methods of research planning, and the analysis of results in empirical research in the field of linguistics and language acquisition.

Knowledge

The PhD student:

P8S_WG. Knows the terminology, theory, methodology and the state of research in the field of empirical research on language.

P8S_WG. Has in-depth knowledge of the empirical research design process, including types of research questions, hypothesis formulation and testing, and the operationalization and control of variables in empirical language-learning research.

P8S_WG. Knows and understands the main research paradigms in empirical research on language.

P8S_WG. Knows the rules of the statistical analysis of research results and how to work with the SPSS program.

P8S_WK Knows and understands the ethical conditions of designing empirical research on language.

Skills

The PhD student:

P8S_UW. Is able to use the acquired research skills, including the following: critical reading of research articles in order to creatively identify and formulate research problems in the field of empirical language-learning research, to formulate correct theoretical and operational definitions, and to point to errors in operationalization and reasoning.

P8S_UW. P8S_UU. Can design an experimental study on language knowledge or acquisition. The student knows where to look for solutions to existing problems.

P8S_UO. Can plan, organize and implement a research project - individually and in a team, as well as define priorities in the implementation of tasks.

P8S_UW. P8S_UO. Is able to independently prepare for analysis, analyse, and vizualize the numerical data obtained in the study using the statistical analysis software IBM SPSS.

Social competences:

The PhD student:

P8S_KR. Is ready to cooperate in a research group, assuming and accepting different roles in it and respecting the principles of cooperation and sharing responsibility for scientific work, its dissemination and communication.

P8S_KO. Is ready to follow the ethical conditions of empirical research on language and put them into practice.

P8S_KK. Is ready to critically evaluate selected empirical studies and their results, and to critically assess the usefulness of the acquired knowledge in their own scientific development.

P8S_KR. P8S_KK. Is ready to approach his/her research critically and to respect the principles of intellectual property and copyright protection.

The final grade depends on several factors

1. Active participation in classes (2 absences allowed): 30%

- Knowledge: quality of comments after reading the assigned literature, participation in the discussion.

- Language: fluency and accuracy, including use of domain specific vocabulary.

2. Mid-term test: 35%

- Knowledge: open and closed questions (True / False; multiple choice, gap filling). The test is based on reading and discussion texts in the classroom.

3. End of semester test: 35%

- Knowledge and skills: correct performance of data analyses in the SPSS program.

Test results

5 - 93-100%

4+ - 85-92%

4 - 77-84%

3+ - 69-76%

3 - 60-68%

2 - less than 60%