Implementing collaborative action research (CAR) is recognized as an effective strategy for transforming professional practice through evidence-based methods. How can CAR be carried out online, and how is data collected through digital methods? This case study will address these aspects in the context of a CAR, international professional…

This case study examines the complexities of rapid-response data collection via the Play Observatory project's online qualitative survey of children, families, and child-oriented organizations. This research took place during a global pandemic and combined data collection with cataloguing and preserving materials for future research. Placing…

This case study describes a Q methodology study which captured and analyzed the viewpoints of 45 UK teachers online. The teachers might liken their participation in the study to a "card sort" activity: their relative placement of statement cards revealed their opinions of mastery in mathematics. Factor analysis of the completed sorts…

This case study is an introduction to the use of a document checklist as part of a qualitative research method of document review. Details are provided on the types of documents that can be utilized in a document review; the advantages and disadvantages of using document review as a research data collection method; description of how to design,…

This case study is aimed at postgraduate and early career researchers who wish to embark on using ethnographic techniques in educational research. The topic in question is school food and its impact upon learning. In this case, it is the social aspect which is being addressed. This research did not aim to address the nutritious element but the way…

This case study is based on research begun for an MA dissertation in Human Resource Management and subsequently developed. It follows the government's decision that from September 2012, UK universities would be able to increase their tuition fees from a maximum of £3000 to £9000 per year. The project aimed to investigate the impact of this on…

Using my own practice as a researcher, this case seeks to demonstrate how the use of participatory arts-based methods is not just a way to collect data or answer predefined thesis questions, but can actually shape research questions and theses in ways one may not have initially considered. Initially, my PhD research focused primarily on the…

In this case study, the research methods used to collect data from school-based populations online, by postal survey and in a face-to-face setting are examined. While the online context provides a great opportunity for data collection with relative ease, it also presents a number of challenges for researchers. Online data collection offers the…

The value of a study relies heavily on the quality of data collection and analysis. No matter the skill level of the researchers or what journal the study is published in, poor collection and management of data result in a poor study. Our personal experiences and impressions of collecting, storing, protecting, and retrieving data for a U.S.…

This case study sheds light on lessons learned from the perspective of a PhD candidate. Focusing on male primary teachers, this study explores how issues of masculinities are navigated and negotiated on a daily basis. Although limited research of masculinities has been conducted in educational contexts and settings in Ireland, previous studies…

This case study reports my experiences of a PhD project applying the microgenetic approach to study changes in students' conceptual structures as they developed understanding of topics in physics. The microgenetic approach involves sampling (referring to the frequency of application of data collection probes) a phenomenon at a rate which is high…

We make sense of experiences of our own and others through different forms of stories -- movies, TV dramas, documentaries, books, songs, as well as stories that are told and re-told within our families and cultures. Our experiences are fragmented and happen in different places over the course of our lives. By putting stories together in a plot, we…

Schools are awash in data, and teachers are being asked to gather data in a myriad of high-tech and low-tech ways. But gathering is not analyzing, and without analysis there is little reason to gather the data in the first place. Teachers need data-collection systems that lend themselves to rapid analysis and action. This article presents several…

This case describes the research process followed by two professors who chose to study student outcomes in our online accounting classrooms. Motivated by the discovery of a possible anomaly in classroom outcomes, we decided to look further. We thought the anomaly might be explained by student procrastination. If our perception proved true, the…

This case study describes the adoption of a mixed-methods approach to explore provision for 2-year-olds in England at a time when funding for free places for disadvantaged children became available. A literature review was carried out to find out about aspects of early childhood provision considered important for 2-year-old children's development,…