A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

1. Working individually, write a keyword or key
phrase next to each idea.
2. Looking at these keywords (‘codes’), identify 
similarities and see whether you can put ideas 
together to form categories.
3. (If possible) compare your categories with a
colleague who has done the same task.
4.  Write a summary which describes the main 
categories.
5. Think about ‘So what?’ How do your findings help
you to answer your research question(s)?
You have seen (and tried!) some of these steps with short 
responses to questions. But qualitative data can also be 
found in the form of paragraphs like the ones you can get 
when asking students to write reflective notes. The coding 
process will be the same – try it out in the next task!
Task 6.4 @
Look at the following extracts from a 5-minute reflective 
writing task about the different interaction patterns used 
by the teacher in a class. The question was: ‘What do you 
think of pairwork and groupwork?’. Write as many keywords 
or key phrases as you like next to each response. After 
doing this, say what similarities and differences you see
by forming categories, and write a short paragraph 
summarizing the data and reflecting on ‘So what?’ (in 
relation to this teacher’s own puzzle - ‘Is pair work more 
beneficial than group work?’).
“Agustin is my best friend, so we
always try to be in the same group,
and make jokes. It’s lots of fun.
But for pairwork, I like studying with
the girls. They’re more serious.”
– Vicente
“Everybody copies my answers
in group work, and they ask me so many 
questions. I like to do the exercises
on my own, and then compare with
another student – I find that
very useful.” –Sofia
“When we work in pairs,
Maria teaches me the meaning
of certain words. She is like
a dictionary for me.” – Carla
“Groups are noisy and
I don’t like to work with Vicente.
He speaks English too fast.
I prefer to work alone.” – Agustin
“I like pairwork and groupwork, 
especially if I can choose who
I work with.” – Maria
Summary / Interpretation of findings: 

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