Methods in action research

Within action research a range of methods can be chosen to collect data. For example, the case of a group of students who do not respond to small group teaching, might lead to the question:

How can the quality of teaching and learning be improved in this class?

But it will be important to be more specific after looking at exactly what is going on. In Stage 1, sometimes called the 'reconnaissance' stage, the students might be interviewed or given questionnaires and the class could be observed. It would also be useful to look at literature, perhaps on approaches to small group teaching and to discuss the problem with colleagues. It might be possible, through one or more of these methods, to identify that, for example:

• Some groups are frequently 'off task'
• Some of the groups achieve much more than others
• Some students do not participate in discussion

This may lead to the question being framed as follows:

• Can I get better participation from these students?

or

• How can I provide more effective learning experiences for the students?

or, more specifically

• What strategies can I use to improve the students' learning?

In action research, the search of the literature is legitimately part of the data-gathering, or part of the action which will influence the re-statement of the question or problem. This can be in contrast to more traditional research approaches, where searching the literature tends to be carried out to help formulate questions and to summarise what other researchers have achieved to provide a background against which to place your own study.