2. Actionresearch is an approach by one ortwo individuals or
groups for the purposeof solving a problem or obtaininginformation
to inform local practice. These may have practical applications
i.e.How to decrease the incidence ofabsenteeism in class; motivate
apatheticstudents; improve the teaching ofmathematics or to
increase funding 3. Examples are: What kind of methods work best
withcertain types of students? How can teachers encourage students
tothink about important issues? How can content, teaching
strategies andlearning activities be varied to helpstudents? How
can subject matter be betterpresented to promote understanding? 4.
Teachers Counselors supervisors Administrators Political leaders 5.
Those undertaking the research must beinformed individuals capable
of identifyingproblems that need to be solved i.e.Economic experts
in talking about what to dowith OFW remittances The ones involved
must be seriouslycommitted to solving the problem andimproving
their performance The participants must engage in the
researchsystematically 6. Identify the problem Decide on
investigative procedures Determine data collection techniques
Analyze and interpret data Develop plans of action to deal
withproblems The ones undertaking the research musthave the
authority to undertake thenecessary procedures and
implementrecommendations. 7. Practical action research this is
intended toaddress a specific problem within aclassroom, school or
other communities. It can be carried out in a variety of settings
such asthe educational, school service or businesslocations The
primary purpose of practical action research isto improve practice
in the short term and to informlarger issues. This is performed by
individuals, teams or largergroups provided the focus remains clear
andspecific. The result of this research is an action plan 8.
Thistype of research involves individualswhich are called
stakeholders These individuals function as equal partners In this
type of research the subject and theresearcher find ways to bring
about socialchange and improve their lives. Stakeholders may not be
involved at thebeginning of the research but become activeearly in
the process and jointly plan the study. 9. A collaborative research
provides peoplewith the means to take systematic action inan effort
to resolve specific problems It is consensual, Democratic
Participatory Encourages people to formulate accountsand
explanations of their situation and todevelop plans to resolve
these problems 10. A trained researcher may identify theproblem and
brings it to the attention of thestakeholders. It is important that
the problem is not justof interest to the researcher but also to
thestakeholders The researcher stands alongside thestakeholders he
is not anymore anoutsider but is now an internal consultant. 11.
Informationgathering Crafting of the instruments i.e.Questionnaire
Participants may review the findings Data collection and analysis
Making the recommendation 12. # 1: Identify the research question
The research question must be clear It must be manageable
Large-scale and complex questions shouldbe better left to
professional researchers 13. Findout the best method:
experiments,surveys, causal-comparative studies,interviews,
ethnography; historical method Teachers can be active
participants(observing computer techniques bystudents) Taking down
notes Interviews and use of questionnaires Analysis of documents
14. Interview schedules, checklists, ratingscales, attitudinal
measures Triangulation finding of common data How to treat
anecdotal data- while it isimportant to collect such data it
isimportant to get substantive evidence i.e.Common denominators in
the interviews 15. After getting the general focus of
theinformation, it is important to provide aguiding procedure in
answering thequestions Get the purpose of the data Then the what,
how, who, where and whenand finally the why 16. Whenanalyzing 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 17. A formal document should be prepared and
should indicate clear direction for further work on the original
problem or concern 18. Sample -Action research almost alwaysfocuses
on a particular group or individualwhereas the sample in formal
research isnot identical Internal validity threats in action
researchis greater because of collector bias. Thesource of data is
also the researcher External validity results in externalresearch
cannot be generalized comparedto formal reserarch 19. It can be
done by an individual or a group It improves educational practice
and helpscreate better professionals Educators can develop ways to
improvetheir craft The researchers identify the
problemssystematically It can lead to the development of
research-oriented individuals It is collaborative and democratic
20. Investigating the teaching of scienceconcepts by means of
comparison-groupexperiment Problem: does using drama help
fifth-graders understanding of basic scienceconcepts? Method:
assigning some teachers to usedramatics while others do not They
compare the results with aninstrument designed to measure 21.
Checkingfor bias in English anthologiesby means of a content
analysis Problem: Is the content presented in theliterature
anthologies in our district biasedin any way? If so, how? Method:
images of heroes are presentedin literature anthologies . The
researcherrestricts herself to the texts used in thedistrict and
creates a scale adjectiveswhich is analyzed for triangulation 22.
Action research is conducted by ateacher, administrator or an
educationalprofessional to solve a problem at a locallevel Each of
the specific methods of researchmay apply in research action
methods butin a smaller scale A given research question may often
beinvestigated by any one of severalmethods 23. Several assumptions
underlie actionresearch studies. These are the participants that
shouldhave the authority to make decisions, wantto improve their
practice and arecommitted to continual professionaldevelopment and
will engage in systematicinquiry 24. Practicalaction research
addresses aspecific local problem Participatory action research
while alsofocused on a specific local problemattempts to empower
participants or bringabout social change 25. Purpose/justification
Definitions Prior research Hypotheses Sample Instrumentation
Procedures/internal validity Data analysis
Results/discussion/interpretation
