Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Interpretation

•Geoffrey E. MillsGeoffrey E. Mills

Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 3eAction Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 3e

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458All rights reserved.zAll rights reserved.z

Data Analysis and Interpretation

After today’s activity you should be able to:– Define data analysis and data

interpretation– Identify appropriate data analysis

techniques for your action research project

– Identify appropriate data interpretation techniques for your action research project

Ongoing Analysis and Reflection

Action research provides teacher researchers with data that can be used formatively and summatively

Reflection

Is your research question still answerable and worth answering?

Are your data collection techniques catching the kind of data you wanted and filtering out the data that you don’t?

Avoid Premature Action

The action research process takes time.

Be wary of the lure of quick fix strategies and patient enough to avoid the pitfalls of basing actions on premature analysis.

The Role of Analysis

Data analysis is an attempt by the teacher researcher to summarize the data that have been collected in a dependable, accurate, reliable, and correct manner.

It is the presentation of the findings in a manner that has an air of undeniability.

The Role of Interpretation

Data interpretation is an attempt by the teacher researcher to find meaning in the data and to answer the question “So what?”

DA tries to report the outcomes or findings and DI focuses on the implications.

Data Analysis Techniques

Identifying Themes– Work inductively and look for the

themes that emerge from your data.– Are there patterns that emerge, events,

responses, key phrases?

Coding Surveys, Interviews, and Questionnaires

Coding is the process of trying to find patterns and meaning in data collected through the use of surveys, interviews and questionnaires.

Coding Guidelines

Read through all of the data and attach working labels to blocks of text.

Cut and paste blocks of text onto 3x5 cards so that you have your data in a manageable form.

Group cards with similar labels. Revisit piles to see if the label fits.

Analyzing an Interview

Another common form of qualitative data that are analyzed by action researchers are interview data, most commonly in the form of a transcript from the audio tape of the interview.

Carefully read the transcript along with your notes from the interview in order to identify the broad themes and categories that emerge from the interview.

Data Analysis Activity

Read the ESL interview transcript Analyze the interview

Asking Key Questions

Extend your understanding of the problems and context by asking questions such as:– Who is centrally involved? – Who has resources?– What major activities, events, or issues

are relevant to the problem?

Doing an Organizational Review

Focus on the following features of your school:– vision and mission– goals and objectives– structure– operation etc.– As you work through these issues you

will extend your understanding of the school.

Concept Mapping

Visualize the major influences that have affected your study.

For example, what were the perspectives of;– students?– parents?– teachers?

Concept Map Example

See Figure 6-1, p.130 here

Analyze Antecedents and Consequences

Consider mapping cause and effect relationships in order to better understand the major elements of your study.

A visual representation of the causal relationships that you believe exist (especially as it relates to what the literature suggests).

Display Findings

Think display! Consider the use of matrixes, charts,

concept maps, graphs, figures--whatever works as a practical way to encapsulate the findings of your study.

State What’s Missing

Flag for yourself (and the consumers of your research) what pieces of the puzzle you think are still missing.

Identify what questions remain for which you don’t have answers.

Be careful of moving beyond your data with unwarranted assertions.

Data Analysis Techniques

See Research in Action Checklist 6-1, p.132 here

Using Computer Software to Assist with Data Analysis

There are many computer software programs available to assist action researchers with the analysis of qualitative, narrative data.

The key word is “assist.”

Deciding Whether or Not to Use Computer Software

Are you analyzing large amounts of data (for example, more than 500 pages of fieldnotes and transcripts)?

Are you adequately trained in the use of the computer software programs?

Do you have resources to purchase a program?

Do you need to be able to capture specific quotes from a large database?

Popular Qualitative Analysis Software Packages

NVivo is designed for qualitative researchers who need to work complex data.

The Ethnograph is designed to help qualitative researchers work with text files.

HyperRESEARCH is a more advanced software package that allows qualitative researchers to work with text, graphics, audio, and video sources.

NUD*IST 6 (N6) is a powerful program for working with large amounts of data.

Data Interpretation Techniques

Be prepared to demonstrate to others that in spite of the modest scope of your research that your work has implications that are/may be socially significant.

Extend the Analysis

Extend the analysis of your study by raising questions about the study noting implications that might be drawn without actually drawing them.

This is a strategy for pointing the way rather than leading the way.

Connect Findings with Personal Experience

Action research is very personal business. As the researcher you know the study better than anybody else.

Share your interpretations based on your intimate knowledge and understandings of schools and classrooms and teaching and learning.

Seek the Advice of “Critical” Friends

If you have difficulty focusing an interpretive lens on your work, rely on your trusted colleagues to offer insights that you may have missed because of your closeness to the work.

But beware! The more opinions you seek the more you will receive!!

Contextualize Findings in the Literature

Draw connections between your findings and those you uncovered in your review of current research literature.

This also provides an opportunity for sharing what the existing knowledge base has to offer along with your own unique contribution.

Turn to Theory

Theory is “an analytical and interpretive framework that helps the researcher make sense of what’s going on in the social setting being studied.”

Theory can provide a rationale or sense of meaning to the work we do and can help us make sense of our data.

Know When to Say “When”!

Finally, if you don’t feel comfortable with offering an interpretation, don’t do it. Be satisfied with suggesting what needs to be done next and use that as a starting point for the next action research cycle.

Share Your Interpretations Wisely

Avoid being evangelical about your interpretations, connect them closely to your data and analysis, and share your newfound understandings with colleagues in an appropriate manner.

DA&I Activity

How will you analyze each data source that you have indicated in your data collection plan?

How would you distinguish between data analysis and data interpretation?

Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Interpretation

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