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Nisa A. Azam
5. Notes and diaries
Field notes are used to record the processes of learning and can be used to record the observation during the learning process in classroom Burns, 1999:
85. Diaries or journals are personal documents which are an alternative to field notes. They contain more subjective and personal reflections and
interpretations than the relatively formalised recordings of note Burns, 1999: 89.
6. Test
The test instrument is used to collect the data of students writing skill. It has been done in terms of pre-test and post test. The tests have been done in
the form of individual written test formative assessment. It means that the test was done after one topic discussion.
B. Technique of Analyzing the Data
Data analysis is the point where statements or assertions about what the research shows are produced Burns, 1999: 153. It involves describing and
explaining the data. The quantifiable data are analyzed by comparing their mean taken from the pre-test and post-test. The formulas used in analyzing the data are:
n X
X ∑
= n
Y Y
∑ =
in which: X = mean score of pre-test
Y = mean score of post-test n = number of students
X = pre-test score Y = post-test score
Some of the data which are not quantifiable, such as opinions, attitudes, or checklists, may be summarized in table form and can be analyzed without the
use of statistics or technical assistance. The method used in analysing is constant comparative method as proposed by Glaser and Strauss. The stages are comparing
incidents applicable to each category, integrating categories and their phenomena, delimit theory, and write theory Glaser and Strauss in Hopkins, 1993: 149.
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Supporting to Glaser and Strauss, Lynch 1997: 139-154 explains the stages as follows:
1. Focusing
The first step of data analysis is to focus the evaluation. It can be done through developing a thematic framework that represents the most important
evaluation questions to be answered. It is usually started from the preliminary thematic framework which was developed from a consideration of the
evaluation audience and goals. This framework is not linear and may be revised, then constitute new thematic frameworks depending on the original
evaluation issues. 2.
Organizing the data In organizing the data, it should first be checked for completeness. Then,
the data need to be systematized in some way, so that the evaluator can easily read it. Once the evaluator has the complete data, it is extremely important to
have the copies. 3.
Coding the data The use of code is emerge in organizing the data. The code should
represents the information in such a simple way. The codes may be put in the margins or a separate note-taking sheet.
4. Classifying and reducing the data
It is a way of grouping the patterns and themes of the data. The data are reduced through classification schemes such as category system, typologies,
and display matrices. 5.
Interpretation and conclusions It is the last stage of qualitative data analysis. It is the stage of drawing a
red line from the data which have been classified and reduced. This stage may take a long time since the interpretation should be checked repeatedly.
Furthermore, the final conclusion should be checked for its validity.
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CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND ANALYSIS
This chapter presents the results of the research conducted in the eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Wonogiri. The research was purposed to identify
whether and to what extent the use of student blogs improve students writing skill and to analyze what happens when student blog is applied to teach writing. The
results will be described and discussed in four sub-headings: Situation Prior to the Research, Research Implementation, Research Findings, and Discussion. It will be
explained separately in detail and summarized in the form of table.
A. Situation Prior to Research
Pre-observation was
conducted before
the action
research implementation in order to know the condition of the English class in RSBI 8G. It
was conducted within two meetings. The questionnaires were distributed to the students in the second meeting to find out the writing problems based on their
point of view. From the questionnaire, it was noted that the students already knew about blog, but 60 students never wrote any blog post. However, they are
interested in the use of internet 95 as they often accessed it outside the class. Furthermore, it was found on the observation that the students got
difficulty in doing writing task. It was indicated by their expressions that showed disagreement about the teacher’s instruction when they were asked to write a
passage containing 10 sentences. In addition, the students did not have a confidence about their writings as indicated by the reaction that ”they were kind
of refusing to ‘publish’ their descriptive text in other classes” Research Diary, 18082010.
Taken from the observation and interview notes, the causes of the problem were emerged from the media used in teaching writing. The teacher did
not give any written model of the text in his teaching, “he directly told a story about narrative text,” Research Diary, 01092010. Besides, the students also
rarely practiced to write a complete text, but sentences. They only had a lot of grammar practices instead of writing in a certain context.
