WALT WHITMAN Y EL ESPÍRITU NORTEAMERICANO

Research plays a significant role in higher education institutions. There are various types of research conducted in higher education institutions depending on the research traditions of the faculties within universities. University research can be either pure or applied research and can employ a range of methods such as quantitative, qualitative, or

other methodologies. Even though pure research is considered to be the core focus of

universities, there is an increasing demand for applied research, particularly in the field of education and including EFL research. Researchers are being encouraged to conduct

43 both pure and applied research as they are seen to be linked to government priorities and promote national economic development. Similarly, the Thai government and the universities have encouraged their academic staff to conduct both pure and applied research due to the low level of research outputs of faculty members. University staff members have an opportunity to apply for university research funding or apply for external funding granted by external agents such as government sectors. However, EFL research seems to have a low status as it receives less funding compared to research in other field, particularly research in the fields of science and technology,

Higher education institutions value research to strengthen their position and reputation (Alexander, 2000). University research, at the same time, has a significant impact on the

national wealth as it can be used in terms of increasing a university’s world ranking to

attract more international students to study in the university. Therefore, research has a prominent position in the university and it is regarded as one of the key missions of universities worldwide as well as Thai universities. Academic staff members are required to conduct research as part of their duties. They are also encouraged to undertake research to meet the needs of the university which means that their research

productivity must promote the university’s reputation, and to meet the requirements of

funders such as the university itself or external agents. It can be said that university research plays an important position not only in the university but also at the national and international levels, so academic staff members are encouraged to conduct research to meet the needs of university and global markets. The literature indicates that research

is regarded as important to a university’s mission and is part of academic duties as well

as influencing individual academic promotions and their ability to gain tenured positions. However, research is not part of the criteria for a tenured position in Thai higher education institutions.

Universities in many countries including Thailand are concerned about the quality of staff research and staff members are required to conduct systematic research following the scientific inquiry process. Thailand is in the process of developing a national research assessment which emphasises the importance of research within higher education institutions. Thai faculty staff members are also encouraged to produce research and publish their findings at national and international levels to ensure the quality of research.

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From the literature, it can be seen that higher education in Thailand and other countries places particular importance on research in the fields of technology and innovation. However, university research is also conducted in the field of education including EFL. In the EFL teaching context, the literature has shown that researchers are mainly interested in applied linguistics. The Thai government has promoted a staff development policy to encourage university lecturers including EFL lecturers to get involved in the research process. However, the research outputs of EFL lecturers are still lower than in other fields and this may be influenced by many factors such as their beliefs towards research, or their research environment and culture.

The growing demand for faculty staff research productivity has raised the importance of developing a research culture within universities worldwide. In Thailand, the government and universities have also encouraged their academic staff members to conduct research and promote a university research culture. It can be seen that Thai universities as well as faculty staff members are concerned about the academic staff research outputs and also about the research culture within their institutions.

As there is no evidence about a research culture among EFL lecturers in Thailand, focusing on and investigating the research culture including the beliefs and attitudes of EFL lecturers may identify their research practice within their research culture which is seen as an important factor in developing a supportive research culture and enhancing the research capacity of EFL lecturers in Thailand. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate how the research culture is perceived by EFL lecturers in Thai universities. In order to gain deeper understanding into the current enquiry, a number of sub-

questions were generated to assist the main research question, “What is the research culture of EFL lecturers in Thai universities?”. These sub-questions are:

1. What are EFL lecturers’ perceptions about the value of their research

involvement?

2. What type of research do EFL lecturers prefer?

3. What are the factors influencing EFL lecturers’ research involvement?

45 The main research question and sub-questions were developed to establish the boundaries of the study as well as to provide sufficient flexibility to investigate the current inquiry in a more in-depth way (Corbin & Strauss, 2008, p. vi). Research questions in a qualitative study focus on humans and their interaction in social settings including their personal view and aspects of their environment (Lichtman, 2006). Qualitative research questions are the guide to inquiry and are open to the research results in which researchers should not define and formulate research questions (Flick, 2002). Luttrell (2010) also asserts that qualitative research questions direct the way for

researchers to move forward and importantly “questions typically evolve along the way” (p. 6). Therefore, the research questions presented in this study are the result of engagement with a variety of questions throughout the research process in which less important questions were excluded.

A qualitative research design was ultimately utilised in the current study as it was seen to be the most suitable design to answer the main research question and sub-questions. The rationale for the selection of a qualitative design and overall research methodology and procedure will be discussed in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN

3.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the overall approach and design of the investigation. This chapter is divided into two major parts: research methodology and research design. The first part of the chapter presents the qualitative research methodology for this investigation, drawing on the key characteristics of the qualitative research tradition. It also includes an explanation of the qualitative case study research approach used in this study.

The second part of this chapter describes the way in which the study was designed and undertaken. This part commences with an outline of the research schedule and the investigating procedures, beginning with the rationale for the selection of participants, and followed by the research procedure for each of the four phases of data collection. This is followed by a description of the processes used in analysing and interpreting the data. Next, a discussion of significant ethical issues involved in the study is presented.

The researcher’s positioning, both in individual interviews and in the focus group, is clarified at the end of the chapter.