Emerging Varieties of Action
Research: Introduction to the
Special Issue
Max Elden and Rupert F.
Chrisholm, Special Editors.
Human Relations v.46 No 2,
1993 p121-142
Action Research principles
 Action research is a cyclic inquiry process:
“diagnosing a problem situation, planning action steps,
implementing and evaluating outcome. Evaluation lead
to diagnosing the situation anew based on learning from
previous activities cycle”
 Researchers and practitioners: “Carried out in
collaboration with”
 Rethinking relationship between science,
knowledge, learning and action: Action research
uses scientific approach to study social and
organisational problems together with the people who
experience them.
Action Research principles
 Analysis of 11 action researchers [Peters and Robinson
(1984)]
(a) problem focus, (b) action orientation, © cyclical process,
and (d) collaboration/participation
 Essential characteristics of AR process: [Susman &
Evered (1978)]
future oriented, collaborative, contributing to system,
development, diagnosis, and situational
 Four “key emergent processes” [Shani & Bushe (1987)]
(1) the emerging socio-task system, (2) the co-inquiry process,
(3) the integration process, and (4) the experimentation process
Action Research characteristics
 Five minimum characteristics of AR emerge from the
literature review and discussions
Purposes and value choice (value laden)
Contextual focus
Change based data and sense making
Participation in the research process
Knowledge diffusion
Purposes and Value Choice
 Purposes
scientific enquiry, practical problem solving, enhance capacity of
system being studied
 Value Choice
rejects the idea that science is “value free”
take social construction of reality seriously
“Could be” vs. “What is” - emphasis possibility rather than
prediction
change oriented
“Action researcher has some vision on how society or
organisations could be improved and uses the research process
to help bring this desired future state into existence.”
Contextual Focus
 Context bound inquiry - solving real world practical
problems
 Action research: interdisciplinary and theory/practice
oriented - problem defined by system members who
experience them
 Contextual focus is on the content of the problem and
its solution
can be single unit, system, group, organisation, community
can be relatively short time
Change Based Data and Sense Making
 AR change oriented  require data that help track the
consequence of intended change  data collected
systematically over time
 “like a field study”
formulate hypothesis, carry out experiment/study, interpret
data, relating to new theory, report result
 acts as conventional scientists
Participation in Research Process
 Impossible without some form of participation
 Collaboration support and encourage the cyclic and
emergent nature of the AR process
 Those who “own” the problem must be involved with
selecting problem and searching for solution
Knowledge Diffusion
 essential to the scientific enterprise
 “a good solution to a chosen problem will spread by
force of the value it adds to our general store of
knowledge”
 in addition to reporting on the specific case it is
important to report the “general knowledge” derived
from the case