Action Research

by Stringer, Ernest

• ISBN13: 9780761917137
• ISBN10: 0761917136
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

Thoroughly revised and updated, the Third Edition of Action Research is a succinct and readable text that provides clear direction to those involved in professional, organizational, and community research. A best seller in previous editions, this text provides a simple but highly effective model for conducting action research-Look, Think, and Act. Author Ernest T. Stringer presents detailed step-by-step procedures for engaging in effective and productive processes of inquiry.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Egon G. Guba
Preface	xvii
The Purpose of This Book	xvii
The Genesis of Action Research	xviii
The Style of This Book	xix
The Role of the Researcher	xix
Structure of the Book	xx
The Second Edition	xxii
Acknowledgments	xxiii
Research in Professional and Public Life	1	(16)
Research: Methodical Processes of Inquiry	5	(4)
Community-Based Action Research: Participatory Approaches to Inquiry	9	(2)
Inquiry in Use	11	(6)
Principles of Community-Based Action Research	17	(26)
A Basic Routine	17	(3)
The Cultural Style of Action Research	20	(1)
The Well-Being of the People	21	(4)
The Role of the Researcher	25	(3)
Working Principles	28	(15)
Relationships	28	(4)
Communication	32	(3)
Participation	35	(3)
Inclusion	38	(5)
Setting the Stage	43	(22)
The Basic Routine Revisited	43	(1)
Negotiation, Consensus, and Construction	44	(2)
Looking at the Lay of the Land: Preliminary Activity	46	(14)
Establishing Contact	48	(1)
Identifying Stakeholding Groups	49	(3)
Identifying Key People	52	(1)
Establishing a Role	52	(5)
Constructing a Preliminary Picture	57	(3)
Sociable Research Processes	60	(2)
Conclusion	62	(3)
Look: Building the Picture	65	(24)
Constructing a New Vision	65	(2)
Building the Picture	67	(1)
Gathering Information	68	(6)
Interviews	68	(3)
Participant Observation	71	(2)
Documents	73	(1)
Describing the Context: Developing Descriptive Accounts	74	(5)
Working Ethnographically: collaborative Descriptive Accounts	75	(1)
Six Questions: Why, What, How, Who, Where, When	75	(1)
Temporal Mapping: The Sequence of Events	76	(1)
Community Profile	76	(3)
Meetings: Group Processes for Collaborative Inquiry	79	(7)
Preliminary Meetings	79	(3)
Organizing Meetings	82	(4)
Accounts and Reports	86	(3)
Think: Interpreting and Analyzing	89	(26)
Interpretation: Clarifying Meaning	90	(3)
Extending Understanding: Frameworks for Interpretation	93	(10)
Interpretive Questions: Why, What, How Who, Where, When	93	(3)
Organizational Review	96	(2)
Concept Mapping	98	(2)
Problem Analysis: Antecedents and Consequences	100	(3)
Group Processes for Interpreting Issues	103	(1)
Organizing Meetings	103	(1)
Procedures for Interpreting Issues	104	(5)
Presentations and Performances	109	(2)
Conclusion	111	(4)
Act: Resolving the Problems	115	(20)
Simple Problems, Simple Solutions	115	(2)
Planning	117	(6)
Sorting Out Priorities	117	(1)
Goals, Objectives, and Tasks	117	(4)
Quality Check	121	(2)
Implementing	123	(7)
Supporting	124	(4)
Modeling	128	(1)
Linking	129	(1)
Reviewing	130	(2)
Evaluating	132	(1)
Conclusion	133	(2)
Act: Resolving Complex Problems	135	(30)
Managing Community-Based Action Research	137	(2)
Planning	139	(11)
A Unifying Vision	140	(2)
Operational Statements: Enacting the Vision	142	(2)
Action Plans	144	(1)
Reviewing the Plans	145	(1)
Political Dimensions	146	(1)
Financial Planning	147	(3)
Implementing: Researchers Organizing Themselves	150	(4)
An Organizational Base	150	(2)
Organizational Arrangements	152	(2)
Guiding the Research Process	154	(4)
Principles in Operation	154	(1)
Using Appropriate Language	155	(1)
Making Decisions	156	(1)
Support and Monitoring	157	(1)
Evaluating	158	(3)
Steps to Evaluation	158	(3)
Celebrating	161	(4)
Formal Reports, Theses, and Dissertations	165	(22)
The Research Orientation: Assumptions of Interpretive Research	167	(1)
Reports, Theses, and Dissertations	168	(16)
Focus and Framing	171	(1)
Deconstructing the Literature	171	(1)
Methodology	172	(1)
Methodological Assumptions: A Philosophical Rationale	172	(1)
Research Processes	173	(3)
Rigor	176	(1)
Ethical Issues	177	(1)
Constructing Accounts: Research Outcomes or Results	178	(1)
Setting the Scene	178	(1)
Constructing Accounts: Telling People's Stories	179	(1)
Epiphanies: Moments of Crisis of Triumph	180	(2)
Constructing a General Account	182	(1)
Contextualizing: Concluding Comments	182	(2)
Giving Voice: Alternative Report Structures	184	(3)
Understanding Action Research: The Theory Behind the Practice	187	(30)
Community-Based Research Revisited	188	(2)
``But It's Not Scientific'': The Question of Legitimacy	190	(3)
Power, Control, and Subordination	193	(3)
Understanding Power and Control: Postmodern Perspectives	196	(6)
The Next Generation: Community-Based Action Research	202	(5)
Giving Voice: Representing People's Experience	207	(2)
Practice Scripts: Policies, Plans, and Procedures	209	(4)
In the Company of Friends	213	(4)
Appendix: Action Research Electronic Resources	217	(2)
References	219	(4)
Index	223	(6)
About the Author	229