A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

1. a focus group discussion with four or five students
2. a short questionnaire for everyone in the class
3. five minutes of reflective writing for everyone in the 
class, using the following question: What do you think 
about homework?
What order would you do these in, and why?
Note: Check our answers in the answer key.
Task 5.6 @
In the previous chapter, you read Teresa’s story about her students’ lack of communication in class, particularly
in speaking. Try to remember the kinds of data she gathered to answer her questions. You can quickly re-read
her story if you don’t remember!
Teacher
Research question
Kind(s) of data
Teresa
a.1. Why is it that my students do not speak
in class?
a.2. Do my students like to speak in English?
a.3. What opportunities do they have to speak
in class?
Observation 
by colleague
Video 
recording
Questionnaire
‘Pairs are best’

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How can I explore? | 
50
8. Lessons pla
ns and material
s
9. Lesson recor
dings
10. A critical fri
end’s notes
about your less
on
11. Pictures of y
our class
12. Students’ wo
rk / students’
performance on
tasks
(written or recor
ded)
What data will you collect?
Now it’s your turn! Remind yourself of the exploratory research questions you ended up with at the end of Chapter Four. 
What kinds of data are you going to try to get to answer each one? Below is our list (from 1. to 12.) of the different kinds
of data you could consider accessing, matched against whether they are good for exploring your own perceptions,
others’ perceptions or behaviour / performance:
Task 5.8
Write down your exploratory questions in the table below and the exploration focus of each question (own perceptions, 
others’ perceptions, or behaviour). Doing this can help you identify the kind(s) of data you’ll need to collect for each 
question. Then, complete the last column of the table with a kind – or kinds – of data you could realistically access.