In this well-organized edited volume, Lia Litosseliti has compiled papers that cover issues in research design and quantitative and qualitative methods in linguistic research. All ten chapters follow the same pattern: after the outline, the authors introduce basic concepts, definitions, historical traditions, and criticism of the method, then give illustrative examples and make suggestions for further reading. The first chapter, by Jane Sunderland, develops the need, origin, types, and importance of research questions and carefully guides begining researchers through their design. In Ch. 2, Jo Angouri favors mixed methodologies (taking a pragmatist's stance), argues for the triangulation of approaches, and provides examples from workplace research.
In Part 2, “Quantitative and corpus research methods,” Ch. 3 clearly explains the differences between qualitative and quantitative methods. Focusing on the latter, Sebastian M. Rasinger outlines the basic concepts behind various research designs and concludes with an exploration of questionnaires. Building on the previous chapter, Erez Levron presents hypotheses testing, chi-tests, t-tests, and their interpretation, and concludes by arguing for the importance of mixed methodologies. Paul Baker, in Ch. 5, differentiates between corpus-based and corpus-driven approaches. Through examples, Baker introduces corpus-analysis software for counting, sorting, and presentation of large numbers of language features.
In Part 3, Judith Baxter attempts to efface the dichotomy between micro- and macroanalytic discourse approaches such as Conversation Analysis, Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis and Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis. Rather then characterizing each method in detail, the author provides a quick background, the overall guiding principles, and the contribution of each approach to the field of linguistics. Ch. 7, by Angela Creese, discusses linguistic ethnography as an interdisciplinary research method (for example, Systemic Functional Discourse Analysis and Conversation Analysis might be used in conjunction with ethnography) and the challenges linguistic ethnography faces in the context of recent theoretical literature and contemporary life. Nigel Edley & Lia Litosseliti argue for the use of semi- or unstructured interviews and focus groups as legitimate (and similar) research methods. Ch. 9, by Jeff Bezemer &Carey Jewitt, explores social-linguistic and social-semiotic approaches to investigating multimodality, presents an analytic framework, and provides ample examples of analysis. In the last chapter, Julio C. Gimenez discusses the traditional usage of narrative analysis and focuses on narrative networks, providing step-by-step analytical procedures.
Overall, the volume advocates mixed methodologies and is meant to offer an overview of key issues and principles to graduate students. While the systematization of chapters is the same, the presentation of research methods differs greatly from quantitative to qualitative approaches. Part 2, covering quantitative research, provides the independent student with a clear, complete schema for research design, while using the methods discussed in Part 3, on qualitative methods, would require a great deal of supplementary reading, explanation, and guidance. Invaluable to students is the well-presented chapter on the design of research questions and the short summaries for further readings found at the end of each chapter.
