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As already noted, a mixture of methodologies framed the case studies.
Action research predominated and later, appreciative inquiry was introduced which
evolved into action development. A survey comprising both quantitative and
qualitative questions also informed the study. Trochim and Donnelly (2007, p. 5)
define mixed methods as:
…any research that uses multiple research methods to take advantage of
the unique advantages that each method offers…The term mixed
methods means that more than one kind of method, most often a
combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, is used in the study.
(p.5)
Notwithstanding, this blend of quantitative and qualitative mixed methods
can be defined within the theoretical framework of pragmatism (Mutch, 2009).
Pragmatism could be defined as a matter of practicality or expediency. Indeed, in
this thesis, pragmatism was the rationale for mixed methods, and it was this which
led me to include a questionnaire that had been prepared during preliminary
academic studies on survey research.
Later, qualitative data were collected through observation, semi-structured
interviews, documentary analysis of research meeting transcripts, reflective
journals (my own and those of the teachers), and centre material. Thus, in order to
incorporate the methodological approaches and the tools of the data collection into
a cohesive structure the following decisions were made. First, it was important to
me to explain from the start the overarching methodological frameworks of action
research and appreciative inquiry. Discussion of these follows this preamble and
became one of the key areas included in chapter 3. Ethical considerations informed
all aspects of the data collection and are, therefore, contained within the second
part of chapter 3. Finally in chapter 4 additional methodological considerations
which pertained to the whole project are discussed. These include the place of
autoethnography, the importance of critical conversations, the use of critically
reflective commentaries, and the issues of trustworthiness, triangulation, and data
analysis.
3.2 Overview of Chapter 3
This chapter documents how chosen research procedures for the collection
of qualitative data, specifically for the three case studies that were critical to this
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