Undergraduate Course: Research Methods for Immersion and Bilingual Education (CELT10056)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
| Course type | Sandwich |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will give an overview of the principal qualitative and quantitative research methods applicable to the study of bilingual and immersion education. The course will inform students¿ dissertations and their future teaching practice by means of enabling them to understand and undertake research. |
| Course description |
The course will provide a conceptual and a practical grounding in the research methods applicable to bilingual and immersion education, with attention to both qualitative and quantitative methods, and combinations of them. Examples used on the course will be drawn from international research on immersion or bilingual education and also from research in Scotland on immersion or bilingual education that would be directly relevant to the students¿ future employment as teachers.
Topics to be covered will include the following:
(1) General:
Aims of, and approaches to, social research; ethical considerations in conducting research in schools and with children.
(2) Qualitative methods:
(2.1) Data collection techniques: observation, interviewing (individual or group-based), ethnographic approaches, documentary (including historical) evidence.
(2.2) Data analysis: data management, theoretical approaches to qualitative data analysis (e.g. grounded theory, thematic content analysis, discourse analysis), qualitative data analysis in practice using NVivo.
(2.3) Presenting results from qualitative research: techniques of data presentation, framing research findings appropriately: how to address issues of the validity of findings using qualitative methods and how to generalise the finding obtained by qualitative research.
3. Quantitative methods:
(3.1) Design and data management: the nature of statistical data and of randomness, design of surveys and experiments.
(3.2) Data analysis: exploratory and descriptive statistics (including the use of graphical and pictorial methods); data summaries; two-way and three-way tables; measures of association; introductory ideas of regression; use of SPSS and Excel for data analysis.
(3.3) General principles of speaking and writing clearly about numbers, as applied to descriptive tables, graphs, maps, etc.
(4) Mixed methods approaches:
(4.1) Research design: selecting from the range of qualitative and quantitative methods,
validity of research methods and of evidence.
(4.2) The methodological strengths of using mixed methods approaches (whether more than one qualitative approach, more than one quantitative approach, or both qualitative and quantitative approaches) in relation to reliability of research findings, explanation, causality, inference and probability. Use of qualitative methods to enhance the validity of quantitative methods, and of quantitative methods to strengthen the generalizability of results obtained by qualitative methods.
The course would cover topics in the following Standards for Provisional Registration of the General Teaching Council for Scotland:
2.1.5 Have knowledge and understanding of the principles of assessment, recording and reporting.
2.3.2 Have knowledge and understanding of the importance of research and engagement in professional enquiry.
3.3 Pupil Assessment.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to show an understanding and awareness of:
- The aims of social research and ethical considerations in conducting research in schools and with children
- qualitative data collection techniques: observation, interviewing, ethnographic approaches, use of documentary evidence
- theoretical and practical issues concerning qualitative data analysis
- presenting results from qualitative research
- issues of the validity and generalisability of findings using qualitative methods
- the nature of statistical data and of randomness, design of surveys and experiments
- the use of exploratory and descriptive statistics; data summaries; two-way and three-way tables; measures of association; introductory ideas of regression
- the use of SPSS and Excel for data analysis
- general principles of speaking and writing clearly about numbers, as applied to descriptive tables, graphs, maps, etc
- the use of mixed methods approaches
- research design: selecting from the range of qualitative and quantitative methods, validity of research methods and of evidence
|
Reading List
Bazeley, P. (2007). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
Bechhofer, F. and Paterson, L. (2000). Principles of Research Design in the Social Sciences. London: Routledge.
Bryman, A.(2012). Social Research Methods. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research Methods in Education. 7th edn.
London: Routledge.
Fielding, J. & Gilbert, N. (2006). Understanding Social Statistics. 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
Gibbs, G. (2007). Analyzing Qualitative Data: The SAGE Qualitative Research Kit. London: SAGE.
Hand, D. (2008). Statistics: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Marian, Viorica (2008). ¿Bilingual Research Methods¿, in An Introduction to Bilingualism: Principles and Processes, ed. by Jeanette Altarriba & Roberta R. Heredia, 13-38. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Marsh, C. & Elliott, J. (2008). Exploring Data. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity.
Muijs, D. (2011). Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., McNaughton Nicholls, C & Ormston, R. (2013). Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: SAGE
Robson, C. (2011). Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. 3rd edn. Oxford: Blackwell.
Silverman, D. (2009). Doing Qualitative Research. 3rd edn. London: SAGE.
Silverman, D. (2011). Interpreting Qualitative Data. 4th edn. London: SAGE.
Tarling R. (2009). Statistical Modelling for Social Researchers. London: Routledge.
Wei, Li, and Mover, Melissa (2008). The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Wilson Mcleod
Tel: (0131 6)50 3623
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Christina Bould
Tel: (0131 6)50 3622
Email: |
|
|
University Homepage