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CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODS
This chapter presents the discussion about the research methods applied in this research. It covers research design, area determination method, research subject
determination method, data collection method, and the research procedure. Each part is presented in the following section respectively.
3.1 Research Design
This research was intended to improve the eleventh IPA 3 class students’
reading comprehension achievement. Therefore, the design of this research was
Classroom Action Research. According to Elliot 1991:69, an action research is the study of a social situation with a view to improve the quality of action within it. In
addition, Mills 2003:1 in Hopkins 2008:48 states that an action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gather information about the
ways that their particular school operates, how they teach, and how well their students learn. Further, McMillan 1992:12 argues that a classroom action research is a type
of applied research with the purpose to solve a specific problem or to make decision at a single local site. In short, it can be concluded that a classroom action research is
an appropriate research design to solve the problem of the teacher and the students in the classroom.
In this research, a classroom action research with cycle was applied. Each cycle covered four activities: planning the action, implementing the action, doing the
observation and evaluation, analyzing data and doing reflection Elliot, 1991:69. This classroom action research was conducted collaboratively with the
English teacher who taught the eleventh grade IPA3 class of MAN 2 Jember. The collaboration was focused on identifying the research problems dealing with the
reading comprehension in the classroom, carrying out the action in teaching reading, doing class observation, doing reflection and analyzing the implementation of the
action. The design of this classroom action research was illustrated in the following diagram:
Diagram 3.1 The Design of the Classroom Action Research
Adapted from Lewin, in Elliot, 1991:70 The activities of the research used the following procedures:
1. Doing preliminary study through an interview with the English teacher of the
eleventh IPA 3 to identify the students’ problems in reading class and
observed the teaching learning process in the eleventh IPA 3 class of MAN 2 Jember.
2. Finding out the problems based on the interview and class observation.
3. Planning the action by constructing the lesson plan for the first cycle meeting
1 and meeting 2 collaboratively with the English teacher. 4.
Implementing the action of the first cycle of teaching reading narrative text by using SQ3R strategy done by the researcher. The English teacher also took
role in this cycle. In the first meeting, the researcher taught the students by
Preliminary Study
Interviewing the English teacher
Fact finding the problems
Identifying the problems to be investigated
Reflecting
Analyzing data
Reflection
Planning the action
1 Constructing
Observation checklist 2
Constructing lesson plan
3 Constructing reading
test 4
Setting the success criteria of the action
Implementing
Teaching reading by using SQ3R strategy
Doing classroom observation
Revising some aspects made in the cycle 1
failed to achieve the research target
The results do not
achieve the target
The results achieve the
target The cycles stoped
Reporting the research result
using SQ3R strategy and the English teacher was as the observer. In the second meeting, the English teacher taught the students by using SQ3R
strategy and the researcher was as the observer. 5.
Administering the reading comprehension test in the first cycle done by the teacher and the researcher.
6. Analyzing the result of the reading comprehension test quantitatively then
classify the result of reading comprehension test quantitatively based on the classification of the score levels.
7. Reflecting the results of the observation checklist and reading comprehension
test in the first cycle. When the result of the first cycle did not achieve the criteria of the research, the researcher needed to continue the action to the
second cycle by revising the lesson plans based on the problems faced in the first cycle. The actions in the second cycle were the same with the first cycle,
namely the planning of the action, the implementation of the action, the observation and evaluation, and the reflection of the action. However when
the result of the first cycle achieved the criteria of the research, the researcher could stop the cycle and report the result of the research.
8. Drawing a conclusion to answer the research problem based on the results of
the data analysis.
3.2 Area Determination Method