Foreword | p. xi |
Preface | p. xv |
Research in Professional and Public Life | p. 1 |
The Purposes and Applications of Action Research: Who Does Action Research, and Why Do They Do It? | p. 1 |
Research: Methodical Processes of Inquiry | p. 4 |
A Basic Routine | p. 7 |
Community-Based Action Research: Participatory Approaches to Inquiry | p. 10 |
Inquiry in Use | p. 12 |
The Literature on Action Research | p. 15 |
Theory and Principles of Action Research | p. 19 |
Introducing the Theoretical Foundations of Action Research | p. 19 |
The Cultural Style of Action Research: Capacity-Building Processes | p. 20 |
The Role of the Researcher | p. 24 |
Working Principles | p. 27 |
Relationships | p. 28 |
Communication | p. 30 |
Participation | p. 32 |
Inclusion | p. 34 |
Setting the Stage: Planning a Research Process | p. 39 |
Designing Effective Research | p. 39 |
Seeking Consensus: Constructing Meaningful Research | p. 41 |
Looking at the Lay of the Land: Preliminary Activity | p. 42 |
Establishing Contact | p. 42 |
Sampling: Identifying Stakeholding Groups | p. 43 |
Sampling: Identifying Key People | p. 45 |
Establishing a Role | p. 47 |
Agenda | p. 48 |
Stance | p. 48 |
Position | p. 48 |
Constructing a Preliminary Picture | p. 51 |
The Ethics of Action Research | p. 54 |
Rigor (Not Mortis): The Research Is Alive and Well | p. 57 |
Credibility | p. 57 |
Transferability | p. 59 |
Dependability | p. 59 |
Confirmability | p. 59 |
Sociable Research Processes | p. 60 |
Conclusion | p. 61 |
Look: Building the Picture | p. 65 |
Gaining Insight: Gathering Data | p. 65 |
Sources of Information | p. 67 |
Interviews: Guided Reflection | p. 69 |
Questions | p. 70 |
Field Notes | p. 72 |
Tape Recorders | p. 73 |
Focus Groups | p. 73 |
Participant Observation | p. 75 |
Documents, Records, and Reports | p. 77 |
Surveys | p. 78 |
Reviewing the Literature: Evidence From Research Studies | p. 80 |
Gathering Statistical Information-How Many? | p. 82 |
Extended Understanding: Descriptive Analysis | p. 83 |
Working Ethnographically-Collaborative Descriptive Accounts | p. 84 |
Six Questions-Why, What, How, Who, Where, When | p. 84 |
Community Profile | p. 85 |
Meetings: Group Processes for Collaborative Inquiry | p. 87 |
Preliminary Meetings | p. 87 |
Organizing Meetings | p. 88 |
Think: Interpreting and Analyzing | p. 95 |
Interpretation: Interpreting Key Concepts | p. 95 |
Analysis and Interpretation I: Distilling the Data | p. 98 |
Categorizing and Coding (1) | p. 98 |
Analyzing Key Experiences (2) | p. 103 |
Case Example: Facilitating Workshops | p. 104 |
Analysis and Interpretation II: Enriching the Analysis | p. 106 |
Extending Understanding: Frameworks for Interpretation | p. 107 |
Interpretive Questions-Why, What, How, Who, Where, When | p. 108 |
Organizational Review | p. 110 |
Concept Mapping | p. 112 |
Problem Analysis-Antecedents and Consequences | p. 114 |
Writing Reports Collaboratively | p. 115 |
Organizing Meetings | p. 116 |
Procedures for Analysis | p. 117 |
Presentations and Performances | p. 120 |
Conclusion | p. 122 |
Act: Resolving Problems-Planning and Implementing Sustainable Solutions | p. 125 |
From Problems to Solutions | p. 125 |
Planning | p. 127 |
Identifying Priorities for Action | p. 127 |
Action Plans | p. 128 |
Quality Check | p. 132 |
Implementing | p. 133 |
Supporting | p. 134 |
Modeling | p. 137 |
Linking | p. 138 |
Reviewing | p. 140 |
Evaluating | p. 140 |
Conclusion | p. 142 |
Strategic Planning for Sustainable Change and Development | p. 145 |
Managing Processes of Change and Development | p. 147 |
Strategic Planning | p. 149 |
A Unifying Vision | p. 149 |
Operational Statements: Enacting the Vision | p. 151 |
Action Plans | p. 153 |
Reviewing the Plans | p. 153 |
Political Dimensions | p. 154 |
Financial Planning | p. 155 |
Guiding the Research Process | p. 158 |
Principles in Operation | p. 158 |
Appropriate Language | p. 158 |
Making Decisions | p. 159 |
Support and Monitoring | p. 160 |
Evaluating | p. 161 |
Steps to Evaluation | p. 161 |
Celebrating | p. 164 |
Formal Reports | p. 169 |
The Research Orientation: Assumptions of Interpretive Research | p. 170 |
Reports, Theses, and Dissertations | p. 171 |
Structure of a Report | p. 174 |
Introduction-Focus and Framing | p. 175 |
Review of the Literature | p. 175 |
Methodology | p. 176 |
Introduction | p. 176 |
Methodological Assumptions: Philosophical Rationale | p. 176 |
Research Methods | p. 177 |
Rigor | p. 179 |
Limitations | p. 179 |
Ethical Issues | p. 179 |
Research Outcomes/Findings | p. 179 |
Setting the Scene: Describing the Context | p. 180 |
Constructing Accounts: Telling People's Stories | p. 181 |
Constructing a General Account | p. 182 |
Conclusion-Discussion of Findings | p. 182 |
Giving Voice: Alternative Report Structures | p. 183 |
Understanding Action Research | p. 187 |
The Place of Theory in Action Research | p. 187 |
The Theory Behind the Practice | p. 189 |
"But It's Not Scientific": The Question of Legitimacy | p. 191 |
Power, Control, and Subordination | p. 194 |
Understanding Power and Control: Postmodern Perspectives | p. 197 |
The Next Generation: Community-Based Action Research | p. 203 |
Giving Voice: Representing People's Experience | p. 206 |
Changing Our Work and Social Practices: "Scripts" for Policies, Plans, Procedures, and Behavior | p. 208 |
In the Company of Friends | p. 213 |
Appendixes | |
Case Examples of Formal Reports | p. 217 |
Action Research Web Sites | p. 249 |
References | p. 259 |
Index | p. 265 |
About the Author | p. 279 |
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