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DESIGNING
A QUALITATIVE
ACTION RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this section, the reader will be able to:
1 explain what qualitative research is and its three types;
2 recognize Action Research topics that require qualitative research method;
3 identify techniques for data collection in qualitative Action Research; and
4 describe how data in qualitative research are analyzed.
INTRODUCTION
Study of interventions or treatments applied to solve problems and issues in the
classroom as identified by teachers can be carried out using qualitative research
design. Questions asking how students responded to an intervention or treatment or
what effects were experienced by participants when the intervention or treatment
was implemented are suitable for exploration through qualitative Action Research.
Experiments also seek to find the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment, but
the variables chosen as evidences for improvement are numerical or quantitative such
as test scores and grades. Qualitative Action Research is also interested in examining
positive results as a consequence of instituting an intervention or treatment, but the
variables of interest are more descriptive and narrative in nature.
This section will focus on describing the qualitative Action Research design, the types
of questions that are appropriately addressed using it, and the methods used for data
collection and analysis.
STEPS/KEY CONCEPTS
UNDERSTANDING QUALITATIVE ACTION RESEARCH
Qualitative methods for Action Research are used when aiming to answer questions
about the ‘what’ or ‘how’ of an intervention or treatment during its institution or after
its implementation, as opposed to questions about ‘how many’ and ‘how much,’ which
are answered by experimental methods.
The following are the three types of qualitative research methods that can be used for
Action Research.
1 Case study
• This involves a deep understanding of one individual or one class through
multiple types of data sources. It can be explanatory, exploratory, or descriptive
of an individual student or an entire class after an intervention or treatment has
been applied.
• One example of a case study is that of one pupil with learning difficulties who
is given individualized instruction in order to enable him or her to reach the
minimum level of performance. The intervention is applied only to one learner;
therefore, the case study is only on him or her.
• A learning material with exercises may also be introduced to one class to
examine how students will respond to it. In this situation, the case study is on the
whole class instead of on just one student.
3 Phenomenological study
• This examines student experiences (called “lived experiences”) through their
own descriptions. The goal of this type of study is to describe the meaning that
experiences hold for each individual participant. This is suitable for topics in
which there is little knowledge (Donalek 2004).
• Any intervention or treatment developed to address a specific issue can be
tentatively applied using this type of qualitative research (similar to how a
case study or an ethnographic study might be conducted) prior to its full
implementation for groups of learners.
• Suppose you have some students in your Grade 10 class who are sometimes
absent because of their work or their domestic responsibilities. You are thinking
of giving them modules to take home when their work or responsibilities
prevent them from attending class. You may first examine which students will
benefit most from the modules. Thus, phenomenological study can be used in
“Assessing the situation” (stage 1 of the Action Research framework) prior to the
giving of modules.
SAMPLING METHOD
The following are the sampling methods commonly utilized in the conduct of
qualitative Action Research.
Some of the common methods of data collection for qualitative research are the
following:
1 Individual interview
3 Participant observation
This is the type of observation wherein it is assumed that the Action Researcher
collects the data from a classroom in which he or she “participates” as the
implementer of the intervention or treatment. By watching and listening to the
participants, the Action Researcher discovers how they feel, interact, relate, and
behave when the intervention or treatment is implemented. Observations may
be recorded using pen and paper or electronic recording device.
These refer to documents and materials that may be used as relevant data for
qualitative research. Examples of these are students’ written work and projects.
If an intervention or treatment is intended to develop the ability to communicate
or illustrate what one knows, student portfolios and material outputs of projects
may be the appropriate data sources.
5 Open-ended questionnaire
Occasionally, when both interview and observation are not possible and when
there are neither documents nor materials that can provide the required data
for a qualitative Action Research, the teacher-investigator may directly seek the
information through an open-ended questionnaire. Participants may express
their sentiments, thoughts, opinions, views, and similar reactions through
an open-ended question or set of questions that require self-constructed
responses. They may be asked to answer questions like “What are the effects of
the intervention or treatment on your study habits?”
DATA ANALYSIS
Sampling, data collection, and data analysis methods for qualitative Action Research
will be discussed in detail in the next sections of this guide covering these topics.
Percent
Themes Sample Responses Frequency Rank
(%)
1. preparation for Nakatulong ang GO para maihanda
2 20 2.5
lesson ang isip ko sa ituturo ni teacher (09)
2. clarification of
Naging malinaw ang tinuturo ng
lesson 2 20 2.5
teacher dahil sa GO (02)
Column A Column B
______ 1. focuses on the meanings of “lived” A. case study
experiences B. documents and materials
______ 2. examines one student or one class in C. ethnography
depth D. focus Group Discussion
(FGD)
______ 3. interviewing several participants at
E. interview
one time
F. participant observation
______ 4. watching own class to collect data G. phenomenological study
H. qualitative data
______ 5. conducting study by “immersing”
oneself in the participants’ natural
environment
You may check your answers against the Answer Key provided at the end of this
section.
Read the following situation then answer the questions that follow to be able to come
up with a possible qualitative Action Research.
You are the teacher assigned to an elective photography class for Grade 10 students.
Thirty (n = 30) students came for your first meeting. However, by the fourth meeting,
the class attendance has dwindled to about half (n = 17). You want to find out what
happened to the 13 students who kept on missing the class. Let us say you want
to use qualitative research design for this study. Answer the following questions
regarding the problem situation.
1 How would you go about executing the stage 1 of the Action Research
framework, “assessing the situation”?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2 What might be some of the reasons for the absence of the students?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4 What type of qualitative research will you use for this study and why?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7 What data would you collect for the study? How would you collect such data?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8 How would you analyze the data that you would collect for this study?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
9 What themes do you think would emerge from the data? Think of three to five
themes.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
REFERENCES
Donalek, J. G. 2004. “Demystifying Nursing Research: Phenomenology as a
Qualitative Research Method.” Urologic Nursing 24, no. 6: 516–517.
Hancock, Beverly, Elizabeth Ockleford, and Kate Windridge. 2009. An Introduction to
Qualitative Research. United Kingdom: The NIHR RDS for the East Midlands/The
NIHR RDS for Yorkshire and the Humber.
Patton, Michael Quinn and Michael Cochran. 2002. A Guide to Using Qualitative
Research Methodology. Paris: Médecins Sans Frontières.
Sauro, Jeff. 2015. “5 Types of Qualitative Methods.” Measuring U (website). Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://measuringu.com/qual-methods/.
Yong, Bridget and Darko Hren. (nd). “Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods”
(slide presentation). Methods in Research on Research (website). Accessed
November 14, 2018. http://miror-ejd.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2017/03/
Introduction-to-qualitative-research-methods.compressed.pdf.
NOTES/SIDEBAR
What are the things to remember about qualitative Action Research?
ANSWER KEY
PRACTICE/EXERCISE
1 G
2 A
3 D
4 F
5 C