This text presents a comprehensive but practical overview of how to develop and implement effective survey projects. This book presents a comprehensive but practical overview of the different phases and activities involved in the development and implementation of effective survey projects by language teaching professionals. It is accessible to graduate students, language teachers, administrators, and researchers. The theoretical and practical issues involved in survey design are defined and discussed. Each chapter includes a list of key terms, a set of review questions, and a collection of exercises for practical application. Language teaching professionals will find all the crucial information needed to survey students and teachers about their beliefs and practices.
James Dean Brown, Professor on the graduate faculty of the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, specializes in the areas of language testing, curriculum design, program evaluation, and research methods.
Professor Brown has taught extensively in France, the People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brazil, Venezuela, and the United States (in California, Florida, and Hawaii). He has served on the editorial boards of the TESOL Quarterly, JALT Journal, and Language Testing as well as on the TOEFL Research Committee, TESOL Advisory Committee on Research, and the Executive Board of TESOL.
In addition to numerous book chapters and articles in TESOL Quarterly, TESOL Matters, Language Learning, Language Testing, Modern Language Journal, JALT Journal, The Language Teacher, System, and RELC Journal, Professor Brown has published a number of books, among them: Understanding Research in Second Language Learning: A teacher's guide to statistics and research design (Cambridge, 1988; also in a Chinese version, 2001, People’s Education Press); The Elements of Language Curriculum: A systematic approach to program development (Heinle & Heinle, 1995); Language Testing in Japan (with Yamashita, JALT, 1995); Testing in Language Programs (Prentice-Hall, 1996; also translated into Japanese in 1999 by Wada, Taishukan Shoten Publishers); New Ways of Classroom Assessment (TESOL, 1998); Using Surveys in Language Programs (Cambridge, 2001); and Criterion-Referenced Language Testing (with Hudson, Cambridge, 2002).
Useful. There are things that are a bit outdated, but in general, really useful for any researcher (novice or experienced). I am so grateful for the clear explanations regarding basic statistics and even more so for the practical examples. This book is definitely a keeper!