Status study research method: A short note and an ABC poem

Not only research in various areas of social sciences has picked up since the first half of the twentieth century, but also new research methods got added up in research including the practitioner led researches in teaching and pedagogy such as status studies leading to action research, lesson studies, reflective studies, observational research, content analysis, descriptive research, participatory research, intervention designing, theory into action research, etc.

Usefulness of conventional research methods and topics in education leading to PhD have seen diminished usefulness in revealing more information and implications A need had been felt in recent years that researchers are required to move beyond theoretical studies, experimental studies, empirical studies, comparative studies and have introduced new method to overcome many methodological and theoretical limitation with emphasis on descriptive research in the study of status to have an proper understanding of the present reality and its transnational distance from the the reality as it out to be.

Mainstreaming of status studies and evaluative studies is required in education, nutrition, epidemiology, development and behavioral sciences to understand the present reality, expected reality and interventions to fill the gap.

ABCs of status study

A: Action research in participatory observational mode with practitioners after evaluating the the present reality with recommendations for improvement

B: Bringing theory or vision into action and its consonance index on the bases of the efforts being undertaken

C: Capturing the present reality through direct observation, participation in activities, in-depth interviews and access to achieves of the institution

D: Descriptive study by visiting the points of action to estimate the distance between theory and action or between policy and practice

E: Evaluative study through critical and creative reflection in the real situation by being a part of the action.

It has been found that the value of the status study is based on the premise that problems can be solved and practices improved through observation, description and collective reflective analysis. Thus, status study is a form of descriptive research that generates data, both qualitative and quantitative to define the state of reality at a point in time.