Action Research

Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaFaculty of Law Pursuing PHD Program in LawP58462

Musbri MohamedDIL; ADIL ( ITM )MBL ( UKM )

• What is action research?

• There is no short answer to the question “What is action research?” (1) . Nevertheless as the name suggests, action research is a methodology which has the dual aims of action and research...

• action to bring about change in some community or organization or program; and 

• research to increase understanding on the part of the researcher or the client, or

• both (and often some wider community).

• There are in fact action research methods whose main emphasis is on action, with research as a fringe benefit.  At the extreme, the "research" may take the form of increased understanding on the part of those most directly involved.  For this form of action research the outcomes are change, and learning for those who take part. 

(1) The handbook of Action Research; Editors Reason and Bradbury (2001:1)

• A minimal definition of action research can be built around two main criteria:

• (1) that it pursued both action and research outcomes; in a sense, it was true to label; and

• (2) that it was a cyclic process, with critical reflection a component in each cycle.

 • Kemmis and McTaggart (2) define Action Research as :-• Action research is a form of collective, self-reflective inquiry that

participants in social situation undertake to improve : (1) the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices ; (2) the participants’ understanding of these practices and the situations in which they carry out this practices. Groups of participants can be teachers , students , parents , workplace colleagues , social activists or any other community members – that is , any group with a shared concern. The approach is action research only when it is collaborative and achieved through the critically examined action of individual group members.

(2) Kemmis , S. and Mc Taggart, R. (Eds) (1988) , The Action Research Planner, 3rd ed., Deakin University Press, Geelong, Victoria

• History • Origins in late 1940s ; Kurt Lewin is generally considered the

‘father’ of action research. He is a German social and experimental psychologist, and one of the founders of the Gestalt school, he was concerned with social problems, and focused on participative group processes for addressing conflict, crises, and change, generally within organizations.

• A paper title “Group Decision and Social Change” (3) written by Lewin for the first edition of Reading in Social Psychology pertaining to changing food habits; summarized that action research consisted in analysis, act-finding, conceptualization, planning , execution, more fact-finding or evaluation, and then a repetition of this whole circle of activities; indeed , a spiral of such circles.

(3) Lewin K, Group Decision and Social Change ; In T.M Newcomb & E.L Hanley(Eds.) Reading in social psychology. New York. Holt,Rinehart and Winston, 1947

• “If you want it done right, you may as well do it yourself.”

• This aphorism may seem appropriate if you are a picky housekeeper, but more and more people are beginning to realize it can also apply to large corporations, community development projects by NGOs, and even national governments. Such entities exist increasingly in an interdependent world, and are relying on Action Research as a means of coming to grips with their constantly changing and turbulent environments.

• How to describe Action Research

• Action research is a research method which is usually mostly qualitative and usually participative.  Its very name describes its aims: to achieve both action and research outcomes within a single study.

• Action research is a flexible spiral process which allows action (change, improvement) and research (understanding, knowledge) to be achieved at the same time. The understanding allows more informed change and at the same time is informed by that change. People affected by the change are usually involved in the action research. This allows the understanding to be widely shared and the change to be pursued with commitment.

• Action research consists of a family of research methodologies which pursue action and research outcomes at the same time.  It therefore has some components which resemble consultancy or change agency, and some which resemble field research.

• In actuality there are two distinct families of action research.  One has research as its main emphasis, but tries to do this in ways which provide action outcomes too.  The other has action as its focus, and the research mostly takes the form of understanding on the part of those involved.  If it adds to published knowledge, that is a rare bonus.

• Conventional experimental research, for good reason, has developed certain principles to guide its conduct.  These principles are appropriate for certain types of research; but they can actually inhibit effective change.  Action research has had to develop a different set of principles.  It also has some characteristic differences from most other qualitative methods.

• Action research tends to be...

• cyclic -- similar steps tend to recur, in a similar sequence;

• participative -- the clients and informants are involved as partners, or at least active participants, in the research process;

• qualitative -- it deals more often with language than with numbers; and

• reflective -- critical reflection upon the process and outcomes are important parts of each cycle.

• To achieve action, action research is responsive.  It has to be able to respond to the emerging needs of the situation.  It must be flexible in a way that some research methods cannot be.

• Action research is emergent.  The process takes place gradually.  Its cyclic nature helps responsiveness.  It also aids rigour.  The early cycles are used to help decide how to conduct the later cycles.  In the later cycles, the interpretations developed in the early cycles can be tested and challenged and refined.

• In most instances the use of qualitative information increases responsiveness.  It is possible to work in natural language, which is easier for informants.  There is no need to develop a metric (which may have to be abandoned later if it doesn't fit the emerging situation).

• The use of language also makes the whole process more accessible to participants.  They can develop enough understanding to become co-researchers in many situations.

• One crucial step in each cycle consists of critical reflection.  The researcher and others involved first recollect and then critique what has already happened.  The increased understanding which emerges from the critical reflection is then put to good use in designing the later steps.

• Qualitative or quantitative ?

• Most action research is qualitative.  Some is a mix of qualitative and quantitative.  All else being equal, numbers do offer advantages.  In field settings, though, one often has to make other sacrifices to be able to use them.  Most importantly, sometimes numbers are not easily applied to some features of a study.  If these include features of particular interest or importance, the choice is between qualitative research or omitting important features.

• In addition, developing a suitable quantitative measure is often difficult and time-consuming.  It may be more time-efficient to use qualitative data. 

• Action research is true to label: it pursues action and research outcomes.  It is most effective when the end result emerges from the data.  The conclusions drawn are data-based, preferably drawing the data from multiple sources.  The conclusions emerge slowly over the course of the study.  At each cycle the researchers challenge the emerging conclusions by vigorously pursuing disconfirming evidence.

• The major justification for action research methods is that they can be responsive to the situation in a way that many other research methods can not be, at least in the short term.  On these grounds I think action research will usually, though perhaps not always, be cyclic in nature.  In the interests of rigour, each cycle will include critical reflection.  In most instances it will also be qualitative and participative to some extent.

• Can action research be quantitative? 

 

• Yes, though it is usually qualitative. Most of the time action research uses natural language rather than numbers: the use of natural language suits a paradigm which is participative and responsive to the situation. 

 

• People communicate naturally in language.  Communication is an important part of action research, especially in its more participative varieties.

• Quantitative measures can be valuable.  But developing them requires a substantial investment in time.  This may not be warranted if you are likely to change your mind about the measures that you need.  When suitable quantitative measures are available, there is no reason why they may not be used.

•  

• Qualitative and quantitative approaches can often complement each other well.  For example, you might carry out a quantitative survey or other activity.  These data might then be interpreted qualitatively by the people within the system being analysed .

• Cycles

• There are many ways of describing the cycles.  Kemmis and McTaggart, for example, describe each as having four elements:  plan, act, observe, reflect.  The important characteristic of each cycle is that the researcher plans before acting, and reflects on the findings and the method after acting.  The reflection at the end of each cycle feeds into the planning for the next cycle.

• A typical cycle may look something like this:

• 1a  Decide which questions you wish to have answered;  if this is the first step in the process, it may be a very broad question:  "How does this system work?", perhaps.

• 1b  Decide who to ask, and how to ask them.  (This and the previous step are both "plan".)

• 2   Ask.  (This is the "act" component.)

• 3a  Check the information you collected;  devise ways of testing it in the next cycle.

• 3b  Interpret the information -- what does it mean?  Devise ways of testing your interpretation in the next cycle.

• 3c  Check the adequacy of your choice of participants and way of collecting information.  Amend them for the next cycle if desirable.

• 3d  Check your data and interpretation against the relevant literature;  you may not do this for every step, but may limit it to every few cycles.  (This and the three prior steps are part of reflection.)

• and return to step 1a of the next cycle with an improved methodology, questions, and sample of participants.

• The planning and reflection, and perhaps the data collection, will probably be carried out with the help of participants from the client group.

• In fact, there are cycles within cycles.  If you are using interviews for data collection, each interview is a cycle.  The sequence of interviews forms another cycle, as do the other forms of data-collection you use.  In turn, they are part of the still larger cycle of the overall project.

• The cycle best known in Australia is probably that of Stephen Kemmis and his colleagues at Deakin University.  The steps are:

• plan --> act --> observe --> reflect (and then --> plan etc.)

• The reflection leads on to the next stage of planning.  The "planning" isn't a separate and prior step; it is embedded in the action and reflection.  Short, multiple cycles allow greater rigour to be achieved.

• As change is intended to result, effective action research depends upon the agreement and commitment of those affected by it.  This is usually generated by involving them directly in the research process.  In many instances, researchers try to involve them as equal partners.

• Why should action research have participation as a basic element? The difference between action research and other forms of research.

• It is said that one of the basic differences between action

research and other forms of research is the requirement for real change to occur as a consequence of the action research which is being undertaken.

• For real change to occur, participation by the people actually in the situation under research or affected by the outcomes (stakeholders) also has to occur.

• Real change mean workable, equitable and sustainable outcomes i.e. that the change works, it is fair and it will last. For success in these 3 elements, participation by the stakeholders is essential because:

• they are familiar with the situation under research so they are able to identify the initial presenting issues very clearly;

• they know the history and can tell you what has been tried, and what might be culturally acceptable;

• they are able to act themselves and to intimately evaluate solutions as to their suitability for their particular environment;

• they will be there after my involvement in the research is complete and will be able to progress the actions because they will have learnt about the issues along the way;

• they will have developed relationships along the way which will assist in progressing the actions; and

• finally, I believe in the old saying that "two heads are better than one".  And it has been my repeated experience that stakeholders can often come up with a better solution together than any one of us would have separately.

• Action research is not widely used because it is not well understood.  There are, I think, two main reasons for this.  Firstly, it is very different from scientific method, with which it is inevitably compared.  Secondly, some practitioners, with a poor understanding of action research, call what they do "action research" when it is simply unevaluated action.  This gives action research a poor reputation.

• Action research is a research paradigm which allows you to develop knowledge or understanding as part of practice.  It allows research to be done in situations where other research methods may be difficult to use.  For instance, you may find it useful if...

• you must remain flexible

• or you wish to involve the people in the system being researched

• or you wish to bring about change at the same time

• or the situation is too ambiguous to frame a precise research question.

• In short, action research is a useful way of doing research if you are a practitioner who wishes to improve your understanding of your practice.  Its other common use is by activists who wish to engage the clients as co-researchers.  It can also be used for preliminary or pilot research before using some other research approach.

• Why would anyone use action research?

 

• There are a number of reasons why you might choose to do action research, including for thesis research...

 

• ….. Action research lends itself to use in work or community situations.  Practitioners, people who work as agents of change, can use it as part of their normal activities. 

• …… When practitioners use action research it has the potential to increase the amount they learn consciously from their experience.

• ……. Action research is usually participative.  This implies a partnership between you and your clients.  You may find this more ethically satisfying. 

For some purposes it may also be more occupationally relevant.

• How do you do action research?

• There are many ways to do action research.  It is a research paradigm which subsumes a variety of research approaches.  Within the paradigm there are several established methodologies.  Some examples are Checkland’s (1981) soft systems analysis, Argyris’ (1985) action science, and Kemmis’ critical action research (Carr and Kemmis, 1986) and Patton’s (1990) approach to evaluation. Each of these methodologies draws on a number of methods for information collection and

interpretation, for example interviewing and content analysis.

• Methodology

• In its pursuit of understanding and change, and its use of participation, action research is unable to use the methods of experimental research to develop a warrant for its assertions.  It requires a different approach.

• Action research achieves this in the first place by being critically reflective within a cyclic process.  In addition, at all stages, the researcher attempts to find exceptions to the data so far collected, and to disconfirm the emerging interpretations.

• When would you use action research?

• It is when you wish to achieve understanding and change at the same time. As the description above reveals, most action research is cyclic or spiral. It alternates between action and critical reflection as it moves forward. The reflection begins with critical review of the situation and of past actions. It is followed by informed planning of the next action.

• There are cycles within cycles within cycles. Some extend across an entire study. Others occupy only minutes or less. The result can be a very flexible and responsive process. When each cycle includes a vigorous seeking out of disconfirming evidence the flexibility is also accompanied by research rigor. The people affected by the change are involved in the action and the critical reflection. Understanding is widely shared, and so is commitment to any planned change.

• Action research certainly isn't the only research process. It isn't even the only process for researching change. However, it is a process well suited to situations where you wish to achieve change (the "action") and understanding (the "research") at the same time.

•  

• Good action research is like good social consultancy or community or organizational change.  It draws on the same skills and procedures.  It offers the same satisfactions.  The

costs are that it takes time, energy and creativity.

• Action Research Tools

 

• Action Research is more of a holistic approach to problem-solving, rather than a single method for collecting and analyzing data. Thus, it allows for several different research tools to be used as the project is conducted. These various methods, which are generally common to the qualitative research paradigm, include: keeping a research journal, document collection and analysis, participant observation recordings, questionnaire surveys, structured and unstructured interviews, and case studies.

 

• Action research projects are generally situationally unique, but there are elements in the methods that can be used by other researchers in different circumstances.

• Action Research and Information Technology

• The characteristics of the new information technologies, especially that of computer conferencing, which allows group communications to take place outside of the bounds of time and space, have the potential to be well suited to action research.

• Generally action research is research by particular people on their own work to help them improve what they do, including how they work with and for others.  Action Research does not treat people as objects.  It treats people as autonomous, responsible agents who participate actively in making their own histories by knowing what they are doing.

• Musbri Mohamed

January 2011