ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses teacher research as practice-focused inquiry. It addresses some underlying assumptions associated with teacher research and how it redefines what it means to be a teacher. It focuses on the types of data generated by teachers, considering them within the framework of qualitative and quantitative approaches. In general, educational research is a systematic investigation involving the analysis of information (data) to answer a question or contribute to our knowledge of theory and practice. Teacher research is intentional and systematic data-based inquiry designed, conducted, and implemented by teachers to address the everyday practical problems they experience. Systematic inquiry relies on teachers using methods that are appropriate to their everyday practice to generate data that cannot be captured by traditional methods of research but which produces credible and verifiable results. Quantitative research may employ observational instruments and statistical analyses to pursue the question of what teaching methods are most effective.
