Action Research

ACTION RESEARCH

                      There are many ways to conduct research. Each of these ways is used in various professional fields, including psychology, sociology, social work, medicine, nursing, education and so on. However, the field of education often uses action research, an interactive method of collecting information that's used to explore topics of teaching, curriculum development and student behavior in the classroom.

Action research is very popular in the field of education because there is always room for improvement when it comes to teaching and educating others. Sure, there are all types of methods of teaching in the classroom, but action research works very well because the cycle offers opportunity for continued reflection. In all professional fields, the goal of action research is to improve processes. Action research is also beneficial in areas of teaching practice that need to be explored or settings in which continued improvement is the focus.

Let's take a closer look at the cycle of action research. As you can see, the process first starts with identifying a problem. Then, you must devise a plan and implement the plan. This is the part of the process where the action is taking place. After you implement the plan, you will observe how the process is working or not working. After you've had time to observe the situation, the entire process of action research is reflected upon. Perhaps the whole process will start over again. This is action research.

METHODS OF ACTION RESEARCH

There are many methods to conducting action research. Some of the methods include:

• Observing individuals or groups
• Using audio and video tape recording
• Using structured or semi-structured interviews
• Taking field notes
• Using analytic memoing
• Using or taking photography
• Distributing surveys or questionnaires

Researchers can also use more than one of the methods above to assist them in collecting rich and meaningful data.

While there are various methods to conducting action research, there are also various types of action research in the fields of education, including individual action research, collaborative action research and school-wide action research. For example:

• Individual action research involves working independently on a project, such as an elementary school teacher conducting her own, in-class research project with her students.
• Collaborative action research involves a group of teachers or researchers working together to explore a problem that might be present beyond a single classroom, perhaps at the departmental level or an entire grade level.
• School-wide action research generally focuses on issues present throughout an entire school or across the district. Teams of staff members would work together using school-wide action research. As you can see, action research can be used in many educational settings.

STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH

•                    Action research may also be called a cycle of action or cycle of inquiry, since it typically follows a predefined process that is repeated over time. A simple illustrative example:
  ¨       Identify the  problem
  ¨       Analyze the problem to define and delimit it
  ¨       Diagnose the factor causing the problem
  ¨       Formulate the action hypothesis
  ¨       Design the test of hypothesis
  ¨       Evaluate the results to determine how far the goal of action hypothesis has been realized
  1.     IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
                  It is important to identify the problem about which it is desirable to take action. The individual or the group selecting the problem should act objectively while making selection. One should know how far the working of the system would be influenced after a solution has been found.
  2.     ANALYZE THE PROBLEM TO DEFINE AND DELIMIT IT
                  After a problem has been selected, it is necessary to analyse it in its various aspects. This analysis will lead to the exact definition of the problem to be stated in limited words in terms of limited area of distribution
  3.     DIAGNOSE THE FACTOR CAUSING THE PROBLEM
                  After the problem has been defined, the action researcher makes an attempt to search for the causes of the difficulty or the reason for the existence of the problem. The relation between the stated reasons and the difficulty or problem should be well established before the action hypothesis is arrived at. Moreover, the causes should be verifiable, specific and authentic
  4.     FORMULATE THE ACTION HYPOTHESIS
                 Action hypothesis refers to a certain tentative assumption or assumptions that point to the possible solution of the problem or difficulty. Formulating a hypothesis is important in the sense that it brings clarity and definiteness to the work of action research. It also gives an idea of the procedure to be adopted for reaching the goal
  5.     DESIGN THE TEST OF HYPOTHESIS
                 After the teacher researcher has finalized the action hypothesis, he wants to test he must design the plan to test the hypothesis. The research design the plan for an action hypothesis involves the following aspects:
  v  Description of activities and procedures for getting evidence for collecting data
  v  An outline of sources tools or means to execute the design.
  v  Time required finalising the action and completing procedures.
  6.      EVALUATE THE RESULTS TO DETERMINE HOW FAR THE GOAL OF ACTION HYPOTHEIS HAS BEEN REALIZED
                If it is revealed that the results are positive, the hypothesis is accepted; otherwise one may require formulating a new hypothesis and repeating the steps. The various techniques involved in the evaluation of the action hypothesis are observation, using questionnaires, interviews, check list and rating scale.
  
  
  
  
  AN ILLUSTRATION OF ACTION RESEARCH
  The problem area
          The students of class VIII are not showing good progress in English
  Delimiting and defining the problem
          The students of class VIII permit many spelling errors in English
  Diagnosing the problem
          The possible causes of students spelling errors may be:-
  §  The pupils are very careless in written work.
  §  The teacher does not spend adequate time while checking students’ written works.
  §  The teacher does not do follow-up work, that is, he does  not bother whether the pupils  practised correct spelling as pointed out by the teacher
  Formulating the action hypothesis
           If the pupils are made to do written work in English systematically and regularly, followed by teacher’ correction and pupils’ practice of correct spelling, their errors will disappear
  
  
  Research design to test the hypothesis
  The teacher:
  ·        Will determine the amount of written work to be given
  ·        Will plan to distribute it according to the time-table
  ·        Will examine the written work in fixed time
  ·        Will seek the co-operation of his colleagues for the purpose and
  ·        Will give suggestion for improvement
  Testing the action hypothesis evidence
  Ø To examine the exercise-books of the student in order to understand how far the spelling error have been minimized
  Ø To give written tests (objective type)in spelling to find put pupils’ spelling ability
  Ø To find out this ability through spelling games
  Evaluation
              If the students commit fewer mistakes in spelling, the action hypothesis shall be accepted.
  REFERENCES
  ü https://study.com/academy/lesson/action-research-in-education-examples-methods-quiz.html
  ü I have referred the book pages which you have sent