Polio chapter 1

While both the quantitative and qualitative study equally provide insights into the nature of peer review, I am more attracted to the advantages of quantitative research for two essential reasons. First, statistical approach to L2 writing makes it possible to identify variables that play a role in the performance of a learner’s writing and further to determine their relative weight. In the given quantitative study, the research questions focus narrowly on whether giving or receiving feedback is beneficial for writing development, and which aspect of writing, between global and local, is more affected by the process of peer review. Also, a large number of participants that form the database of the research allow the researcher to generalize his/her finding against a larger population. This, in fact, constitutes a unique characteristic of quantitative research, where breadth is favored over depth.

My research experience is centered around qualitative research, mostly. I have done a qualitative analysis on Korean media discourse about how it deals with native-speaking English teachers and what ideologies it embodies in relation to language teaching. I did thematic analysis using corpus methods to dig deeper into language ideologies, which remain underlying unless analyzed with an analytical tool.

Where possible, however, I would like to use both quantitative and qualitative analysis in the single program of study. The reason for hoping to incorporate both at the same time is grounded in the assumption that the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research can be counterbalanced, thus complementing the partial representation that either approach presents with its counterparts.