Scientific Methods for the Humanities

Abstract

Here is a much needed introductory textbook on empirical research methods for the Humanities. Especially aimed at students and scholars of Literature, Applied Linguistics, and Film and Media, it stimulates readers to reflect on the problems and possibilities of testing the empirical assumptions and offers hands-on learning opportunities to develop empirical studies. It explains a wide range of methods, from interviews to observation research, and guides readers through the choices researchers have to make. It discusses the essence of experiments, illustrates how studies are designed, how to develop questionnaires, and helps readers to collect and analyze data by themselves. The book presents qualitative approaches to research but focuses mostly on quantitative methods, detailing the workings of basic statistics. At the end, the book also shows how to give papers at international conferences, how to draft a report, and what is involved in the preparation of a publishable article.

Norwegian early childhood teachers' stated use of subject-related activities with children, and their focus on science, technology, environmental issues and sustainability

“…A questionnaire is a common tool to investigate obtainability and frequency, and it is suitable to investigate interests (Van Peer, Hakemulder & Zyngier, 2012). The questionnaire was send by e-mail to 142 randomly selected kindergartens in Norway -both regular kindergartens and nature kindergartens -after a personal request by telephone.…”

Towards linked data: Some consequences for researchers in the social sciences and humanities

“…Many publications, aimed at budding researchers or seasoned researchers alike, detail the steps for conducting research in the SSH (e.g. Bryman ; van Peer, Hakemulder, & Zyngier ). Abstracting from the particulars of each, we present the following outline for stages of a research project:…”

Long-Term Research Assessing in the Humanities: A Case Study

“…Although from a more radical stance and more directed to literary studies, Gottshall (2008) is correct when he holds that " [w]hile most other fields gradually accumulate new and durable understanding about the world, the great minds of literary studies have, over the past few decades, chiefly produced theories and speculation with little relevance to anyone but the scholars themselves". Joining forces with other empirical scholars (van Peer et al, 2012), he argues that methods in the humanities should come closer to those in the sciences. In his words, scholars should "apply science's research methods, its theories, its statistical tools, and its insistence on hypothesis and proof.…”

“…The research project in question is the REDES project (Research and Development in Empirical Studies) founded in 2002 by three researchers from different countries: W. van Peer (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany), S. Zyngier (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and F. Hakemulder (Utrecht University, the Netherlands). The seed was sown when van Peer and Hakemulder were invited to teach a course in Brazil and came into contact with an on-going project there which was being carried out following the tenets of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970;van Peer et al, 2012;Apple, 2013). In 2003, two more regional groups joined REDES: the ones from Kiev, Ukraine, and Edmonton, Canada.…”

“…By linking research groups of five countries from three continents, the project functioned for about a decade as an international research group aiming at the investigation of culture, literature, language and media from a multicultural perspective. More than stimulating research by (especially) students in different parts of the world Mendes, 2008), a very important goal was to help students become autonomous researchers by way of using and disseminating the empirical investigation of literature and language (van Peer et al, 2012).…”