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Action research vs. Traditional research
Action Research
Action research is a systematic inquiry conducted by researcher(include teacher, administrators, counselors or others) to gathering information to solve the problem in particular field of study. It's a cyclical process of planning, acting ,developing and reflecting and aim to investigate a self-selected issue in your own classroom to effect positive change in teaching and learning.(Mertler,2016) Compared to traditional research, action research allows educators to implement their observation in the classroom that could affect the student's learning immediately and efficiently. Action research is useful in solving an immediate, specific problem, like classroom problems.
In Mertler's book (2016), the four stages of action research can divided into 9 steps as below:
1.planning stage
Identifying and limiting the topic; Gathering information; Reviewing related literature; Developing a research plan.
2.Acting stage
Collecting data; Analyzing data.
3.Developing stage
Developing an action plan.
4.Reflecting stage
Sharing and communicating results; Reflecting on the process.
Traditional Research
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Traditional Educational Research is a systematic, disciplined inquiry that can be used as an application of the scientific method that addressed educational problems and questions (Mcmillan, 2016)
The quantitative data analysis of traditional research focuses on comparing statistically significance and the result may be generalized to other settings. Traditional research is aim to draw a conclusions base on previous research while action research is focused on improving practical problem in various setting.
Qualitative research vs. Quantitative research
Quantitative research is a deductive process by using descriptive(central tendency, dispersion and relationship) and inferential(eg.independent-measures t test) statistics. It's conducted when a researcher is trying to quantify a problem, or address the "what" or "how many" aspects of a research question.It is data that can either be counted or compared on a numeric scale.
Qualitative research is conducted by collecting data through observation, interviews, journal or by obtain existing documents or records. It's a inductive analysis by coding narrative data and reflect throughout the whole process in order to gain a better understanding of your data.(Mertler, 2016)
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Data Collection
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Quantitative data collection method which is data can be readily quantified and generated into numerical form, which will then be converted and processed into useful information mathematically. Even though both quantitative and qualitative can use survey and interview as the data collection method. the quantitative survey poses a close-ended question with the option provided and the interview is more structured than when gathering qualitative data.
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Qualitative data collection method is exploratory in nature and mainly concerned at gaining insight and understand the underlying reasons and motivations. This kind of data collection method is more time-consuming and expensive to conduct. The interview may be informal or unstructured with open-ended questions.
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Data Analysis
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Quantitative data analysis may include the calculation of frequencies of variables and differences between variables. It is usually associated with finding evidence to either support or reject hypotheses you have formulated at the earlier stages of your research process. Research can choose either descriptive(frequency, central tendency, percentage, range, standard deviation), or inferential (ANOVA or t-test)statistic to conduct the quantitative data analysis.
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Qualitative data analysis refers to the processes and procedures that are used to analyze the data and provide some level or explanation, understanding, or interpretation. Researcher normally use coding scheme to categorized the data and start to analyze by identifying themes or patterns that may consist of ideas, concepts, behaviors, interactions. It's an inductive process and aim to study in depth and detail.
References
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Mertler, C.A. (2016). Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators (5th ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
McMillan, J. H. (2016). Fundamentals of educational research (7th ed.).
Boston, MA: Pearson.