The Research Manual : Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics by Evelyn Hatch and Anne Lazaraton

If you want to understand more about why second language researchers use certain statistical procedures rather than others, and how they go about it, then this book is a must for you.Divided into four parts, the main areas of focus are; i) planning a research project, ii) describing data, iii) comparing groups and iv) describing relationships. Part 1 deals with defining the research question, stating hypotheses and constructing research designs, as well as giving good advice on how to write the research proposal or report. Part 2 is a basic introduction to statistical concepts such as mean, standard deviation and z scores, and is written in a clear and logical style. Part 3 is a little heavy going at times, but the authors have a knack of being able to anticipate the reader's frustrations and go to good lengths to be made understood. T-tests and ANOVA in their various forms, and their non-parametric equivalents such as the signed rank test and Friedman are all covered in detail, with worked examples, as in the other parts of the book. Part 4 deals with correlation, such as chi-squared and Pearson, regression, and principal component analysis and factor analysis. In addition, the appendices contain lists of all the formulas and statistical tables you will ever need should you wish to compute by hand. This is a very thorough and useful book for anyone with an interest in linguistics, or for those who are contemplating doing their own second language research.

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