A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

 Exploratory research
■
■
Clarifying your problem, interest or puzzle, and deciding 
on your specific questions [Chapter Four]
■
■
Collecting the data that you need to answer the 
questions [Chapter Five]
■
■
Analysing and interpreting the data to answer the 
questions and understand your situation better
[Chapter Six]
Remember that these three steps may be enough - the new 
understanding you gain can help, in many ways, on its own. 
Alternatively, you may want to take it further, into action 
research:
Action research
■
■
Planning to make a change, and then making the change 
[Chapter Seven]
■
■
Observing what happens, evaluating the change, and 
reflecting on what you want to do next [Chapter Eight]
Exploration
The exploratory research question (EQ): 
What is the current situation?
Action
The action research question (AQ): 
What are the effects of the change(s)
that I attempt?

---

 
What is Exploratory Action Research? | 
27
Summary and follow-up
In this chapter we’ve looked at the value of exploring, and 
noted that teachers’ perceptions of situations don’t always 
match realities, especially when they’re immersed in the 
day-to-day challenges of teaching students. With Andrea’s 
story, we’ve noticed how the actions she took were only 
possible after she’d explored and understood the situation 
she was facing. We have identified seven steps in the 
Exploratory Action Research process, three for exploration 
and four for action, and we’ve also looked forward to the 
remaining chapters of this book.
Follow-up
We would like to invite you to look back at Lorena’s story 
from Chapter Two but in greater detail this time, via the 
following link: 
http://bit.ly/LorenaMunoz
Here she describes her complete Exploratory Action 
Research project. Complete the table below with notes 
about what she does in each step. The first step has been 
provided as an example.