Postgraduate Course: Sociolinguistic Research Design (LASC11152)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The methodological choices of any research project reflect the worldview of the researcher. This is especially true in the field of sociolinguistics, which overlaps with a wide range of subjects, from anthropology to computer science. In this course, students will examine the link between research questions and research methods. Data collection methods include interviews, ethnography, and experiments. Data analysis methods include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches. The course also covers research ethics, data management, and a critical review of the relationship between the researcher and the researched. |
| Course description |
The methodological choices of any research project reflect the ontologies and epistemologies of the researchers. This is especially true in the field of sociolinguistics, which overlaps with research in anthropology, computer science, cognitive science, geography, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines. In this course, students will examine the link between research questions and research methods.
Data collection methods that will be covered include interviews (sociolinguistic, oral history, ethnographic), ethnography (short-term, long-term, digital), and experiments (lab production, speech perception, online text-based, online multimodal). We will also look at corpus methods in terms of how corpora are created and how online sources can be used as sources for corpora creation.
Data analysis methods include qualitative (textual analysis, ethnographic description, historical description), quantitative (data visualization, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics), and mixed approaches. The course also covers research ethics, data management, and a critical review of the relationship between the researcher and the researched.
Students can expect a learning experience that will help them find their own strengths and epistemological inclinations. The course will prepare them for success on their MSc dissertation.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand how a researcher¿s epistemology is reflected in their methodology
- Understand how sociolinguistic methods of data collection are related to methods of data analysis, and the benefits/limitations of both
- Describe how different epistemologies are reflected in different areas or subfields of sociolinguistic research
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the scientific method
- Demonstrate an understanding of reflexivity and power relations in research
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Reading List
Heller, Monica, Sari Pietikäinen, and Joan Pujolar.¿Critical sociolinguistic research methods: Studying language issues that matter. Routledge, 2017.
Mallinson, Christine, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk.¿Data Collection in Sociolinguistics. Taylor & Francis, 2017. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Principles of research design, basic quantitative methods, basic qualitative methods, (socio)linguistic terminology and concepts |
| Keywords | Research Design,Sociolinguistics,Linguistics,Language Variation,Language Change |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lauren Hall-Lew
Tel: (0131 6)51 1836
Email: Lauren.Hall-Lew@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Sasha Wood
Tel:
Email: swood310@ed.ac.uk |
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