Mills Chapter 04

1. 4-1
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Action Research
Geoffrey E. Mills
Fifth Edition
© 2014, 2011, 2007, 2003, 2000
Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Guide for the Teacher Researcher

2. 4-2
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 4
Data Collection Techniques

3. 4-3
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Data Collection
Largely determined by the nature
of the problem
qualitative
quantitative
mixed method

4. 4-4
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Qualitative Data Collection
Techniques

5. 4-5
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. 4-6
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Interviews
Informal ethnographic
Structured formal
Focus group
E-mail
Questionnaire

7. 4-7
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questionnaires
Proofread carefully.
Avoid a sloppy presentation.
Avoid a lengthy questionnaire.
Do not ask unnecessary questions.
Use structured items with a variety
of possible responses.
Whenever possible, include an
“Other Comments” section.
Decide whether you want
respondents to include names.

8. 4-8
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Using and Making Records
Archival documents
attendance and retention rates
discipline referrals
standardized test scores
Journals
Maps, video and audio recordings,
photos, film
Dictation software
Other artifacts

9. 4-9
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Digital Research Tools for
the 21
st
Century
Wikis
Blogs
Skype

10. 4-10
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Quantitative
Data Collection Techniques
Teacher-made tests
Standardized tests
School-generated report cards
Attitude scales
Likert scales
Semantic differential

11. 4-11
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Online/Web-based Surveys
User-friendly online survey
providers
SurveyMonkey
Zoomerang
LimeSurvey
eSurveysPro

12. 4-12
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Triangulation
Use of multiple sources of data
“multi-instrument” approach

13. 4-13
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Triangulation Matrix

14. 4-14
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Realigning Your Focus
Other directions appear more
interesting, relevant, or
problematic
That’s fine —
Action research is intimate, open-
ended, serendipitous
Action research is done to benefit
you and the students