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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
In this chapter, the researcher presents the methodology which is used in this study. This chapter will discuss research design, research setting, the research
subjects, data collection techniques, procedure of the research, data analysis techniques and research validity reliability. Each of the items above will be
discussed below.
A. Research Design
This research aims to improve the students’ writing skill in descriptive text through the Quantum Learning strategy especially for Grade VIII A students of
SMPN 5 Sleman. Therefore the type of the research is action research.
According to Bassey 1998 in Koshy 2005:8, action research is research of which the purpose is to
evaluate and then to change something in order to improve the educational practice. Action research is also a form of inquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in
order to improve both social and educational practice, as well as the understanding of these practices and the situations in which practice is carried out Carr and Kemmis in
Burns, 1999:30.
This action research study focused on improving the real condition of the English teaching and learning process to reach the improvement of the
students’ writing skill in descriptive text. The model action research used in this study is the model developed by
Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 1999: 32 with some modification. The researcher conducted the research collaboratively with a collaborator, the English teacher, and
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the students. The action will be in the form of cycles based on Kemmis and McTaggart model.
Kemmis and McTaggart model can be illustrated as this following picture.
Figure 3. Kemmis and McTaggart Model of Action Research
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B. Research Setting
The research was conducted in SMPN 5 Sleman. The school is located in Karangasem, Pandowoharjo, Sleman, Yogyakarta. It has 29 teachers and 320s
students. There are some facilities at this school such as a headmaster’s room, a
teacher’s room, an administration room, a library, a school health unit, a science laboratory, a language laboratory, a room for guidance and counseling, the students’
association room, a mosque, a meeting room, a basketball field and a storehouse. Grade VIII A students used the south side building of the school. There were
32 students in the classroom. The classroom had a whiteboard, an attendance board, 16 Tables and 32 chairs. There was no LCD and the wall was cleaned from any poster
or sticker. The research study was conducted from the 22 October to 13 November 2014.
C. The Research Subjects
The research subjects of this study were the students of Grade VIII A of SMPN 5 Sleman in the academic year 20142015. The class consisted of 32 students;
18 of them were female students and the others were male. The students were chosen as the subject of the research because their English achievement was still low.
Besides, based on the observation, the students had problems in writing.
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D. Data Collection Techniques
The collected data were both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected through observation, and interviews. Meanwhile, the quantitative
data were obtained from doing writing tests pre-test and post-test and the assessments in the end of each cycle. The techniques and the instruments of the data
collection can be stated as the following table.
Table 2. The Data Collection Techniques Data
Instruments Data Collection
Techniques
Pre-test, post-test
and assessment scores
Tests Tests
Field Notes Observation
checklists and field notes
Observation Interview transcripts
Interview guideline Interview
E. Procedure of the Research
As it has been stated previously that this research used Kemmis McTaggart model which consists of planning, action, observation, and reflection with some
modifications, the procedure of the data collection can be elaborated as follows: 1 Reconnaissance
The first step was reconnaissance. In this stage, the researcher identified the problems which occurred in the classroom where the research was conducted. To
identify the problem, an interview with the English teacher about the obstacles which happened during the teaching and learning process was conducted. Some
observations during the teaching and learning process were also carried out. After
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