Week 25: Data collection

Developing a hunch:
Ministry of Education (n.d) points out “without evidence to back them up, hunches remain subjective.” The Ministry goes further, saying that well-planned data gathering can “reveal new patterns of insight, justify change and motivate colleagues, stakeholders, and school leaders into taking action.” (Ministry of Education, n.d).

Criterion 3 of Research assessment 2, as evidence of community engagement, you are required to include in your teacher inquiry plan how you plan to collect data from the relevant members of your community. You have to explain which data collection tool(s) you plan to use, such as survey forms, interview schedules, etc. and why you think these are suitable

What is the difference between ‘Data’ and ‘Evidence’?
The data that you gather can be categorised into two types: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is data that is numerical and helps answer questions like “what?” and “how many?” but is not always able to explain “why” the situation happens (Easton, 2012). Qualitative data is data that is descriptive (i.e. text rather than numbers) and often gives more detail and greater depth in answering the “why?” questions. However, as researchers are not always able to collect qualitative data from a large population, you need to be careful when making generalisations based on qualitative data (Easton, 2012). 

Examples of quantitative data include:

• Surveys: the number of responses to close-ended questions in a survey (e.g. multiple choice, Likert scale, Yes/No, True/False)
• Pre and post test: student grades or test scores
• Classroom (or other location) observations: e.g. Behaviour tally sheets
• Students’ just-in-time responses using digital technologies and posts on social media: the number of responses.

Examples of qualitative data include:

• Document analysis such as students’ essays or blogs
• Surveys: the answers you get from open-ended questions in a survey
• Focus groups and/or interviews: The responses from the interviewees
• Classroom (or other locations) observations: field notes
• Students’ just-in-time responses using digital technologies and postings on social media: the content (text-based) of the responses.

What data do you need to collect?

Once you have a clear definition about what your inquiry is actually looking at, think about the data that you need to collect. For example, if you define achievement as the mean of your class’s test results, you need to collect data from your students’ test scores. Or, if you define achievement as meaning improved skills to perform collaborative tasks, you might want to talk to students (or their teachers) about their skills, or observe the students when they work on their collaborative tasks, or look at their collaborative worksheets. These are data collection methods, which you would choose based on the data that you are interested in.

Surveys:

Survey reading