Physical and Biological Science as Iterative Cycles of Thought and Action

The episode that we recount here happened to Greenwood 25 years ago. He has retold the story often enough that, in the way of narratives, his recollection of it is as much tied up with the retellings as with the original episode. He did not document the episode with anything other than lecture notes

Science Is Humans in Action

There is much to learn from this story, but we want to stress the social and cul­tural dimensions of scientific activity that are revealed by this way of present­ing the scientific method. Not only do the scientists go out and get grants, often writing collaboratively to do so, but the laboratories in which they

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Conventional Social Research and Action Research

To organize this discussion, we begin by paralleling our treatment of conven­tional social science with our presentation of AR. We say much less about conventional research because we assume the reader’s familiarity with it, but we use the contrast to highlight both similarities and differences between conventional social science and AR. We find it

The Cogenerative Model

AR can be thought of as a process consisting of at least two analytically distinct phases. The first involves the clarification of an initial research question, whereas the second involves the initiation and continuation of a social change and meaning construction process. This does not mean that the problem defi­nition process is ever final;

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Action Research Is Not Merely “Qualitative Research”

We asserted at the outset that it is wrong to think of AR as “qualitative” research, yet a great many conventional researchers and far too many action researchers make this error. It is clear to us that limiting AR to qualitative research approaches is entirely unacceptable and is inconsistent with the AR enterprise itself.

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Workability and Explanation of Action Research

While many of the techniques used in AR and some of the operations that take place in AR projects are familiar to experienced social researchers, the similar­ity ends when it comes to workability—for example, judging the adequacy of an interpretation according to how well it works when acted on in a local con­text. Conventional

Local Knowledge and Professional Social Science Research Knowledge of Action Research

In AR, professional social researchers and insider community, organization, or network members are cosubjects and coresearchers in the research process. Both contribute many kinds ofknowledge and actions to their joint enterprise. The conventional social sciences have no difficulty with the idea of expert social researchers, but they generally reject the idea that local people,

The Knowledge Generation Process of Action Research

We argue that AR, in addition to generating valid knowledge and effective social action, embodies democratic ideals in its core practices. This democratization is involved in both the research process and the outcomes of the research. In AR, the research process must be democratic in the sense that it is open, partic­ipatory, and fair

Writing Up Action Research

A secondary effect of applying the concept of a dialectic as a way of conceptu­alizing knowledge generation in AR is that it introduces the dynamics of the knowledge generation into the picture. Knowledge is not constructed once and for all but results from a sequence of dialectic encounters (theses meeting antitheses to generate new

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Action Researcher: Not Trying to Overcome an Unruly World

As we defined it earlier, action research is a cogenerative process through which professional researchers and interested members of a local organization, com­munity, or a specially created organization collaborate to research, understand, and resolve problems of mutual interest. AR is a social process in which pro­fessional knowledge, local knowledge, process skills, research skills, and

Action Researcher: Creating Possibilities Rather Than Reinforcing Limits

The dominant imagery in conventional social research comes, for very good historical and political economic reasons, from the language of bureaucratic organizations. These organizations constantly seek control, objectivity, classifi­cation, and replicability, all essential features of a bureaucratic and authoritar­ian mindset. But before we go too far down this line, it is worth remembering that

Linking Theory and Local Understanding: Being Scientific, Counterintuitive, and Technically Competent

In conventional social research, expert knowledge is the basis of the high sta­tus of the researcher and his or her ability to impose controls and methods on a research situation. As we said in Chapters 6 and 7, action researchers obvi­ously must have expert knowledge, but this knowledge is not treated as a source

Practices and Skills of the Action Researcher

Up till now we have portrayed the situation of the professional action researchers in fairly abstract terms. From here forward, we become more concrete. 1. KNOWING HOW, TACIT KNOWLEDGE, REFLECTION-IN-ACTION, REFLECTION-ON-ACTION Academia generally trades on a narrow notion of competence and exper­tise that limits intellectual capacities and training. AR challenges this position, building on

The Friendly Outsider

In addition to the general orientation to skills we have articulated, we wish to point briefly to certain specific skills that AR practitioners must master to be effective. A professional action researcher must know how to be “the friendly outsider.” This role is vital in AR because the external perspective is a key element

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Becoming an Action Researcher

In Part 4 of this book, we take up the education of action researchers in detail. Here, we briefly rehearse some of our central contentions. 1. SOCIAL SKILLS In conventional social science, there is relatively little attention paid to the social skills of the researcher. This is in accord with the dominant positivist notion

Constructing Arenas for Dialogue in Pragmatic Action Research

For us, the core element in pragmatic AR is the creation of arenas where discussion and collaborative research facilitate cogenerative learning. The encounter between local stakeholders and the professional researcher is the cornerstone on which mutual learning is built. Because we do not begin with a technique defined a priori, and we try to

Searching for Pragmatic Action Research

Although we argue strongly for pragmatic, multi-method techniques and work forms, and we have employed many different kinds of techniques and work forms in our practice, one broad and well-defined approach to cogenerative learning is particularly appropriate to our pragmatic approach to AR. It is called searching. We will present it in extenso here,

Preparing for the Pragmatic Action Search

Many roads lead to a search conference. In some cases, the local actors are familiar with search conferences and accordingly know what they are looking for. In this situation, the task for the initiators is to find a facilitator to take on the job. A standard bureaucratic method is simply to call for proposals

Planning and Executing a Pragmatic Action Search

1. COMMISSIONING THE SEARCH CONFERENCE The first step in searching is working with the local actors who want to commission a search. This discussion is important for many reasons. The ini­tial question that motivates local people may not necessarily be the most fun­damental one for their group or may not be stated in a

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Participatory Research and Southern Pragmatic Action Research

We begin with an analysis of participatory research (PR) and participatory action research (PAR), a set of approaches that came into existence as a critique of inequality and a practice of liberation set within the framework of a model of class struggle. Though such practices and struggle exist in wealthy countries, these approaches are