Unit+5+-+Action+Research+Data+Collection

=__ Unit 5 - Action Research Data Collection __=

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** Please read the overview below as well as the materials linked at the bottom of the page. After doing so, please respond to the discussion posting by clicking the tab above. Note that discussion responses are due Monday, October 3rd, by 5:00 p.m. ** =====

(Source: Mertler, C.A. (2009). //Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom//. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.)

Qualitative Qualitative data are narrative, appearing primarily as words.
 * Qualitative data are usually collected through observations, interviews, or journals or by obtaining existing documents or records.
 * Observations involve carefully and systematically watching and recording what you see and hear in a given setting.
 * Classroom observations may be structured, semistructured, or unstructured
 * Unstructured or semistructured observations allow for the flexibility to attend to other events occurring in the classroom.
 * Classrooms observations are usually recorded in the form of field notes, which may include observer’s comments.
 * Interviews are typically formal conversations between individuals.
 * Interview typically follows an interview guide, which may be structured, semistructured, or open-ended.
 * Interview can also be conducted with groups of individuals in an interview knows as a focus group.
 * Interview may also be conducted informally or via email.
 * Journals may also be kept by both teachers and students in order to provide valuable insights into the workings of classroom.
 * Existing documents and records, originally gathered for reasons other than action research, are abundantly available in schools and may be used as additional sources of information. These include classroom artifacts, such as student work.
 * It is important for teachers- researchers to establish the trustworthiness of their data. This includes the accuracy, creditability and dependability of one’s qualitative data.

Quantitative
Quantitative data are numerical and include just about anything that can be counted, tallied or rated.


 * Surveys are lists of statements or questions to which participants responds.
 * Questionnaires are one specific type of survey involving the administration of questions or statements in written form.
 * Items on survey can consist of one-ended questions or closed- response rating scales.
 * A closed response question or statement provides the respondent with a number of choices from which to select. Analysis of the resulting data involves counting the number of responses for each option.
 * Open-ended times allow for seemingly limitless number of possible responses. Analysis of these data involves categorizing responses into similar groups and then counting them.
 * Surveys and rating scales are effective at gathering data from simultaneously from numerous individuals but can sometimes be time consuming to analyze.
 * Checklists are simple form of rating scale where only a dichotomy of response options (e.g present / not present) exists.
 * Tests and other formal instruments can be used as quantitative data, provided they are supplemented with other forms of data.
 * Validity of quantitative data has to do with the extent to which the data or what they are believed to be.
 * Reliability refers to the consistency of quantitative data and is determined statistically.
 * Remember the following: A valid test is always reliable, but a reliable test is not necessary valid.

(In Mills, G.E. (2007). //Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher// (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. Adapted from Maxwell, J.A. (1992). __Understanding and validity in qualitative research__. //Harvard Educational Review//, 62 (3), pp. 279-300.) External Generalizability: Generalizability to settings that were not studied by the researcher. ||
 * Maxwell’s Criteria for Validity of Qualitative Research **
 * **CRITERIA** || **DEFINITION** ||
 * Descriptive validity || Factual accuracy ||
 * Interpretive validity || Concern for the participants perspective ||
 * Theoretical validity || The ability for the research report to explain the phenomenon that has been studied and described. ||
 * Generalizability || Internal Generalizability: Generalizability within the community that has been studied
 * Evaluative validity || Whether the researcher was able to present the data without being evaluative or judgemental. ||


 * Anderson’s Criteria for Validity of Action Research **
 * **CRITERIA** || **TEST QUESTION** ||
 * Democratic validity || Have the multiple perspectives of all of the individuals in the study been accurately represented? ||
 * Outcome validity || Did the action emerging from the study lead to the successful resolution of the problem? ||
 * Process validity || Was the study conducted in a dependable and competent manner? ||
 * Catalytic validity || Were the results of the study a catalyst for action? ||
 * Dialogic validity || Was the study reviewed by peers? ||

__**Links:**__
http://evokedevelopment.com/uploads/blog/commonData.pdf http://www.tandl.leon.k12.fl.us/programme/Action%20Research%20Data%20Collection%2006.pdf http://www.thepraxisproject.org/tools/Participatory_Action_Research_Template.pdf http://crlt.indiana.edu/cee_archive/actresearch/how/collect.html