C224-Research Foundations Modules
6-10 Questions and All Correct
Answers.
Identify the purpose of action research
(Action Research) - Answer Action research is focused on addressing and solving specific
problems that educational professionals face in their local schools and communities.
Action research sometimes uses only quantitative approaches and sometimes only qualitative
approaches; however, action research often relies on multiple or mixed methods. What makes
action research distinct is that it is always focused on producing change in workplaces and
communities.
It starts
with the goal of generating local (not national) knowledge, and it often results in changes to
established practices. It is often used to experiment and try out new strategies and practices,
with the researcher carefully measuring and observing the outcomes and consequences in his
or her workplace.
Describe the origin of action research
(Action Research) - Answer There is no perfect starting point for the origin or founding of
action research, but most action research historians consider Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) to be the
founder. This is because Lewin first coined the term action research and he practiced applied
social research during the 1930s and 1940s until his untimely death in 1947. Kurt Lewin was also
a well-known social psychologist. He is often considered the father of academic social
psychology in the United States. Lewin tried to link theory with action, and he spent his career
attempting to solve social problems. He wanted to connect national problems with local
problems, such as racism, sexism and poverty.
Know Lewin's Change Theory
(Action Research) - Answer According to his force field theory, where we are right now and
what we routinely do in our lives tends not to change very much. Why? We are in what Lewin
called a quasi-stationary equilibrium that is the result of forces for change (driving forces) and
forces against change (restraining forces) being about equal.
Quasi-stationary equilibrium- that is the result of forces for change
Driving forces
,Three phases
Unfreezing - Changing - Refreezing
(Action Research) - Answer Action researchers often conduct a force field analysis to identify
the forces that are pushing for change (such as a vision for something better than the status
quo) and the forces that are resisting change to the status quo (e.g., tradition, politics, power,
custom).
3 phases to Lewin's change theory:
1. unfreezing-identifying and removing resisting forces
2. changing-creating an imbalance of forces such that driving forces are greater relative to
resisting forces
3. refreezing-reaching a new equilibrium state
John Dewey's approach to inquiry
(Action Research) - Answer Another major influence on action research, especially in
education, was the work of John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey was an educator, a philosopher,
and a psychologist. In the late 19th century, he critiqued stimulus-response (S-R) psychology
that viewed human behavior as merely the result of stimuli and responses pairings (and
punishment and reinforcement). Instead, Dewey in 1896 was the earliest advocate for S-O-R
(Stimulus-Organism-Response) psychology. He inserted the thinking and acting organism (O)
into the observed stimulus response relationship.
Dewey also was one of the original American philosophical pragmatists who said that humans:
observe the consequences of their actions
determine what works in what situations
act in ways to produce what we value and improve our world
Transactional inquiry
(Action Research) - Answer transactional theory, we are not separate from, but rather are
part of, our environments. Our environments affect us and we affect our environments,
continuously. Dewey argued that humans are adaptive organisms, continuously trying to
improve their world.
Deweyan inquiry process:
, 1. something's wrong
2. the problem seems to be
3. maybe what i should do is..
4. doing that would mean
5. let's try this and see what happens
9 components of Action Research - Answer 1. purpose
2. research questions
3. assumptions
4. sampling methods
5. data collection methods
6. research methods
7. quality criteria
8. data analysis
9. report writing
identify the assumptions of Action Research - Answer - solving specific problems faced by
local practitioners in their schools and communities
-Action research falls on the applied end of the basic-versus-applied research continuum
-Action research follows the philosophy of pragmatism, where we are concerned about acting in
ways to solve problems and produce desired consequences. A goal of regular educational
research is to find solutions that generalize broadly; in contrast, action research is most
immediately concerned with producing a desired outcome in particular places, such as a
particular classroom or school, and generalizing is not an immediate goal.
applied research
(Action Research) - Answer falls on the applied end of the basic-versus-applied research
continuum; the primary goal is to produce knowledge. Production of knowledge that can be
actively used to produce desired outcomes in our places of activity underlies action research.
pragmatism
(Action Research) - Answer Action researchers take a pragmatic approach to obtaining
research participants for their studies.
(pragmatic-dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather
than theoretical considerations.)
6-10 Questions and All Correct
Answers.
Identify the purpose of action research
(Action Research) - Answer Action research is focused on addressing and solving specific
problems that educational professionals face in their local schools and communities.
Action research sometimes uses only quantitative approaches and sometimes only qualitative
approaches; however, action research often relies on multiple or mixed methods. What makes
action research distinct is that it is always focused on producing change in workplaces and
communities.
It starts
with the goal of generating local (not national) knowledge, and it often results in changes to
established practices. It is often used to experiment and try out new strategies and practices,
with the researcher carefully measuring and observing the outcomes and consequences in his
or her workplace.
Describe the origin of action research
(Action Research) - Answer There is no perfect starting point for the origin or founding of
action research, but most action research historians consider Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) to be the
founder. This is because Lewin first coined the term action research and he practiced applied
social research during the 1930s and 1940s until his untimely death in 1947. Kurt Lewin was also
a well-known social psychologist. He is often considered the father of academic social
psychology in the United States. Lewin tried to link theory with action, and he spent his career
attempting to solve social problems. He wanted to connect national problems with local
problems, such as racism, sexism and poverty.
Know Lewin's Change Theory
(Action Research) - Answer According to his force field theory, where we are right now and
what we routinely do in our lives tends not to change very much. Why? We are in what Lewin
called a quasi-stationary equilibrium that is the result of forces for change (driving forces) and
forces against change (restraining forces) being about equal.
Quasi-stationary equilibrium- that is the result of forces for change
Driving forces
,Three phases
Unfreezing - Changing - Refreezing
(Action Research) - Answer Action researchers often conduct a force field analysis to identify
the forces that are pushing for change (such as a vision for something better than the status
quo) and the forces that are resisting change to the status quo (e.g., tradition, politics, power,
custom).
3 phases to Lewin's change theory:
1. unfreezing-identifying and removing resisting forces
2. changing-creating an imbalance of forces such that driving forces are greater relative to
resisting forces
3. refreezing-reaching a new equilibrium state
John Dewey's approach to inquiry
(Action Research) - Answer Another major influence on action research, especially in
education, was the work of John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey was an educator, a philosopher,
and a psychologist. In the late 19th century, he critiqued stimulus-response (S-R) psychology
that viewed human behavior as merely the result of stimuli and responses pairings (and
punishment and reinforcement). Instead, Dewey in 1896 was the earliest advocate for S-O-R
(Stimulus-Organism-Response) psychology. He inserted the thinking and acting organism (O)
into the observed stimulus response relationship.
Dewey also was one of the original American philosophical pragmatists who said that humans:
observe the consequences of their actions
determine what works in what situations
act in ways to produce what we value and improve our world
Transactional inquiry
(Action Research) - Answer transactional theory, we are not separate from, but rather are
part of, our environments. Our environments affect us and we affect our environments,
continuously. Dewey argued that humans are adaptive organisms, continuously trying to
improve their world.
Deweyan inquiry process:
, 1. something's wrong
2. the problem seems to be
3. maybe what i should do is..
4. doing that would mean
5. let's try this and see what happens
9 components of Action Research - Answer 1. purpose
2. research questions
3. assumptions
4. sampling methods
5. data collection methods
6. research methods
7. quality criteria
8. data analysis
9. report writing
identify the assumptions of Action Research - Answer - solving specific problems faced by
local practitioners in their schools and communities
-Action research falls on the applied end of the basic-versus-applied research continuum
-Action research follows the philosophy of pragmatism, where we are concerned about acting in
ways to solve problems and produce desired consequences. A goal of regular educational
research is to find solutions that generalize broadly; in contrast, action research is most
immediately concerned with producing a desired outcome in particular places, such as a
particular classroom or school, and generalizing is not an immediate goal.
applied research
(Action Research) - Answer falls on the applied end of the basic-versus-applied research
continuum; the primary goal is to produce knowledge. Production of knowledge that can be
actively used to produce desired outcomes in our places of activity underlies action research.
pragmatism
(Action Research) - Answer Action researchers take a pragmatic approach to obtaining
research participants for their studies.
(pragmatic-dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather
than theoretical considerations.)
