‘Snowballing’ as a Method for Finding Research Sources

This is the conclusion of a three-part series on helping students tackle long-term, independent learning projects at Sixth Form level. In this article Andrew Shenton and Melanie Wood expand on the processes involved in ‘snowball sampling’ to provide students with tools to search for and locate reliable and relevant sources.

The problems and some solutions

One of the biggest challenges faced by many young people when tackling independent learning assignments in the upper phases of secondary school, where the work involved is undertaken intensively over a prolonged period of time, lies in maintaining impetus after their initial enthusiasm has passed and they feel that the sources they had earmarked at the outset for examination have been exhausted. This may be a particular issue in large-scale studies associated with, for example, the Extended Project Qualification or the Historical Investigation at Sixth Form level. No doubt most teachers will have developed counter measures for responding to such problems.

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      string(5744) "review (if this existed) or a combined reporting of two or three that touch on the topic. Sources for the pre-existing reviews included Hattie’s (2009, 2012) ‘Visible Learning’ (a synthesis of over 800 meta analyses, involving some 50,000 studies) as well as publically available evidence such as that provided by the Education Endowment Foundation’s ‘toolkit’, and the UCL IOE’s Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating (EPPI) Centre. Literature is set out within the following headings: ‘Method’: in order to help with practitioner capacity building this section provided detail on the lit review and synthesis (who produced it, why did they do it, what did they do and how? As well as other detail on sample etc.).Overview of the issue or subject in question and some of the key issues, debates or key drivers in relation to the issue/subject. In other words as well as detailing the issue this section outlined what might be causing it, and/or the key components practitioners needed to have in mind: this enabled practitioners to develop a theory of action in relation to the topic. Options for addressing some of these key issues and debates: This involves identifying practical ‘solutions’ to think about in relation to 2, above and/or challenging questions that the review raises in relation to existing practice. Potential issues to consider re implementation: financial cost, time, staff understanding and capacity etc.In order to introduce RLC participants to the research evidence relating to their focus area, in this workshop we draw upon an exercise developed by Stoll and Brown (2015) as part of an ESRC funded knowledge transfer project (Middle leaders as catalysts for evidence-informed change). Here, rather than ask practitioners to engage directly with the literature reviews, user-friendly strategies are used so that the key messages from research literature can be readily understood and imbibed. This is in keeping with the need to ensure ‘formal’ research knowledge is:1) blended with people’s surfaced tacit knowledge; 2) encountered in manageable units of meaning and in accessible formats; and 3) engaged with as part of a social process of meaning making (Stoll and Brown, 2015).An example of such a strategy is known as the ‘strips exercise’. Literature on each body of research was introduced as strips or nuggets of information  – i.e. main content of each literature review developed for the RLC groups was turned into small ‘bite size’ chunks, with these then printed and cut into strips of paper. Participants were then asked to work in pairs or threes to discuss each strip or nugget and then to allocate it a meaning (a theme) and to then iteratively develop these themes as they worked their way through the strips. Application to practitioners’ knowledge and practiceFollowing this, participants were asked to complete a ‘data capture’ mat, a proforma that asked participants to consider how the research and their resultant themes:connected with their own knowledge and practice (as expressed in the first exercise);deepened their own knowledge and practice (as expressed in the first exercise); andchallenged their own knowledge and practice (as expressed in the first exercise). Participants are then provided with overall and individual literature reviews for their topic areas. The next thing participants must do of course is then use their newly created knowledge in order to develop an approach to teaching and learning that has impact.Professional Learning Task: Exploring & applying research literatureWe have replicated the research strips exercise described above. Below are a sample of research strips from the literature review we use on the topic of Assessment for learning. Take the strips and cut them up. Working with a colleague, read each strip in turn and agree on a theme it appears to suggest– i.e. the strategy or concept or idea the statement on the strip represents. Label this theme using a post-it note. For each strip either allocate it a new theme or place it within an existing theme. When you have done this for all 12 strips, complete the form below entitled: Research Theme connection to knowledge and practice which asks you to think about how the research evidence you have just engaged with relates to your existing knowledge on assessment for learning. Research Strips  The following statements are a summary of key findings from the following pieces of research literature on Assessment for Learning: Flórez and Sammons (2013), Hattie, (2013) and Wiliam et al., (2004). An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback by teachers, and by their pupils in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. 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'How to do it' Guides

How to … engage effectively with research

20 Jun 2017

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      string(5615) "informationthey put online, and this takes time.Can I search museum collections through Google?Not really. Without getting too technical, the software usedto catalogue museum collections is usually different fromthe museum’s visitor information website.It is specialist software. It’s main function is to build anenormous and complex database, including informationessential to the museum – such as storage location, physicalcondition, history of display. But this information isn’t sointeresting to visitors. The software usually doesn’t presentinformation in a way that is visible to a Google search. Thisis why – at least for now – the webquests’ search facility isso exciting.Why is the webquests’ search different?Online collection software is for cataloguing first, and forbeing used by visitors second. So to search collections, younormally need to go to the right part of each museum’swebsite, and work through a fairly complicated search formto find what you need.The webquests’ search facility allows you to look acrossseveral museum collections in one go. It is more focusedthan an internet search, but it produces results that arericher and more diverse than from a single museum. It is onlylimited to nine museums – simply because they were themuseums involved in the project. More could join later.Is searching an online collection like searchingthe internet?No, not exactly. Internet searches often work better withlonger search terms using several words. However, manyonline collections work in a different way – using drop-down lists or other filters to focus your search. This meanslong search terms are less successful in online collectionsearching.The Webquests’ search works across nine collections,which can make it less focused. The filtering choices possibleon each museum website are not available through theWebquests’ search.Also, online collections are not always ranked forrelevance: the top result is not necessarily ‘the best’. But thiscombats ‘Google-centricity’ by changing learners’ habitsand forcing them to delve deeper and not settle for thetop of the list. After all, even Google doesn’t always rankresults perfectly.What is the best way to use the webquests’search?On any webquests search page, there are suggested searchterms. These are usually one or two words. In some casesthere are ‘recommended results’ – to ensure that pupils findappropriate content. Otherwise, pupils would have free reinwithin vast collections.The recommended results also allow learners to comparethe recommended information with information theyfind themselves. This is a useful method for rating theinformation the students find.The best way to learn how to search online collectionsis to practice: find a webquest you like, and get familiarwith the search facility. If you don’t find what youwant first time, try again with different search terms.Be specific – ‘Second World War’ is too broad a term.Planning search terms also reinforces learners’ factualknowledge.Does the webquests’ search cover all ninemuseums?Yes, and no. Each webquest makes use of one or morecollections, but never all nine at once. This keeps thesearch results manageable.On any of the webquests’ search pages, you will seethe names of the museums in that search. Knowingwhich museums will be searched can help you plansearch terms. You can find out more about eachmuseum through the logos at the foot of the webquestshomepage.How does the webquests’ search improve webliteracy?The online collections contain enormous amounts ofinformation, but no single page contains ‘the answers’.Webquests help pupils realise that research takestime. Good historians look at several sources to gatherinformation.Any source needs to be evaluated against others tojudge its worth. This traditional academic skill has beenchallenged by the apparent ease of typing into Google.Arguably, selectivity needs to be applied even morerigorously online.Searching online collections through the webquests’search engine helps pupils to: Draw on their knowledge to plan search terms Gather fragments of information from differentsources to develop a synthesis Learn how to evaluate the merits of information fromdifferent sources Be patient and persistent in seeking appropriatecontent Understand that the internet is not an ‘answerbank’ Value the information found in national museumcollectionsWhat’s next?The webquest project was supported by a generousgrant from the government’s Invest to Save Budget(ISB).Finding technical solutions across a great range ofsystems and setting a common approach to onlinelearning has been a real challenge. This is a new, bespokeapplication, which no one has used before, so everyoneinvolved has learned a great deal along the way. And weare still learning!The webquests have been publicly available for about●●●●●●Image reproduced with kind permission of the Imperial War museum38 Teaching Thinking&Creativity  Vol 9:4Focus on: Museums   www.teachingtimes.comQ 24093 Image reproduced withkind permission of the ImperialWar MuseumFrom the KS3 history webquest:Pictures of Innocence. This we-bquest also supports citizenshipand art & design.Powerful poster imagery is used inPictures of Innocence to examinehow, and how effectively, pictures of children have beenused in propaganda art. This poster is from the US war bonddrive in 1942. This webquest starts with class discussion, thenbranches into four strands for group or individual work. Thechallenge for the class"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Webquest wonders

29 Jul 2009

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      string(5638) "results that are richerand more diverse than from a single museum.It is only limited to nine museums – simplybecause they were the museums involved inthe project. More could join later.Is searching an online collection likesearching the internet?No, not exactly. Internet searches often workbetter with longer search terms using severalwords. However, many online collectionswork in a different way – using drop-downlists or other filters to focus your search. Thismeans long search terms are less successfulIWM PST 8660  Image reproduced with kind permission of the Imperial War MuseumFrom the KS3 history webquest: Pictures of Innocence. This webquest also sup-ports citizenship and art & design.Powerful poster imagery is used in Pictures of Innocence to examine how, andhow effectively, pictures of children have been used in propaganda art. Thisposter was used to pitch British political opinion against Franco in the Spanish civilwar. The webquest starts with class discussion, then branches into four strands forgroup or individual work. The challenge for the class is to choose ten effectiveposters, each student or group making the case for their favourites.20 SUMMER 2009INVESTING IN ICT21SUMMER 2009INVESTING IN ICTin online collection searching.The Webquests’ search works across ninecollections, which can make it less focused.The filter ing choices possible on eachmuseum website are not available throughthe Webquests’ search.Also, online collections are not alwaysranked for relevance: the top result is notnecessar ily ‘the best’. But this combats‘Google-centricity’ by changing learners’habits and forcing them to delve deeperand not settle for the top of the list. Afterall, even Google doesn’t always rank resultsperfectly.What is the best way to use thewebquests’ search?On any webquests search page, there aresuggested search terms. These are usuallyone or two words. In some cases there are‘recommended results’ – to ensure thatpupils find appropriate content. Otherwise,pupils would have free rein within vastcollections.The recommended results also allowlearners to compare the recommendedinformation with information they findthemselves. This is a useful method for ratingthe information the students find.The best way to learn how to searchonline collections is to practice: find awebquest you like, and get familiar withthe search facility. If you don’t find whatyou want first time, try again with differentsearch terms. Be specific – ‘Second WorldWar’ is too broad a term. Planning searchterms also reinforces learners’ factualknowledge.Does the webquests’ search cover allnine museums?Yes, and no. Each webquest makes useof one or more collections, but never allnine at once. This keeps the search resultsmanageable.On any of the webquests’ search pages,you will see the names of the museumsin that search. Knowing which museumswill be searched can help you plan searchterms. You can find out more about eachmuseum through the logos at the foot ofthe webquests homepage.How does the webquests’ searchimprove web literacy?The online collections contain enormousamounts of information, but no singlepage contains ‘the answers’. Webquests helppupils realise that research takes time. Goodhistorians look at several sources to gatherinformation.Any source needs to be evaluated againstothers to judge its worth. This traditionalacademic skill has been challenged bythe apparent ease of typing into Google.Arguably, selectivity needs to be appliedeven more rigorously online.Searching online collections through thewebquests’ search engine helps pupils to: Draw on their knowledge to plan searchterms Gather fragments of information fromdifferent sources to develop a synthesis Learn how to evaluate the merits ofinformation from different sources Be patient and persistent in seekingappropriate content Understand that the internet is not an‘answer bank’ Value the information found in nationalmuseum collections●●●●●●What’s next?The webquest project was supported by agenerous grant from the government’s Investto Save Budget (ISB).Finding technical solutions across a greatrange of systems and setting a commonapproach to online learning has been a realchallenge. This is a new, bespoke application,which no one has used before, so everyoneinvolved has learned a great deal along theway. And we are still learning!The webquests have been publicly availablefor about four months. In that time, wemuseums have been spreading the word,training teachers, and building even morewebquests. We aim to offer a hundredwebquests online for the start of the 2009-10autumn term.The webquests were created as exemplars– as inspiration for teachers to use onlinecollections and to visit museums, not as rigidschemes of work to be followed in detail. Thecombination of online research and offlineoutput makes webquests endlessly flexible.Teachers can even make their own – on thewebquests homepage, you can download aPowerpoint template. It lets you pick thebest features of webquests, but it’s writtenentirely by you. There are also sections fromthis article and another Powerpoint articleexplaining the background to webquests– to help keen teachers spread the word totheir colleagues.These are YOUR national museumcollections, waiting to be used. Have fun!(A 20689)  Image reproduced with kind permission of the Imperial War MuseumFrom the KS2 geography webquest: Extreme Temperatures. This WebQuest alsosupports English, history and geography.This powerful image shows sailor"
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Digital Learning

Museum WebQuests

19 Jul 2009

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      string(5694) "restricting the scope of a search and controlling the quality of information. In any single situation, the educator would apply one of these options at most.6. Recommend a total number of sources to be consultedThis is an obvious way of varying the difficulty of the task. The decision that is made by the educator in terms of how many sources should be used will depend on many factors, notably the age of the learner, their ability level and maturity, the standard at which they are expected to be working (e.g. GCSE, A-level) and the complexity of the subject being investigated. It may be said, for example, that a highly involved topic is more likely to necessitate the use of a large number of sources than would a simple one, because illumination will need to be gained on more aspects and perspectives. If an extravagant number of sources is examined when a less challenging topic is under scrutiny, the repetition of information will, after a while, lead to wasted effort once the early material has been soundly corroborated by that encountered later. This situation is similar to how, in the words of Lincoln and Guba, when undertaking qualitative inquiry, ‘a dozen or so interviews, if properly selected, will exhaust most available information; to include as many as twenty will surely reach well beyond the point of redundancy’.8 The IWIM approach is best suited to complex work that demands the use of many sources. If the assignment can be completed with the student having to exploit only a few, IWIM is scarcely necessary.7. Guide the students on how the search may be widened after the first phaseOnce the preliminary framework for writing the essay has been put in place by the student, the educator may offer advice of varying degrees of specificity on how the search to follow may be conducted. They may suggest, for example,footnote-chasing and -chaining;pursuing the work of authors whom the learner now knows to be important players in the discipline;contacting others, like available experts, who have specialist knowledge of the area and whose potential worth to the study has only recently become apparent; concentrating searching efforts on aspects of the topic that the learner did not realise at the outset were significant;visiting libraries and information centres further afield;using search engines not normally exploited by students and if available, more specialist abstracting and indexing services;working with citation indexes in order to identify sources that reference items already seen by the student and known to be useful. Google Scholar can be invaluable in this regard.Overall, a key strategy on the part of the educator is likely to lie in facilitating ‘snowballing’, i.e. using early discoveries to provide inspiration and momentum for the later investigation of sources, authors and issues.8. Encourage a ‘holist’ perspectiveFor some students, the collecting and reporting of evidence can almost become an end in itself. At its worst, this may lead to a product that is the result of much copying and pasting of text from the barest handful of sources, with little to link the extracts selected. Students may well need to be helped to realise the importance of constructing a central thesis or overarching chronological narrative, in which a range of elements of information, drawn from different places, are compared or contrasted, with each contributing illumination that is crucial to the overall argument or story. Once this understanding is in place, the application of IWIM should seem to learners a natural development.9. Issue an evaluation checklistThis tool may not only guide students in producing a more effective outcome; it can also promote greater reflection on both the research process and the product. In its most basic form, the checklist may be little more than a restatement of the task brief which should have given direction to the students’ initial efforts, especially. Ultimately, if the learners return to similar criteria at the end, they can determine, from a retrospective stance, the extent to which they have addressed the task requirements. A more involved checklist may give particular advice, perhaps with prompting questions, on how the two assignment frameworks should have been prepared. If, however, the teacher expects the learners to operate autonomously, the nature and degree of guidance offered must be carefully considered.10. Provide continuity throughout the project’s durationWhere different members of staff are involved in different stages of the activity, such as the formal teaching programme, ongoing one-to-one support (that is provided via, for example, personal tutorials) and the final assessment of the outcomes or processes, clearly they should have similar expectations and assumptions with regard to what is required from the students and how this is to be achieved. Systems may have to be put in place for facilitating communication and liaison in order to ensure such common understandings and, ultimately, maintain cohesion throughout the student experience. More specifically, all staff would need to be familiar with the IWIM approach and the contribution it makes to the project.Final ThoughtsThe IWIM method that was originally advocated in Creative Teaching and Learning did not lend itself especially obviously to independent learning situations beyond Sixth Formers studying for the EPQ. The purpose of this article has been to identify actions that can be taken by the educator to facilitate its use in other educational contexts, in terms of different"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Setting the stage for success in essay construction

8 Jul 2019

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      string(361) "358).Unaware of any research studies in this area that couldhelp him, the individual constructed a list of the journalscovered by three relevant abstracting and indexingservices, and assumed that any serial meeting this criterionmust be of reasonable standing.Frequently the situation that has prompted aninferential strategy involves the making of ..."
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      string(5638) "358).Unaware of any research studies in this area that couldhelp him, the individual constructed a list of the journalscovered by three relevant abstracting and indexingservices, and assumed that any serial meeting this criterionmust be of reasonable standing.Frequently the situation that has prompted aninferential strategy involves the making of a decision.The importance of information in decision-makingis well established in information science, withwriters recognising the association decades ago (e.g.Nehnevajsa, 1966; Voos, 1969).A high degree of cognitive effort is required at variousstages in the process. Initially, the individual musteither identify information that is meaningful to theirsituation and pursue it proactively or recognise its valueif it arrives unsolicited; once it has been accessed a firmlink must be established with their own situation andfinally adjustments mayhave to be made before itcan be applied in a personalcontext. Since inferentiala p p r o a c h e s i m p o s econsiderable demands onthe individual, they arebetter suited to secondaryage youngsters than totheir primary counterparts. It is significant that, in one ofthe few instances of inferential information behaviourthat came to light in the author’s PhD study and whichwas reported by a participant in the younger half of thesample, it was an adult working with the girl who drewthe inferences. The child providing the data wanted tolearn more about a fossil that had been sent to her byher grandfather. She was disappointed by the fact thatthe books she consulted dealt with fossils generally,rather than hers in particular (Shenton, 2009b), and aninferential approach was taken by a helpful adult whosought to apply the information from these texts tothe girl’s own fossil.Inferences should, of course, be made only with caution.One of the major dangers is that there may be factorsinherent in the original scenario of which the youngsteris unaware and the individual is thus poorly placed tomake an accurate comparison between this situationand that, which is occupying their attention. Drawingon the work of Edwards and Poston-Anderson (1996)with adolescent girls, the author has demonstrated howinferential behaviour may involve translating to one’sown situation what has been learnt from monitoring the●●Thinking Skills16 Creative Teaching & Learning n Volume 2.3behaviours and strategies of those who are in a similarposition (Shenton, 2009a). Clearly, the actions of each ofthe people scrutinised may well be influenced by a widerange of factors, and these may be of differing priority.Unless these variables and their respective importanceare articulated by the individual, it is unlikely that theywill be fully appreciated by others.Similarities can be drawn between inferential informationbehaviour and the notion of lateral thinking advocatedby de Bono (1971). Perhaps the moststriking shared feature is that bothemphasise a sideways, rather thanhead-on, approach to dealing withsituations. In addition, de Bono writesof the importance of identifying a pathbetween a ‘new and quite arbitrary’position initially adopted for dealingwith a problem and the ‘starting point’that concerns the person (p. 13).This stance can also be understoodinferentially. The new position involvesconsidering the potentially usefulinformation, whilst the starting pointrelates to the particular challenge athand. Furthermore, de Bono stressesthat a logical path between the twopoints must be constructed and testedrigorously; a similar rule may be appliedin terms of inferential informationbehaviour.Inferential informationbehaviour and problem-solvingInferential information approaches areconsistent with modern assumptions,regarding the mindset needed for effective information-seeking action and the aims that should underpin theteaching of information literacy (IL). Pitts (1994), whohas conducted research with American high schoolers,argues that an adaptable, problem-solving perspectiveis crucial to information-seeking success and certainlythe days when IL involved school librarians teachingonly skills associated with bibliographic tools and paperinformation sources are long gone. Eisenberg (2008)presents the Big6 Skills approach that he has devisedwith Berkowitz as ‘information problem-solving’ (p. 41),and, in her report to the National Forum on InformationLiteracy, Doyle (1992) asserts that students will haveto ‘apply problem solving skills regularly in school andpersonal areas’ if they are ‘to become self-motivated,independent learners’ (p. 14).Yet, with so much information now available so easily,via the Internet, there is a danger that youngsters today failto understand the need for a problem-solving orientation.Educators wanting to add this dimension may face an uphillbattle if their efforts are interpreted by learners as attemptsto overcomplicate what they perceive to be the essentiallystraightforward process of finding information. Moreover,unless the skills of problem-solving are frequently practised,they can be lost very quickly and youngsters fall back onold habits, such as relying without thought on materialfrom the World Wide Web whenever they are required toundertake any form of information search.Inculcating inferential information behaviourPrevious work by the author has highlighted instancesin which an inferential approach has been applied byindividuals in real situations (Shenton, 2009a). In view ofthe method’s utility, it would seem appropriate that effortsare made to address it in schools within IL teaching."
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Special Needs

Promoting inferential information behaviour

16 Apr 2018

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