A Mixed Methods Genre Analysis of the Discussion Section of MMR Articles in Applied Linguistics

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad R. Hashemi ◽  
Iman Gohari Moghaddam

The research article, among other academic genres, has attracted researchers’ attention over the past decades. Although sections such as introduction, method, and results and discussion have been addressed in such studies, the mixed methods research (MMR) discussion genre remains underexplored. Thus, the present study aimed at exploring the generic organizational patterns in applied linguistics MMR articles. A qualitatively driven mixed methods approach was utilized to explore 38 MMR discussions. As a result, there emerged a five-move model for genre macro-organization and rhetorical move structure of the MMR discussions. The study concludes by presenting implications for writing effective MMR discussions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taha Omidian ◽  
H Shahriari ◽  
Anna Siyanova

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Conformity to the epistemological orientations of academic disciplines is often reflected in the ways in which knowledge is constructed and communicated through certain linguistic features in academic genres. This paper explores instances of such conformity in hard and soft science disciplines, as it is reflected in the use of recurrent word combinations in different rhetorical moves of research article abstracts. A corpus-driven approach was adopted to identify the most frequently occurring word combinations of different length in a corpus of 5910 abstracts from six disciplines. Following this, the identified sequences were classified according to their communicative functions in different moves of the abstract. A mixed-methods approach was then adopted through which the patterns of variation reflected in the use of the identified sequences were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that members of different academic domains have different priorities for representing their research in academic abstracts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taha Omidian ◽  
H Shahriari ◽  
Anna Siyanova

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Conformity to the epistemological orientations of academic disciplines is often reflected in the ways in which knowledge is constructed and communicated through certain linguistic features in academic genres. This paper explores instances of such conformity in hard and soft science disciplines, as it is reflected in the use of recurrent word combinations in different rhetorical moves of research article abstracts. A corpus-driven approach was adopted to identify the most frequently occurring word combinations of different length in a corpus of 5910 abstracts from six disciplines. Following this, the identified sequences were classified according to their communicative functions in different moves of the abstract. A mixed-methods approach was then adopted through which the patterns of variation reflected in the use of the identified sequences were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that members of different academic domains have different priorities for representing their research in academic abstracts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155868982098627
Author(s):  
Diego Romaioli

In order to enhance core mixed methods research designs, social scientists need an approach that incorporates developments in the social constructionist perspective. This work describes a study that aimed to promote occupational well-being in hospital departments where employees are at risk of burnout, based on a constructionist inquiry developed starting from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Taking this study as an example, we define a “generative sequential mixed methods approach” as a process that involves consulting quantitative studies to identify criticalities on which to conduct focused, transformative investigations. The article contributes by envisaging ways to mix qualitative and quantitative methods that consider a “generative” and “future-forming” orientation to research, in line with recent shifts in social psychology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Yasir Bdaiwi Al-Shujairi

      The discussion section forms an integral part in the writing process of a research article (RA). Research authors find it difficult to write and produce a well-structured discussion for their findings. The reason could be due to the unawareness of the main components (rhetorical moves) that shape this section. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a review of the studies that have been done to analyze the discussion section of RAs over the last 36 years. Also, this review seeks to examine the discussion section of RAs across various scientific disciplines and different types of journals. The review showed that the rhetorical structure of RAs discussion section witnessed some changes over the course of time. New moves such as Research Implications and Research Limitations started to be parts of the discussion section of RAs. In addition, it was revealed that differences in writing the discussion section can be varied broadly across disciplines such as soft sciences (e.g., applied linguistics, sociology, psychology) and hard sciences (e.g., engineering, chemistry, biology) and slightly across types of journals such as ISI and local journals. In conclusion, this paper offered several suggestions for further research to be conducted in the area.  


2021 ◽  
pp. 134-154
Author(s):  
Nigel G. Fielding

This chapter provides an overview of the historical dimensions of ethnographies using mixed-methods approaches, supported by examples from selected landmark works within this tradition. It presents the epistemological assumptions about knowledge production, positionality, and the types of questions typically asked by a criminologist using mixed methods and makes clear how they differ from ethnographies using other approaches and traditions. The chapter considers what ethnographies using a mixed-methods approach can produce that other approaches may not be able to. It then details how ethnographies using mixed methods can contribute to policy development, framing this against the perspectives and needs of policymakers. The chapter concludes by assessing the potential future contribution of ethnographically grounded mixed-methods research to crime and criminal justice issues.


This chapter presents the methodological and conceptual approach, which informed the research design for the study. It is pertinent to reiterate here that the design of this study sought to discern the positive psychological forces that shape subjective wellbeing of informal caregivers. This desire prompted the adoption of a mixed methods research. The rationale for this methodological preference is presented. In addition, advantages of mixed methods approach are elaborated upon. Furthermore, other issues are addressed, including sample size, instrumentation, and research procedures. This chapter also explains, with much detail, the parameters and boundary conditions that constituted the guiding assumptions, limitations, as well as delimitations of the study. It should be noted that the chapter also explains the essential approach to data analysis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-544
Author(s):  
Jörg Stolz ◽  
Anaïd Lindemann

Despite tremendous interest in social games and game studies, the potential of game heuristics for the field of mixed methods remains unknown. This article introduces game heuristics to mixed methods research, showing how it was used in a specific study on the survival probabilities on the Titanic. Specifically, we describe how game heuristics was used to create the explanandum, code and interpret the qualitative material, and set up and interpret the quantitative model. Furthermore, we show and explicate how game heuristics was used to construct seven types of meta-inferences. The Titanic data set is especially interesting, since it is routinely used for statistical mono-method teaching; however, it can be shown that a mixed methods approach leads to a better explanation.


Author(s):  
Rosaleen Howard

This chapter discusses the working of evidentiality in Quechua narrative performance from the central highlands of Peru. In the Quechua narratives analysed, the grammatical marking of source and status of knowledge, and discursive ways of expressing evidence for knowing what is known, are shown to vary strikingly according to performance related factors. On the one hand, narrators base discursively expressed evidence for knowledge, and the veracity and authenticity of the stories they tell, on lived experience. On the other hand, in Huamalíes Quechua the assertion of knowledge and affirmation of validity are grammatically marked by evidential, epistemic modality, and tense suffixes. Taken together, the performative dimensions of discursively expressed evidence, and grammatical choices around evidentiality, constitute the epistemological underpinning of stories about the past in Huamalíes Quechua; both are taken into account in the mixed methods approach to the analysis of Quechua narrative adopted here.


Author(s):  
S Birchall ◽  
Maya Murphy ◽  
Markus Milne

Climate change and solutions to solving this wicked problem require a mixed methods research approach that draws on quantitative and qualitative inquiry together. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the applicability (and effectiveness) of a mixed methods approach applied to research into the voluntary carbon market (VCM), a key path available for organisations electing to offset their carbon emissions, in New Zealand. The mixed methods approach included three unique data sets (quantitative documents, quantitative surveys, qualitative in-depth interviews), and was both explanatory (qualitative interviews built upon and contextualized the document analysis and survey results) and convergent (data sets were examined separately, then, as they represent different aspects of the same phenomenon, were combined for analysis). These complementary methods were used to gain a fuller picture of the evolution and institutional dynamics of the VCM field in order to produce a comprehensive case study.


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