ACTION RESEARCH: INTRODUCTION, OBJECTIVES, STAGES AND PROCESS
YOGENDRA CHAPAGAIN
A. Introduction
It is the most recent research study which is
developed assuming to bridge the gap between theoretical research and applied
research. Theoretical research is a kind of research carried out to contribute
to the existing theory. It aims to add some new knowledge to the existing body
of the knowledge and such type of research is mostly carried out by the experts
only. On the other hand, applied research is a kind of research which is
carried out to help in practice. It aims to solve the existing problems in real
or practical field and mostly such type of research is done by novice teachers
or students. In other words, theoretical research is carried out to generate
new knowledge, to test or verify the existing body of knowledge or theory or to
develop the new theory and principles by discovering broad generalization.
Likewise, applied research is conducted to improve the process or product by
testing the theoretical concepts in the real or actual situation or to develop
generalization about teaching and learning process, and instructional materials.
In short, applies research is carried out to solve the existing problems that
occur in the real fields. But, both researches were strongly criticized as
follows:·
Theoretical
research ignores the practical issues or problems that occur in the real field.
Let us see some definitions of action
research:Cohen, et. al (2010) define the action
research as 'the research conducted aiming at the improvement of the current affairs
through the process of identifying and solving problem in a specific context.'
It means that action research is carried out by any practitioners –teachers, students, experts to find out and solve the existing problem that is occurred in their action fields/working situations.
II). It is collaborative studyIt means that it is a joint venture of action researcher and other stakeholders. Normally in this research design, researcher can solve the problem or conclude the findings based on two types of collaborations: a) collaboration of action researcher with professional researcher for developing theoretical insight of the selected problem and selecting an appropriate methodology to conduct the research, and b) collaboration of action researcher with co-workers in two ways: 1) finalizing the problem and selecting the action through sharing the workers' ideas, and viewing the problems by sitting in the classroom of co-worker 2) sharing the researcher's works by co-workers at the end of each cycle.III). It is a practical studyAction research is often called as practical study in the sense that findings drawn by this research are applied by the same practitioner to solve the practical problem, which is existed in the real field, or to bring changes in the existing practices.
IV). It aims at bringing change The ultimate goal of the action research is to improve the current practice or solving the problem by bringing changes in the existing situation.
V). It is a cyclical processAction research is often called as cyclical research due to the two reasons: a) it is on-going process. It does not end with certain step b) various research steps can be repeated in several times until and unless the researcher gets the satisfactory result. It generally, is carried out in the following cyclical steps:· Critical reflection on existing situation
D. Process of action researchProcess of action research refers to the different steps used in this research. Different scholars have presented various steps for carrying out the action research. Based on the Nunan's (1992) views, action research can be carried out adopting the following steps:I) InitiationIt is the first step of action research in which the researcher observes the existing situation. In this stage specifically, the researcher has to notice the some pressing problems in regular practice. More clearly, this step ends with noticing several problems occurred in the real field or regular practices through critical reflection on it. For example, while teaching speaking skill, the teacher may notice several problems- inhibition, using mother tongue, uneven or low participation, few number of hours available for speaking, large classroom, and so on.II) Preliminary investigationIn this step, the researcher has to collect the baseline data or concrete data through observation and recording classroom interaction in order to find out which problem is the most serious, or faced by majority of all the students. In addition to this, it is also necessary to know which problem should be solved at first. In our example, the researcher can provide a situation to the students for speaking, and observes and/records the conversation of his students. Then, based on the data s/he can identify the problem which is the most serious and common to all the students. The problem may be 'learners are often inhibited about trying to say in a foreign language in the classroom.'III) HypothesisIn this step, the researcher has to plan his/her activity to solve the problem identified in earlier section and postulate a hypothesis. More clearly, in this step the researcher has to predict the possible way of solving the problem. In our example, the researcher's hypothesis can be 'group work will be useful to minimize the problem of inhibition on the part of students. IV) Intervention
In this step, the researcher has to introduce the new independent variable/ change variable/action. In other words, researcher's regular practice is intervened by introducing a new variable/element/action in it. While introducing the new action, the researcher should manage the regular class time in such a way that both regular practice and new action go side by side.To do this, he can divide his class time into two session i.e. 10-15 min. is given for new action and remaining other is for regular class. In short, new action is introduced for solving the problem in this stage. In our example, students are taught from existing/regular technique i.e. asking them to involve in memorizing the sentences or exponents to the limited period and in the remaining period, they are taught from a new action i.e. asking them to involve in group work.V) EvaluationIt is the fifth step of action research in which the researcher has to evaluate the change brought by the new action introduced in step IV. The researcher can use different ways i.e. observation/interview/test etc to evaluate the current performance of the students. He can evaluate the students' performance by comparing the performance before and after introducing the new action. In our example, the researcher can conduct the interview with the students or ask them to describe the picture after providing the picture. VI) DisseminationIt is the second last step of action research. It is the step of sharing the idea about the findings of the study. It means that in this research step the researcher has to provide some ideas about the problem along with its findings for making the other people aware of the local problem or minimizing the similar problem in other contexts and getting some input for further improvement.
It is the most recent research study which is
developed assuming to bridge the gap between theoretical research and applied
research. Theoretical research is a kind of research carried out to contribute
to the existing theory. It aims to add some new knowledge to the existing body
of the knowledge and such type of research is mostly carried out by the experts
only. On the other hand, applied research is a kind of research which is
carried out to help in practice. It aims to solve the existing problems in real
or practical field and mostly such type of research is done by novice teachers
or students. In other words, theoretical research is carried out to generate
new knowledge, to test or verify the existing body of knowledge or theory or to
develop the new theory and principles by discovering broad generalization.
Likewise, applied research is conducted to improve the process or product by
testing the theoretical concepts in the real or actual situation or to develop
generalization about teaching and learning process, and instructional materials.
In short, applies research is carried out to solve the existing problems that
occur in the real fields. But, both researches were strongly criticized as
follows:·
Theoretical
research ignores the practical issues or problems that occur in the real field.
Lewin
|
Johnson
|
Wallace
|
Action research
|
Teacher research
|
Professional reflection
|
It means that action research is carried out by any practitioners –teachers, students, experts to find out and solve the existing problem that is occurred in their action fields/working situations.
II). It is collaborative studyIt means that it is a joint venture of action researcher and other stakeholders. Normally in this research design, researcher can solve the problem or conclude the findings based on two types of collaborations: a) collaboration of action researcher with professional researcher for developing theoretical insight of the selected problem and selecting an appropriate methodology to conduct the research, and b) collaboration of action researcher with co-workers in two ways: 1) finalizing the problem and selecting the action through sharing the workers' ideas, and viewing the problems by sitting in the classroom of co-worker 2) sharing the researcher's works by co-workers at the end of each cycle.III). It is a practical studyAction research is often called as practical study in the sense that findings drawn by this research are applied by the same practitioner to solve the practical problem, which is existed in the real field, or to bring changes in the existing practices.
IV). It aims at bringing change The ultimate goal of the action research is to improve the current practice or solving the problem by bringing changes in the existing situation.
V). It is a cyclical processAction research is often called as cyclical research due to the two reasons: a) it is on-going process. It does not end with certain step b) various research steps can be repeated in several times until and unless the researcher gets the satisfactory result. It generally, is carried out in the following cyclical steps:· Critical reflection on existing situation
D. Process of action researchProcess of action research refers to the different steps used in this research. Different scholars have presented various steps for carrying out the action research. Based on the Nunan's (1992) views, action research can be carried out adopting the following steps:I) InitiationIt is the first step of action research in which the researcher observes the existing situation. In this stage specifically, the researcher has to notice the some pressing problems in regular practice. More clearly, this step ends with noticing several problems occurred in the real field or regular practices through critical reflection on it. For example, while teaching speaking skill, the teacher may notice several problems- inhibition, using mother tongue, uneven or low participation, few number of hours available for speaking, large classroom, and so on.II) Preliminary investigationIn this step, the researcher has to collect the baseline data or concrete data through observation and recording classroom interaction in order to find out which problem is the most serious, or faced by majority of all the students. In addition to this, it is also necessary to know which problem should be solved at first. In our example, the researcher can provide a situation to the students for speaking, and observes and/records the conversation of his students. Then, based on the data s/he can identify the problem which is the most serious and common to all the students. The problem may be 'learners are often inhibited about trying to say in a foreign language in the classroom.'III) HypothesisIn this step, the researcher has to plan his/her activity to solve the problem identified in earlier section and postulate a hypothesis. More clearly, in this step the researcher has to predict the possible way of solving the problem. In our example, the researcher's hypothesis can be 'group work will be useful to minimize the problem of inhibition on the part of students. IV) Intervention
In this step, the researcher has to introduce the new independent variable/ change variable/action. In other words, researcher's regular practice is intervened by introducing a new variable/element/action in it. While introducing the new action, the researcher should manage the regular class time in such a way that both regular practice and new action go side by side.To do this, he can divide his class time into two session i.e. 10-15 min. is given for new action and remaining other is for regular class. In short, new action is introduced for solving the problem in this stage. In our example, students are taught from existing/regular technique i.e. asking them to involve in memorizing the sentences or exponents to the limited period and in the remaining period, they are taught from a new action i.e. asking them to involve in group work.V) EvaluationIt is the fifth step of action research in which the researcher has to evaluate the change brought by the new action introduced in step IV. The researcher can use different ways i.e. observation/interview/test etc to evaluate the current performance of the students. He can evaluate the students' performance by comparing the performance before and after introducing the new action. In our example, the researcher can conduct the interview with the students or ask them to describe the picture after providing the picture. VI) DisseminationIt is the second last step of action research. It is the step of sharing the idea about the findings of the study. It means that in this research step the researcher has to provide some ideas about the problem along with its findings for making the other people aware of the local problem or minimizing the similar problem in other contexts and getting some input for further improvement.
