AQA A-level English Language (7702) · NEA: The Language Investigation
Mini-Lesson
NEA: The Language Investigation
The language investigation is your chance to research real language yourself. This lesson teaches the methodology: how to frame a question, collect and handle data ethically, and analyse it rigorously.
This teaches the method of investigation, not any specific data set. Press Start.
Investigation · focus
Choosing a focus and question
A good investigation begins with a narrow, answerable research focus. You might investigate variation by region, occupation, gender, age, power, mode or change over time.
Frame a clear aim or hypothesis (a testable prediction) or an open research question.
Keep it manageable: a tight focus produces deeper analysis than a broad one.
Link your focus to a relevant theory or concept from the course.
Example shape: How does X vary between two groups/texts? Then choose data that lets you compare fairly.
Quick check
Which is the strongest focus?
?Which of these makes the strongest investigation focus?
Investigation · data
Data collection methods
You must collect primary or secondary data suited to your question:
Spoken data — recordings you transcribe (using conventions for pauses, overlaps and stress).
Written / electronic data — texts, posts, articles gathered into a corpus.
Aim for comparable data sets so differences are meaningful.
Sampling: decide how much data and how it is selected (representative, random or purposive). Small but well-chosen beats large but messy.
Investigation · ethics
Ethics and permissions
Ethics are essential when studying real people's language:
Gain informed consent before recording anyone.
Anonymise participants and remove sensitive details.
Respect confidentiality and the right to withdraw.
Consider the observer's paradox (Labov): people change their language when they know they are observed.
Attribute: the observer's paradox is Labov's — the challenge of recording natural speech while observing it.
Sort it
Sort each step to the stage it belongs to
Tap a step, then tap the investigation stage it belongs to.
🎯 Planning
📥 Collecting data
🧪 Analysing
Quick check
Ethics first
?Before recording a conversation between friends for your data, you must first:
Investigation · analysis
Analysing your data
Analysis combines quantitative and qualitative approaches:
Quantitative — counting features (frequency of a feature, ratios) to reveal patterns.
Qualitative — close analysis of examples using the language levels and relevant theory.
Always link findings back to your question and context, and acknowledge limitations.
Rigour: avoid cherry-picking. Report patterns that both support and complicate your hypothesis.
Quick check
Quantitative or qualitative?
?You count how many interruptions each speaker makes and compare the totals. This part of your analysis is:
Match it
Match term to its meaning
Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.
Term
Meaning
Recap
The big ideas to take away
Focus: narrow, answerable question or hypothesis linked to theory
Data: comparable spoken, written or electronic data; sampling
Ethics: informed consent, anonymity, the observer's paradox (Labov)
Analysis: quantitative counting plus qualitative use of the language levels
Rigour: link findings to context; acknowledge limitations