Research key concepts

According to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory,

"Action research is inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice. Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues. The team approach is called collaborative inquiry."

Related Action Research Web Sites

Action Learning and Action Resources (ALAR) http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/arfaq.html lists frequently asked questions about action research.

Action Research International http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/arihome.html is a refereed on-line journal of action research. It has a distinguished international editorial panel, and is sponsored by the Institute of Workplace Research Learning and Development (WoRLD) within the Graduate College of Management at Southern Cross University, and by Southern Cross University Press.

Action Research Resources http://www.uq.net.au/action_research/arhome.html contains links to resources such as conference abstracts, books and e-mail lists of people that can be contacted that support action research.

Educating as Inquiry: A Teacher/Action Research Site http://www.lupinworks.com/jn is maintained by Judith Newman, a Canadian educator and writer. This teacher/action research web site with links to other AR sites, and other web pages containing articles relating to practice as inquiry.

What is action research?: http://www.drawntoscience.org/educators/action-research/what-is-action-research.html a site that is part of an NSF grant project called Project Nexus at the University of Maryland that provides resources for teachers involved with action research.

Action research involves an intervention by a researcher to influence change in any given situation and to monitor and evaluate the results. The researcher, working with a client, identifies a particular objective, e.g. ways of improving telephone responses to ‘difficult’ clients, and explores ways this might be done. The researcher enters into the situation, e.g. by introducing new techniques, and monitors the results. This research requires active co-operation between researcher and client and a continual process of adjustment to the intervention in the light of new information and responses to it from respondents.

action research

is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the “actor” in improving and/or refining his or her actions.

is either research initiated to solve an immediate problem or a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. There are two types of action research: participatory action research and practical action research. 

Action research involves actively participating in a change situation, often via an existing organization, whilst simultaneously conducting research. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new course of action to help their community improve its work practices.

A case study offers an opportunity to study a particular subject, e.g. one organisation, in depth, or a group of people, and usually involves gathering and analysing information; information that may be both qualitative and quantitative. Case studies can be used to formulate theories, or be:

1. Descriptive (e.g. where current practice is described in detail)

2. Illustrative (e.g. where the case studies illustrate new practices adopted by an organisation

3. Experimental (e.g. where difficulties in adopting new practices or procedures are examined)

4. Explanatory (e.g. where theories are used as a basis for understanding and explaining practices or procedures).

(Scapens, 1990)

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality. Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case: What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case? What do they already know that applies to the case? What are the issues that may be raised in discussion? How will the case and discussion be introduced? What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?) What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish? Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class? Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how? What are the opening questions? How much time is needed for students to discuss the case? What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion? How will you evaluate students?

External validity refers to how well data and theories from one setting apply to another. This question is usually asked about laboratory research: Does it apply in the everyday "real" world outside the lab? The figure at the right summarize external and internal validity and the relation between the two. The green ellipse represents internal validity, and the blue rounded rectangle around it represents external validity,

For example, a laboratory study tested people's helping behavior (Latan‚ and Darley, 1976). It showed that a participant in the experiment is more likely to help someone who appeared to be sick if the participant thinks s/he is the only other person in the lab. The more other people s/he thinks are in the lab, the less likely s/he is to help. If participants thought they were the only one, almost all went for help. If participant thought one other person was also in the lab, about 2/3 went for help. If participants thought there were three others in the lab area, only 1/3 went for help.

It turns out that a similar pattern emerges when you look at news reports of violent attacks on people.So the effect studied in this laboratory setting also appeared outside the laboratory. Thus, the laboratory setting clearly had external validity.

External validity refers to the extent that the outcome of any research study would apply to other similar situations in the real world.

History factor is something else was happening at the same time as the research study was being conducted which may be related to the outcome.

The term "hybrid course" names a model of course design that combines traditional, face-to-face class time with online and out-of-class course work. For UW Bothell specifically, we define hybrid courses as those where 25% to 50% of the traditional face-to-face class time is replaced with online or out-of-class work.