Other commonly used philosophy-guided designs

There are a number of other approaches to research that have acquired recognition, in terms of design and name, in the research literature. While not designs per se, they do enhance a particular philosophical perspective in social research. These are: action research, femi­nist research, participatory research and collaborative enquiry. Strictly speaking, a piece of research within each of these could be either quantitative or qualitative, though by many they are considered dominantly as qualitative designs. The need to place them in a separate category stems from their prominence and possible use in each paradigm. These designs are more philosophy guided than methods based. For example, action research is guided by the philosophy that a piece of research should be followed by some form of appropriate action to achieve betterment in life or service, and feminist research is influenced by the philosophy that opposes and challenges the dominant male bias in social science research; it seems to believe that issues relating to women are best understood and researched by women alone. For participatory research and collaborative enquiry, the involvement of research partici­pants or the community in the research process is the underlying philosophy. One of the important aspects of all these ‘designs’ is that they attempt to involve research participants in the research process. The research findings are then used to depict the current situation with respect to certain issues or problems and help to form a sound basis for strategy development to deal with them.

1. Action research

As the name suggests, action research comprises two components: action and research (see Figure 8.16). Research is a means to action, either to improve your practice or to take action to deal with a problem or an issue. Since action research is guided by the desire to take action, strictly speaking it is not a design per se. Most action research is concerned with improving the quality of service. It is carried out to identify areas of concern, develop and test alternatives, and experiment with new approaches.

Action research seems to follow two traditions. The British tradition tends to view action research as a means of improvement and advancement of practice (Carr & Kemmis 1986), whereas in the US tradition it is aimed at systematic collection of data that provides the basis for social change (Bogdan & Biklen 1992).

Action research, in common with participatory research and collaborative enquiry, is based upon a philosophy of community development that seeks the involvement of com­munity members. Involvement and participation of a community, in the total process from problem identification to implementation of solutions, are the two salient features of all three approaches (action research, participatory research and collaborative enquiry). In all three, data is collected through a research process, and changes are achieved through action. This action is taken either by officials of an institution or the community itself in the case of action research, or by members of a community in the case of collaborative or participatory research.

There are two focuses of action research:

  • An existing programme or intervention is studied in order to identify possible areas of improvement in terms of enhanced efficacy and/or efficiency. The findings become the basis of bringing about changes.
  • A professional identifies an unattended problem or unexplained issue in the community or among a client group and research evidence is gathered to justify the introduction of a new service or intervention. Research techniques establish the prevalence of the problem or the importance of an issue so that appropriate action can be taken to deal with it.

2. Feminist research

Feminist research is characterised by its feminist theory philosophical base that underpins

all enquiries and feminist concerns act as the guiding framework. Feminist research differs

from traditional research in three ways:

  • its main focus is the experiences and viewpoints of women. it uses research methods aimed at exploring these.
  • it actively tries to remove or reduce the power imbalance between the researcher and respondents.
  • The goal of feminist research is changing the social inequality between men and women. in fact, feminist research may be classified as action research in the area of gender inequality, using research techniques to create awareness of women’s issues and concerns, and to foster action promoting equality between sexes.

Any study design could be used in feminist research.

3. Participatory and collaborative research enquiry

As already mentioned, to the author’s mind, these are not designs per se but signify a philosophical perspective that advocates the active involvement of research participants in the research process. Participatory research is based upon the principle of minimising the ‘gap’ between the researcher and the research participants and increased community involvement and participation to enhance the relevance of the research findings to their needs. It is assumed that such involvement will increase the possibility of the community accepting the research findings and, if need be, its willingness and involvement in solving the problems and issues that confront it. You can undertake a quantitative or qualitative study in these enquiries but the main emphasis is on people’s engagement, collaboration and participation in the research process. In a way these designs are based on the community development model where engagement of a community by way of consultation and participation in planning and execu­tion of research tasks is imperative. In these designs you are not merely a researcher but also a community organiser seeking active participation of the community.

As a researcher you work at two different aspects: (1) community organisation and (2) research. Through community organisation you seek a community’s involvement and participation in planning and execution of the research tasks and share research findings with its members. In terms of research, your main responsibility is to develop, in consultation with the community, the research tasks and procedures. Consultation with research participants is a continuous and integral part of these designs.

Source: Kumar Ranjit (2012), Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, SAGE Publications Ltd; Third edition.

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