Research methods in linguistics: An overview

Abstract

The paper offers a short theoretical overview of the main research paradigms, key issues, procedures, data collection and methods of analysis applied to the study of language. General description of qualitative, quantitative and mixed- method research is followed by more detailed account of the three approaches. Different criteria for evaluating research are enumerated and specified and the most useful tools for obtaining quantitative data in linguistics are pointed out: questionnaire surveys and the experimental studies. The reviewed qualitative procedures leading to the generation of a set of data are ethnography, one-to-one interviews, focus group interviews, introspection, case studies, diary studies and research journals. Qualitative content analysis is a deeper level of analysis and interpretation of the underlying meaning of the data. Grounded theory has grown into the “mainstream” and many of its theoretical aspects are considered. The most significant of the discourse-analytic approaches: Conversation analysis, Discourse analysis, Critical discourse analysis and Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse analysis are highlighted. The application of the discussed research paradigms to various research contexts is exemplified by reference to authors whose work is regularly published in SILC.