MCNIFF ... Critics of GT dispute the researcher’s
ability to work as a blank slate (Charmaz 2014), and indeed the constructivist model of GT I describe in this article relies upon the interpretative rendering of data by the note-taker. Nevertheless, by omitting established theory at the outset we can create the conditions for open and grounded research. Outcomes may be checked against the literature later. The GT approach to analysing qualitative data is both iterative and recursive (Bryant 2017), meaning that data collection and analysis occur in tandem as new relationships between data are formed. Data is anything you want it to be – for instance, information from practitioner discussions. In order to explain the nature of the
data, ‘codes’ are attributed to it as it is collated. A hierarchy of coding is established: concepts (initial ideas), categories (which subsume one or more concepts) and core categories (around which the categories pivot), each with a higher level of abstraction. As Robson and McCartan (2016, p.481) say: “Your task is to find a central core category which is both at a high level of abstraction and grounded in (i.e. derived from) the data you have collected and analysed.” As GT is grounded in the data obtained during the event, the research may change shape and transform into “something quite remote from the initially foreshadowed problems” (Hammersley and Atkinson 1983). This unscripted process chimes with Donald Schön’s (1983) ‘thinking on your feet’. Grounded Theory is dynamic, democratic, personal and situated in the real-world.
Katya Kitchingman is a lecturer in teacher education (PSET) at University Centre, Bradford College.
... ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ACTION RESEARCH
By Professor Jean McNiff Action research is a practical form of enquiry that enables anyone in any walk of life to investigate and evaluate their work. They ask, individually and collectively: ‘What am I/are we doing?;
Do I/we need to improve anything?; If so, what?; How do I/we improve it?; Why should I/we improve it?’. If they feel that their work could be better, they find ways to improve it and check their ideas about progress against the ongoing critical feedback of others.
This means that all practitioners, regardless of workplace setting,
can produce accounts to describe and explain what they are doing, and to say why their ideas should be taken seriously. Doing action research involves approaches, such as:
• Identifying an issue that needs attention; • Imagining ways of addressing it; • Gathering data to show what the situation is like now; • Trying out a possible strategy for improvement; • Continuing to gather data and monitor practice to show the situation as it develops;
• Evaluating the situation; • Changing thinking and practice in light of the evaluation…and so on.
Because this form of work is undertaken by people who identify as practitioners, it is often referred to as practitioner research, or practice-based research; and because it involves reflecting on your work, it also becomes a kind of self-reflective practice.
Jean McNiff is professor of educational research at York St John University. She also works independently with consultancies and individual institutions at home and internationally.
jeanmcniff.com
• Timonen, V. Foley, G. & Conlon, C. (2018). Challenges When Using Grounded Theory: A Pragmatic Introduction to Doing GT Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.
This approach highlights the difference between traditionalist social science forms of research and action research. In traditionalist forms, officially-appointed researchers do research on others: they observe them and ask: ‘What are they doing? How can their actions be described and explained?’ They then write about what those others are doing. In action research people observe and do research on themselves, individually or collectively. They also ask, ‘What am I/are we doing in relation with you?; How do I/we explain and describe our thinking and actions?’ This involves adopting an other-oriented perspective and accepting the responsibility of providing evidence for whatever is done and said. A key implication of this is that all practitioners, regardless of
background and sector, can and should research their own practices, and produce high-quality accounts to show how and why they hold themselves responsible for their thinking and actions in the real world.
MEMBER OFFER
SET members are eligible for a 20 per cent discount on Jean’s books, Action Research: Principles and Practice and You and Your Action Research Project, when ordering direct from Routledge. Use code SET20. The offer is valid until 31 December, 2019.
inTUITION ISSUE 37 • AUTUMN 2019 19
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