A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

1. How long did it take her to begin noticing the effect
of the changes?
2. Which kinds of evidence were ‘quantitative’ and which 
were ‘qualitative’? 
3. What told her that the changes were effective?
Commentary
Lorena collected data before and after implementing a 
change, using the same methods. She then analysed the 
data from the different sources to evaluate whether the 
effects of her actions had been effective. 
As we know from Chapter Five, the process of trying to find 
evidence from different points of view, with different types 
of information, is called triangulation . While it is not 
necessary to engage in this for all Exploratory Action 
Research projects (sometimes one kind of evidence will be 
enough), Lorena’s case demonstrates that teacher-research 
can be quite reliable if we attempt to see things from 
several points of view. 

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What happens? | 
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8.2 A reminder of research methods
It’s clear that in the action research phase you are going to plan different new actions (or one overall new action) related
to your teaching. You will also need to plan what kind of data you require in order to answer, as objectively as possible,
the question ‘What are the effects of the change(s) that I attempt?‘, in other words ‘What happens?’
At this point, it is worth revisiting the kinds of data we came across in Chapter Five. 
Task 8.2 
Read through the following different types of data and try to remember examples of each one from the teacher-research 
stories you have already read in this book.
Task 8.3 
Think about your own Exploratory Action Research project. 
You may also want to look back at the table you completed 
for task 7.6. Answer the following questions, either by 
making notes, or discussing with a colleague: