A2 methodology feedback

Methodologicals,

great start with those drafts - there are some general issues that need addressing so make notes as and when these are relevant to you (most of them will be). We really need to focus on getting the intros done first before you can complete your methodology  - see the lesson post for today (several posts down since I wrote it a few days ago) - but have a first run at the ideas below as a starter and so we can discuss any issues you have:

• What does the reader (me in the first instance but also other Language teachers and perhaps the coursework moderator for the exam board) need to know (over the course of the intro and the method) to understand what you are doing and what decisions you made? Read through your work as objectively as possible to see if you have clarified everything.
• Write formally, avoiding contractions like 'isn't' and informalities like 'dad' (use father) - you are writing an investigation/report not an essay so bullet points and sentence fragments in tables are acceptable but the language should be academic throughout.
• The only theory you need in the methodology is research theory/concepts like the observer's paradox, the concept of demand characteristics etc. Look into this. The rest goes either in the intro or theories can be brought up as they are relevant in the analysis if they are not the main focus e.g. in a power investigation, you might find that bringing up gender theory is relevant as you explore the language used but that wouldn't go in your intro.
• Similarly, which techniques/aspects you will focus on in your analysis should go in the intro or in a short introduction to your analysis.
• Clear sub-headings are vital and a good idea might be a little overview paragraph to clarify anything you haven't said about the kind of data you are collecting in your introduction - once you have written your intro, you will be able to see what you need and what you can leave out as you have already said it.
• A data description table is vital to give me a sense of exactly what you have collected and how you will refer to it. By the time I have looked at the table, I shouldn't need to look at the data to make sense of the whole investigation.  See my earlier post on methodologies for an example of the kind of information and contextualisation that should go into it.
• A really good idea, if you collected sample data, is to talk about how collecting it informed your decision-making process about what to collect and how (and why).
• Refer to items that will go in the appendices (data, informed consent forms, questionnaires etc.) with 'see appendix [number or page reference]' to show how organised it is.
• Some of you are writing about data you have not yet collected, so remember to change it into the past tense and be very explicit about exactly what you collected and in what ways (to what degree) it is comparable, reliable and ethical.
• Use the word 'mitigate' for how you reduced the effect of detrimental factors like the observer's paradox because you can't overcome them completely e.g. I tried to mitigate the effect of the observer's paradox by...
• Data selection is often biased to some degree - acknowledge that and show how you tried to be scientific/objective. Note the adjective is 'biased' and the noun is 'bias' - don't say I am bias! You might be able to evaluate to what degree bias remains.
• This is the case with many aspects - evaluate how far something is the case rather than it is/is not - be tentative wherever possible.
• Some of you considered the possible presence of anomalies in your data - don't say you will remove them from the pool as how can you tell if they are actually anomalies? The only way to begin to identify them and mitigate their effect on your quantified analysis is to have a large data pool. If you identify (tentatively) one when you are doing your analysis, it might be interesting to re-quantify without that element to show how the figures are affected but you can't leave it out! You must show both and compare.
• Make sure you call me over if I have put on your methodology "discuss with me" - try and work out what my issue is beforehand.
• Remember to re-work this part of the coursework again and again as you write and re-draft your intro to make sure it all flows and doesn't repeat and that it covers everything necessary.
• Phew! Chip away at this and re-visit it periodically - you can't do everything at once.