Action Research: Its History and Relationship to Scientific Methodology (original) (raw)
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Action research: a contradiction in terms
Oxford Review of Education, 2004
The core idea of action research is that there should be an intimate relationship between inquiry and practical or political activities. A challenge to this idea based on an influential ancient Greek hierarchy between theoria and praxis is examined. The contrary, pragmatist, notion that all inquiry arises out of human activity is accepted, but not the instrumentalism sometimes derived from it. Research must be treated as operating on the same plane as any other activity, but the relationship between the two will always be less than isomorphic, and this creates the prospect of severe tensions. These can be managed contextually in two ways: by subordinating inquiry, or by making it primary. Both are legitimate, but any attempt to treat the two components of action research as equal faces contradiction.
International Journal of Action Research
The article explores and discusses whether we as action researchers are undermining or subverting our own intuitions and intentions, or at least not doing justice to it, when mixing a) learning and exploration through individual and collective action and reflection, with b) elements from conventional researchmethods. The article'sb asic question: Can the intentions and resultsf rom a) be reduced to and validated fully or partly through b) conventional methods?C an we save the scientific legitimacyo fa ction research by ultimately resorting to conventional methods and theories?W hat does action research uniquely add in relation to conventional learning, knowledge generation, and change projects?W ed iscuss some challengesr aised by questions like these, and suggest ways of handling them. After exploring ways of being "seduced" by conventional methods, we concludebyrecommending ag noseology to replace ao ne-dimensional epistemology, and by explaining and recommending the procedure of immanent critique as aw ay of developing insights and competencies from the inside of practices; i. e. a genuinely Action research method.
In this study an attempt has been made to answer the question "What is Action Research?" giving an overview of its processes and principles, stating when it is appropriate to use, and situating it within a praxis research paradigm. The definition and evolution of the approach is described, including the various kinds of action research being used today. The action research process and its nature have been discussed from different scholars' point of view. This article also seeks to add a new dimension to, and way of thinking about, the cyclical process underlying action research and its relationship to problems and learning issues. The nature of action research highlights six different key principles as well as situates it in a research paradigm followed by different types of action research along with its characteristic issues and ethical considerations. Finally, this study has revealed that action research is deliberate and solution-oriented investigation that is group or personally owned and conducted.
Action Research: A Remedy to Overcome the Gap between 'Theory' and 'Practice'
Action research is an important research methodology in management science. Though action research has been defined and discussed by many researchers, there are still controversies about the implication of this research tool in academic world. This article highlighted some important points about action research, and provides an overview of this research method for showing its potential as a research technique along with the history, meaning and features of action research.
The dual imperatives of action research
Information Technology & …, 2001
Action research (AR) is not without its critics, and those who reject some of the paradigmatic assumptions embodied in AR maintain that AR is little more than consultancy, that it is impossible to establish causal relationships, that it is difficult to generalize from AR studies, that there ...
A Review of the Nature of Action Research
I (iii) an interplay between restricted/fixed and extended/flexible approaches. This diversity has resulted in two general reactions. Many have attempted to arrive at a restricted, fixed and 'ideal' definition of action research and its core characteristics. This position tends to suggest that action research should always attempt to achieve relatively ambitious goals based on a critical orientation and strong research participation. Alternatively, others have adopted a more extended and flexible approach where: (a) the expectations of the extent and level of change are more modest; (b) the requirement of participation is more flexible; and most significantly (c) methodologically, a wide range of features can be accommodated with a willingness to combine a range of research elements in a way that 'suits the circumstances'.