Action research is a method through which information is generated while you are working on the problem.  It is generally used for practical purposes instead of academic pursuits.  Action research is generally speaking not something that gets published in a peer reviewed journal but is instead something that might be used to justify funding for a program or prove a need in a classroom or school.  Action research is typically done all under the same roof meaning it is something that is under the control of a single person or small group of people from statement of problem all the way to the findings of the experiment.  Its smaller in scale than traditional research and can be something that an individual teacher does to prove a need for their individual classroom.

Example of Action Research 

Traditional research is a method through which information is generated by consulting the current research and creating an experiment.  The main purpose of traditional research is usually to move the conversation about a topic forward and not necessarily to solve a problem in an individual classroom like action research.  Traditional research is generally done by researchers at a university or other research institute.  The end product is then usually given to be peer reviewed and published in a journal to be read by other academics.  Only once a topic has been thoroughly studied does it get down to an individual teacher's pedagogy.

Example of Traditional Research 

Quantitative research tries to get to the answer to the questions how much or how little something studied happens.  When doing quantitative research there are many ways to collect the data.  Quantitative research needs statistical data to interpret.  Typically these statistics are the product of experimental information. 

Qualitative research answers the question how well something works or doesn't work.  It look for reasons for things that have happened.  Typically qualitative research is gained through surveys and interviews as that allows the researchers to get into the reasoning or emotional response of the people.  The people who take part in these kinds of research studies help the researchers understand trends in the data that can help to point to new fields to study.

Research in education is necessary to show not only that a concept works but also the delivery of the concept works as a path toward effectiveness.  Public education accounts for a large part of state and local budgets.  Because of that we need to prove that the money that we are using is actually being used appropriately.  Action research is aimed more at teachers who are trying to figure things out for their individual classrooms and lessons.  Traditional research is more about long term data that is going to be peer reviewed and published.