'Research Methodology' is a course offered in the M. Phil. (English Language and Literature) at School of Arts and Science, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
Unit I: Aims and Methods of Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures
Linguistics, Textual Criticism, Literary History, Literary Criticism.
Unit II: Introduction to Research
Definition and Objectives of Research- Research in Language and Literature-Types of Literary Research, Different Approaches to Research- Extrinsic and Intrinsic Approaches-Identifying a Research Problem-Criteria of Good Research
Unit III: Research Process
Research problem-definition-review of literature-formulation of hypothesis-research designexecution-analysis-Materials and Tools of Research -Primary and Secondary sources, Library and Electronic sources- Compiling a working bibliography-Collection and organization of materials- Research format- Writing drafts-Documentation-Plagiarism check
Unit IV: The Mechanics of Research Writing
The use of Quotations, footnotes/endnotes-pagination-documentation style-Parenthetical Documentation-Punctuations-The Format of a Thesis-From the First Draft to the Final Copy
Unit V: Language, Style and Types of Discourses
Diction-The Style suitable for a Literary Thesis-Narration-Explanation-ArgumentationExposition