1st Edition

Quantitative Research Methods for Linguists a questions and answers approach for students

    164 Pages 31 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    164 Pages 31 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Quantitative Research Methods for Linguistics provides an accessible introduction to research methods for undergraduates undertaking research for the first time. Employing a task-based approach, the authors demonstrate key methods through a series of worked examples, allowing students to take a learn-by-doing approach and making quantitative methods less daunting for the novice researcher.

    Key features include:

    • Chapters framed around real research questions, walking the student step-by-step through the various methods;
    • Guidance on how to design your own research project;
    • Basic questions and answers that every new researcher needs to know;
    • A comprehensive glossary that makes the most technical of terms clear to readers;
    • Coverage of different statistical packages including R and SPSS.

    Quantitative Research Methods for Linguistics is essential reading for all students undertaking degrees in linguistics and English language studies.

    Part 1: Basic Statistical Ideas

    1. Basic concepts of quantification and number

    2. Designing research projects which count things

    Part 2: Asking and Answering Quantitative Questions

    3. Survey of the sexiness of Klingon

    4. Who speaks Low German with their children?

    5. Frequency of use of the present perfect tense in two newspapers
    Comparison of two groups where the data is not normally distributed – Mann Whitney U test

    6. Is there a difference in the way ‘ing’ is pronounced by people from Birmingham and the Black Country?
    Testing for difference using Chi square

    7. Do letter writers tend to use nouns and verbs together?
    Scatterplots and correlation of linear data

    8. Does the use of pronouns differ between two academic disciplines?
    Using T-test to compare between two groups

    9. Does the use of pronouns differ between three academic disciplines?
    Comparison between three or more groups: One-Way Anova

    10. Asking and answering quantitative questions - conclusions

    Glossary
    Index

    Biography

    Tim Grant is Professor in Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, UK.

    Urszula Clark is Professor of English Language and Linguistics at Aston University, UK.

    Gertrud Reershemius is the 50th Anniversary Chair in Language Contact and Linguistics at Aston University, UK.

    David Pollard is Learning and Teaching Support Manager at Aston University, UK.

    Sarah Hayes is Senior Lecturer in Technology Enhanced and Flexible Learning at Aston University, UK

    Garry Plappert is a lecturer in the Department of English at Aston University, UK.

    "This is an ideal text for Linguistics undergraduates needing guidance on quantitative methods. It features step-by-step guides, engagingly grounded in real-world case studies. Especially helpful is the focus on linguistic research contexts, with discussion of appropriate tests and approaches for each one. Students will find this book a useful and accessible reference."

    Will Barras, University of Aberdeen, UK