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Methodology Action Research

Author: Janet Peter
by Janet Peter
Posted: Nov 30, 2018
kurt lewin

Action research is commonly known as AR, and it is a process of performing an inquiry by the researchers whose main focus for participating in it is improving situations in the society or the place in which the AR is being performed. Simply, AR is conducted with the aim of solving both current and future problems in an organization or the society. Despite that, the main aim of AR is improving the current system by removing or changing the undesirable features. Implementations of the desired changes are implemented after performing a thorough investigation of the matter in hand (McTaggart, 1994).

According to studies, AR brings implement changes aiming at improving the situation under the research. For this reason, the researchers must have a comprehensive grasp while they understand the improvements that they would like their research project to introduce. Therefore, this helps them to evaluate their expected achievements, reasons of achieving them, and why they are convinced that their research will be suitable.

History of AR

The history of AR dates back as early as the 1940s when a social scientist known as Kurt Lewin introduced it in his research work. The scientist was an advocate of participative group process through which conflicts would be solved as well as handling changes that would arise in organizational set ups at the time. His characterization showed that AR was a comparative study of the factors that would implement changes that would be required in organizations. According to Kurt Lewin, AR follows a coordinated and systematic process of spiral steps where each of the steps comprises planning, action, observation, and reflection on the outcomes of the actions. Many researchers have since been using AR to solve problems like Kurt Lewin. Chief among the researchers was Eric Trist after the Second World War while working for human relations. However, the popularity of AR did not rise until the 1970s after massive use of the term by various researchers and recommendation as the most suitable method of investigation circumstances for the purpose of improvements (Adelman, 1993).

Process of AR

  • Planning phase: The researcher performs planning activities before implementation of the project. The phase starts with a general idea and narrows it down.
  • Action phase: The researcher acts on the activities from the planning phase. There may be introduction of new insights and ideas in this phase
  • Observation phase: The researcher undertakes close observations of the above two phases and undertakes improvements that may be required.
  • Reflection phase: The researcher summarizes the outcomes while developing a strategy for sharing the summary (Kasimodou & Usher, 1991).

Principles of AR

  • Plural structure: AR consists of various views, critiques, and commentaries that lead to the betterment of the outcomes and the interpretations. The researchers develop a report of the proceedings.
  • Reflective critique: The principle enables the researchers to reflect on problems within the process and then make comprehensive conclusions and judgments.
  • Collaborative resource: All the researchers collaborate in the creation of ideas aiding in the process of decision-making (Burnaford, Fischer, & Hobson, 1996).
  • Dialectical Critique: The principle is about the researchers focusing on the unstable features and which are likely to cause changes in the process of AR

Applications and Justification of AR

AR is mostly used in education. Teachers and other education practitioners do research with the aim of improving education practices especially the curriculum. Both students and the community participate. Besides the education, the scientists use AR in the improvement of their scientific practices. It is also used in the healthcare in the development of new ways of service delivery and general improvement of the sector of healthcare. AR is also closely linked with application in the ICT industry through the creation of new technological innovations. However, this is only possible through collaboration between several researchers (Altrichter, Posch, & Somekh, 1993).

AR evaluates research evidence systematically thereby validating its outcomes. It does not emphasize the universality of the outcomes. However, more relevance is placed on the findings and the outcomes. It is a suitable tool because it helps in comprehending the interactions of social context system. The theory that is proposed by the researcher focuses on introducing change into the social context under discussion. The introduction of change also requires that the researcher changes his mind accordingly. A theory is made in a careful and keen process while attention is given to the data, data analysis, and data interpretation in the later stages. However, the researcher may find it hard to understand the implementation of changes in the social context of the company or the community. AR offer solutions to the problems in the society and the organizations through evaluation of the functional requirements of the research process. The four phases of AR are performed iteratively, and action is effected depending on the nature of the outcomes. AR can be used to track all the activities in any work process.

References

Adelman, C. (1993). Kurt Lewin and the origins of action research. Educational Action Research, 1 (1), 7-23.

Altrichter, H., Posch, P., & Somekh, B. (1993). Teachers investigate their work: An introduction to the methods of action research. New York: Routledge.

Burnaford, G., Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. (1996). Teachers doing research: Practical possibilities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.

Kasimodou, C., & Usher, R. (1991). Facilitation in action research. Interchange, 22 (4), 24-40.

McTaggart, R. (1994). Participatory action research: Issues in theory and practice. Educational Action Research, 2 (3), 313-337.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing paper writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from custom research paper writing.

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