Depending on the research question, informal reading inventories and other tests may be sources of relevant information. You might use this approach at different stages of tutoring in order to assess changes in reading development. Using tests for data collection draws from quantitative approaches. Tests could be supplemented by interviews or observations.
Richard Yates (1997-1998) was interested in learning whether students would increase their recognition of sight words if they practised the words three times a week with the support of an audio tape of the words. whether a particular teaching approach led to improved scores on a GED math test.
As discussed in Chapter 1, arts-based approaches can invite participants to use ways of knowing in addition to words. One of the challenges of art making has to do with our levels of comfort and skill, so it's helpful to choose formats and materials that suit both you and the participants. In order to use the art for research, you will need to ask participants to speak or write about their pieces. In this way you will have their perspective on the words and images, rather than your interpretation. A conversation about the art can also be an opportunity to explore more deeply some of the ideas that are expressed in it.
Collage is one approach that you may already be using in practice. The process of creating collages can also provide an opportunity for discussion about a research topic. Nadine Sookermany (2008) invited a group of women learners to create collages to explore the impacts of violence on the lives and experiences of literacy learners who are parents, and on their children. Nadine wrote:
Women talked and browsed through magazines, cutting and pasting. We shared how some of the issues that came up, like racism and sexism and classism, are so ingrained in the system and how it feels impossible to work against them.