69
ANI SUSANA, 2012
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
|
repository.upi.edu
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the process of doing this research. This includes research questions, research design, research site and participants, data collection
and data analysis.
3.1 Statement of Problems
The study was inspired by the necessity of EAP course students, especially those taking IELTS training, of getting the minimum IELTS total band of 6.5 to
be admitted in most universities in Australia and England. The data of students’ achievement taken from several times of practice tests showed that their writing
competence was not good enough. It was supported by their mean scores of writing practice test which were below 6. For that reason, the students’ problems
in writing hindering the students obtaining the score needed should be seriously addressed and solved.
3.2 Research Design
Since it was aimed at exploring students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module and what the students and teacher did
to overcome these problems, this study employed a qualitative research design with the characteristic of a case study.
70
ANI SUSANA, 2012
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
|
repository.upi.edu
A case study is chosen because the phenomena being observed is so complex that a variety of different kinds of data is needed in order to gain a full
picture Wray et al., 1988:188. The phenomenon was complex since, related to the research questions, the students’ problems in writing, especially EFL writing
and also writing for exam, might be varied. Therefore, it needed a variety of different kinds of data to gain a complete picture. In this case, the researcher used
triangulation of data collection methods involving classroom observation, interviews with the teacher and the students, and documentation of students’ texts.
Verschuren 2003, cited in Dornyei, 2011: 152 says that although case studies are typically discussed under the label of qualitative research because a
single case cannot be representative of a population, actual case studies often include quantitave data collection instruments as well as questionnaires. Thus, the
case study is not a specific technique but rather a method of collecting and organizing data so as to maximize our understanding of the unitary character of
the social being or object studied. Besides, it was a case study since it was carried out in “a small scale, a
single case” Stake, 1985: 278, cited in Emilia, 2005. It “focused on one particular instance of educational experience or practice” Freebody, 2003: 81,
employed “multiple data collections and analytic procedures” Freebody, 2003: 83.
3.3 Setting
