6.2 Participants in the Qualitative Part of the Research............
In the current study adopting mixed-method triangulation, the qualitative part of the
data is the major pillar supporting elaboration on the cognitive process of academic
listening. Thefinal verbal protocol data were collected from 16 Chinese under-
graduate university students. They are seniors and juniors from two different col-
leges at Shanghai International Studies University. Initially, 17 students participated
in the main study, but 16 sets of data were eventually used because one of the
participants reported a day later that she already practiced the test used in the main
study. Because the study was carried out in June of 2013 right after 2013 TEM 8
test was conducted in March, the senior participants were then given the 2010 TEM
8 Mini-lecture task they hadn’t practiced before. Since they already took the 2013
TEM 8 test, the authenticity of the testing situation and validity of TAP data could
not be guaranteed if they were given the same task again as the research version.
Then, the junior students were given the 2013 TEM 8 task which they didn’t have
an access to. The only one case who reported later she had already practiced the
task was accidental and all the 16 remaining participants did have the access to the
research version of the TEM 8 Mini-lecture task for thefirst time in the current
study. All in all, the TAP, retelling and interview data were collected from two
groups of participants, i.e., the junior group who did the 2013 TEM 8 Mini-lecture
task and the senior group who did the 2010 TEM 8 Mini-lecture task.
The followingfigure (Fig.6.1) shows the overall design of the whole qualitative
research process.
6.2.1 Participant Selection..............................
We realize the importance of collecting data from members of different age groups,
various majors and quite a big number of universities to match the criterion of data
representativeness. However, in order to localize the study in a specific context, we
need to consider:
- The attitude of participants. Doing TAP is time- and energy- consuming, and
hence the data collection quality is heavily influenced by participants’attitude.
Suppose the participant has no interest in the research or shows indifferent atti-
tude, he or she might barelyfinish the job, but, rather unwillingly, which would
definitely undermine the quality and validity of the research conclusion. So, the
participants’willingness to cooperate and their ability to actualize verbalization
of thoughts would determine the quality of data. Therefore, the number of par-
ticipants is limited within the researcher’s capacity. Luckily, most of the chosen
participants are very cooperative and eager to participate in the research.
68 6 Employing the Think-Alound Method...