Writing Methodology

Section
(Qualitative Research)
 COMPONENTS
Context of the Study
Research Design
Participants
Instruments
Data Analysis
Procedure of the Study
Trustworthiness
Context of the Study
Write where the study took place

Give as many details as possible about the setting

This is not the participants section, so while giving info, focus

on the whole population in this setting, not your participants
Context of the Study: A sample
takenfrom
nar,G. (2014). TheeEfectof Peer Feedback on EFL StudentsWritingAnxietyandtheirPerceptionsabout theUseof Peer Feedbackin
WritingClasses.(UnpublishedM.A. Thesis). a University,Mersin.

The study was carried out at the School of Foreign Languages, Zirve
University. The School of Foreign Languages has four levels ranging
from A to D and levels A, B, C, and D as elementary, pre-
intermediate, intermediate, and upper-intermediate in order. In
each level, 5 hours is spared to teach writing skills in English to
students because the school gives importance to writing. There are
at least 17 students in a writing class, and these students have to
write a paragraph or essay depending on their levels. They prepare
the first draft of their paragraphs or essays, get feedback from their
writing teachers, and write the second (final) draft of their
paragraphs or essays. In addition, a writing teacher is assigned to
teach two writing classes and is supposed to check their students
first drafts, give feedback to them, re-check and evaluate the second
drafts of their students writings. In accordance with the teaching
context, the researcher observed that this process leads to work
overload for teachers and to dependence on teachers feedback for
students in writing classes, which causes some students to display
fear in writing classes.
Research Design
Identify the strategy of inquiry you have used:
Ethnography (studying others in their own culture)
case study (in-depth understanding of a single case)
Phenomenology (understanding a unique aspect of human
phenomena)
Biography (understanding a person in his/her context)

Describe the characteristic of the design, citing sources when

needed.
Research Design: A sample
takenfrom
Onwuegbuzie, A. J. andLeech, N. L. (2010). Generalizationpracticesin qualitativeresearch:a mixedmethodscasestudy.QualQuant,44, 881-
892.

Using Leech and Onwuegbuzies (2005) framework, the mixed

methods research design represented a fully mixed sequential
dominant status design.
The qualitative phase involved a case study. Specifically, a two-level
case study was utilized. The first level, involving choice of the journal
represented an instrumental case design. According to Stake (2005),
in instrumental case designs, a particular case is examined primarily
to provide insights into an issue such that the case is of secondary
interest, playing supportive role. In this investigation, it was
expected that the case would facilitate understanding of the
generalization practices of some qualitative researchers. The second
level, invoving the selected empirical articles represented a multiple
or collective case design, which is an intstrumental case design that
is extended to several cases (Stake, 2005) and which facilitates cross-
case analyses.
Participants

Write who your participants are

Give info about the sampling method that you used, giving
details about sampling procedures (purposive, opportunistic,
volunteer, )
Give demographic information such as age, gender,
Write how you got permission from the participants and/or
the aministration: mention the consent form here and attach
it at the end as attachment
Participants: A sample
takenfrom
nar,, G. (2014). TheeEfectof Peer Feedbackon EFL StudentsWritingAnxietyandtheirPerceptionsabout theUseof Peer Feedbackin
WritingClasses.(UnpublishedM.A. Thesis). a University,Mersin.

Although the number of the participants in this study was expected

to be 18, two of them did not want to participate in the study. Thus,
the total number of the participants was decreased to 16, eleven of
whom were female students and five of whom were male students.
The participants were students at one of the English preparatory
department of a university in Turkey. Their level of English was
intermediate, which was determined by a placement and proficiency
exam organized and done by the Testing Office of the department.
These students were in their first term and took courses such as
Reading and Writing, Listening and Speaking, Expansive Reading,
Applied Linguistic Skills in which group work is expected to apply
excessively, and lab classes. The students were selected by taking
into account the fact that they were the-would-be doctors who are
going to need English throughout their career pathway.
Consent form sample
Consent Form

I confirm that I have been informed about the nature of the study and I have had the opportunity to ask
questions about the research.

I voluntarily agree to participate in the project.

I understand I can withdraw at any time without giving reasons and without negative consequences.

I, along with the Researcher, agree to sign and date this consent form.

Participant:

________________________ ___________________________ ________________

Name of Participant Signature Date

Researcher:

________________________ ___________________________ ________________

Name of Researcher Signature Date
Instruments
Give detailed information about each instrument you have
used:
If you have used an already existing instrument, write where you
got it from and why you used it
If you have adapted an already existing instrument, write where
you got it from and why you have adapted it. Give your
justification for adaptation and present credibility
If you have developed your own instrument, give all the details of
the process of development and present its credibility

In all situations, give the instrument in the Appendix section

Instruments: A sample
takenfrom
nar,, G. (2014). TheeEfectof Peer Feedbackon EFL StudentsWritingAnxietyandtheirPerceptionsabout theUseof Peer Feedbackin
WritingClasses.(UnpublishedM.A. Thesis). a University,Mersin.

3.3. Data Collection Instruments

In order to collect data, qualitative and quantitative data
collection tools were used. For qualitative data collection, two
interviews and teacher diary were used. For quantitative data
collection, Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI)
was used. They were explained in detail in this section.
3.3.2. Interview
In order to supplement the results of SLWAI, interviews were
made before and after conducting study (see Appendix 3). The
interview had four questions dealing with what students
thought about the effects of peer feedback on their writing
anxiety, whether peer feedback increased their self-
confidence in writing, whether they liked it or not, and what
they felt about giving and taking peer feedback.
Data Analysis

Be careful! This is not the section where you present the

findings of your analysis

Write how you analyzed your data; what techniques you used,
and how you used them
Data Analysis: A sample
takenfrom
nar,, G. (2014). TheeEfectof Peer Feedbackon EFL StudentsWritingAnxietyandtheirPerceptionsabout theUseof Peer Feedbackin
WritingClasses.(UnpublishedM.A. Thesis). a University,Mersin

The interviews were made with all students at the beginning and the
end of the study to find out the attitudes of the students towards
peer feedback. Also, teacher diary was kept to discover what worked
and what did not work and to share and reflect the researchers
experience with the research based on her observations and talks
with the students. The interviews were content analyzed while
teacher diary was narrated. The recorded data from each
interviewee in the form of sentences were transformed into findings
by identifying, coding, and categorizing by the researcher herself
and another researcher who carries out quantitative studies in the
field and is familiar with content analysis (Patton, 2002; Creswell,
2007). Besides this, teacher dairy was re-storied chronologically
because restorying is used to frame a story according to time, scene,
place or plot in a chronological order in order to make narrative
analysis of the story (Creswell, 2007). In order to validate the
qualitative results of the research, triangulation and the
participation of another researcher into data analysis process were
used (Creswell, 2007).
Procedure of the Stuy

Write all your steps one by one (like a recipe book)

If someone else wants to replicate your study, s/he shoud do it

reading this section without asking any further questions to
you
Procedure of the Study: A sample
takenfrom
nar,, G. (2014). TheeEfectof Peer Feedbackon EFL StudentsWritingAnxietyandtheirPerceptionsabout theUseof Peer Feedbackin
WritingClasses.(UnpublishedM.A. Thesis). a University,Mersin

3.4. Procedure of the Study

This study was carried out at the English Preparation Department of
the School of Foreign Languages, Zirve University in Turkey. It lasted
7 weeks. A training session about peer feedback was organized in
the first two weeks. During the following weeks, the students
studied peer feedback with 5 writing assignments in class.
Therefore, the data collection procedure was organized as the
training period and the implementation procedure.
3.4.1. The Training Period
Prior to starting the study, the advantages of peer feedback based
on the literature were explained to the students and they were
encouraged to attend the study. The researcher also encouraged
students to work in collaboration. The researcher gave the students
training along with some guidelines like identifying content,
organization, grammar, and so on for two weeks to help them deal
with these during the process of peer feedback. By doing this, the
researcher guided the students on how to give and receive feedback
on their writing
Trustworthiness
Qualitative research is subjective, so the most important thing
is to respond to the concerns of outsiders.

Think of these questions:

To what extent can we place confidence in the outcomes of the
study?
Do the readers believe what we have reported?

How can we achieve trustworthiness in qualitative studies?

 Gubas (1981) four criteria:

A) Credibility (instead of internal validity)

B) Transferability (instead of external validity / generalizability)
C) Dependability (instead of reliability)
D) Confirmability (instead of objectivity)
1- CREDIBILITY
Ensuring that the study is measuring or testing what is actually
intended (as in internal validity)

How can we ensure this?

1. Well-established adoption of research methods:

Derive the specific procedures employed (data
gathering and the methods of data analysis)
from those that have been successfully utilised
in previous comparable projects.
 2. Triangulation
Mainly 4 types of triangulation (Denzin, 1984)

a. Data source triangulation: observing data in different context

(time, space, persons)

b. Investigator triangulation: multiple researchers in an investigation

c. Theory triangulation: using more than one theory in the

interpretation of the data (e.g. having investigators with different
points of views interpret the same data)

d. Methodological triangulation: using more than one method to

gather data (e.g. interviews, observations, questionnaires,
documents)
 3. Co-operation

Create opportunities for scrutiny of the project by colleagues,

peers and academics
get feedback at presentations (e.g. at conferences) that are
given over the duration of the project.
 4. member check (Lincoln and Guba, 1985)
The process of asking research participants to tell you
whether you have accurately described their experience.
Checks may take place on the spot in the course, and at the
end of the data collection dialogues.
Participants may also be asked to read any transcripts of
dialogues in which they have participated to check whether the
participants consider that their words match with what they
actually intended.
Another element of member checking should involve
verification of the researchers emerging theories and
inferences .
Where appropriate, participants may be asked if they can
offer reasons for particular patterns observed by the
researcher.
2-TRANSFERABILITY
(Generalizability)
The extent to which the findings of one study can be applied
to other situations (as in external validity)

Qualitative studies do not aim to generalize the findings,

Transferability is important: If other researchers believe their

situations to be similar to that described in the study, they may
relate the findings to their own positions, so give the Context
of the Study in detail.
3-DEPENDABILITY
(Reliability)
Reliability: to show if the work were repeated in the same
context, with the same methods and with the same
participants, similar results would be obtained.
For Lincoln and Guba there is a close tie between credibility
and dependability: a demonstration of the credibility
demonstrates its reliability
Thus, give clear and detailed info about the study (thick
description)
The purpose of the study
The sampling and setting (context of the study)
Data collection and analysis procedure
Findings/outcomes
4- CONFIRMABILITY
(Objectivity)
Ensuring as far as possible that the works findings are the
result of the experiences and ideas of the participants, rather
than the characteristics and preferences of the researcher.

Thus, detailed methodological description is needed