Methodological synthesis of research using multi-dimensional analysis

Authors

  • Larissa Goulart Northern Arizona University
  • Margaret Wood Northern Arizona University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds.18454

Keywords:

multi-dimensional analysis, research synthesis, methodological synthesis, factor analysis

Abstract

Since 1984 when Douglas Biber first conducted a multi-dimensional (MD) analysis, MD analyses have expanded in scope. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive survey of this body of research. This methodological synthesis conducts a large-scale survey of MD analyses dating back to Biber’s (1984) dissertation. An unprecedented total of 230 studies including peer-reviewed articles and dissertations were coded for a variety of study characteristics and methodological choices. The results of this survey show that researchers have made a wide variety of methodological decisions including the choice of tagger, factor loading and communality cut-off values, and types of additional statistical analyses conducted. It was also found that reporting practices of MD analyses have been less than optimal, lacking information necessary for the replicability of the study. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for future MD analyses in relation to reporting practices and the goals of future studies.

Author Biographies

  • Larissa Goulart, Northern Arizona University

    Larissa Goulart is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. Before coming to NAU, she taught Portuguese as a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She received her MA in English Language Teaching with a focus on English for Specific Purposes from the University of Warwick, UK. Her research interests include corpus linguistics applications to language teaching and second language writing for university purposes.

  • Margaret Wood, Northern Arizona University

    Margaret Wood is a Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. She earned her M.A. in TESL at NAU in 2018. She was the recipient of a William J. Fulbright award and served the 2018–2019 academic year as an English Teaching Assistant at Savannakhet University in Lao P.D.R. Her research interests lie in the field of Corpus Linguistics and Law, and she is interested in particular in the characteristics of legislative language, and the applications of corpus linguistic methods to statutory interpretation. She currently works as an editorial assistant for the peer-reviewed journal Register Studies.

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Published

2021-08-20

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Goulart, L. ., & Wood, M. . (2021). Methodological synthesis of research using multi-dimensional analysis. Journal of Research Design and Statistics in Linguistics and Communication Science, 6(2), 107–137. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds.18454