Well...now what?

After our web conference tonight I began second guessing my previous decision for action research.  I am very interested in the topic of self-contained vs. departmentalized classrooms, but I am having a hard time understanding how I will collect my data and which areas I should look at.  Since we have a high population of at-risk students, my focus has now turned to what motivates students to read?  Even with a current incentive program in place we still have many students who choose not to read.  I want to know what methods the teachers are using to motivate the students and which methods are more effective than the others.  Student and parent surveys would also give good insight into the different methods of motivation used.