GRDG690Action Research: LiteracyWeek 3: Methods, Data Collection & Ethics

Gloria E. Jacobs, Ph.D.

Agenda•Ethics•Methods & Data Collection•Writing the methods section

▫Context of the study▫Participants ▫Data collection methods▫Ensuring trustworthiness

Ethics• Respect for Persons

▫ Informed consent/ parental permission/ child assent ▫ Trust▫ Anonymity & confidentiality

• Beneficence▫ Do no harm▫ Never deceive your participants

• Justice ▫ The research will help the people with whom you are

working• Your action research ethics should reflect the principles

of your teaching• Data should reflect what really happened

Permissions – Keep it Simple•Parental permissions from any students you’ll

be working with. •Consent from any adults you’ll be

interviewing or observing•Assent from children you’re working with.

Verbal assent is ok with young children. A written assent form is good for older children

•Sample consent/permission/assent letters are online.

Online Ethics Course•The main thing to keep in mind is the

rights of the participants supercede your needs as a teacher researcher.

The right to know/no

•Questions?

Methods: IssuesQuantitative/Experimental Qualitative/Action Research• Triangulation• Validity• Reliability• Generalizability

• Bias

• Guba’s approach p. 103-105▫ Triangulation &

Dependability p. 104▫ Credibility p. 103▫ Transferability p. 104▫ Confirmability p. 105▫ Transparency (being

candid)

Wolcott’s Approach (pp. 110-112)•Talk little/listen a lot•Record observations accurately•Start writing early•Show, don’t tell•Report fully (do not be afraid of that

which doesn’t fit)•Be candid – what biases do you have?•Seek feedback – use your critical

colleagues

Methods: Data Collection p. 89Experiencing

• Observation▫ Participant

Observation Active Privileged Passive

• Field Notes pp. 76-78▫ How to observe▫ What to take

notes on▫ Anecdotal

record forms p. 80

Examination• Journals (teacher

& student)• Maps• Video recordings• Audio recordings• Photos• Artifacts (district

data, student work, test results, reading inventories)

Enquiring• Interviewing

▫ Informal▫ Formal▫ Email

• Focus Groups• Questionnaires

• Take notes during interviews and focus group meetings even if recording

Organizing your data•Date / Time•Location•Participant names & demographic

information•Code names

Planning Your Research• Identify Data Collection Techniques (p. 89,

Box 4-4)▫How will you be experiencing, enquiring, and

examining?• Identify Data Sources: (p. 97, Figure 4-4)

▫Strive for multiple forms of data for each subquestion

▫Identify the actual documents you’ll be collecting

Planning Your Research II•How will you ensure the validity of your

research? (Mills, Box 5-1, p. 105).

Sample Action Research Cycle1. Based on your reading, select a method you would

like to learn more about.2. Try it in your teaching3. Observe, keep field notes, collect student work,

interview student(s) about their experience4. Analyze the data – How did the method impact

student learning?5. Adjust the method based on what you learned from

the analysis6. Go back to step 27. Do this cycle at least three times8. Analyze all the data and determine the outcomes

Sample Passive Observer Action Research Cycle1. Identify a teacher or teachers who use the method

you are interested in (based on your reading)2. Observe them use the method and take field notes3. Collect samples of student work4. Interview the teacher(s) about what they did5. Interview the student(s) about their learning6. Analyze the data to see what emerges.7. Share what you learned with the teacher and get

their feedback8. Repeat with the same method or different methods

as appropriate for your question.

Contents of Methods Section• Write in future tense – you will change it after you are done

to reflect what you really did• Context

▫ Describe the school or location• Participants

▫ Describe each participant (age, race/ethnicity, gender, years of teaching, reading level, etc.)

• Your role (as teacher, observer, etc.)• Method

▫ What you are going to do (did)▫ Credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability (see

Mills)▫ Be specific and concrete.

• Data Collection▫ What tools did you use to collect data (active observation, field

notes, interviews (how many), questionnaires (how many), artifacts, video recording etc.

▫ If you are using interviews and questionnaires, include copies of the questions in your appendices. DO NOT INCLUDE RAW DATA!

Next Steps• Draft of methods section due on 2/23 (1-1

meeting week)• Begin data collection as soon as you have the

consents/permissions• Next Class meeting 3/16 – Data Analysis

▫Read Mills chapter 6 & 8▫All data must be collected by this time.▫Bring whatever data you have to class for

workshopping▫Revised intro, theoretical framework, literature

review, methods combined into one document due on 3/16. You can send it in earlier if you wish.