Machine summary:
"Gee’s (1986) framework for identifying narrative discourse units (lines, stanzas, and episodes) was adopted to investigate participants’ conceptions of logical orders in measure development algorithms and their knowledge of error sources.
Finally in ‘continuous event history modeling’ phase of the study, Cox Proportional Regression Analysis showed how temporal markers in research narratives can be used to predict one’s knowledge of measure development in research design.
Researchers’ Conceptions of Error Sources Analysis of the content of research stories told by the participants show that in general Iranian TEFL researchers are more sensitive to individual-related sources of error either idiosyncratic or generic, and that they are, most of the time, ignorant of method-related sources of error that may endanger the validity of the scales they have developed for measuring operational variables of their study.
Table 1: The Iranian TEFL researchers’ Error-awareness in measure development process Sources of error mentioned in the research narratives Type Token Percentage of participants who are aware of this group of errors Proportion of observed sources to the expected sources Individual- related Idiosyncratic 5 24 76 0.
Algorithmic Knowledge and Error Awareness To calculate the extent to which Iranian TEFL researchers observe the standard algorithm for developing the measures used in their studies, an optimal matching analysis was run.
The significant role of dimensionality and validity testing in constituting participants’ knowledge of measure development imply that focusing on statistical procedures such as explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) can help TEFL researchers to expand their research competency to a great extent."