A Classification of Research Types and Trend Analysis of Research Methods in Korean for Academic Purposes

Abstract

This study is a trend analysis study that discusses the current status and directions of research methods of KAP research. The existing trend ana lysis studies dealing with research methods have problems in that the classification criteria of the studies used are rough and different from each other, rendering comparison between studies being difficult, and do not comprehensively cover research methods of diversified KAP research. Therefore, this study examined the research methods of KAP research from a critical point of view and suggested a set of classification criteria and an analysis framework that can be used consistently in classification and analysis of future KAP research methods. Based on the theoretical background of second language studies and applied linguistics, this study revised and supplemented Brown (2015)`s research method types and selected 289 journals and theses/dissertations from 2012 to 2016 and classified them into a new analysis framework. The primary and secondary studies, which are the major categories, were 219 and 70, respectively, so it was confirmed that there were much more primary studies. The primary studies then were subdivided into 128 qualitative research studies, 142 survey research studies, and 23 quantitative research studies, pointing to the trend that survey and qualitative research methods were preferred. In the qualitative research approaches, there were 21 action research studies, which were used the most. In addition, such qualitative research approaches as case studies and narrative inquiries which were difficult to find in the past, have gradually increased, confirming that the diversification of research methods is becoming common. However, there were still many studies that did not explicitly put forward research questions and there were many studies that did not report reliability and effect sizes in quantitative research. Of the 23 quantitative studies, only 50% reported reliability, and only three reported effect sizes. In order to enable systematic reviews (meta-analysis) of quantitative research and expect quality improvement of research in future KAP research, reporting of quantitative research should be done more systematically. This study is meaningful in that a systematic and detailed analysis framework was proposed to classify various research methods in the future and that the problems and directions for improvement of the KAP research methods were discussed through the analysis of the research trend of the KAP studies for the last 5 years. (Ewha Womans University)