Research Methods for English Studies

The first volume of this kind, Research Methods for English Studies introduces final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students taking Masters degrees or PhDs to a range of research methods deployed in the study of English, particularly for the periods of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book covers methods familiar to many English scholars. It also encourages creative engagement with less familiar research methods in English in order to stimulate innovative research and encourage debate about research in the discipline. Bringing together a range of distinguished contributors, each chapter focuses on one particular method, offering both concrete practical advice on how to utilise it and exploring some of the methodological issues that are involved in the use of that particular method. These methods include textual analysis, auto/biographical methods, discourse analysis, interviewing, visual methodologies, archival methods, quantitative analysis, ethnographic methods, oral history, creative writing as a research method, and the uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in research in English. Key Features: * Offers practical advice as well as methodological discussions for each method* Includes chapters on innovative areas such as creative writing, ICT and ethnographic methods* Provides concrete examples of how methods might be used in English research* Responds to AHRB's drive for explicit and mandatory research training for postgraduates