ISYS 3015 Research Methods1 Week 8: Action Research

ISYS 3015 Research Methods2 What is Action Research? “Action Research is a form of research that generates knowledge claims for the express purpose of taking action to promote social change and social action” (Greenwood and Levin, 1998) Action researchers believe that: –Complex social systems and social situations cannot be reduced for meaningful study –Action research is a process of making sense and understanding complex interactions and systems AR refers to the conjunction of three elements: –Research –Action –Participation

ISYS 3015 Research Methods3 According to Grundy and Kemmis there are three conditions necessary for AR to exist: –A project takes as its subject matter a social practice, regarding it as a strategic action susceptible to improvement –The project proceeds through a spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting with each of these activities being systematically and self critically implemented and interrelated; and –The project involves those responsible for the practice in each of the moments of the activity, widening participation in the project gradually to include others affected by the practice and maintaining collaborative control of the process

ISYS 3015 Research Methods4 Brief history of AR Term coined and meaning attributed to AR by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s Tavistock institute 1950s Technical Action Research Practical Action Research Emancipatory Action Research

ISYS 3015 Research Methods5 Action Research Spiral Diagnose PLAN REFLECT OBSERVE ACT PLAN REFLECT OBSERVE ACT CYCLE 1CYCLE 2 CYCLE 3

ISYS 3015 Research Methods6 Stages in AR cycle Diagnosing Action Planning (PLAN) Action Taking (ACT) Evaluating (OBSERVE) Specifying learning (REFLECT – theorise)

ISYS 3015 Research Methods7 Understanding Action Research in the context of Information Systems AR is underpinned by the premise that researchers and participants are intervening in social systems. Draws upon general systems theory and therefore clearly of interest to IS researchers Mumford’s work on ETHICS and Checkland’s work on the soft systems approach draw upon AR Links also into the areas of organisational learning and managing systems change – specifically to theorising about practice

ISYS 3015 Research Methods8 Action Research in IS Lau (1999) Towards a framework for action research in information systems studies (Information and Technology & People 12(2)) Lau builds on an earlier framework and presents a set of guidelines for AR in IS and discusses the implications for IS research and practice Identifies 4 types of action research –Action research –Participatory action research –Action science –Action learning

ISYS 3015 Research Methods9 Participatory Enquiry Reason, 1994 has 3 forms of particpatory enquiry Co-operative enquiry Participatory action research Action Science and Action enquiry

ISYS 3015 Research Methods10 Co-operative Enquiry Heron, 1971; Reason & Heron,1986 Addresses a theory of persons as self-determining 4 Phases –1. Researchers identify area of experience and methods to investigate it and agree on actions –2. Apply agreed actions/behaviours to everyday work –3. Experiential knowing from new behaviours after much application –4. Review of original propositions and regeneration to Phase 1 Validity – stems from critical subjectivity = versional reality

ISYS 3015 Research Methods11 Participatory Action Research (PAR) Founded in Liberationist movement A process of the underclass taking control of knowledge that is power and political force by adult education, research and sociopolitical action Asserts process of self awareness by collective self-enquiry and reflection Methodology the uses diverse methods –Knowledge production by people setting own agenda, participating in data gathering analyses, and controlling the use of outcomes Community orientation to the process

ISYS 3015 Research Methods12 Action Science Based on Theories of Action Argyris and Schon, 1974, Model 1 - a defensive theory that limits action – what is done –Purpose defined by principal actor –Win, not lose –Emphasize rationality Model II – normative theory that promotes open enquiry – what is said –Seeks valid information –Free and informed choice –Internal commitment Focus is on explicit cognitive models

ISYS 3015 Research Methods13 Action Inquiry Torbert, 1991 Follows Argyris and adds –Empirically measured outcomes –Self scrutiny of own acts –How to transform organisations into collaborative self-reflective communities of inquiry A community to practice action enquiry needs to know –Knowledge about a systems own purpose –Knowledge about its strategies – theories/principles underlying its choices/modus operandi –Knowledge of practical behavioural choices available to it –Knowledge of outside world – consequences of its behaviour

ISYS 3015 Research Methods14 Comparison 3 come from different –Ideological perspectives –Intellectual traditions –Emphasize different aspects of practice Valid human enquiry requires full participation in the creation of personal and social knowledge Emphasize experiential knowing Data varies definition –Argyris – verbal reports –Torbert – all forms of dialogue –PAR – all forms of expression incl song, poetry, theatre –Cooperative inquiry – rational verbal reports of experience

ISYS 3015 Research Methods15 Comparison - 2 Attitudes to Leadership – –PAR radically egalitarian –Action Inquiry – transformational leadership – distress-free charismatic authority –Paradox between need to educate to practice Action Research PAR emphasizes upwelling from the common people, and lacks methodology and doesn’t see ability of groups to be self-destructive Co-operative inquiry emphasizes the psychological and lacks a robust theory of action Action inquiry advocates rugged individualism/ego development

ISYS 3015 Research Methods16 Is Action Research the same as consulting? 5 differences between AR and consulting: –Motivation –Commitment –Approach –Basis for recommendations –Organisational understanding

ISYS 3015 Research Methods17 Limitations of Action Research Difficult to publish AR results Tendency for inexperienced researchers to focus entirely on planning, acting and observing phases and less upon theorising Ethical responsibilities to other participants Length of projects – ongoing and evolutionary