CONDUCTING ACTION RESEARCH

MRS. ELIZABETH C. AQUINO Master Teacher II Panghulo ES I

What is Action Research?

Action research is systematic inquiry done by teachers (or other individuals in an educational setting) to gather information about, and subsequently improve, the ways their particular educational setting operates, how they teach, and how well their students learn (Mills, 2000).

When do you use Action Research?

* When you have an educational problem to solve * When educators want to reflect on their own practices * When you want to address school-wide problems * When teachers want to improve their practices * When educators want to participate in a research project

Types of Action Research

1. INDIVIDUAL TEACHER RESEARCH

It usually focuses on a single issue in the classroom. The teacher may be seeking solutions to problems of classroom management, instructional strategies, use of materials, or student learning.
2. COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH It may include as few as two teachers or a group of several teachers and others interested in addressing a classroom or department issue. This issue may involve one classroom or a common problem shared by many classrooms.

Types of Action Research

3. SCHOOL-WIDE RESEARCH

It focuses on issues common to all. Teams of staff from the school work together to narrow the question, gather and analyze the data, and decide on a plan of action.
4. DISTRICT-WIDE RESEARCH It is far more complex and utilizes more resources, but the rewards can be great. Issues can be organizational, community-based, performance-based, or processes for decision-making.

Steps in Action Research

Identify the Problem Evaluate Results Gather Data

Act on Evidence

Interpret Data

Parts of Action Research

TITLE
I. Background of the Study Introduction Importance of the Study Statement of the problem Scope and Limitation Conceptual Framework II. Review of Related Literature III. Methods and Procedure Subjects Defined Research Instruments Research Design Statistical Treatment IV. Results and Discussion Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data V. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations Summary of Findings Conclusions Recommendations BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES

Experimental Designs
I. Pre-Experimental Designs A. The One-Spot Case Study consists of just one group which is exposed to a treatment and then given a posttest. B. The One Group Pretest-Posttest Design involves one group with pre- and posttest. C. The Static-Group Comparison involves two groups, one experimental, the other control, and both are posttested. II. True Experimental Designs A. The Pretest-Posttest Control Group involves two groups, both of which are pretested and posttested but only one group is given treatment. (It uses randomization) B. The Solomon Four-Group Design Two groups are pre- and posttested; two groups are posttested; two groups have treatments; and two groups do not have experimental treatments. C. The Posttest-Only Control Group Design there are two groups, one of them receiving the experimental treatment; both are posttested but are not pretested. (It uses randomization)

Experimental Designs
III. Quasi-Experimental Designs

A. The Time Series Experiment involving just one group, it is pretested four times and then the same group is posttested four times. B. Counterbalanced Designs uses only posttests since the problem cannot make use of pretests. It makes use of three classifications: groups, time and treatments. C. Non-Equivalent Control Group Design consists of two groups, the design gives pretest and posttest to each group but only one gets the treatment. (No randomization done) IV. Factorial Designs These are extensions of the True Experimental Designs. They are made Factorial by adding more groups to take care of more treatments and more variables.

Sampling Techniques
Population All members of any well-defined class of people, events or objects. Sample is a portion of a population. Sampling the process which involves taking a part of the population, making observations on this representative groups, and then generalizing the findings to the bigger population. A. Random Sampling is a method of selecting a sample size from a universe such that each member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample and all possible combinations of size have an equal chance of being selected as the sample. 1. Table of random numbers the random table contains columns of digits that have been mechanically generated, usually by a computer, to assure a random order. 2. Lottery sampling also called the fishbowl technique.

Sampling Techniques
B. Systematic Sampling is a strategy for selecting the members of a sample that allows only chance and a system to determine membership in the sample. (divide the population size by the needed sample size to determine your sampling interval) C. Stratified Sampling is a strategy for selecting samples in such a way that specific sub-groups (strata) will have a sufficient number of representatives within the sample to provide sample numbers for sub-analysis of the members of these subgroups. Ex: population 1000 desired sample 100 first stratum gender (200 males and 800 females) 200/1000 = 20% (.20 x 100 = 20) 800/1000 = 80% (.80 x 100 = 80)

Sampling Techniques
D. Cluster Sampling is a sampling in which groups, not individuals, are randomly selected. Any intact group of similar characteristics is a cluster. Ex: choosing a number of schools randomly from a list of schools (if the members of the cluster you have drawn are very large, randomization of the population of this aforesaid cluster selected should be applied.)

E.

Non-Random Sampling is also called non-probability sampling or judgment sampling because it makes use of judgment in the selection of items to be put into the subgroup. It is classified into: 1. Purposive or Deliberate Sampling sampling with a purpose 2. Quota Sampling select your desired samples in a non-random way 3. Convenience Sampling a sampling strategy based on the convenience of the researcher.

Statistical Techniques
1. Z-Test of One-Sample Mean Is used to determine if an obtained sample mean or average of scores (or values) is but a random sample from a population with a given or hypothesized or expected population mean. Ex. Administering a standardized mental ability test to a random sample of students to determine their average mental ability. 2. t-Test for Independent Sample Means A t-test for the observed difference between two sample means that are not correlated with each other. Ex. You wanted to find out if school children have higher level of reading comprehension when they are trained to visualize images or imagine pictures while reading a piece of prose.

Statistical Techniques
3. t-Test for Dependent Sample Means A more precise than t-test of independent sample means because this test is better able to detect difference. Ex: Find out if students become more politically sensitive after attending a political rally. 4. One-Way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) Is used when your research calls for comparison of the means of two or more groups. Ex: A study was conducted to determine if differences in political sensitivity can be accounted for by educational attainment. Five groups were identified and each of the group members political sensitivity was measured using a political sensitivity scale.

Statistical Techniques
5. Two-Way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) This is somewhat similar to running two separate one-way ANOVA. The separate effects of two factors is known. The two factors may not necessarily be treatment factors, both could be personological or classification factors. Ex: Ascertaining which of the treatment levels, A, B or C is least or most effective to male or female. If the effect of the treatment factor remains constant across male and female, there is no interaction effect. 6. Pearson roduct-Moment Correlation Is used if the purpose is to determine the relationship or co-variation between two variables that are usually of the interval type of data.

Ex: You wish to determine how scores in an achievement test correlate with scores in a mental ability test. Correlation may either be positive or negative.

Statistical Techniques
7. Chi-Square Test a. Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit Test Is used to determine if an observed frequency distribution on a variable differs significantly from an expected or theoretical distribution of frequencies. Ex: To determine if senior college students feel that the presence of transnational corporations in third world countries benefits the host country. (One of the more common ways is to administer Likert type of items) b. Chi-Square Test of Association Is used to determine whether or not two variables are associated (or dependent or correlated) with each other.

Ex: Is socio-economic status associated with choice of form of government? (Parliamentary, Presidential, Presidential Parliamentary Combination )

Sample Action Research