Introductory description

Quantitative research is an essential aspect of the social sciences and includes sampling methods and research designs such as experiments and quasi-experiments. Moreover, this module will help you to be confident in producing descriptive statistics and inferential statistical analyses like t-tests and correlations. These skills will be very useful not only for your academic studies, but also in your subsequent career.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The nature of quantitative research
Major principles of conducting quantitative research, strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Purpose of quantitative studies (descriptive, explorative, evaluative, predictive,
explanatory, etc.)
Systematically designing quantitative research designs
The quantitative research process: An overview
Types of variables (nominal, ordinal, interval)
From research question to hypothesis
Overview and examples of basic quantitative research designs
Experimental designs, quasi-experimental/ ex-post facto designs, etc
Data collection procedures
Sampling techniques (e.g. random sampling, etc.)
Descriptive statistics: Theory and practice
Definition and use
Types of descriptive statistics (mean, median, quartiles, standard deviation, etc.)
Correlation analysis
Definition and use
Types of correlations (parametric, non-parametric, partial correlations, etc.)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Identify different approaches to quantitative research and paradigmatic orientations underlying this methodological approach to analyse social phenomenaCritically evaluate data collection procedures and their impact on quantitative research designsDescribe and present relevant procedures for analysing data quantitativelyCritically assess research designs applied in published work

Indicative reading list

Agresti, A. & Finlay, B. (2008). Statistical methods for the social sciences (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry And Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Sage Publications, London, New Delhi

Black, T.R. (1999). Doing quantitative research in the social sciences: An integrated approach to research design, measurement and statistics. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Research element

Students will learn how to think critically about quantitative research methods, and will explore how to apply these methods in Applied Linguistics.

Interdisciplinary

This module integrates topics from Applied Linguistics, statistics and mathematics and illustrates principles using examples from across the social sciences, humanities and education.

Subject specific skills

Apply proper quantitative procedures in context and understand their limitations
Work and communicate effectively in multicultural teams
Systematically plan small-scale quantitative research studies
Know and properly apply key terminology related to quantitative research designs
Formulate precisely focused, answerable research questions and hypotheses
Identify relationships between different approaches of quantitative enquiries and understand their limitations and application in context
Perform basic statistical procedures and interpret them properly

Transferable skills

Systematically use analytical tools to find answers to defined research questions and hypotheses
Communicate and work effectively in teams
Present quantitative findings succinctly but precisely using key terminology