Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning: A Practical Guide, First Edition. Edited by Kenan Dikilitaş, and Kate Mastruserio Reynolds. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Overview Survey research provides an opportunity to reach a large number of respondents in com- paratively little time and can collect both quantitative and qualitative data. It is compat- ible with a number of other research methods as a component of more complex studies. We have found it particularly valuable for gaining an initial understanding of a phenomenon, a context or a population, especially in areas where little prior research has been conducted. In such situations it is often useful to take an exploratory approach by developing data collection tools (e.g., a questionnaire or email interview schedule) that involve both closed and open items to provide a broad overview of the area of interest. This chapter documents how and why exploratory survey research was used to investi- gate the phenomenon of translanguaging in English language classrooms in India, a country where translingual practices are common in everyday life, yet rarely documented in research on classroom teaching and discourse. The survey tool developed (a question- naire) was successful in eliciting both quantitative and qualitative data that helped us to understand more about both the nature and the extent of translingual practices in English language classrooms in India. This chapter documents how and why we developed this questionnaire, how we explored the data that was collected, which aspects we decided to present, and also the challenges and limitations of the study, and what we learnt from both the strengths and the weaknesses of our research. It also outlines the impact that conducting this research has had on our further work in this area. Many of us, when we think of “surveys” or “questionnaires,” often envisage a rather inflexible research method in which either a computer screen or a market researcher offers us a decontextualized question and a limited range of responses. Sometimes we might feel that these responses do not capture “my” perspective or allow for my “voice” to come 12 Exploratory Survey Research Jason Anderson and Amy Lightfoot