What is action research and what is its typical cycle?

• A. Planning, acting, observing, reflecting.
• B. Hypothesizing, testing, analyzing, publishing.
• C. Design, implement, audit, report.
• D. Collecting, coding, interpreting, generalizing.

Answer: (A)

Action research is a hands-on, practitioner-driven approach that aims to improve what happens in everyday practice by actively making changes and studying their effects. Its cycle is iterative: plan a targeted change, act on it, observe the outcomes and gather evidence, then reflect on what the data show and what to adjust next. This reflection leads to a refined plan and a new cycle, continuing until the practice improves. For example, a teacher might plan a new collaborative activity, implement it with a class, observe student engagement and learning, and reflect on what to tweak for the next class. The other patterns resemble different methods: one mirrors the traditional scientific method with hypotheses and publishing; another fits project design and evaluation rather than ongoing, practice-focused inquiry; the last describes data analysis steps aimed at generalizing findings rather than driving iterative change in practice.