Data collection

Data collection

1. It is a process of gathering and measuring information

   • this process makes posible to get the answers in a research
   • It has different methods
     • Field notes as a way of reporting observations
       • uses
         • Focus on a particular issue or teacher behaviour over a period of time, reflect general impressions of the classroom and its climate, provide and ongoing description of an individual child to interpretation and use in case study
       • Advantages
         • Simple to keep, provide ongoing record, first hand information, act as an aide mémoire,help to relate incidents, and useful in order to write a case study
       • Disadvantages
         • Need to fal back on aids(question analysis sheets, tapes and transcripts), conversation impossible to record by field notes, notebook works only with small groups, initially time consuming, and can be highly subjective
     • Audiotape recording for situations where teachers require specific and accurate record
       • Uses
         • As a general diagnostic tool for identifiying aspects of one's teaching, for providing detailed evidence on specific aspects of teaching, and an additional source of evidence
       • Advantages
         • Monitor all conversations,provides ample material , versatility (can be transported or left with a group), records presonality, trace development of a group's of activities, and support classroom assessment
       • Disadvantages
         • Nothing visual-doesn't record silent activities, transcription largely prohibitive because of expense and time involved, masses of material provide little relevant information, distub pupils because of its novelty, inhibiting, and can be disturbed by the practical problems of operating
     • Pupil diaries is practice in schools for pupils to keep a daily log
       • Uses
         • To provide: a pupils perspective on a teaching episode,data on the general climate of the classroom, and information for triangulation
       • Advantages
         • Provides feedback from pupil'sperspective, focus on a specific training episode or related to the general classroom climate, part of the lesson, help in identifiying individual pupil problems, involvespupil in improving the quality of the class, and provides a basis for triangulation
       • Disadvantages
         • May not establisehd practice in the school, difficult for younger children torecord their thoughts and feelings, pupils may be inibited in discussing their feelings with the teacher, pupil's accounts are obviously subjective, and may raise ethical dilemmas
     • Interviews can occur between T and Pupil, observer and pupil, pupil and pupil, or teacher and observer
       • Uses
         • To focus on a specific aspect of teaching or classroom life in detail, to provide general diagnostic information through T-pupil classroom discussion, and to improve the classroom climate
       • Advantages
         • Teacher/pupil
           • Teacher in direct contact with pupil, pupil familair with teacher, techer able to seek information, can be done in lesson time or outside the class, and can follow up problems when they arise and get information
             • Time-consuming,may be carried out with some form of recording equipment, with attendant disadvantages, and difficult to get youger children to explain their thoughts and feelings
         • Observer/pupil
           • leaves teacher freeas the interviewer discovers inforrmation, pupils candid with the outsider than with class teacher or teacher from within the school, outsider is likely to be objective and focus the information provided along predetermined lines of investigation, and focus the information provided along lines of investigation
             • pupil unfamiliar with observer, mutual uncertainty, if the teacher is the primary agent they will get their information secondhand and subject to the biases of the interviewer, the whole set up is time consuming as information goes from pupil to interviwere to teacher, and difficult to obtain a skilled outsider
         • Pupil/pupil
           • Pupils may be more candid with each other, leaves teacher free, occur during lesson time, and may produce unanticipated/unusual perspectives
             • pupils maay find the activity too unfamilair, encourage disruption, and has to be recorded and played to teacher
     • Videotape recorder and digital camera allow the teacher to observe many facets of their teaching
       • Uses
         • For obtaining visual material about teaching situation, acting as an aid to diagnosis, and as a means of examining in detail a specific teaching episode
       • Advantages
         • Digital camera
           • Advantage by looking at images of kids working or at end products of their work(stimulus ofr discussion), and as an instrument which helps you get observation and comment from other teachers who weren't present at the time
             • show isolated situations, records nothing in depth, images may not truly
         • Video tape
           • enables all situations to be reviewed, origin of probelms can be diagnosed, behavioural patterns of teacher and pupils can be seen, and patterns of progress over long periods can be clearly charted
             • very conspicuous, disrtacting, and operator acts as editor
     • Questionnaires ask specific questions
       • Use
         • To obtain quantitative responses to specific questions
       • Advantages
         • Easy to administer and to follow up, provides feedback, data are quatifiable
       • Disadvantages
         • Analysis is time-consuming, extensive preparation, difficult to get questions, effectiveness depends on reading ability, children may be fearful and will try to produce right answers
     • Sociometry used to measure the emotional structure of a group
       • Use
         • To disclose the social structure of the class
       • Advantages
         • Sto discover social relationships in class, provides guide to action, and integrated into class activity
       • Disadvantages
         • Possibility of compounding the isolation of some pupils
     • Documentary eviidence
       • Use
         • Provide background information and understanding of issues that would not otherwise be available
       • Advantages
         • Illluminate issues, provide context, background and provide people's perceptions
       • Disadvantages
         • Obtaining documents can be time-consuming, difficult to obtain documents, persons may be unwilling to share confidential documents
     • Case study
       • Use
         • formal analysis of an aspect of classroom life
       • Disadvantages
         • It must be fairly exhaustive, feedback availale to teacher only after lapse of time
       • Advantages
         • it is simple way of plotting the progress of a course, information yielded,by case studies give more accurate and draw on data gathered by many methods
     • Pupil drawings
       • Use
         • Collecting students' perceptions
       • Advantages
         • gathering pupil's views and reactions, informative and could depict accurately views and experiences
       • Disadvantages
         • Analysis couldbe challenging, children could provide invalid data,

2. This process makes it possible to get information about the teacher's teaching