ABSTRACT
Novice teacher researchers often think that action research isn’t really research (perhaps because of their experience of reading quantitative research studies) unless something is “proved,” tested, or compared (with different “treatments” or “control groups”) (Johnson, 2008). However, good, useful inquiry projects, designed simply to understand what is going on in your classroom or school, are worthwhile ventures that also fall under the umbrella of research. And, there are many ways in which you can gather information to answer questions in teacherresearcher studies that are qualitative in nature. Data are “the rough materials researchers collect from the world they are studying” (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982, p. 73). Data provide evidence, enabling teacher researchers to make sense of their practice. As we shall see in Chapter 6, data support the claims and interpretations in analysis. Thus, data are the grist for the mindful attention of teacher interpretation and reflection. In Chapter 3, we mentioned different ways to collect data as you are planning your study and creating a proposal. In this chapter, we discuss these approaches in more detail.
