Action Research

Action research is a type of research that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to solve an immediate problem for an entity such as a school district.  This is probably the most practical and most used form of research.  If a school or district had an issue at hand, such as improving student attendance, the researchers or problem solvers would not be too worried about seminal works or theory.  They would want to use current research to come up with a plan that works for their school or schools.  In this scenario, the leaders would probably take a mixed methods approach by first looking at the data for their district and then comparing their data to other similar districts.  When they find other districts that are of interest to them they may just make a phone call to the campus principals or someone in charge of attendance to find out what is working for that district.  Also, they would want to look at the board policies and compare them to their own.  They would weight these against state/federal policies to be sure that they are in line.  Finally, they would take all of this information to come up with an action plan that is specific to their district.  I can see how this form of research is very useful for a school superintendent and am looking forward to being part of action research for my campus or district in the future.