Doing research in applied linguistics: Realities, dilemmas and solutions is an edited volume about exactly that—doing research in applied linguistics. Looking at the variety of studies referred to in chapters included in the book, it is clear that the editors refer to applied linguistics in its broadest and most inclusive sense. Rather than painting the idealistic picture of research design that we are all too familiar with from academic publications, this collection of essays aims to highlight the reality that research rarely goes to plan and the scholars need to deal with issues as they arise. Presenting very practical insights into methodology of applied linguistics research, the book is one of its own kind as it allows a glimpse into what really goes on behind the scenes when research is conducted. As an applied linguist who has recently made the shift from Ph.D. student to Ph.D. supervisor and budding academic, I can see how the honesty provided in this volume is particularly poignant for all those doing research in our field.
The book is intended for those who conduct research in applied linguistics, from Masters students who are about to start their dissertation projects, to those with substantial research experience. Junior researchers will turn to this publication in search of a better understanding of methodological issues, practical solutions, and comfort from the knowledge that every scholar, even the one who ultimately gets published, comes across unforeseeable problems at some point in their research. Senior researchers will find this book a refreshing read and even an inspiration of how to deal with not only issues in their own work but also how to best support their research students.
As a junior academic, I found myself instantly drawn to the book due to its honesty in presenting how research progresses. The decision to divide the book into sections corresponding to different stages of research reveals that obstacles can and indeed do crop up when we least expect them. However, the volume gives hope as every chapter shows that these obstacles do not necessarily damage our research irreparably but can be successfully overcome. This message is perhaps the most important one from this publication.
The editors collated ‘stories’ of how twenty-two studies were conducted. The book is divided into five parts, generally depending on when in the research process the scholars experienced a problem. Every chapter offers not only a description of a specific problem but also provides a practical solution to it. Thus, the structure coupled with clear titles enable the reader to quickly identify and dip into relevant content. Chapters are also uniform in their internal organisation. Every chapter starts with a concise description of the study and the problem encountered, after which a solution is proposed and implications for future research is discussed. While the content is rich, all of the chapters are comfortably contained with fewer than a dozen of pages, making it easy to read in one bite.
The research planning stage is the focus of Part 1. It consists of four chapters that cover a number of common issues. Ryuko Kubota considers ethical and methodological implications of choosing whether to study down (participants less powerful than the researcher), study across (participants are members of the same group as researcher), or study up (participants are more powerful than the researcher). Related to that is Jim McKinley's insightful discussion of positionality and researcher objectivity. Based on his own doctoral experience, McKinley explains the importance of honesty about the researcher's position with regards to the context they are investigating and what consequences it has on the results. Heath Rose in chapter 3 draws on his experiences dealing with a paradigm shift in the midst of his Ph.D. project and considers the two possible options available to researchers—integrating the shift into their own research or ignoring it, and their impact on the study at hand. Daniel V. Bommarito and colleagues discuss the challenges of collaborative research, particularly when group members have different objectives. The four chapters provide beneficial insights into conceptualising research and the importance of honesty in acknowledging the truths about our research projects.
Problems arising at data collection are addressed in four chapters in Part 2. In all cases, the accounts are, to a large extent, linked to issues with human participants. John Hedgcock & Heekyeong Lee comment on participant recruitment and the influence the dual roles as researchers and professors they held had on their participants’ responses; Corinne Seals explains how she dealt with attrition in her longitudinal study; Averil Coxhead offers solutions to low response rates; and Gessica De Angelis addresses how the choice of participants according to linguistic variables might affect the design and later reliability of a study. This part reinforces how participants can make (or break) research and should be a compulsory read for junior researchers, who, often lost in the review of literature, might take participants and their contribution to our research for granted. It also reminds us about the need to be flexible with research designs, so that adjustments can be made as problems in social research, inevitably, arise.
Participants also form the backbone of the five chapters in Part 3, which provide insights into researching vulnerable groups, such as children (Victoria Murphy & Ernesto Macaro), refugees (Lorna Carson), people with illnesses and disabilities (Hanako Okada), deaf sign language users (Lorraine Leeson and colleagues), and, finally, your own students (Nicola Galloway). Carson's contribution is perhaps most timely as an increasing number of people find themselves displaced due to military conflicts, environmental changes, and abject poverty. Hence, there is a great need for explorative research involving these individuals in order to create optimal conditions for their recovery from psychological traumas and smoothing the adjustment to the life in a new place. Thus, Carson's honest account of how her qualitative study progressed can provide multiple insights, for those willing to take the plunge, into what challenges can be encountered when researching refugees and how they can be addressed. As a whole, this section is particularly useful in demonstrating how crucial ethics is for our research.
Dealing with issues at the data-analysis stage is the focal point of the four chapters in Part 4. Again, this part provides sound examples of problems that can occur at this stage of research, ranging from managing longitudinal design (Aek Phakiti), dilemmas of interaction, representation, and emotionality in narrative interview data analysis (Matthew T. Prior), grappling with originality and grounding in qualitative data (Jessica G. Briggs), and negotiating the relationship between theory and practice in literacy studies (Constant Leung & Brian Street). Whereas all of the chapters clearly present a problem with data analysis and a solution, I find Briggs’ contribution to potentially have the most universal appeal to junior scholars, as they tend to struggle when their results do not present a good fit with existing models and taxonomies. I was also drawn to Phakiti's account of challenges experienced during data analysis, in particular, parts on the management of emotions that arise as a result of contact with the data, which are a definite must read for qualitative researchers.
Common issues with publishing findings are presented in five chapters in the final part of the book. As most handbooks of research methodology pay little or even no attention to the complexities of the publication process, an activity by which scholarly achievements are actually judged, this section is perhaps the most informative. Roslyn Appleby opens the part with a very thought-provoking discussion of how to deal with presenting results that others may find controversial, such as racist or sexist comments from participants. David Singleton & Simone E. Pfenniger also handle the topic of sensitive results. This time, however, the angle is political, that is, the truth that early L2 instruction is not as efficient as later instruction. Xuesong Gao's account of his successful attempts to publish qualitative studies is an excellent source of practical advice for all of us who employ this research paradigm and want to publish the results in respectable journals. More specific advice can be found in Christine Pearson Casanave's chapter, as she focuses on representing the ‘self’ in academic publication. Those of us who have recently submitted their doctoral thesis may want to consult Brian Paltridge's chapter, where he briefly discusses the choice between a manuscript and articles and provides a lot of practical guidance for both options.
Overall, McKinley & Rose's volume is a welcome and innovative addition to the pool of existing methodological literature. Clear titles enable the reader to make a quick decision of what to read. The reader will find that every chapter provides a vibrant but succinct account of methodological issues and offers practical guidance on how to handle them, which makes this book a very satisfying read. Although the authors cover a good range of issues, the coverage is not exhaustive, leaving space for volume two.
