Action researchers can effectively uncover the theory embedded within inquiries by using a combination of analysis approaches and heuristic models already widely known. Presented here is one approach for mapping theory to capture elements of both program theory and theory of practice. Using a case of a Participatory Evaluative Action Research (PEAR), the article demonstrates how data collected …
In this article, I contribute to the discourse on building theory within the context of action research. Specifically, drawing on advaita (non-dualism) philosophy from Hinduism, I describe a holistic framework which views life as holistic, that is, comprising both subjective and objective views of reality and thus promoting interplay between ontological subjectivity and epistemological objectiv…
The paper explains how individuals can generate their living theories from action research as explanations for their educational influences in learning. The epistemological significance of these explanations is explored in terms of the energy and values that are expressed in explanatory principles of learning in enquiries of the kind, `How do I improve what I am doing?'. Limitations in the expr…
The demographic changes in contemporary American society portend serious consequences with far-reaching implications for the future development of the country. One of the more serious challenges is in the influx of refugees and new immigrants many of whom are not acculturating as easily as in the past. Unfortunately, the use of conventional research methods in studying acculturation has not yie…
This article describes the research process used to develop and evaluate an Internet-based resource aimed at improving access by health professionals to Australian Aboriginal cultural knowledge specific to pregnancy and childbirth. As a result of the research, women's stories from Maningrida were recorded and presented on the `Birthing Business in the Bush Website' which provided a platform for…
This article articulates many of the issues that feminist participatory action researchers confront in attempts to conduct collaborative research with community organizations and the state (see Brydon-Miller, McGuire, & McIntyre, 2004; Gatenby & Humphries, 2000; Reid, Tom, & Frisby, 2006; Sullivan, Bhuyan, Senturia, Shiu-Thornton, & Ciske, 2005). As recent PhD sociologists, the authors were hir…
The Appalachian Land Ownership Study is recognized as a pioneering effort in the interdisciplinary field of participatory action research. This article analyzes this community-based study of land ownership and taxation in Appalachia to determine what lessons it offers a new generation of action researchers. It demonstrates both the practical difficulties in community-based research as well as t…
Can preservice teachers carry out trustworthy action research? We have found that action research can be a powerful experience for preservice teachers. Yet preservice teacher action research projects involve complexities unique to a preservice teacher's position as `guest', `student', `teacher', and `researcher'. In this article, we suggest criteria for trustworthy preservice teacher action res…
Lewin proposed three goals for action research: to advance knowledge; to improve a concrete situation; and to improve behavioral science methodology. The three objectives cannot be met by a single mode of dissemination. Innovative dissemination strategies will be necessary. Action researchers should publish substantive articles in technical journals to reach colleagues; applied articles in peri…
The success or failure of an action research venture often depends on what happens at the beginning of the inquiry process: in the way access is established, and on how participants and co-researchers are engaged early on. ‘Opening communicative space’ is important because, however we base our theory and practice of action research, the first steps are fateful. We draw on Habermas’s theorizing …
Although participation is widely discussed in the action research literature, relatively few studies deal with building the participative relationship itself. This article attempts to fill that gap through a ‘first-person action research’ involving a relationship between Jewish researchers and a Palestinian Arab non-governmental organization in Israel that failed to live up to our espoused valu…
This article provides an example of the contribution a systems psychodynamic approach can make to action research. Drawing from a case study of a complex inter-organizational project, the authors argue that the concept of ‘communicative requires consideration of affectivity, and the holding of an emotional space for people to connect symbiotically with each The case material illustrates how sys…
This article presents the second cycle of an ongoing participatory action research (PAR) project that aimed at facilitating bottom-up, sustainability planning and development in one of the most socio-economically disadvantageous micro-regions of Hungary. The process at the very beginning started as conventional qualitative research, and gradually emerged to a PAR process as deeper relationships…
This article explores the very practical challenges that the author experienced as she and a racially mixed elementary school teaching staff negotiated communicative space within a critical inquiry group exploring race and racism in their teaching context. Specifically, the author explores her role of critical friend as crucial to forming communicative space; the ways that communicative space w…
Classical action research within single organizations has become a well established and differentiated approach since its inception more than six decades ago. More recently, many have built on the foundational principles of action research to develop and implement larger-scale, multi-organization, action research approaches. Multi-organization action research has largely taken the form of coali…
When we present ourselves as doing research that is participatory and action oriented, are we meeting either of those goals? An analysis of 232 concept applications sent to the Sociological Initiatives Foundation community-based research funding pool shows that most proposed research emphasized neither participation nor action. Grassroots community members, or organizations controlled by them, …
In this article I attempt to answer the question, ‘How can I influence teachers to be able to contribute to changing social/cultural norms and practices that hamper effective HIV & AIDS education and prevention?’ There is a growing realization that HIV & AIDS education and prevention initiatives need to move away from trying to change the sexual behaviour of individuals towards addressing socie…
In this, the third in a series of two-yearly reviews (see also Dick, 2004, and Dick, 2006), I identify some of the action research literature that has appeared in books and edited collections over approximately the past two years. After an overview of the general action research literature I gather together other relevant literature under the following headings: action learning; community-based…
Two teacher-educators, an instructor and a teaching assistant, designed an action research project focused on enhancing their professional practice and the practice of their students by introducing the preservice teachers to action research. Both teacher-educators viewed this decision as progressive and emancipatory, as action research encourages inquiry and reflection, connects theory to…
This article describes an action research study on reflective development at school and discusses methodological and pedagogical issues arising from teacher beliefs and expectations. Teachers and researchers participated in four cooperative cycles of inquiry, where situated learning and reflection supported their conceptual change and meaning-making. Teachers underwent a gradual shift fro…