Research_Proposal_v2 (1)

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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
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Making Meaning through Numbers
Cultural Interpretations of Numerical Expressions in Russian, Kazakh, and
English-Language Children’s Folklore
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Lyazzat Tokpayeva
EDF 6476 Advanced Qualitative Methods
Research Proposal Presentation
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Research Problem & Literature Gap
TEXTUAL
RECURRENCE
→
EPISTEMOLOGICAL
GAP
→
CULTURAL
MEANING
Textual recurrence is evidence about the text — not, by itself, evidence of contemporary cultural
belief.
NUMBERS
Culturally & historically
embedded
SYMBOLISM
Documented cultural
associations
CHILDREN’S FOLKLORE
Socially situated &
performed
GAP: How can textual evidence and participant interpretations be brought into dialogue
without treating either as transparent access to culture?
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Purpose & Research Questions
Purpose: Examine how numerical expressions become culturally meaningful through texts,
memories, practices, and interpretation.
RQ1 — TEXTUAL
FUNCTION
RQ2 — PARTICIPANT
INTERPRETATION
RQ3 — CROSS-CASE
DIALOGUE
How do numerical expressions function within selected Russian, Kazakh,
and English-language children's folklore texts?
How do adults with familiarity with these traditions interpret the cultural
significance of selected numerical expressions?
How do participants' interpretations illuminate convergence, divergence,
and contestation across the three folklore contexts?
TEXT → INTERPRETATION → COMPARISON
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Methodological Design & Case Boundaries
Constructivist–
Interpretivist
→
Comparative
Qualitative
Multiple-Case
Design
→
Corpus +
Elicitation
Interviews
→
Comparative
Interpretation
BOUNDED LINGUISTIC-TEXTUAL CASES
Russian-language
folklore case
Kazakh-language
folklore case
English-language
folklore case
Bounded by language + children’s folklore domain + purposively selected corpus materials
Analytic cases for comparison — NOT representations of entire national cultures.
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Data Collection
TEXTUAL DATA
Purposively selected subcorpus
from an existing corpus of ~2,000 texts
Primary genre: counting-out rhymes
INTERVIEW DATA
4 adults
Semi-structured interviews
45–60 minutes
ELICITATION SEQUENCE
Notice / Describe → Remember / Contextualize → Interpret → Possible Cultural
Significance
Corpus excerpts are elicitation prompts. Sequencing reduces the risk of imposing
symbolic meaning.
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Data Analysis: Keeping Evidence Levels Distinct
LEVEL 4
Explicit Sacred / Religious Attribution
LEVEL 3
Participant-Attributed Meaning
LEVEL 2
Documented Cultural / Historical Association
LEVEL 1
Textual Presence & Function
Texts → Textual Analysis
|
Interviews → Reflexive Thematic Analysis
Comparative stage: Convergence • Divergence • Rejection • Uncertainty
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Positionality, Reflexivity & Trustworthiness
EPISTEMIC RESOURCE
RISK OF OVERINTERPRETATION
Prior corpus familiarity
Multilingual experience
Pattern recognition
Prior knowledge may make
some interpretations appear obvious
RECOGNITION IS NOT EVIDENCE.
REFLEXIVE MEMOS
Make interpretive decisions
visible
DISCONFIRMING EVIDENCE
Attend to contradictory accounts
TRANSLATION
Treat translation as an interpretive
act
4 participants do not represent populations; the study does not seek statistical generalization or
saturation.
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Conclusion: From Fixed Symbolism to Meaning-Making
“What does this number
symbolize?”
→
“How does a number become
culturally meaningful?”
CONTRIBUTION
Bring textual evidence and participant
interpretation into dialogue without treating
them as equivalent forms of cultural
evidence.
BOUNDARIES
Small qualitative study • retrospective
memory • translation as interpretation • no
population-level claims
How, for whom, in what context, and through what forms of evidence does a
numerical expression become meaningful?
Thank you. I welcome your feedback.
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