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Parent Frameworks To Becoming a Researcher
By Mary Johnson and Valerie Munoz
Parent-U-Turn
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Learning how to do research has been a great asset to Parent-U-Turn in our work to document our school condition in our community. We always knew the condition and yet never knew how to document this condition. Thanks to UCLA IDEA's outreach to the communities to share their knowledge with the parents, we now know how to document our findings.
Today Parent-U-Turn has become an expert in doing research, to the point that a recent LA Times Lead Editorial used our data to explain the injustice of Exit Exams.
Step 1: The Problem: What is the problem I want to study?
Step 2: Reason for Research Study: Why do I want to study this problem?
Step 3: Site and Population for Research Study: You need to find and read as much background, historical information and literature about the problem you want to study.
See what the expertsalready say about your problem. Maybe it is already resolved,at least in theory. You may want to ask something different about your problem. Completing this step will give you a background to understand your problem better.
Step 4:Data Collection: Now you are ready to decide how you are going to collect the data. But first you need to decide who or what group will provide you with the best information about the problem you are studying, meaning what population to focus on. What does population mean?
Step 5: Data Analysis: What does your data mean? How can your data contribute toward improving parent involvement in schools and decreasing our students' achievement gap?
Tools Needed For Gathering Data
1. Camcorder
2. Tape Recorder
3. Camera
4. Pen/Papers
Different Methods of Document Data
1. Video the Event
2. Tape Record (Interviews)
3. Focus Groups (group of people discuss a issue; can also be use to gather data regarding to get feed back on an issue.)
4. Surveys
Recommendations for Suggested Places to Conduct Surveys
Churches, Schools, Malls, Grocery Stores
Analyzing Data Collected
1. Gather all the surveys that were collected and count the total number received.
2. For each question asked on survey, made a separate column to record responses.
3. Next step is to add each column separately.
4. Example: You collected 200 surveys and there were 12 different questions on the survey. You should have 36 columns -- three columns for each question's answers. 12 x 3= 36
5. You should have a column for Yes, No, and I Don't Know for each question.
6. Then for each column you make a graphic using the numbers from each column to chart your result.
7. Example: Out of 200 surveys, on the first question you counted all the Nos and Yes, I don't know, You record 100 No and 75 Yes and 25 I Don't know. This is the beginning of analyzing collect result data.
Recommendation: On Places to Post Data Collected
1. Online Journal
2. Local Newspapers
3. Newsletter
Place To Share/People Results of Research
1. School Board Members
2. Elected Officials( State and Federal Representatives)
3. Town Hall Meeting
4. School Sites Councils
5. Local Newspaper
For more recommendations and an outline to a comprehensive approach to parent engagement with the potential of making a significant impact to increase academic achievement and provide more equity and access to quality education, please email info@californiaparents.net
