ABSTRACT
This chapter and the following one in the first part of this book introduce you to basic concepts in quantitative research. Undertaking quantitative research involves working with numbers and statistics. Statistics involves collecting and analysing numerical data in large quantities drawn from representative samples and from which conclusions or inferences can be made. As a student of applied linguistics, English language or linguistics, you may not have worked with either numbers or statistics very much, if at all, as part of your post sixteen study. Often, statistics can be perceived as too difficult. Why is it necessary, then, to work with numbers and statistics? It is because statistical analysis can be an important tool in linguistic investigation. Many of the research questions we pursue in linguistic research involve measuring and observing data. Examples of this kind of research are to be found in Part 2 of the book.
