Evaluative Criteria for Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics: Whose Criteria and Whose Research?

Abstract

This paper examines various criteria that have been proposed for evaluating the increasing number of empirical studies carried out using qualitative research methods, and it demonstrates how such criteria may privilege certain forms of qualitative research while excluding others. A broader disciplinary view is taken by defining qualitative research, and by discussing in more detail the two qualitative traditions that have achieved prominence in applied linguistics, ethnography, and conversation analysis. Then, select existing evaluative criteria for qualitative research proposed by applied linguists, as well as additional criteria developed outside applied linguistics, are examined. Finally, the issue of criteriology is considered, on which some of the assumptions underlying the existing evaluative criteria are based. To conclude, this article discusses the complex relationship between research method and evaluative criteria and the role of professional journals in establishing and validating such criteria.

Trends in qualitative research in language teaching since 2000

“…'Qualitative research', claimed Lazaraton (2003a) in a recent review of evaluative criteria, 'has come of age in applied linguistics' (p. 1). In the thirteen years since her own groundbreaking assessment (Lazaraton 1995) enough has changed to warrant this claim.…”

Reflecting on Reflections: the Spoken Word as a Professional Development Tool in Language Teacher Education

“…However the same or other corpora could be used in a number of different and complementary ways to complete the picture of our professional practice. Additionally, the insider's view, or what anthropologists call the 'emic persepctive' (Patton, 1990, p. 241, see also Gall, Borg and Gall, 1996, Lazaraton, 2003, Phillips, 1999, can be obtained through elicitations from the actors (for example, through questionnaires, notes, think-aloud protocols etc), or more directly by employing a participative researcher research paradigm (Freeman, 1996, Heron, 1996, Morrow and Schocker, 1993. Both were employed in the larger POTTI research project but present limitations prevent elaboration here.…”

Trends in Qualitative Research in Three Major Language Teaching and Learning Journals, 2006–2015

“…Lazaraton (2003) regarded conversational analysis and ethnography as two prevalent approaches in applied linguistics research, whereas Richards (2003) delineated seven core methods: ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, life story, action research, and conversational analysis. More recently, Heigman and Crocker (2009) proposed five approaches for language teaching and learning research: narrative inquiry, case study, ethnography, action research, and mixed methods.…”

“…There are several potential reasons for this, including the complexity of qualitative methods and the relative newness of using such methods in language teaching and learning research. As Lazaraton (2003) notes, "qualitative research is an umbrella term for a very large group of research methodologies" (p. 3). Qualitative research methodologies that were developed in related disciplines such as anthropology, education, sociology, and psychology have been adapted; therefore, a wide range of qualitative research methodologies is employed in the discipline.…”