1. Planning for action research
Chapter 3
Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators (4/e)
Craig A. Mertler SAGE Publications, 2014

2. Planning for Action Research
Initial planning for action research includes:
Identifying and limiting a topic
Gathering information related to the topic
Reviewing related literature
Early stages are crucial in any research project
Lays the “groundwork” for all that follows

3. Identifying the Topic for Research
Nothing shapes the remainder of a study as much as specifying the topic or problem
Problems with being too broad or vague, or being too narrow
Possible topic areas:
A teaching method or instructional materials
Classroom management
Identifying a problem
Examining an area of interest

4. Preliminary Considerations
Once a topic has been identified, it should be evaluated against several practical considerations:
Personal interest in the topic
Importance of the topic
Time requirements for conducting the study
Anticipated difficulty of the study
Potential monetary costs
Issues related to ethics in conducting research

5. Problem identification template
5 Why Process

6. Gathering Preliminary Information
Begin by talking with other teachers, administrators, counselors, etc. in your building or district
Assess their perceptions of your ideas for action research
Also, critical to examine your beliefs, knowledge, and context for your ideas
Process known as reconnaissance
Taking time to reflect on your beliefs and to gain a better understanding of the nature and context of your research problem

7. Gathering Preliminary Information
Engaging in reconnaissance can take three forms:
Self-reflection—examination of:
Educational theories that affect your instructional practice
Values you hold about education
Historical context of your school and your teaching
Description—complete description of what you want to change or improve
Focus on who, what, where, when, and how of the problem
Explanation—based on your description above
Explain why this problem occurs
Development of a hypothesis typically follows

8. Reviewing Related Literature
Literature review—examination of research articles, documents, books, etc. related to your topic; used to:
Identify a topic
Narrow the focus of a topic
Gather information related to research designs
Locate examples of data collection and analysis techniques
Can connect your project to what others have done before you

9. Reviewing Related Literature
Things you should be aware of:
Empirical research articles versus opinion pieces
Objectivity of related literature
Timeliness of the literature you locate
Primary versus secondary sources (and problems associated with the difference)
Variety of methods of locating related literature
Primary sources
Search specialized indexes or databases
ERIC *
Google Scholar *
ProQuest
Search engines

10. Reviewing Related Literature
ERIC—Educational Resources Information Center
More than 1.1 million citations; more than 107,000 full-text articles
Searching ERIC…

11. Reviewing Related Literature
Google Scholar
Explore related works, citations, authors, and publications
Many search options;
search “by author”

12. Writing a Literature Review
No easy, prescriptive, step-by-step process
Every body of literature is different
Suggestions:
Remember the purpose—to convey the historical context of the topic, any associated trends, connection between theory and practice
Briefly summarize each study, reflecting its relevance to your topic (emphasizing the findings)
Develop an outline using subheadings that focus the review
Include an introduction and a summary

13. Writing a Literature Review
Suggestions:
Organization of sub-topics within a literature review:

14. Literature Review template
Planning Your Action Research Literature Review

15. Action research checklist 3
Action Research Checklist 3: Planning for Action Research ☐ Identify several possible topics for action research and evaluate them for viability as action research projects against the various preliminary considerations. ☐ Using one of your identified topics, engage in reconnaissance to gain insight into your action research topic. ☐ Using ERIC, Google Scholar, or other databases, find several sources of published literature related to your topic; identify each as either a primary or secondary source. ☐ Develop an outline for summarizing the literature related to your topic. ☐ Determine if you need to add more resources to your review of literature.