Research methods (with a focus on experimental and corpus linguistics)

Stephen Politzer-Ahles and Yao Yao

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Overview

This a self-paced online subject. There are no lectures; the class is organized around learning activities, and you can do most of them at your own pace. For more details about how these online classes are arranged and about how you can use these materials, see the description on my Classes homepage.

This subject is a basic overview of various topics relevant to conducting research in linguistics. This will include topics related to research design and research ethics; topics related to specific research techniques and methodology; and topics related to data analysis and statistics.

The subject is divided into modules. Each module involves some reading and activities for you to do on your own, as well as one or more tasks to submit for credit. Each module also includes an "advanced-level" task; to earn higher grades, you must complete the advanced-level tasks in at least some (but not necessarily all) modules that you choose.

In addition to the modules, there is an extra A-level project that you must complete if you wish to earn an A. You may choose which modules and assignments to do, based on what grade you aim to earn.

Activities and assignments

Here are the assignments included in this class. You don't need to do every assignment; see the "Grade bundles" below to see which assignments are needed to earn a given grade.

• Modules. The class is divided into modules, and this is where most of the "content" of this class is. Each module (you can also think of it as a "unit" or a "topic") covers approximately as much concepts and activities as you would have in a week of the face-to-face version of this class. This is an active class; a module consists not just of readings or lectures, but also of activities that you must complete. To receive credit for completing a module, you must complete and submit all the tasks described in the module, and they must meet the criteria specified in the module. Some modules are broken into multiple steps, such that later steps are intended to be "unlocked" after you submit your results from doing the earlier tasks. Each module includes an additional "advanced" task; you don't need to complete the advanced task to earn credit for completing the module, but to earn the highest grades you will need to complete a certain number of advanced tasks. Here are the 18 modules included in this class, organized into three categories:
  • Research design and conduct modules
    • Research topics, research questions, and hypotheses (compulsory)
    • How to read a quantitative paper (compulsory)
    • Types of research designs
    • Peer review
    • Publishing models and types of journals
  • Study techniques modules
    • Electrophysiology
    • Eye-tracking
    • Reaction times
    • Using experiment control software
    • Phonetic analysis
    • Corpus analysis
  • Data analysis modules
    • Introduction to inferential statistics and t-tests
    • Analysis of variance and factorial designs
    • Regression
    • Study planning and evaluation: power, effect size, and confidence intervals
    • Research practices: pre-registration and how not to p-hack
    • Programming
    • Data visualization
• A-level project. Advanced projects for students who are attempting an A grade. This project will involve collecting and analyzing data using at least one of the methods covered in this class, and writing up a report. Click the link to see detailed instructions for this assignment.

Grade bundles

These are the assignments that you need to complete to earn a given grade:

• For a D:
  • Complete at least 8 modules. This must include at least 2 per category. The compulsory modules must be completed.
• For a C:
  • Complete at least 10 modules. This must include at least 2 per category. The compulsory modules must be completed.
• For a B:
  • Complete at least 12 modules. This must include at least 3 per category. The compulsory modules must be completed.
    • At least one module per category must be completed at the "advanced" level.
• For an A:
  • Complete at least 16 modules. This must include at least 4 per category. The compulsory modules must be completed.
    • At least 3 modules per category must be completed at the "advanced" level.
  • Complete an A-level project

There are no minus or plus grades in this subject.

by Stephen Politzer-Ahles. Last modified on 2021-05-02. CC-BY-4.0.