Week Ten

What primary concerns exist in ethics, validity and reliability in Action Research?

Action research in education is tricky, every year we have a new set of students with different backgrounds and different social settings.  As educators, we do not want to compare one group of students to another, however we do want to do what is best for them.  Continuing to look into and evaluate our practice makes us better teachers.  "Action research helps the teacher to turn from the traditional methods of teaching to those methods that are modern and effective hence ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of the students."  (Joyce) Action research is a way for teacher to do this.

There are some concerns in action research around ethics, validity and reliability because it is not run like scientific research, there is not a comparison group where all the factors can be controlled.  I believe action research has a place in education. 

Ethics help to make action research run smoothly.  Teachers play an important role in a student’s life and they pick up on small cues from their teacher.  This is something to keep in mind while conducting the research.  Additionally, during the research the teacher must always have the children's right at the forefront of the research.

Validity measures how accurately a conclusion measurement or concepts corresponds to what is being tested.  Some scientists would suggest that action research is not valid because we are not running the research like they would, however our research is valid to us and it helps to make decisions about how we teach. 

Reliability of action research measures the degree to which a tool can produce consistent results.  There are two types of reliability, internal and external.  Internal talks about how the research practice was followed.  Did you stick to a strict set of guidelines while conducting your research? External talks about if the study could be done in another setting.  Some people might argue that it is hard to reproduce action research results in another classroom, another school etc. and there for the research is not reliable.

Even if action research is not recognized as solid research by all, it is "useful, if not to create a model for success, at least to provoke new and innovative ideas".  (James) If action research can help one teacher become a better teacher then it is all worth it and who cares what others think.  

James, E. A. (n.d.). Action Research Reporting: Is Your Project ... - EzineArticles. Retrieved from https://ezinearticles.com/?Action-Research-Reporting:-Is-Your-Project-Valid,-Credible-or-Reliable?&id=5607554

Joyce, P. (2020, March 22). The Importance of Action Research [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-action-research/o

Validity in Assessments: Content, Construct & Predictive Validity. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/validity-in-assessments-content-construct-predictive-validity.html