Conversation 6 Research methods

Welcome to the next conversation. We have amended the time line and moved this forward as you need to be thinking about your choice of data collection and why you made this choice then share with others. Think about how you might defend your choice, what makes it the most appropriate method for your purpose?

Yes you job here is to make sure we are happy with your methods. Make sure we undertand the process of data colelction and agree that it will give you good data later in the year.

I have been gathering this evidecne so far and ongoing as Ofsted visit each school:
1. list of primary schools in enfield and am also looking at haringey data too- nt yet sure if am going to do this borough yet.
2. data collection of their ofsted grade for community cohesion ( sicne sept 08) and any comments made relating to it in the reports ( with a dose of criticality as already it is apparent that HMI teams have differeing interpretations of what good looks like, for example.)
the above is to triangulate the evidence that will hopefully come back in the MAIN data, a targetted questionnaire to school leaders in charge of community cohesion in their schools.( prob sept or poss late july if they agree)
I have planned to follow these up, depending on success of survey, with some interviews dealing with a deeper qualitative look- im thinking I could use contrasting Heads if they are up for it- those whose schools have done well, and those who aspire to do better, west/east of borough/ social profile etc.
is this enough data? Any other thoughts or ideas to help?? Thanks. Lisa

sorry..put that wrong there..meant to say this:
MAIN data, a targetted questionnaire to school leaders in charge of community cohesion in their schools in July
follow up interviews, if I purseu that line, in late july/sept.
I am still struggling through the lit review due to severeley restricted time with new FT post/ finishing off old jobs for previous employers/ a house extension that was very badly timed and am hoping to have that in the bag bafore next half term so I can get the survey Q organised asap and sent out...carol's efficiecny is driving me on!!

Lisa, Community cohesion and the global dimension is an interesting area for your research, very topical. I am unclear, are you only using schools in Haringey and Enfiel that have had an OFSTED since Sept 08? This will enable you to use the OFSTED data. Are you looking at Primary/ Secondary or both? I am pleased Carol is here to inspire you! I took a look at your portfolio of work too - and your various timelines!

Hi Alison,
My proposal changed and the last version points out that I have lost the global dimension part of the research after a conversation with ian. My focus is 'A critical enquiry into school leaders understanding of Community Cohesion'-
I settled back then on primary leaders in enfield only- not secondary at all- since then have been employed by haringey so may well take the op to research this borough too depending on worklaod and response from 'base' borough. I wanted it to be very tight and focussed. I cannot cope with all the secondaries too.
Reason doing since sept 08 because it became statutory then, ofsted data available since then, as before that ofsted were not trained to monitor/inspect it (...eeerr could add a further comment here about that but will save that for my results analysis!)
hope that is clear!

Lisa, That is all very clear. You are right to keep the research focussed. Alison

Hi all
I've put this in my folder. If peple would like to comment on the quesionnaire, please feel free.
Carol

Thanks for sharing your questionnaire. Items 12 - 21, "Areas which I think are important to cover when teaching the global dimension in my school." Will you explain, at some point, why you think these areas are important? You may have already done so, in which case, sorry. I do not what an answer here. Also, what do you mean by: 21 "Using content based lessons about the world as a way of developing socially aware learners." Having just been working in a situation where we were encouraging teachers to move away from content based lessons, this sentence jumped out at me! Interesting work - just realising that you and Lisa are researching very similar fields! Alison

Hi Alison
I based those questions on a combination of Miriam Steiner's research on ITT students and the global dimension and on the 8 global dimension concepts as outlined by DFID, Oxfam et al. I purposely re wrote them so that they wouldn't be immediately recognisable but is is clear that those concepts are the key ones which have been refined by those leading the global dimension. I just haven't had time yet to include this in my methods section.

I was interested in the "contents based lessons" question as I felt that one of the things which separates out gd people from other teachers is that they are more inclined to use OSDE/critical thinking methods in the classroom. This question refers to that. It's just that I've not had time to deconstruct and justify the quesitonnaire on paper yet. It's all in the grey matter and will be in wrod form soon!
C

Hello everyone,
I'm suffering from information overload now! I'm studying the implementation of VLE, so most of my literature review has been online and fairy current. I did a survey of parental expectation and access, and was planning to follow this up with one to pupils, staff and governors, so that I could draw a picture of people's expereince of the implementation so far and design an action lan for evaluation/improvement in year 2. I've just been reading someone else's study where she used the BECTA self evaluation form for staff, pre and post implementation, to evaluate improved confidence, which is one of my areas of interest. Should I really be developing my own tools, or is effective use of a commercial tool a better idea?

Using a published tool is OK. However, care should be taken to supplement this with other methods to demonstrate the skills of developing research. ALison

Hello All,

The basis of my research methods will be:
1. The OU ‘Six Questions’: descriptions, assessment, evaluation, analysis, reflection, future action.

2. On/Off task Observation. I will give the children a record sheet. At regular intervals I will ask the children to record what they are doing. This, as I have already researched, is a good method of keeping the children focused.
3. Observation.
I will observe individuals and class as a whole. I will record their interaction during class discussion, group work and individual research. I will record their initial knowledge of the subject, the questions asked and the knowledge gained by the end of the term.
4. Questionnaire for the children
It is imperative that the children have not only enjoyed their independent learning but have also learned from it. As a group, if I ask their opinions I tend to have responses from a core group and the other tend to echo those responses. If they are given a questionnaire to take home and think about I am hoping that they will write down their own thoughts and ideas.
5. Interviews
Children - There will be 2 interviews, both informal. I will take place before half term and one at the end of the term. I will ask direct questions about how the children are finding (then later – found) the subject but I will want the children to reflect on how and what they learned.
Parents - Again this will be informal. I want to know whether the children had a positive experience during the term. I want feedback to indicate whether the independent learning was beneficial to the children.

I would appreciate feedback.

Children might well be different in your context, however, I found that they would always tell me what they thought I wanted to hear in order to please me. Any ideas how you might overcome this potential problem? A

Thanks Alison,

I too find the same so I have devised an informal questionnaire that the children can take home and complete without the pressure of me or their peers. Also I am quite confident that I can 'read between the lines' in their responses during class time. I also believe that their involvement, or lack of it will speak volumes.

Laura

Hi guys

Hope you all had a lovely break! My research methods will consist of the following:

Focus groups: there are four distinct stages that a group can as it comes together and starts to operate.
Forming: Individual behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by others - since my project is solely based on pupils that have SEN needs - I want to focus on raising their self-esteem and making them participate in group work - this will hopefully enable them to be more motivational and have more onus with the work they are going to produce.
Storming: at this stage will focus on planning their work, they will be given some guide lines but I am looking for creativity and for the pupils to add to the key points. I will be observing this process and focusing on how they react with the responsibility given.
Norming: at this stage of the process Individuals should listen to each other, appreciate and support each other, and are prepared to change pre-conceived views: they feel they're part of a cohesive, effective group. I am hoping at this stage that pupils will start to feel part of a group and will be more trusting towards their peers and this will help me
Performing: is an important stage of the cycle as group identity, loyalty and morale are all high. Everyone is equally task-orientated and people-orientated - I will be monitoring what roles pupils have taken within the groups.
Interviews: this will be informal, conversational approach - no predetermined questions are asked, in order to remain as open and adaptable as possible to the interviewee's nature and priorities; during the interview, the interviewer "goes with the flow". I will focus on asking questions about their preferred learning style, what motivates them etc.
The second type of interview I will hold is: open interview, there will be specific types of questions asked. This will relate to Background, demographics, prior knowledge to the subject/needs. Opinions/values, feelings and attitude & behaviour.
Questionnaires: aimed at teachers, SEN teachers and the pupils themselves. Before and after project comparing answers, evaluation will be the key point for the second questionnaire. Another key point will be on the teaching of the lesson, what improvements can be made? This will through via self assessment sheets and peer assessment.
Observation of other lessons, how are the pupils behaving in other lessons? This will be a report based on the differences I have noticed.

Lastly I will interview experts - this will help me gain an insight into how other professionals deal with SEN pupils, what strategies do they have in place? Have these worked? Can I adapt one and test it out?

Hi guys

Hope you all had a lovely break! My research methods will consist of the following:

Focus groups: there are four distinct stages that a group can as it comes together and starts to operate.

Forming: Individual behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by others - since my project is solely based on pupils that have SEN needs - I want to focus on raising their self-esteem and making them participate in group work - this will hopefully enable them to be more motivational and have more onus with the work they are going to produce.

Storming: at this stage will focus on planning their work, they will be given some guide lines but I am looking for creativity and for the pupils to add to the key points. I will be observing this process and focusing on how they react with the responsibility given.

Norming: at this stage of the process Individuals should listen to each other, appreciate and support each other, and are prepared to change pre-conceived views: they feel they're part of a cohesive, effective group. I am hoping at this stage that pupils will start to feel part of a group and will be more trusting towards their peers and this will help me

Performing: is an important stage of the cycle as group identity, loyalty and morale are all high. Everyone is equally task-orientated and people-orientated - I will be monitoring what roles pupils have taken within the groups.

Interviews: this will be informal, conversational approach - no predetermined questions are asked, in order to remain as open and adaptable as possible to the interviewee's nature and priorities; during the interview, the interviewer "goes with the flow". I will focus on asking questions about their preferred learning style, what motivates them etc.

The second type of interview I will hold is: open interview, there will be specific types of questions asked. This will relate to Background, demographics, prior knowledge to the subject/needs. Opinions/values, feelings and attitude & behaviour.

Questionnaires: aimed at teachers, SEN teachers and the pupils themselves. Before and after project comparing answers, evaluation will be the key point for the second questionnaire.
Another key point will be on the teaching of the lesson, what improvements can be made? This will through via self assessment sheets and peer assessment.

Observation of other lessons, how are the pupils behaving in other lessons? This will be a report based on the differences I have noticed.

Lastly I will interview experts - this will help me gain an insight into how other professionals deal with SEN pupils, what strategies do they have in place? Have these worked? Can I adapt one and test it out?

Re-posted as my previous post uploaded before I had a chance to edit it. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Hi all,
CC draft questionnaire in my folder , all comments appreciated.
Lisa

Be careful of your descriptions of methods. You have to show that you are systematic. You cannot have "conversations" which are random and likly to take you into data that is not normal!

You can have semi structured interviews (and some say unstructured ones) that are justified by "exploration" and "illumination, and non directive so that responders open up.

Your account should describe your research methods and tools clearly and precisely.

Tools are the
• interview schedule,
• the questions asked
• the questionnaire.


You need to justify the approach you are taking with reference to research literature like Cohen and Manion or Robson.


You need to avoid, for example
• Leading questions
• Unanswerable questions
• Technical or confusing terminology
• Eliciting opinions as facts
• Multiple question parts.

You must show “your working” to demonstrate you are a competent reseacher.


Go for methods that reveal rich detail and illuminate

Avoid over simplistic reliance on data such as assessment data ie scores are high therefore they have improved, therefore they ar a result of what I did.

Now if your tool is rubbish


You can score points for being self critical. Get someone else to tell you its rubbish. A colleague, another reseacher or tutor will do.

Please do not design rubbish tools simply to gain afew points this way. Its better tio get it right first time.
 

Ian- I really laughed at the rubbish tools reference-
Get someone else to tell you its rubbish. A colleague, another researcher or tutor will do.
I asked Carol and Alison if my tool was rubbish- they both had something to add which I have incorporated. I have then tested it on a colleague outside London with interesting and somewhat unexpected results, which pleases me as not what I expected so imemdiately I am challenged. I am doinga dry run tomorrow with a captive audience of enfield governors- and next week with soem UK teacehrs/Heads at a Nottingham conference at the NCSL. I intedn to use the local information and will use these 'outside' Londoners as a comparison because local schools are very diverse and this may skew the data -or not- I dont know yet. and Im aware of that. I am loving the expereince! and have been asked at work to do some stuff with this so feel like its already impacting in terms of own credibility. Im glad I listened to you Ian re sticking to the one focus- good advice.
I have also looked at community cohesion questioannaires by the Runnymede Trust and Ofsted and adapted a few of the Qs- I have amended my questioannaire at least 5 times this week! but think Im practically there.
Good luck all with yours.

Thanks Ian I find your comments very helpful- it is also good to know that it is alright to fail sometimes!! In fact isn't that one of the best ways to learn and move forward. I revised some of my questionnaires this year as a result of my research on questionnaire design, however these will need to be revised even further, as some of the statements (the negative ones mostly) using an attitide scale have been answered incorrectly. Following guidance of research design I added in a different type of statement in order to challenge the repsonses given in an attempt to avoid a common repsonse approach of ticking the same category each time. However the latest data gathering provides evidence of exactly this. I recognise this as of the downfalls of independent questionnaire reponses, as opposed to a survey/ interview approach where one can probe further and/or explain questions/ statements. This evidence also verifies the need for simplicity and clirity in design of the questionnaire in the first place which many texts refer (e.g.Blaxter, Hughes & Tight 1996).

Ian is there a Core Day tomorrow, 6th June, there appeared to be some surprise when it was mentioned at the last core day - please could you let us know?

Hi Alison
In my AESI module last year, I used this type of format as a way of analysing my research methods. I have found it very usefu. I wondered if it would be appropriate to use for my dissertation module too. I would, of course, add extensively to the analysis, incorporating the usual references (Robson, Manion et al , Brundrett et al) but I would like to do this too. Could you let me know whether it would be acceptable.
Thanks
Carol

Hi Ian,

The school I work at is currently undertaking a survey consisting of questionnaires with a company called antidote to examine the emotional aspects of the school. I am also carrying out my own designed questionnaires which focuses on my research which is to critically review the schools behaviour policy. Staff and pupils have to therefore complete two sets of questionnaires. I just hope this does not hinder the amount of returns I get back.

I have decided to use mainly questionnaires and interviews for my data collection. I have given out over 100 or so staff questionnaires to teaching and non-teaching. I have given out about 150 questionnaires to students. I have done this as randomly as possible. I selected 30 from each year group and every fifth person on the register. I feel this is fairly scientific – this is discussed further in my folder.

I had initially drafted the questionnaires for my ‘Needs analysis’ unit. I have got to a stage now and further amended the questionnaires and have placed these in the Unit 5 ‘Data collection methods’. Along with the questionnaires I am also carrying out interviews for which I have also drafted systematic questions.

I am interviewing HOY’s, HOD’s, assistant heads, and some class room teachers. Initially I was also going to carry out classroom observations – I then decided that this will not really yield much vital information towards the review of the policy – instead I will interview some class room teachers which I may use to produce some reflective writing. I need to think on this further.

I ve also created a working party of students my focus group - this comprises of the school council and others. I will seek their views on the current practice as well what improvements they wish to see to the content of the policy.

I am also interviewing a couple teachers’ assistant heads in another school with a similar intake to our school in the view to obtain any other good practice that they have within their behaviour policies.


I was initially going to also collect stats in terms of records of exclusion etc but as the MA programme will not allow me to make comparisons with the new policy in the given time frame – I have decided it will not be necessary to collect such information.

I am also creating a working party of staff who will be presented with the findings of my questionnaires and interviews – I will also give them recommendations of new proposals from my lit review. This will all be used with their proposals to draft a new policy.

The school advocate has said I can have a whole training day with the staff to work further on this review – quiet exciting but I have not yet decided how I will use the training day and what data will be collected. Any thoughts welcome?

Sorry, you have confused me! Which type of format did you use to analyse your research methods for your AESI module? Alison

Hi Alison
I used the WORD comment format and put a copy in my folder. Hope it will be acceptable along with extra critical narrative.
Carol

Hi everyone, i haven't said anything for a while but it seems there is a bit of a lull lately. I've been immersed in literary review and now turned to the methods. As my research is an evaluative study, most of my data will be qualtitative in nature.The tools used will be a semi-structured interview which will take place first. It will be followed up by a questionnaire which will be used to triangulate data collected from the interview stage. The methods used will fall into the ‘traditional’ model.
The interviews will be of three SENCOs selected for their longer experience of using the CAF and who will not be new to their post (less then 2 years). They will also be selected for having completed a relatively high number of CAFs within the borough. The interviewees will all come from the same borough as different areas have different practices and length of experience in doing the CAF. It will be recognised that the sample is very small but that the knowledge gained will have some validity when seen against other research and provide some information for further verification and exploration. It will have to be a small number as it is expected the data and information collected will be large and for it to be realistically manageable. It will give a perspective from the ‘deliverers’ point of view and is therefore at ‘grass roots’ level and will be from a purely educational perspective from the appointed lead professional; the SENCO. As I am also a SENCO it will be important that I remain as neutral as possible throughout the interview in order to avoid damage to the validity of what they have to say. The semi structured approach is where I will have clearly defined purpose but will try and achieve this by being flexible in the wording and order of the questions as suggested by Colin Robson (1993). Confidentiality will be ensured. The place of the interview will be of their choice and will last 30-40 minutes.
The interview will be taped. Questions will avoid bias and will not be leading or too complex.

The questionnaire will be largely pre-prepared but will be subject to alteration following the interviews for the purposes of verification with a larger number of respondents for some areas that may arise out of the interviews. It will be piloted with people within my own school setting involved with the CAF and their feedback will be used to make changes required to improve it. The questionnaire will be accompanied by a covering letter and a stamped addressed envelope. Attention will need to be paid to the fact that SENCOs are extremely busy and will have little time to complete them. If there is a poor response a follow up phone call may be required to ask if they might need another form and further explanation of the purpose of the research to try to help improve the use of the CAF for the SENCO in the borough. The questions will be both closed and open-ended. i would appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks for this. When you have the structure for your interviews, you might like to share them too? Also, your questionnaires although you say these will only be finalised after the interview stage. The number of interviewees is small - only 3? Have you decided how many will receive your questionnaire? Alison

Hi all- i originally intended to survey enfield heads only ( or their representatives) but cast the net wider and did haringey too, ( just as well, only 6 back from enfield so far) and as well as that, some outer borough/London people as well. I have 40 back so far, and the majority of these were governors from enfield ( half) the rest are a spread of enfield, haringey and other people. So im glad i went wider as it really is a drip drip feed back from my two local boroughs. However, Im optimistic that by the end of term I will have a greater number of returns.
Both haringey and enfield LAs are interested in the research and would like feedback- I will share the results with them of course. There are some interesting results forming so far. What is a good number of returns and does this wide spread make any difference? I can explain why in the date collection section. I would hope for at least another 10 back and more with prompting.

HI Alison,
Thanks for your comments. i have more or less designed my questionnaire now. I will send it out to all the SENCOs in the borough hopefully in about three weeks time. I will be attending a network meeting next week and with the leader's permission will explain what I am doing and warn them I will be sending the questionnaire and explain the importance of getting a response. It should be about 30 SENCOs. I don't want to give it out at the meeting as i think the answers will not be so considered and will also be too soon for the interviews. The interviews will look at the topic in more depth and being realistic, i think 1 and half hours of interview to transcribe will be quite a lot to have. I could possibly go to a fourth SENCO if you think this is advisable and maybe reduce the overall length of the planned interviews. Would this be a better idea? I'll send the questions as soon as i can. Janet

Hiya,
My tuppence worth- I would get the questioannaire out sooner rather than later. Mine are coming in at the rate or 1 or 2 a day on average.
Grab them at your network meeting- you will be surprised how cross you will feel when you had a captive audience and may miss a grand opportunity. ( for a survey- not interviews).
I sent a covering email and the questioannaire was self explanatory. Like Carol also gave them several options to reply, one being to send through internal LA mail ( 2 so far) and the rest chose email responses. I have considered how they will respond as they may associate this reserach with my LA work- which actually does have connections.
Interestingly, there hasnt been any hesitation in making a statement about perceived support of the LA, so they are clearly not afriad to express opinions, even though I work for them! I didnt actually expect that but im glad of it.
Also borrowed carols sterling advice to put a return date.
Good luck.

Hi Janet
As regards anonymity and replies to questionnaires etc, I know that we're all busy people. I gave managed to get various email lists of prospective respondents. I sent a covering letter plus attachment of questionnaire and on the questionnaire gave them several options to reply, one being to send to the school secretary who (bless her) ahd agreed to print off their completed quesstionnaires. Interestingly about 60% ahve chosen to answer in this way as opposed to sending to me direct or using an SAE (only some had this last option). I also put a "PLEASE REPLY BY " date on and gave people about 5 weeks to answer. I've had a good response so far. Have y9ou aslo thought about the face to face approach when you see people in county meetings etc. Can your AST or county advisor help with email lists? In my covering letter I explained hwo long it would take to answer adn purposely kept this down to about 5-10 minutes (I timed it!) so that they wouldn't be put off.
Hope this helps
Good luck
Carol
PS I found Robson (Real WOrld Research) very helpful for the organisation of questionnaires

I am trying to analyse what makes for good practice in 1 to 1 Dyslexia support sessions through questionnaires to Dyslexia Staff and to students who participate in Dyslexia Learning Support sessions.These questionnaires were partly based on the SWOT analysis done for Ofsted who visited in 2006. The questionnaires also include questions on 'soft' targets to find out if as a department we should be asking students about how they feel in relation to their considence, self esteem and how they view their learning style matches the way they are being taught. Findings will be discussed in Focus Group meetings with Dyslexia staff. I will also use observations. The final outcome will be compared to published authorities on good practice - how it should be seen in 1 to 1 sessions. Then the findings will be presented to the Dyslexia Team and my Line Manager hopefully 'good practice' in dyslexia sessions will be adopted by all ready for Ofsted 2010.

Very interesting to read comments so far posted. Been very busy at school as no doubt everyone else is. Will contribute soon

I want to look at the pupil tracking system we currently use in my centre. I want to critically review it as a practioner researcher and see if it consistent with what claims are made for pupil tracking in general- this will come from my literature review. Also we are introducing a new pupil tracking system in the autumn and I want to do some training for the staff (some of the elements of the training will be based on what I have found out about the current pupil tracking system)
My main methodology will therefore be to examine the current tracking system. I’ll use informal interviews with the staff teams based on the questions such as ‘why do we do tracking’ ‘what can we learn from tracking?’ this is to illicit their current understanding of the tracking process.

I’m interested in some observational data and have thought that I would look at two areas which we are tracking this year –Problem solving, reasoning & Numeracy as well as Personal social and emotional Development. I intend to get all the written observations which staff have made in the last year on these areas for the tracked children. From this I want to see if the observations have been different for the tracked cohort of children, are there for example more? Do they cover a wider spread? The fact that a child was part of a tracked group did it make any difference to how the key worker observed and assessed that child? (one of the claims for tracking is that cohorts of underachieving children can be identified and additional resources targeted towards them) to find this data I’ll need to compare with observations of non-tracked children

I’m also interested in the link between assessment- individual observations carried out by staff and how that links to tracking. Mary Jane Drummond talks about this a great deal as does Margaret Carr- the ability to observe a child and value what that child is doing rather than simply trying to tick boxes. This is the whole ‘measure what we value, not value what we measure’ notion which I am most keen to hold onto, also I believe again that this links very much to the literature as the assessments of individual children form the building blocks of tracking. Here I would like to interview staff and ask about their understanding of assessments- ‘why we assess’ etc this as with my interviews regarding ‘why we track’ will form part of my review of perceptions.

I’m also going to write up my own thoughts (journal reflections) based on my own thoughts of the current tracking process.

This will form the bulk of my research methodology-however I want to do some post introduction of new system work, look how perceptions etc have changed- the problem with this is `keeping it within the timescale and also having an end point.

Hi Eric, Have you looked at the APP materials on assessment , what do you think of them? im guessing you are familiar with it, and it is looking at the whole child as you mention.
Lisa

Hi Everyone
Please accept my apols for the late dip into this conversation...like most others its the end of term and 'headless chicken time!!'

The decision process involved with this part of the research has proved harder than I expected. Understanding how to become a good researcher and what is involed seems an endless although interesting topic... at what point is something valid or true?

Has personlised Learning(PL) Improved the Curriculum for students with Moderate Learning Difficulties(MLD)

Both subjects have proved very challenging and the problem has been where to start.....

In terms of MLD i have decided to target the teachers of the 14 pupils within the school (KS3/4) who have statements for MLD. Given the historical difficulties around the interpretation of this term at least by selecting those with Statements this will enable me to apply a selection criteria or a rationale for chooisng those students. I have decided to initially target the teachers of these pupils with a questionnaire about MLD and PL. The questionnaire has both open and closed questions. Starts off with questions to help locate MLD in terms of teaching and questions building the realtionship between MLD and abd PL are then introduced.

The questionnaire has been structured in such a way that it tries to address the following areas of research
practice and pedagogy
Usefulness of the title of MLD as a SEN Designation
MLD and teacher perceptions
MLD and Differentiation
MLD and AFL
MLD and teachign and Learning

I have taken the questionnaire to two senior teachers in the school for their opinions. A situation has arisen purely by default and time constraints whereby neither of the teachers knows who is the other teacher helping me. Interestingly they have both given me the same feedback about my questionnaire. Some small amendments and clarifications but both of them have suggested that the questions about differentiation are likely to be ineffective because 'most teachers don't do it and know they should be doing it and will answer the questions as if they are differentiating work'. They are also concerned that as differentiation is such a 'hot topic' this might put teachers on the 'defensive' and I may not get true answers to the rest of the questions.

I am still deciding whether or not to modify or remove the questions about differentiation and follow this up in teachers interviews. Any suggestions??

My original plan was to collate the answers in the questionnaire and follow this up with teacher and pupil interviews. In light of the discussions with the two teachers involved I have also decided to introduce interviews for Teaching Assistants (they are also regular classroom practioners although the interviews would have to be constructed sensitively so they do not appear to a 'spy in the camp'). I was proposing that the interviews would be informal and recorded. I also have time constraints and might have to consider dropping one of the sets of itnerviews, for example, with the students.


My main concern is the interviews with the pupils as they will have MLD. I have already completed some research in this area, power relationships, motives, 'researching 'with' rather than 'on' people with disabilities.

Why did I choose the questionnire? This seemed the most easiet way of collecting qualitative data. At first I was just going to use this method, however, i was challenged by a quote in Elliott (2001) which suggested that 'teachers opt for questionnaire because interviews and observations are personal situations and the teacher may have difficulties divorcing their role as the researchers'.

Interviews...
I then added the interviews as a way of allowing an opportunity to 'probe issues in more depth'. The interviews will be informal and unstructred which will allow room for closing probing of ideas and expressing of opinoins that could not be expressed in the questionnaire (O'Hanlon 2003).

General
A combination of methods means that I can take a more critical approach to my research and examine different points of view.

Detailed below is a small sample of the bibliography

Walshaw, Margaret. 2007. Working with Foucault in Education. London:Sage
O'Hanlon, Christine. 2003. Edcuational Inclusion as Action Research and interpretive discourse. Berkshire:Open University Press
Elliott, John. 2001. Action Research for Educational Change. Buckingham:Open University Press
Rose, Richard. 2002. Teaching as a 'research based profession': encouraging practioner research in special education. British Journal of Special Education, VOl29, no1, March, pp44-48

some really interesting comments from your research, especially Elliott, re. teacher difficulties divorcing from their role. Surely it is difficult for any researcher to be totally objective, as surely the focus of the research has been chosen due to the interest of the researcher in the first place (May 1997), therefore that is why a researcher must declare/ recognise their bias, setting the research in context.

I get a sense that some research might lose sight of the importance of generalsation. Its not like the case is important in its own right. The case is just an example which represents other cases.

so to know one bunch of peoples views is not important to a wider audience even if it is to you. Even the practice by one group of people would have little importance. Unless.........

Well unless there are some lesson learned in this case that can be applied to other similar cases (generalisation).

Take for instance cases where
a. They are all superhuman, A* professionals, well equipped and enthusiastic.
b. They are all dreadful at their job, ill equipped, and badly trained

Just describing what they are takes us little further in our quest for knowledge. It just reports the case. If there are lessons that can be learned in other cases then this should be clear.

As I have a slightly different academic year to those who teach in schools,students start leaving College at the beginning of June, I had to complete questionnaires, focus group meetings and observations before I could complete the Literature Review. Hence, I am now completing the Literature Review with a view to completing the remaining part of research methods, etc during my summer holidays. Jackie

My action research project is on a slightly different schedule to others, I feel due to my circumstances, but I am plodding on regardless! I am still doing the Literature Review and researching the methods/methodology also, whilst at the same time collecting data due to the foucus I chose of parent partnerships. However, early on I decided upon a multi- method approach in order to gain as much information as possible, not relying on one particular method in order to avoid certain bias, though in reality much of the data is being collected through questionnaries due to the nature of the focus and the wider participation I want to achieve.
I have chosen data collection through observation, questionnaires, completed independently by the parents, in addditon to some completed face to face, a case study, and one approach that demands parent & pupil participation, supported by pupil achievement data linked to an intervention package implemented. I am using this one to track the quantitative data in order to judge whether it does indeed support the attitides/ behaviours of both parties. The case study is a trial in order to attempt to gather more data, supported I hope with video evidence in an attempt to measure the impact of our Story Sack Project, but this may prove to be too small scale in its focus and perhaps the outcome limited due to the age/ stage of development of the pupil/s concerned. This is something I will review in the impact & analysis of the evidence.

Hello everyone, havent joined in the conversation in ages but I have been reading them! I have read quite a lot of information about reserach methods but because myrespondents are children I feel that I must not overload them so is this a good enough reason to justifty why I should use just one or perhaps two research methods?

will email over what I have done to give you some ideas, re Peter's suggestion.

My project is largely action research as it is a study of the development of a subject over its first year. Initially I used surveys to establish starting data and expectations from my various groups, but as the year has gone on we have been bombarded by surveys from everyone from the meals service to transport for London. Everyone is sick to death of surveys and I knew that a mid point survey to give me recordable data about how skills and attitiudes were changing would have gone largely unanswered. I have changed tack, and conducted small group or individual interviews, I can see that the final study would also be best done in this way. The problem is that it is tempting to go back to the people who have been most interesting so far and have been most willing to contribute. These people's story will form the backbone of my study as their experiences hae been different but it that acceptable? I will send a final questionnaire to all the people first surveyed, but I am not optimistic about the results! Shall I try pleading . . .?