Chapter 4: Data Collection

Techniques

Qualitative Data Techniques

Qualitative Data is descriptive data
Can be collected by the following techniques and sources :
o existing archival sources within a school, tools for capturing everyday
life, tools for questioning, conventional sources ( surveys or
questionnaires, inventive sources (portfolios), interviews, oral history,
rating scales, inventories, observation, mapping, visual recordings,
photography, or journals.

Some data is descriptive narrative and even nonwritten forms

Often data occurs naturally and is regularly collected by teachers
and administrators
3 Primary fieldwork strategies: Experiencing, Enquiring and
Examining

Experiencing Through Direct

Observation
Participant Observation: The researcher observes the activities,
people, and physical aspects of a situation and also engage in
activities that are appropriate to a given situation that provides useful
information.

*Researchers can embark on some degree but less is

more!

Active Participant Observer: Teachers are active participant

observers because we actively engage in teaching and observe the
outcomes of our teaching.
*Most common experiencing data collection technique that use.

Privileged Active Observer: This is when the researcher gets to

withdraw and stand back and watch what is happening while students
are working with other specialists or aides.
Pros:
Many teachers commented on how valuable these experiences have been
allowing them time to observe the social interactions of students and the impact
of a particular instructional strategy on those interactions.

Cons:
Requires teachers to give up valuable time dedicated to teaching, planning,
attending team meetings..etc.

Passive Observer: Taking a step back from the rigor of being on

stage as a teacher and focused on only data collection. When
teachers take on the role of passive observer, they no longer assume
the responsibilities of the teacher.
Im going to watch and
learn from what you are
doing!

Fieldnotes
What is it?
Written records of participant observers.
*You can not physically record everything that is happening during an
observational episode, nor should you try to! Only pick out what is
essential in the observation.
Maintain a running record of what is happening in a format that will be
most helpful for YOU.
ex.
8:15am

The student slowly walked over to the doc camera.

As you observe...
Even though the routines and setting will be very familiar to you, try
to look with new eyes and approach the scene as if you are an
outsider.
Look for bumps
By standing back and observing the class, teachers may catch
unexpected response to classroom management plan or lessons,
pattern or trends of student behaviors...

Enquiring: When the Researcher Asks

Another strategy for Data Collection can be done
through different types of interviews and questionnaires.
Pairing observations and interviewing provides a
valuable way to gather complementary data.

Different types of Interviews

Informal Ethnographic Interviews:

is a casual
conversation to inquire into something that has presented itself as an
opportunity to learn about their (teachers) practices. The best way to
conduct this types of interview is to use the 5 Ws and H

Structured Formal Interviews:

This is a format that

allows the teacher to ask all the participants the same type of specific

questions.
Try to use both open ended and closed ended questions. Ask if there is
anything else to add and just like in the younger grades make sure to
give them wait time!

Structural Interview continued

For these kinds of interview it is best to capture the answers as verbatim
as possible, one way to do so is to use a voice recorder. WARNING: dont
try to get away with just voice recording! also take notes and write
responses to keep the rapport between you and the interviewee.
Try to conduct the interview in a private place with no distractions. Using
empty classrooms or libraries are a good ideas.
Last but not least, Choose who you are going to interview wisley. Do not try
to interview every single teacher or every single child in the classroom.
Pick your interviewee by these 3 criteria:
1. willingness to participate in the interview
2. knowledge in your chosen area of focus
3. verbal skills.

Focus Groups
Try to collect shared understanding from
several individuals and specific people.
Important things:
Take turns
Record and Transcribe

E-Mail Interviews
Pros
Effective for busy professionals
Transcription of the interview has already
been done for you by the respondent
Cons
Ethical issues about confidentiality and
anonymity

Questionnaires
Written collection of self-report questions
answered by participants
Allows researcher to collect large
amounts of data in a relatively short
amount of time
Assuming participants can read and write
and are motivated

Questionnaires
Carefully proofread questionnaires
Avoid a sloppy presentation
Avoid a lengthy questionnaire
Do not ask unnecessary questions
Try to elicit a variety of responses
Allow for an other comments section
Allow for confidentiality
Google Forms!

Digital Research Tools for the 21st

Century: Web-based Survey Tools
There are many Web-based tools to use when conducting research
o Popular online products tailor to educational researchers needs for
the development and analysis of survey instruments
o Universities will often provide free access to survey tool software

Garbage in----garbage out

o Be conscious of the research process and ensure that the instrument
is collecting the necessary information in order to answer the
designated research questions

Examples of Online Survey Sites

Provides templates for developing

questionnaires
o

i.e. multiple choice, rating scales, etc.

able to invite others through email

analyzing data made easy

FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Motto Contains everything you need for
doing nearly every survey with grace.
Multilingual versions

Provides researchers with a free trial to create online survey

various templates to choose from
allows researcher to conduct statistical analyses of
ones results

FREE survey tool that allows researcher to

export survey data to Excel or SPSS

Using & Making Records

Consider naturally occurring educational
records and archival data sources
Archival Documents: school and student
records
o Examples: attendance rates, suspension rates,
discipline referrals, disaggregated grade level
data for state assessments, standardized test
scores, etc

Using & Making Records cont.

Journals as a valuable data source
o Student journals: insight into daily experiences,
changing thoughts, progression of learning
o Teacher journals: observation records, tool for
reflection, collection of interpretations, method to
revisit/ analyze/ evaluate experiences
Recommended!

Using & Making Records

Maps
o Classroom and school
o Monitor student movement
What impact does classroom organization have
on the students?
Video, audio, and photographs
o Introduce early
o Allows for reflection of content and student attitude
when teacher is engaged in lesson
o Caution: these techniques can be time consuming

Using & Making Records

Artifacts
o Includes any visual and written sources that help
understand the classroom
o Portfolios: a collection of sample student work
over time
authentic assessment

Quantitative Data Collection Techniques

Represent common evaluation practices in schools
and provide teachers with data that can be reduced to
numbers (89).
Experimental Quantitative research requires a control
group, an experimental group, and manipulation of
independent variables.
o This is usually just too much to ask in a classroom!
Teacher resources can still make use of the data
collection techniques to gather information about their
students!

Teacher-Made Tests
Aid teachers in monitoring and adjusting
instruction
Teachers often adapt commercial
curriculum materials
Can develop innovative curricula to address
a particular area of focus and need to
develop tests for these on their own

Standardized Tests
Intended to provide individual student achievement data
Track if students meet Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP)
Critical to our understanding of how teaching practices
affect our students

Mental Measurement Yearbook (MMY)

Published by the Buros Institute of Mental
Measurements
Provide information and reviews of published tests in
various school subjects and other areas
MMY Website

School-Generated Report Cards

Generally letter grades (A-F)
o Letters translated into numbers (0-4)
o Numbers used to calculate GPA

Readily available data source

for teachers to quantify
student achievement
Parents can set goals

Attitude Scales
Likert Scale

Semantic Differential

On a scale of SD to SA
Each response
corresponds to a point
value

On a scale of bipolar
adjectives
For both scales,
the sum of the point values
determines the scores.

Triangulation
-

Origin: concept is borrowed from navigational

and land surveying techniques; the location of
a single point in space is determined by the
conversion of measurements taken from two
other distinct points

Definition: collecting and analyzing multiple

sources of data, both qualitative and
quantitative

...the strength of educational research lies in

its triangulation, collecting information in many
ways, rather than relying solely on one. (Mills,
92)
Triangulation Matrix: a graphic organizer that
can help a researcher keep track of multiple
types of data collected.

Research
Questions

Data Source
1

1.

2.

3.

4.

Triangulation
*The desire to use multiple sources of data

Multi-instrument
approach

Example: A teacher may be shocked to see a steady decline of student

performance on statewide reading assessments. The teacher then develops
and administers a survey to students focusing on OSF of reading behaviors. It
may reveal that students are not interested in the material given by the school,
which is why they dont read after school. The teacher uses this data to conduct
interviews with students (maybe parents to) in order to better understand the
type of reading material students would be interested in reading. Therefore,
triangulation of data may include collecting qualitative and quantitative data.
This will provide more information and rich data, instead of solely relying on one
method.

Realigning Your Area of Focus

-

...the very nature of action research [is that]

it is intimate, open-ended, and often
serendipitous. (Mills, 93)

For this reason, during the data collection

phase, the area of focus tends to get clearer

It is OK to adjust your Area of Focus and

change your research!

Keep in mind: its all about you, your kids,

and figuring out whats going to work for YOU

Summary of Chapter 4
Qualitative and Quantitative Data Collection Techniques
are used to systematically investigate an area of focus
Techniques include:
-direct observation
-interviews
-questionnaires
-attitude scales
-new and existing record
-artifacts
-teacher-made and standardized tests
-school-generated report cards