Question 1

Describe the main difference between the approach of action research and typical professional practice to improvement of practice.

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Question 2

The text lists 10 differences between formal research and action research. Describe three of these differences.

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Question 3

Describe briefly the central focus of action research with a primarily (a) personal purpose, (b) professional purpose, and (c) political purpose.

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Question 4

Name the three main purposes for which action research is usually carried out, and give an example of a typical action that reflects each purpose.

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Question 5

Explain one reason that action research is often cyclical in nature.

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Question 6

Describe one strategy that an action researcher might use to increase the applicability of her action research findings to other educational settings, and how that strategy could help increase the applicability of the findings to other settings.

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Question 7

Chapter 1 of the textbook describes four types of knowledge that research contributes to education: (1) description, (2) prediction, (3) improvement, and (4) explanation. Using the examplesof action research in Chapter 18 or obtained from your own reading or experience, identify a claim that an action researcher made involving one of these types of knowledge based on having collected and analyzed data to support his findings that would otherwise have been difficult to make.

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2. Prediction: A teacher education student we know of conducted action research for her final masters paper involving efforts to predict which parents of students at her school could be counted on as volunteers in classrooms or for school activities. While parents' income, age, or number of children in school did not correlate with the number of hours the parent completed as a volunteer, three items on a checklist administered to parents at the start of the school year positively predicted parent volunteering: "I've always liked schools and being in school" "I think teachers are heroes and deserve all the help they can get from community members," and "I'm glad my child attends this school."
3. Improvement: In the action research study conducted by James Lytle, a new school superintendent (described in Chapter 18 on pp. 602-603), the author describes his efforts to involve the district's principals in shadowing students, collecting varied forms of data, and reporting and sharing their findings with other principals "as a way of deepening our shared understanding of why students behave and perform as they do." Lytle noted discernible improvements in student performance over the three-year period of his action research project, and also made it clear that his efforts to foster other administrator's participation in data collection involved actions to transform district leadership.
4.  In the action research study conducted by Ellen Agosta, Janet Graetz, and Margo Mastropieri (described in Chapter 18 on p. 610) the authors describe their study of teacher-researcher partnerships to improve the social behavior of a 6-year-old boy with autism. The intervention utilized was tested through single-case experimental research and was found to be successful in reducing instances of the child's screaming and increasing instances of his sitting quietly during group class activities.

Question 8

Summarize three suggestions for keeping an action research journal as a basis for reflection.

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Question 9

Describe one key component of the action research cycle that is rarely emphasized in reports of formal research.

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Question 10

Describe the six steps of action research in Glanz's model.

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Question 11

(a) Describe a final step of action research that is not included in Glanz's model but is of great importance to foster the impact and growth of action research.

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Question 12

Describe one form in which action research might be reported.

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Question 13

Match each of the following criteria for determining the validity of action research with the example of the evidence that best demonstrates that validity criterion.
-Catalytic validity

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Catalytic validity refers to the extent to which the research process reorients, focuses, and energizes participants toward knowing reality in order to transform it. This is best demonstrated by participants being energized and open to transforming their view of reality in relation to practice.

Question 14

Match each of the following criteria for determining the validity of action research with the example of the evidence that best demonstrates that validity criterion.
-Process validity

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Process validity is demonstrated by ensuring that the methods and processes used throughout the research are adequate to confirm the findings, which is what option B describes.

Question 15

Match each of the following criteria for determining the validity of action research with the example of the evidence that best demonstrates that validity criterion.
-Outcome validity

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Outcome validity is demonstrated when actions taken as part of the research lead to a resolution of the problem or the completion of a research cycle that results in action, which is what option A describes.

Question 16

Match each of the following criteria for determining the validity of action research with the example of the evidence that best demonstrates that validity criterion.
-Democratic validity

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Democratic validity is demonstrated when all stakeholders or parties with an interest in the problem being investigated are actively participating in the action research process.

Question 17

Match each of the following criteria for determining the validity of action research with the example of the evidence that best demonstrates that validity criterion.
-Dialogic validity

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Dialogic validity involves sharing findings and interpretations with peers to consider alternative explanations, ensuring the research is open to scrutiny and discussion.

Question 18

Explain the meaning of and give an example of (a) espoused theory and (b) theory-in-action; and (c) explain the relevance of these theories to practitioners' attempts to improve their practice.

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Question 19

Name one of the ways in which practitioners can use action research to reduce the discrepancy between their espoused theories and their theories-in-action.

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Question 20

Describe the approach that Zeni recommends for action researchers to build a "covenant of trust"to address the ethnical issues that may arise in such research.

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Quiz 18: Action Research