Methodology and Research Design
About the course
This course is mandatory for students in the MA programme in English Acquisition and Multilingualism.
The course can be taken as an elective course or as a single course by students who fulfill the admission requirements.
The course introduces key concepts of experimental design, including the notions of generation of research questions/hypotheses, experimental manipulation, dependent and independent variables, between- and within-subject designs, confounds, sample sizes, statistical power, etc. Best practices and ethical considerations in human participant research are discussed.
In addition, the course provides an overview of the core methodologies used in experimental language research, including behavioural methods (reaction time and accuracy-based paradigms, eye-tracking, elicited production) and neurophysiological methods (EEG, MEG, fMRI), as well as in-lab vs web-based methods. The strengths and limitations of each methodology are discussed, and their application is illustrated through a discussion of existing studies.
Admission requirements
Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS), or equivalent qualification, in English language, or a degree combining English language and literature (minimum 80 ECTS in English).
A minimum grade average comparable to a Norwegian C (2,5) in the ECTS scale, see UiT's webpage for international admissions for more information on how the point average is calculated.
Application code: 9371 - Enkeltemner på masternivå (Nordic applicants).
Objectives of the course
Upon completing the course the following learning outcomes are expected:
Knowledge
The student will acquire an understanding of the following key concepts in experimental design:
- What constitutes a research question and hypothesis in language research
- What constitutes an experiment in language research;
- Dependent vs independent variables in an experiment;
- Types of confounds, and strategies for controlling them;
- Between-subject and within-subject designs, repeated measures;
- The notion of representative sample of participants;
- The role of sample size, subject variance and effect size in determining statistical power of an experiment.
The students will also acquire knowledge of the leading methodologies in experimental language research and the types of research questions they can address, including:
- Reaction time tasks (lexical decision, self-paced reading)
- Accuracy-based tasks (acceptability judgements, sentence-picture matching)
- Eye-tracking (while listening and while reading)
- Neurophysiological methods (EEG/ERP, MEG, fMRI)
- Elicited production methods;
- In-lab vs web-based experimental paradigms.
Skills
The student will be able to:
- Select appropriate methodological approaches suited to answer particular types of research questions;
- Design and adequately describe simple well-controlled language experiments;
- Critically review existing experimental studies, identifying methodological strengths and weaknesses.
Teaching methods
Language of instruction and examination
EnglishSchedule
The schedules are normally finalized and published well in advance of the start of the semester, often a few weeks beforehand. This gives students the opportunity to organize their studies and prepare for upcoming activities.
It is recommended to check the schedule regularly, as changes may occur.
Information to incoming exchange students
This course is open for exchange students who fulfill the admission requirements.
The course should be taken as a part of a course package.
Examination
| Assignment |
Grade: A–E, fail F |
To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements
| Oral presentation | Grade: Approved – not approved |
Everything you need to know about before, during, and after the exam; registration, absence, appeals, and diplomas: UiT Exams homepage
More info about the coursework requirements
The student is required to deliver one oral presentation.
The presentation and feedback should serve as the foundation for the term paper.