Data analysis outline
Before defining the type of analysis I will carry out in my research project, it is important to analyze first the data collection tools that are going to be used and thus, describe the more suitable way to analyze them.
The data collection instruments used for this research project were basically the students’ artefacts, a pre- and a post-test, a final questionnaire and the students’ logs and, a students’ journals.
Students’ journals collected information about their reflections on their learning and commenting on its possible significance (Whitehead & McNiff, 2006, p.68). Those reflections will need to be analyzed from a qualitative point of view in which the basic aim will be “acknowledge fully the subjective part played by the researcher” (Norton, 2009, p. 116).
Journal questions —what did you find useful in today’s lesson? Why? What did you find most frustrating in today’s lesson? Why?— also gave me raw data.
The data I obtained out of these two instruments will be better analyzed by using Grounded Theory Method (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003). This method aims to look for indications of categories in events and behavior—in my research case, the way they performed when reading aloud in English—. I will select and code the themes that emerge when analyzing the data from the implementation and finally I will narrate the findings.
On the other hand, the tests, questionnaires and logs that assessed students’ performance before and after the intervention provided data that can be better analyzed by means of describing it in order to establish a cause and effect explanation between the variables that may arise, correlating such variables.
Information collected from students’ logs will be also taken into account to summarize the data obtained to find out, for example, the commonest number of minutes per day students used in listening to podcast. The data gathered from the logs will be analyzed descriptively to find measures of central tendency such as media, mean and mode. The mode for instance, would show the most frequently occurring score regarding the minutes students spend in using the software.
Other measures such as the range and the mean deviation will also describe time scores that will give a better picture for the analysis.
The techniques cited above will be used in order to establish whether students’ ability to stress sentences properly improves or not.
References
References
Auerbach, C. F. & Silverstein, L.B. (2003). Qualitative Data: An Introduction to Coding and Analysis. New York: New York University Press.
Norton, L.S. (2009). Action research in teaching and learning: A practical guide to conducting pedagogical research in universities. Routledge: Education.
