1. ACTION RESEARCH
Application in the Education Profession

2. What is action research?
Action research is an approach by one or two individuals or groups for the purpose of solving a problem or obtaining information to inform local practice.
These may have practical applications i.e. How to decrease the incidence of absenteeism in class; motivate apathetic students; improve the teaching of mathematics or to increase funding
3. What are the kind of questions involved?
Examples are:
What kind of methods work best with certain types of students?
How can teachers encourage students to think about important issues?
How can content, teaching strategies and learning activities be varied to help students?
How can subject matter be better presented to promote understanding?
4. Various people may be involved
Teachers
Counselors
supervisors
Administrators
Political leaders
5. Basic assumptions underlying action research?
Those undertaking the research must be informed individuals capable of identifying problems that need to be solved i.e. Economic experts in talking about what to do with OFW remittances
The ones involved must be seriously committed to solving the problem and improving their performance
The participants must engage in the research systematically
6. What is the system?
Identify the problem
Decide on investigative procedures
Determine data collection techniques
Analyze and interpret data
Develop plans of action to deal with problems
The ones undertaking the research must have the authority to undertake the necessary procedures and implement recommendations.
7. Types of Action Research
Practical action research this is intended to address a specific problem within a classroom, school or other communities.
It can be carried out in a variety of settings such as the educational, school service or business locations
The primary purpose of practical action research is to improve practice in the short term and to inform larger issues.
This is performed by individuals, teams or larger groups provided the focus remains clear and specific.
The result of this research is an action plan
8. # 2: Participatory action research
This type of research involves individuals which are called stakeholders
These individuals function as equal partners
In this type of research the subject and the researcher find ways to bring about social change and improve their lives.
Stakeholders may not be involved at the beginning of the research but become active early in the process and jointly plan the study.
9. Participatory action research is also called Collaborative Research
A collaborative research provides people with the means to take systematic action in an effort to resolve specific problems
It is consensual,
Democratic
Participatory
Encourages people to formulate accounts and explanations of their situation and to develop plans to resolve these problems
10. Tips for the researcher
A trained researcher may identify the problem and brings it to the attention of the stakeholders.
It is important that the problem is not just of interest to the researcher but also to the stakeholders
The researcher stands alongside the stakeholders he is not anymore an outsider but is now an internal consultant.
11. Levels of Participation in action research
Information gathering
Crafting of the instruments i.e. Questionnaire
Participants may review the findings
Data collection and analysis
Making the recommendation
12. Steps in action research
# 1:Identify the research question
The research question must be clear
It must be manageable
Large-scale and complex questions should be better left to professional researchers
13. #2: Gathering the necessary information
Find out the best method: experiments, surveys, causal-comparative studies, interviews, ethnography; historical method
Teachers can be active participants (observing computer techniques by students)
Taking down notes
Interviews and use of questionnaires
Analysis of documents
14. Instruments
Interview schedules, checklists, rating scales, attitudinal measures
Triangulation finding of common data
How to treat anecdotal data- while it is important to collect such data it is important to get substantive evidence i.e. Common denominators in the interviews
15. # 3: Analysing and interpreting the information
After getting the general focus of the information, it is important to provide a guiding procedure in answering the questions
Get the purpose of the data
Then the what, how, who, where and when and finally the why
16. Tip
When analyzing and interpreting data gathered in participatory research it is important for the participants to reflect on the perception of all the stakeholders in the study.They should work together to create description of what the data may reveal.Finally they must keep all the stakeholders informed of what is going on in the data-gathering stage and provide opportunities for everyone to read accounts of what is happening.This permits participants to give their inputs continuously as the study progresses.
17. Developing an action plan
A formal document should be prepared and should indicate clear direction for further work on the original problem or concern
18. Similarities and differences in action research and formal research
Sample -Action research almost always focuses on a particular group or individual whereas the sample in formal research is not identical
Internal validity threats in action research is greater because of collector bias.The source of data is also the researcher
External validity results in external research cannot be generalized compared to formal reserarch
19. Advantages of action research
It can be done by an individual or a group
It improves educational practice and helps create better professionals
Educators can develop ways to improve their craft
The researchers identify the problems systematically
It can lead to the development of research-oriented individuals
It is collaborative and democratic
20. Examples of practical action research
Investigating the teaching of science concepts by means of comparison-group experiment
Problem:does using drama help fifth-graders understanding of basic science concepts?
Method:assigning some teachers to use dramatics while others do not
They compare the results with an instrument designed to measure conceptual understanding
21. Example # 2
Checking for bias in English anthologies by means of a content analysis
Problem: Is the content presented in the literature anthologies in our district biased in any way?If so, how?
Method:images of heroes are presented in literature anthologies .The researcher restricts herself to the texts used in the district and creates a scale adjectives which is analyzed for triangulation
22. Nature of action research
Action research is conducted by a teacher, administrator or an educational professional to solve a problem at a local level
Each of the specific methods of research may apply in research action methods but in a smaller scale
A given research question may often be investigated by any one of several methods
23. Assumptions underlying action research
Several assumptions underlie action research studies.
These are the participants that should have the authority to make decisions, want to improve their practice and are committed to continual professional development and will engage in systematic inquiry
24. Types of action research
Practical action research addresses a specific local problem
Participatory action research while also focused on a specific local problem attempts to empower participants or bring about social change
25. Parts of action researcjh
Purpose/justification
Definitions
Prior research
Hypotheses
Sample
Instrumentation
Procedures/internal validity
Data analysis
Results/discussion/interpretation