‘By the way…’ research and the methodologically implicit pieces of information
‘By the way…’ research and the methodologically implicit pieces of information

Summary/Abstract: Among the planned preliminary phases of the Teacher Motivation Strategy (TMS) re¬search, a regularly observed phenomenon was the formulation or supplementation of participants’ reflections. Those were relevant to the research instrument or to the research situation and also relevant to the research topic, but were outside of the process. Following the pilot data collection, the desire, interest and enthusiasm of the teachers and students were detectable beyond the research situations. In connection with the topic and the question ‘How teachers motivate you?’, participants often made spontaneous observations and shared information outside the methodological struc¬ture, which revealed the limitations of the research situations and the deficiencies in measurement tools or methods. Potential data was included in those statements beginning like ‘By the way …’, ‘I think …’, ‘… well, I would never write that down!’, ‘I wouldn’t say it in front of the others anyway’. During the pilot phase the reflections of the researcher given to the experienced effects and impulses affected the research results by constructing the final research process through method selection, research instrument and data procession planning. The update and change of various aspects aimed to develop a more refined and systematized research, in order to get results that reveal real problems and help the actors of pedagogical processes to find con¬structive solutions. The cases, exemplified from a scientific and a methodological point of view, tangentially yet significantly articulate the emergence of valuable data embedded in the research process. The primary purpose of this paper is to exemplify the phenomenon in research practice and to encourage the reader to develop and apply research methods aimed at minimizing data loss for more efficient exploration and resolution of pedagogical issues and questions.

• Details
• Contents