Category: Research Methodology (All)
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How to use Likert scales effectively
Many questionnaires use Likert items & scales to elicit information about language teaching and learning. In this post, I discuss how to use these instruments effectively, by looking into the difference between items and scales, and explaining how to analyse the data that they produce.
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Breaching confidentiality in research
Researchers have a duty to protect the anonymity of study participants, even from law enforcement agencies.
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Dealing with demographic data in language education research
This post will teach you how to effectively design a demographic section for a quantitative study in language education. The post looks into the purposes that this section serves; goes on to point out common problems; and concludes with practical advice.
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Writing effective questionnaire items in language education research (Part 2)
This post contains practical advice that will help you to formulate and sequence the items in your questionnaire. It is mainly addressed to students working in language education, but much of the content can be applied in most of quantitative research.
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Writing effective questionnaire items in language education research (Part 1)
If you are doing a quantitative research in language education, this post will help you to avoid three of the most common problems involved in the construction of questionnaire items.
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Doing research without a control group
I was recently asked by a student whether it is possible to do a research project without a control group, and I am copying my answer here, in case it is of interest to readers of the blog. The TL;DR is that you can, but if you need a more detailed explanation, you can find…
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Mid-points, central tendencies and statistical significance in Likert scales
When your questionnaire uncovers differences in the ways people have responded, how do you know of these mean something, or if they are due to chance?
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Likert scales: Four things you may not know
If you use quantitative methods in your research project, you may want to read this first.
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Reporting data inaccurately: why, when and how to confidentialise data?
Research, we surely agree, is about finding the truth and accurately reporting it. In this post, however, I will talk about those cases when we might have to actually distort the truth while reporting on a research project. This is normally done in the interest of protecting research participants, and it is called ‘confidentialising’. In…