Solving Problems Through Action Research

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Solving Problems Through Action
Research

• R. Jack Hansen
• (OLLI at Furman)
• E. Michael Brady
• (OLLI National Resource Center
• University of Southern Maine)

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• What is Action Research?

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Basic Characteristics (and Strengths) of Action
Research

• Practical and directly relevant
• Focus is on solving problems and/or advancing
  practice
• Empirical
• Participatory
• Welcomes mixed methods
• Is often iterative (reflection-action cycle)

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Limitations of Action Research

• While still systematic it is often less
  rigorous than other types of research
• Can sometimes get messy (product of democratic
  and participative processes)
• Findings are not generalizable to other contexts
  and therefore may not be deemed worthy of
  publication

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Survey Question Age Range
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Survey QuestionCommute Time
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Survey QuestionSummer Term
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Course Evaluation Survey

• How do you rate the course Introduction to
  Shakespeare?
• 1 Poor
• 2 Fair
• 3 Good
• 4 Very Good
• 5 Excellent

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Course Survey Results

• Typical average of all responses
• But, same result can have very different meanings
• One possibility every respondent rates the
  course as a 3
• Other extreme half rate it as 1 and other half
  as 5
• Same average, very different interpretations

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Characterizing the AverageSample Standard
Deviation (SD)STDEV in Excel Formula Builder

• SDSquare RootSumX-M2/(N-1)
• for all values of X in the survey
• X is the value for a given response
• M is the average of all responses
• N is the number of responses
• SD for all responses of 3 0
• SD for half responses 1 and other half 5 is 2.19
• Bottom line look more fully at results if SD is
  large

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Standard Deviation Using Excel
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Identifying Relationshipsin Survey Results

• Action research often benefits from understanding
  how two quantities are related, e.g.,
• Relationship between number of courses taken and
  distance driven
• Relationship between number of courses taken and
  years since retirement
• Relationship between number of courses taken and
  price per course
• Requires cross correlation coefficient to
  quantify

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Notional Example

• Question 1 How many courses did you take last
  term?
• Question 2 How far do you drive one way to get
  to class? Respond 1 if 0-5 miles, 2 if 5-10
  miles, 3 if 10-15 miles, 4 if over 15 miles
• Question 3 How long have you been retired?
  Respond 1 for 2 years or less, 2 if 3-5 years, 3
  if 6-10 years, and 4 if over 10 years.

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Table of Responses
Courses Distance Yrs. Retired
Student 1 1 4 1
Student 2 2 4 4
Student 3 2 3 3
Student 4 3 2 2
Student 5 4 1 1
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Correlation Coefficient

• Two common definitions in use (R and R2)
• _________
• R (SXY)/v(SXX)(SYY)
• SXY SUM(X-XAVE)(Y-YAVE)
• SXXSUM(X-XAVE)2
• SYYSUM(Y-YAVE)2

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Correlation Coefficient R Possibilities
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Back to Our Example

• Correlation Coefficient, R, between courses taken
  and distance driven is -.942 (very high and
  negative)
• Correlation Coefficient between number of courses
  taken and years retired is -.235 (very low)
• So what?

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EXCEL CALCULATION OFCROSS CORELATION
COEFFICIENT(PEARSON PRODUCT MOMENT)
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Focus Groups

• Usually involve 6 10 people
• Often multiple groups are used
• This is a data collection procedure
• While not exclusively the data are primarily
  qualitative (open-ended questions)
• The goal is a focused discussion (not a
  free-for-all or anything goes conversation)

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Some Key Issues

• Recruitment
• Moderator (facilitator)
• The Questioning Route
• Recording data
• Analyzing data
• Communicating results

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Example of Questioning Route Study of Peer
Teaching in LLIs

• Round Robin Introductions (including brief
  statement of background which course(s) do you
  teach?)
• What is your preferred method of teaching?
• When you volunteered to teach at OLLI what did
  you expect? How did your expectation match up
  with your actual experience?

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Questioning Route (cont.)

• How is teaching older learners similar to and
  different from other teaching experiences you may
  have had?
• What are the greatest challenges you face
  teaching your peers?
• In what ways might the university provide greater
  support for OLLI faculty?
• Is there anything else youd like to share about
  your experiences teaching older learners?

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Interviews
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Intensive Interview Purpose

• In-depth exploration of a particular topic,
  experience, or feeling
• Concentration on intense interactions with a
  smaller number of people than survey
• Allows identification of key themes or attitudes,
  but not quantitative assessments (e.g., a certain
  percentage of people hold a certain attitude or
  have had certain experience)

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Intensive InterviewCharacteristics

• Focus on thoughts or feelings at depth seldom
  experienced in everyday conversation
• Few open-ended questions
• Explore subjects statements in depth (thats
  interesting, tell me more)
• Return to earlier statements or ask for
  clarification if helpful to the participant in
  expressing feelings, events, views

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Intensive InterviewChallenges

• Formulating helpful questions
• Selecting participants
• Deciding when enough interviews have been
  conducted
• Identifying from all interviews together what the
  key themes and subthemes are

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Intensive Interview Questions(Hansen and Haas)

• Retirement, e.g., how did you feel as the time
  approached?
• Retirement and relationships, e.g., how has
  retirement impacted family relationships?
• Retirement and feelings of self worth, e.g., now
  that you are retired what are some things that
  make you feel good about yourself?
• Retirement and spirituality, e.g., what are some
  spiritual or emotional challenges you face now?

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Intensive InterviewCategories and Subcategories

• Impact of retirement on friendships (a theme we
  thought might be important and turned out to be
  so)
• Subthemes
• Dynamics altering friendship network drives need
  for making new friends
• Challenges of relocation
• Value of long-term friendships
• Challenges for individuals in certain vocations
  (e.g., clergy)

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Intensive InterviewCategories and Subcategories

• Giving care to a loved one in retirement (theme
  that emerged in response to question of how time
  is being spent)
• Subthemes
• Aging parent
• Spouse
• Sibling
• Adult child
• Young grandchild or grandchildren

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Potential Research Topics

• Popularity of various types of course offerings
  and other programs kinds of courses or programs
  that are growing in popularity among OLLI
  participants.
• Emerging retirement trends How retirees of the
  baby-boomer generation might approach this phase
  of life differently than their predecessors
• Personal dimensions of retirement impact of
  retirement on such personal matters as family
  relationships, friendships, personal growth, and
  feelings of self worth

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Potential Research Topics (2)

• Variability in retirement attitudes among
  different ethnic and other groups of retirees and
  pre-retires very little understood about this
  topic
• The potential for electronic course delivery and
  community building among retirees may well be of
  growing importance as OLLI participants become
  more computer literate

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References

• Standard deviation and correlation
• Wikipedia
• Wolfram MathWorld
• Intensive interviews
• Constructing Grounded Theory, Kathy Charmaz, Sage
  Publications, London (2006)
• Interview-based study
• Shaping a Life of Significance for Retirement, R.
  Jack Hansen and Jerry P. Haas, Upper Room Books
  (2010)

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References (cont.)

• Overview of Action Research
• - Action Research (3rd Edition) by
  Ernest T. Stringer (Sage Publications,
  2007)
• Primer on Focus Groups
• - Focus Groups by Richard Krueger
  and Mary Anne Casey (Sage
  Publications, 2009)