Section 10: Research Methods & Materials in English
10.1 The Nature of Research in English Studies
Research in English studies is not a single activity but a family of related practices — literary scholarship, textual criticism, historical research, theoretical analysis, empirical linguistics, and pedagogical investigation all count as research in the discipline. The NET tests knowledge of the principles, methods, and conventions that govern academic research, not just familiarity with literary texts.
A key distinction for the NET: primary sources are the original texts being studied (poems, novels, plays, historical documents, linguistic data). Secondary sources are the critical and scholarly works about those primary texts (journal articles, books of criticism, dissertations). Tertiary sources are reference works that compile and summarise secondary sources (encyclopaedias, bibliographies, dictionaries of literary biography).
10.2 Types of Research
Type
Definition
Example in English Studies
Basic / Pure Research
Research aimed at advancing knowledge without immediate practical application
A study of narrative structure in Old English poetry; a theoretical analysis of metaphor
Applied Research
Research aimed at solving a practical problem
Developing better methods of teaching reading comprehension; designing an ESL curriculum
Historical Research
Systematic investigation of past events using primary documents
Establishing the date of composition of a Shakespeare play; tracing the publication history of a novel
Descriptive Research
Systematic description of existing phenomena without manipulation
Surveying the reading habits of college students; describing the features of Indian English
Experimental Research
Manipulating variables to test causal hypotheses
Testing whether a particular teaching method improves reading scores; comparing two grammar instruction methods
Qualitative Research
Non-numerical, interpretive investigation of meaning and experience
Interviewing students about their experience of reading literature; discourse analysis of classroom talk
Quantitative Research
Numerical measurement and statistical analysis
Counting the frequency of particular syntactic structures; measuring readability scores across genres
Action Research
Research conducted by practitioners to improve their own practice
A teacher investigating whether a new approach to essay feedback improves student writing
Textual / Philological Research
Establishing the text of a literary work; editing; manuscript study
Producing a critical edition of a Victorian novel; establishing the correct reading of a manuscript variant
10.3 The Research Process
Stages of a Research Project
Identifying the research problem or question
Reviewing the existing literature (the literature review)
Formulating a hypothesis or research objective
Designing the methodology
Collecting data or analysing texts
Analysing and interpreting findings
Writing up and disseminating results
Key Research Concepts
Term
Definition
Research question
The specific, focused question the research aims to answer — must be clearly defined, bounded, and answerable
Hypothesis
A testable proposition about the relationship between variables — in literary research, often an interpretive claim to be supported by textual evidence
Literature review
A systematic survey and synthesis of existing scholarship on the research topic — establishes what is known and identifies the gap the new research will fill
Methodology
The theoretical framework and overall approach to the research — how and why particular methods were chosen
Method
The specific procedure for collecting and analysing data — close reading, corpus analysis, interview, survey, archival research
Variable
In empirical research, a factor that can vary — independent (manipulated by researcher), dependent (measured as outcome), control (held constant)
Data
The material gathered for analysis — texts, interview transcripts, survey responses, linguistic corpora, historical documents
Finding / Result
The outcome of the research — what the analysis reveals
Conclusion
The interpretation and significance of the findings — what they mean for the field
Limitation
The acknowledged boundaries and weaknesses of the research — what it cannot claim
Validity
The degree to which the research measures what it claims to measure — internal validity (the study's own logic) and external validity (generalisability)
Reliability
The consistency and replicability of the research — would another researcher using the same method get the same results?
Triangulation
Using multiple methods or data sources to cross-check findings and increase reliability
Peer review
The evaluation of research by other experts in the field before publication — the standard for validating academic knowledge claims
10.4 The Research Paper and Dissertation
Structure of a Research Paper
Section
Content
Title
Precise, informative, often including a colon to separate the main title from the subtitle
Abstract
A summary of the entire paper (typically 100–250 words) — the research question, methodology, findings, and significance
Introduction
Background to the topic; statement of the research question; significance; overview of the paper's structure
Literature Review
Survey of existing scholarship; identification of the gap; positioning of the new research
Methodology
Justification of the theoretical approach and methods used
Analysis / Discussion
The central argument, supported by evidence from primary and secondary sources
Conclusion
Summary of findings; their significance; limitations; suggestions for further research
Works Cited / References / Bibliography
Full details of all sources cited or consulted
Structure of a Doctoral Dissertation (PhD)
A PhD dissertation in English typically has five chapters:
Chapter 2 — Literature Review: survey of existing scholarship on the topic
Chapters 3, 4, 5 — Body chapters: the detailed analysis and argument
Conclusion — synthesis of findings, contribution to knowledge, limitations, future directions
Bibliography and Appendices
NET Focus — The Abstract: The abstract is the most read part of any research paper — many readers decide whether to read the full paper based on the abstract alone. A well-written abstract should: (1) state the research problem or question; (2) describe the methodology; (3) summarise the main findings; (4) indicate the significance or contribution. An abstract should not contain citations, tables, or undefined abbreviations.
10.5 Citation and Documentation
Academic research requires scrupulous documentation of sources — both to acknowledge intellectual debts and to allow readers to locate and verify the sources used. The NET tests knowledge of the major citation styles used in English studies.
MLA Style (Modern Language Association)
MLA style is the standard in literary studies, humanities, and English language teaching. The 9th edition (2021) uses a flexible template for all sources.
Element
MLA 9th Edition Format
Book
Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
Journal article
Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, Year, pp. Z–Z.
Chapter in edited volume
Author Last, First. "Chapter Title." Book Title, edited by Editor Name, Publisher, Year, pp. Z–Z.
Website
Author. "Page Title." Website Name, Date, URL.
In-text citation
(Author Page) — e.g., (Said 32) or (Said, Orientalism 32) if multiple works by same author
APA Style (American Psychological Association)
APA style is used in linguistics, applied linguistics, education, and social sciences. It emphasises publication date prominently.
Element
APA 7th Edition Format
Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher.
Journal article
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Article title. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. DOI
In-text citation
(Author, Year) or (Author, Year, p. X) for direct quotes
Chicago Style
Chicago style (Chicago Manual of Style) has two systems: Notes-Bibliography (used in history and humanities — footnotes or endnotes plus a bibliography) and Author-Date (used in sciences and social sciences — similar to APA).
NET Focus — Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's words, ideas, or data as one's own without proper acknowledgement. It includes: (1) direct copying without quotation marks and citation; (2) paraphrasing without citation; (3) submitting another person's work as one's own; (4) self-plagiarism (submitting one's own previously published work as new). Academic institutions treat plagiarism as a serious ethical violation. Proper citation is the means of avoiding plagiarism.
10.6 Library and Archival Resources
Types of Sources
Type
Definition
Examples
Primary source
The original text or document being studied
A novel, poem, play, historical letter, legal document, interview recording
Secondary source
Critical or scholarly work about primary sources
A journal article analysing a novel; a book of literary criticism; a linguistics study
Tertiary source
Reference works compiling secondary sources
An encyclopaedia of literary biography; a bibliography of critical works; a dictionary of literary terms
Key Reference Works for English Studies
Resource
Description
MLA International Bibliography
The most comprehensive database of scholarship in literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore — essential for literature reviews
JSTOR
Digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources in humanities and social sciences
Project MUSE
Database of humanities and social science journals — strong coverage of literary studies
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The historical dictionary of the English language — traces the history of every word with dated quotations; essential for historical and textual research
Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) / Oxford DNB
Biographical dictionary of notable British people — essential for historical research on authors
LION (Literature Online)
Full-text database of English and American literature — primary texts and criticism
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL)
Annual bibliography of scholarship in English literary studies published in the UK
Scopus / Web of Science
Major citation databases covering all academic disciplines — useful for tracking citations and impact of scholarly work
The Card Catalogue and OPAC
The traditional library card catalogue — with author, title, and subject cards — has been replaced in most libraries by the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), which allows searching by keyword, author, title, subject, ISBN, and other fields. Understanding how to search effectively (using Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT; truncation; subject headings) is a basic research skill tested by the NET.
10.7 Textual Criticism and Editing
Textual criticism — the scholarly discipline of establishing the text of a literary work — is one of the oldest forms of literary research. Before a text can be interpreted, it must be established: which version is authoritative? What variants exist? What errors have been introduced by scribes or printers?
Key Terms in Textual Criticism
Term
Definition
Manuscript (MS)
A handwritten text — the form in which most pre-print literary works survive
Codex
A manuscript in book form — pages bound together, as opposed to a scroll
Copytext
The version of a text chosen as the basis for a critical edition
Variant reading
A word or passage that differs between two versions of the same text
Emendation
A correction introduced by an editor to fix what appears to be an error in the copytext
Collation
The systematic comparison of all surviving versions of a text to identify variants
Apparatus criticus
The scholarly notes recording variant readings and editorial decisions in a critical edition
Stemma
A family tree diagram showing the relationship between surviving manuscripts — used to reconstruct the lost original (archetype)
Recension
A critically revised edition of a text, based on systematic comparison of sources
Quarto / Folio
Different paper sizes used in early printing — quartos are roughly A4; folios are larger. Shakespeare's plays exist in Quarto and First Folio (1623) versions with significant textual differences
NET Focus — Shakespeare's Textual Problems: Many of Shakespeare's plays survive in multiple versions with significant differences. Hamlet exists in a First Quarto (1603 — a "bad quarto," possibly reconstructed from memory), a Second Quarto (1604–05 — probably from Shakespeare's own manuscript), and the First Folio (1623). These versions differ substantially in length and wording — editors must choose which to follow. Similar problems exist for King Lear (Quarto and Folio versions differ so much that some editors print them as two separate plays). Textual criticism determines which version a reader actually reads.
10.8 Research Ethics
Principle
Definition / Application
Informed consent
Research participants must be fully informed about the research and must agree voluntarily to participate — essential for empirical research involving human subjects (interviews, surveys, classroom observation)
Confidentiality
Information provided by research participants should not be disclosed without their consent — anonymisation of data is standard practice
Avoiding harm
Research should not harm participants — physically, psychologically, professionally, or socially
Honesty
Researchers must report their findings accurately, even when inconvenient — fabricating or falsifying data is academic fraud
Attribution
All intellectual debts must be acknowledged — failure to attribute is plagiarism
The institutional body that reviews research proposals involving human subjects to ensure ethical compliance — researchers must obtain IRB approval before conducting such research
Conflict of interest
Researchers must disclose any personal, financial, or institutional interests that might bias their research
Intellectual property
Copyright law protects literary works — researchers must comply with fair use/fair dealing provisions and obtain permissions where required
10.9 Linguistics Research Methods
Research in linguistics uses both qualitative and quantitative methods — the specific methods depend on the sub-field and research question.
Method
Description
Application
Corpus linguistics
Analysis of large electronically stored collections of real language use
Studying the frequency and distribution of grammatical features; comparing language varieties
Discourse analysis
Analysis of language use in context — how texts and conversations are structured and how they create meaning
Analysing political speeches; studying classroom interaction; critical discourse analysis (CDA)
Ethnography of communication
Observation-based study of communication practices in a community
Studying how a community uses different languages in different contexts
Experimental method
Controlled experiments testing psychological processes in language comprehension and production
Psycholinguistics; reading research; testing language acquisition hypotheses
Sociolinguistic interview
Semi-structured interview designed to elicit casual, natural speech
Labov's studies of vernacular English; documenting regional dialects
Think-aloud protocols
Asking participants to verbalise their thinking while performing a task
A large, structured collection of texts or spoken language samples used for linguistic analysis
Token
Each individual occurrence of a word in a corpus
Type
Each distinct word form in a corpus — "run," "runs," "running" are different types
Frequency
How often a word or structure occurs in a corpus
Concordance
A list of all occurrences of a particular word in a corpus, shown in context (KWIC — Key Word In Context)
Collocation
The tendency of words to co-occur — "strong" collocates with "tea" (strong tea) and "coffee" in English; not "powerful tea"
Keyword
A word that occurs more frequently in one corpus than in a reference corpus — identifies the distinctive vocabulary of a text or variety
10.10 Academic Writing Conventions
The NET tests knowledge of the conventions of academic writing — the standards of clarity, objectivity, documentation, and argumentation that govern scholarly prose.
Convention
Description
Thesis statement
The central claim of a paper — the argument the research will support. Must be arguable (not merely factual), specific, and significant
Topic sentence
The first sentence of a paragraph — states the paragraph's main point and connects it to the thesis
Evidence and analysis
Every claim must be supported by evidence (quotation, paraphrase, data) and then analysed — explaining what the evidence means for the argument
Hedging language
Academic writing qualifies claims appropriately — "suggests," "appears to," "may indicate" — rather than making absolute claims that cannot be supported
Passive voice
Often used in academic writing to emphasise the action rather than the agent — "The data were collected" rather than "I collected the data" — though active voice is increasingly preferred
Discipline-specific vocabulary
Each academic field uses specialised terminology that must be used precisely — imprecise use of technical terms is a common weakness in student writing
Quotation conventions
Short quotes (under 40 words in APA; under 4 lines in MLA) are incorporated within the text in double quotation marks; longer quotes are set off as block quotations without quotation marks
Footnotes vs endnotes
Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page; endnotes at the end of the chapter or paper. Used for supplementary information, additional citations, or commentary that would interrupt the main text
Ibid. / Op. cit.
Ibid. (ibidem, "in the same place") — refers to the immediately preceding citation. Op. cit. (opere citato, "in the work cited") — refers to a previously cited work by the same author
Further Reading — free at Victoria Institutions:
The research skills in this section — close reading, argumentation, evidence, analysis — are best developed through sustained reading of extended non-fictional prose. The Victoria Institutions free library provides models of careful, sustained analytical writing in English:
→ De Profundis — Oscar Wilde — a model of sustained personal argument; Wilde's prose is a masterclass in the construction of complex argument through literary means
→ An ephemeral glance at feudal languages — analytical prose on language and society; a model of how to build an argument about social and linguistic phenomena
Practice Questions
Section 10 · Research Methods & Materials in English · 40 MCQs
