Teachers are asked to do action research, apply for the Basic Education Research Fund (BERF), and often write a thesis for a graduate degree at the same time. The three overlap, and the words are used loosely. This guide sets out DepEd’s definition of action research, how it differs from basic and applied research and from a thesis, which DepEd templates go with each, and the five-stage framework of the Action Research Toolkit. It ends with two practice items for the National Assessment for School Heads (NASH).

Key points

  • Action research is, in DepEd’s definition, “a process of systematic, reflective inquiry to improve educational practices or resolve problems in any operating unit (i.e. school, classroom, office)” (DO 16, s. 2017). It tests a solution to your own problem in your own setting.
  • Basic research, in the toolkit’s words, is “undertaken to discover, develop, or formulate theories”; applied research “seeks to find usefulness of theories or principles already discovered”.
  • A thesis is defined by its purpose, not its design: it is the study a graduate student completes for a degree, under a university’s rules. It can be basic, applied or action research.
  • DepEd has two templates. DO 16’s annexes give one format for basic research and one for action research, for both the proposal and the completed report.
  • The toolkit’s framework has five stages: Assess the situation, Ask a question, Act to seek answers, Acquire information, and Analyze and reflect.
  • Only two designs test an intervention, according to the toolkit: experimental and qualitative. Causal-comparative, correlational and survey designs belong to assessing the situation.

The definitions

Type Definition Source
Action research “A process of systematic, reflective inquiry to improve educational practices or resolve problems in any operating unit (i.e. school, classroom, office)” DO 16, s. 2017
Basic research “Undertaken to discover, develop, or formulate theories”, “for the sole purpose of finding out general laws about students learning and teachers’ instruction” Action Research Toolkit, session 1.0
Applied research “Seeks to find usefulness of theories or principles already discovered or formulated”, “seeing the practicality of theories in real-life situations” Action Research Toolkit, session 1.0
Thesis A study completed for a graduate degree, following the university’s format and supervised by an adviser and a panel University rules (no DepEd definition)

The toolkit adds what makes action research different from the problem solving teachers do every day: “in it, we start with a research question”, and proceed through a distinct set of steps. It also notes that action research is “initiated by education practitioners themselves” and done “right in their own classrooms”. When several action research projects in different settings find the same intervention effective, applied or basic research may follow to establish it for a wider group.

A note on DepEd’s usage. DO 16, s. 2017 gives two templates, basic research and action research (Annex 2 for the proposal, Annex 6 for the completed report), and the research application form lists “Action Research”, “Basic Research” and “Others” as categories. Studies that a textbook would call applied, such as a division’s study of why learners drop out, are therefore usually written up with the basic research template.

How they differ

Action research Basic research (DepEd template) Thesis
Purpose Improve a practice or solve a problem in your own class, school or office Build knowledge on a question beyond one setting, often to inform policy Earn a graduate degree
Who does it The practitioner with the problem, alone or in a small team DepEd personnel or external researchers A graduate student
Where the question comes from A problem in your setting The research agenda, theory or policy needs The student, the adviser and the field
Typical design An intervention tested with an experimental or qualitative design Surveys, correlational, comparative, experimental or qualitative studies Any design the panel approves
Sample Usually the learners you teach (purposive) Samples meant to represent a population Set by the design
Generalization To your own setting; others judge whether it fits theirs To the population sampled Set by the design
Proposal format DO 16 Annex 2, Template B: context and rationale, action research questions, proposed innovation, methods, work plan, cost, dissemination, references DO 16 Annex 2, Template A: introduction and rationale, literature review, research questions, scope and limitation, methodology (with ethical issues), timetable, cost, dissemination, references The university’s format, commonly five chapters
Report ends with Discussion of results and reflection, and an action plan Discussion of results and recommendations, and dissemination and advocacy plans Summary, conclusions and recommendations
BERF ceiling (set by scope) Classroom-based or school-wide: up to PhP 30,000, up to six months Division or regional scope: up to PhP 150,000; national: up to PhP 500,000; each up to a year Not a category of its own

The literature review shows the difference in emphasis: the basic research template has a separate literature review section, while the action research template folds the review into the context and rationale. The toolkit still treats the review of literature as essential to action research, because it guides the question, the intervention, the design and the analysis.

The five-stage framework

The toolkit’s framework (section 2.1) is a cycle of five stages, the “five A’s”:

  1. Assess the situation: look for a problem in class or school that needs a solution.
  2. Ask a question: turn the problem into a research question and hypotheses.
  3. Act to seek answers: choose and carry out the intervention with a suitable design.
  4. Acquire information: collect data before, during and after the intervention.
  5. Analyze and reflect: analyze the data, draw conclusions, and reflect on what to do next.

Section 1.0 turns the framework into five steps: identify a research problem (stage 2), design the action research (stage 3), collect data (stage 4), analyze and interpret the data (the first part of stage 5), and write the report. Assessing the situation and reflecting are, in the toolkit’s words, “mental processes” before and after the five steps.

Designs by stage. The toolkit says there are “only two possible research designs when interventions are applied—experimental and qualitative design”. Causal-comparative, correlational and survey designs are for assessing the situation, before choosing an intervention. Our guides: pretest-posttest designs, interviews and focus groups, chi-square for causal-comparative studies, Pearson correlation and surveys.

One problem, three studies

At the end of SY 2025-26, 14.4% of Grade 1 learners assessed in the mother tongue were struggling readers, the highest share of any grade and language in the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA) (CRLA End-of-Year Results SY 2025-26). The same problem can lead to three kinds of study:

  • Action research: a Grade 1 teacher with eight struggling readers tests a daily 15-minute letter-sound routine for ten weeks, comparing their reading before and after and interviewing the learners and parents. The result guides the teacher’s own practice.
  • Basic research: a division research team studies which school conditions, such as class size, multigrade classes or teacher experience, go with higher shares of struggling readers across the division’s schools, to guide division programs.
  • Thesis: a graduate student could do either, following the university’s format, or an experimental study of the routine across several schools with comparison groups.

Can a thesis also be an action research?

Yes, if the university accepts the design: many education graduate programs allow action research theses. Two cautions:

  • The formats differ. A thesis follows the university’s chapters; a DepEd action research follows DO 16’s template. Prepare both versions if you submit to both.
  • Funding and approvals are separate. DO 16 does not mention theses. If you want BERF funding or DepEd approval to conduct a study that is also your thesis, read your region’s call and ask your division research coordinator; disclose that the study is for a degree.

Common mistakes

  • Calling any study by a teacher “action research”, including surveys and correlational studies with no intervention.
  • Writing an action research in thesis chapters, with a long literature review and no action plan.
  • Generalizing an action research result to all schools. It shows what happened in one setting.
  • Skipping the reflection and the action plan, the parts that make it action research.

Practice: how the NASH may test this

Question 1

Indicator 1.4.3, Research and innovation. Career Stage 3, Situational, Moderate.

A teacher plans to submit a master’s thesis to the division as an action research. The thesis surveys 300 teachers in the division and correlates their years of service with their learners’ reading results. The teacher asks for your endorsement. What is the most appropriate action?

  • A. Endorse it as an action research, since it addresses reading, a priority of the research agenda.
  • B. Explain that a study with no intervention in the teacher’s own class is not action research under DO 16, and help the teacher either submit it under the basic research category, if the call allows, or design an action research on a problem in the teacher’s class.
  • C. Advise the teacher to drop the study, since a thesis cannot be used for DepEd research.
  • D. Endorse it after asking the teacher to rename it an “action research” and add a reflection section.
Answer and explanation

Best answer: B. Points: A = 1, B = 3, C = 0, D = 2.

  • A (1 point, Unistructural). It looks only at the topic, not at whether the design fits the category.
  • B (3 points, Relational). It applies DepEd’s definition, keeps the study’s value by pointing it to the right category, and offers a route to a true action research.
  • C (0 points, Prestructural). DO 16 does not bar studies done for a degree; dropping a useful study helps no one.
  • D (2 points, Multistructural). It recognizes that action research needs reflection, but renaming a correlational survey does not make it action research.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 3 expectations because indicator 1.4.3 asks the school head to collaborate with school personnel in the conduct of research. DO 16, s. 2017 defines action research as inquiry “to improve educational practices or resolve problems” in an operating unit, with its own template, and the Action Research Toolkit places correlational and survey designs in the stage of assessing the situation.

Indicator 1.4.3: Collaborate with school personnel in the conduct of research and utilization of findings in facilitating data-driven and evidence-based innovations to improve school performance.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2017; DepEd Action Research Toolkit (2019); DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Question 2

Indicator 1.4.2, Research and innovation. Career Stage 2, Situational, Moderate.

A Grade 2 teacher’s action research found that a peer-reading routine raised the class’s mean reading score by 12 points in one term. The district supervisor proposes requiring the routine in every Grade 2 class in the district next school year. What should the school head recommend?

  • A. Support the requirement, since the action research showed that the routine works.
  • B. Oppose it, since action research results cannot be used beyond the teacher’s own class.
  • C. Recommend that several teachers in different schools try the routine next year and track their results, ideally with comparison classes, before deciding on a district-wide requirement.
  • D. Recommend that the teacher present the study at the district research congress before any decision is made.
Answer and explanation

Best answer: C. Points: A = 1, B = 0, C = 3, D = 2.

  • A (1 point, Unistructural). It uses the finding, but one class in one term, without a comparison group, is weak evidence for a district mandate.
  • B (0 points, Prestructural). Action research findings can inform others; the toolkit notes that consistent results from several action research projects can lead to wider studies.
  • C (3 points, Relational). It treats the result as promising, tests it in more settings, and adds comparisons so that the decision rests on stronger evidence.
  • D (2 points, Multistructural). Sharing is good practice, but a presentation alone does not strengthen the evidence.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because indicator 1.4.2 asks the school head to use research findings in evidence-based innovations. The Action Research Toolkit explains that when several action research projects in different situations confirm an intervention’s efficacy, applied or basic research may follow to establish its usefulness for a wider group.

Indicator 1.4.2: Utilize relevant research findings from reliable sources in facilitating data-driven and evidence-based innovations to improve school performance.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2017; DepEd Action Research Toolkit (2019); DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Frequently asked questions

What is action research according to DepEd?

DO 16, s. 2017 defines it as “a process of systematic, reflective inquiry to improve educational practices or resolve problems in any operating unit (i.e. school, classroom, office)”. In practice, a teacher or school head tests a solution to a problem in their own setting and reflects on the results.

What is the difference between action research and basic research?

Action research tests a solution to a problem in the researcher’s own setting, to improve practice there. Basic research, in the toolkit’s definition, aims to discover or formulate theories and general laws; in DepEd’s templates, it covers studies that are not action research, such as division or regional studies.

Is a thesis the same as action research?

No. A thesis is a study done for a graduate degree, and its design can be basic, applied or action research. An action research thesis is possible if the university accepts it, but the DepEd and university formats differ.

What are the five stages of the action research framework?

In DepEd’s Action Research Toolkit: Assess the situation, Ask a question, Act to seek answers, Acquire information, and Analyze and reflect.

More on DepEd research

Sources

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. The examples and practice items are ours. NASH Reviewer is not affiliated with DepEd.