Action Research Topic Identification and Research Planning

Prepared by: Lisa Yamagata-Lynch

1. Is there an area regarding your teaching/work that you want to improve?

Before you start an action research project you have to identify an area in your teaching/work that
you want to improve. In the space below, please list the areas you would like to improve.

2. Is there a specific topic from the above list that you want to work on right now?
Often teachers/corporate workers who engage in action research try to accomplish too much at
once. It is important that you narrow the focus of your topic. Look at the above list and begin
prioritizing the topics. Then identify a topic you would like to work. In the space below, please list
the specific topic you want to work on.

3. What is your research question?

It is important to identify what exactly you are investigating in your action research. In order to
stay focused on your topic you need to identify the question you want answered through your
action research activities. In the space below, please list what is it that you want answered to
improve your teaching/work, interactions with students/clients, or administrators/boss?

4. Do you think that your research question addresses the issue(s) you raised as areas that you
would like to improve in your teaching right now?
It is always a good idea to double check if your research question in fact addresses the issue(s)
you raised as areas you want to improve right now. Please examine your research question and
areas of improvement. If they are complementary move to 5, if not, change your research
question so that it is complementary to the issue(s) you raised.
5. Do you have any external source of information (i.e. journal articles, web articles, comments
from other teachers/colleagues) about your topic?
After you identify your research question you need to search for external resources that address
your topic. Often times, these external resources will give you insights on how to carry out your
research, what are the likely results you will find, and how you ought to analyze the information
you collect. In the space provided below, please list any external resources you have related to
your research question.

6. What are the actions you are going to take to implement change in your teaching/work
practice through your research?
Action research is based on the iterative cycles of implementing changes in teaching/work,
making reflections on the changes, and then make another change based on what was learned
from reflections, then reflect on the changes again, then make another…etc. In the space below,
please list what changes you are going to implement in your teaching/work. Please make sure
that these actions are going to help you find the answers related to your research question.

7. What research methodologies are you going to take to monitor the affects from the change
you implemented?
In action research, you have to keep a record of how the change you implemented in your
practice affected you, your students/clients, the school/business. Therefore you need to use data
collection methodologies such as surveys, interviews, observations, and journaling to monitor the
impact of the change. In the space below, please list the methodologies you are going to use to
monitor the affects from the change you implement.

8. How are you going to analyze your data?

After the data collection, you need to sort the information to make an educated judgment of the
findings. For numerical data you can summarize it in a graph or by identifying the average. For
qualitative data you can categorize the data to draw out major themes. In the space below,
please list how you will analyze your data for each methodology. (e.g. Interview—conduct a
thematic analysis of what the major themes are, survey—tally the common survey responses and
order them according to most frequent response to least frequent response in a graph).
9. How are you going to ensure trustworthiness of your research?
Through your data collection methodology and data analysis methodology, you have to ensure
that the findings you made from your research are trustworthy. Ensuring trustworthiness in action
research means that you feel confident that the findings you made and the claims you make from
them are valid. You can ensure trustworthiness in your research by (1) using multiple data
collection methodologies to corroborate your findings; (2) involving other teachers/colleagues in
your data collection and analysis; (3) conducting your research study over a long period of time;
and (4) corroborating your findings with published research literature.

10. What is the timeline of your research?

You have to create a realistic and manageable timeline for your action research. Divide your
research into stages that you think are accomplishable within your timeline. You can use the
example timeline as a guide while creating your own timeline.

Example Timeline
Week Stages of Action Research
1 Identify action research question
2 Find external resources that are related to
the research question
3 Create data collection instruments and
data analysis methodology and ensure for
trustworthiness
4 Implement change in teaching/work and
collect data on it
5 Analyze data and examine findings
7 Refine classroom activities and collect
another set of data
8 Analyze data, examine new findings, and
examine how to proceed with this project
Planned Action
• Examine issues in teaching/work
• Prioritize issues
• Identify a research question that
addresses the most important issue
• Examine if the research question will
provide answer to the identified issue
• Talk to other teachers/colleagues
about research question and see how
they react, and ask them if they can
think of good resources
• Find journal articles related to
research question
• Decide what data collection
methodologies will provide meaningful
information
• Create survey, interview questions,
and start journaling
• Decide how to analyze the survey
data, interview data, and journal
entries
• Evaluate trustworthy
• Implement changes and collect data
on it
• Analyze information from data
collection and determine major
findings
• Implement changes and collect data
• Analyze information from data
collection and determine major
findings
• Plan how to improve teaching/work
Your Timeline
Week Stages of Action Research Your 2 Hours Worth of Planned Action
1 •

2 •

3 •

4 •

5 •

6 •

7 •

8 •
 References
McNiff, J., & Whitehead, J. (2002). Action research: Principles and practice (2nd ed.). New
York: Routledge Falmer.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.