Foreword

1. Realities of doing research in applied linguistics

Part I Responding to problems in the research planning stage

2. Studying down versus studying up: Selecting whom to research
3. Responding to theoretical shifts in research design
4. Overcoming problematic positionality and researcher objectivity
5. Doing collaborative research: Challenges and opportunities

Part II Responding to problems during data collection

6. Dealing with data collection setbacks and reframing research questions
7. Dealing with participant attrition in longitudinal studies
8. Dealing with low response rates in quantitative studies
9. Dealing with multilingualism in quantitative research

Part III Researching vulnerable groups

10. It isn't child's play: Conducting research with children as participants
11. Conducting longitudinal fieldwork among adult refugees
12. Researching people with disabilities and illnesses: ethical dimensions
13. Conducting research with deaf sign language users
14. Researching your own students: Negotiating the dual teacher-researcher role

Part IV Responding to problems during data analysis

15. Dealing with longitudinal quantitative designs and data analysis
16. Managing the uncomfortable side of narrative data and analysis
17. Grappling with originality and grounding in qualitative data analysis
18. Negotiating the relationship between theory and practice in the fields of literacy and language

Part V Responding to problems in the reporting of research

19. Dealing with controversial findings
20. Reporting on politically sensitive issues: The case of telling the truth about early L2 instruction
21. Dealing with criticism when publishing qualitative research
22. Representing the self honestly in published research
23. Publishing from a dissertation: One book, or many articles?

Afterword: Strategies for getting the study published

What are the obstacles and problems in carrying out research? How do you overcome issues of validity, reliability, and ethicality? Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, dilemmas and solutions addresses these issues and shows the reader how to undertake research whilst dealing with the challenges of this research involving real people in real settings. Each chapter features an experienced researcher focusing on a problem in a research project and outlines the steps involved in solving the problem and completing a successful, and publishable, project. This book is essential reading for students studying research methods, or for those embarking on their first research project.

Jim McKinley is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Bath, UK.

Heath Rose is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Oxford, UK.