Handbook of Action Research : Participative Inquiry and Practice

by Reason, Peter; Bradbury, Hilary

• ISBN13: 9780761966456
• ISBN10: 0761966455
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

"A remarkable reframing of action research that engages the spirit as well as the mind, in inquiry that matters, shared among inquirers who matter. 'Validity as we once knew it will never be the same after these improvements. Wonderfully provocative!" --Karl Weick, University of Michigan "This is truly a significant work. Not only has action research reached maturity, but in the context of the postmodern constructionist debates its scope has been dramatically expanded, its conceptual underpinnings deepened, and its forms of practice enormously enriched. The present confluence of humanism and pragmatism has inspired lively conversations between us; the work has the potential to transform the very idea of social science." --Kenneth J. Gergen, author of An Invitation to Social Construction and Mary Gergen, author of Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology "A wholly new kind of human inquiry is emerging. It is to do with taking our own, previously ignored, spontaneously responsive, living involvements with our surroundings seriously. Rather than with views and perspectives, rather than with a one-way manipulative understanding, gained by merely observing movements from a distance, it is concerned with quite a different kind of participatory, experiential understanding - the kind of understanding we have when playing a part in an activity which also to an extent 'plays' us. Workers are beginning to bring to light the many different knowledges present to us in the different practical ways in which we can be relationally involved with the others and othernesses around us. Everything changes when we get up close and personal. All that is solid melts into air! In this exciting Handbook, Reason and Bradbury have collected together a large number of the central workers in this new and developing sphere of participative inquiry. Overall, in the detailed explorations they conduct, just as in becoming familiar with a new and strange landscape, they help us get to know our 'way about' in its rich and intricate 'landscape'. Literally, this is a landmark volume." --John Shotter, University of New Hampshire "The Handbook of Action Research is truly a remarkable book. We are greatly indebted to the editors Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury, who managed to avoid the usual tower of Babel, and succeeded to forge and orchestrate the somewhat incoherent mosaic of action research, with its many voices, into an intelligent comprehensive and logical whole. This handbook provides a much needed clarification of a critical transition in the social sciences." --Hans van Beinum, International Journal of Action Research and Organizational Renewal The publication of the Handbook of Action Research is a publishing milestone, drawing together the different strands of action research, demonstrating their diverse applications and showing their interrelations. Far-reaching in scale and scope, the Handbook informs readers about the latest approaches, both quantitative and qualitative, in social inquiry, and moves the field forward with fresh insights and applications. Throughout, the contributing authors grapple with questions of how to integrate knowledge with action, how to collaborate with co-researchers in the field, and how to present the necessarily 'messy' components in a coherent fashion. The organization of the volume reflects the many different issues and levels of analysis represented. This volume is an essential resource for scholars and professionals engaged in social and political inquiry, organizational research and education.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury

Inquiry and Participation in Search of a World Worthy of Human Aspiration

PART ONE: GROUNDINGS

Theory and Practice - Bj[sl]orn Gustavsen

The Mediating Discourse

Participatory (Action) Research in Social Theory - Orlando Fals Borda

Origins and Challenges

Action Research in the Workplace - William Pasmore

The Socio-Technical Perspective

Infusing Race into the US Discourse on Action Research - Ella Edmondson Bell

Uneven Ground - Patricia Maguire

Feminisms and Participatory, Action-Oriented Research

Power and Knowledge - John Gaventa and Andrea Cornwall

Knowledge and Participatory Research - Peter Park

Exploring the Relevance of Critical Theory for Action Research - Stephen Kemmis

Emancipatory Action Research in the Footsteps of J[um]urgen Habermas

Pragmatic Action Research and the Struggle to Transform Universities into Learning Communities - Morten Levin and Davydd Greenwood

The Humanistic Approach to Action Research - John Rowan

Engaging Sympathies - Yvonna S Lincoln

Relationships between Action Research and Social Constructivism

The Relationship of `Systems Thinking' to Action Research - Robert Louis Flood

Action Research as the Hidden Curriculum of the Western Tradition - Olav Eikeland

PART TWO: PRACTICES

Action Science - Victor J Friedman

Creating Communities of Inquiry in Communities of Practice

I Wish This Were a Poem of Practices of Participatory Research - Budd L Hall

The Practice of Co-Operative Inquiry - John Heron and Peter Reason

Research `with' Rather Than `on' People

Appreciative Inquiry - James D Ludema, David L Cooperrider and Frank J Barrett

The Power of the Unconditional Positive Question

Large Group Processes as Action Research - Ann W Martin

The Use of Words - [sl]Oyvind P[lo]alshaugen

Improving Enterprises by Improving Their Conversations

Ethnodrama - Jim Mienczakowski and Stephen Morgan

Constructing Participatory, Experiential and Compelling Action Research through Performance

Clinical//Inquiry Research - Edgar H Schein

Community Action Research - Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer

Learning as a Community of Practitioners, Consultants and Researchers

The Practice of Action Inquiry - William R Torbert

The Turn to Action and the Linguistic Turn - Lesley Treleaven

Towards an Integrated Methodology

Educational Action Research - Ken Zeicher

PART THREE: EXEMPLARS

Working Together, Learning Together - Mark Baldwin

Co-Operative Inquiry in the Development of Complex Practice by Teams of Social Workers

The Early Mothering Project - Penelope A Barrett

What Happened When the Words 'Action Research' Came to Life for a Group of Midwives

Citizens' Participation in Natural Resource Management - Yogesh Bhatt and Rajesh Tandon

Learning with /f003The Natural Step - Hilary Bradbury

Action Research to Promote Conversations for Sustainable Development

Transforming Lives - Gloria Bravette Gordon

Towards Bicultural Competence

Action Research to Develop an Interorganizational Network - Rupert F Chisholm

Transpersonal Co-Operative Inquiry - John Heron

Using Co-Operative Inquiry to Transform Evaluation of Nursing Students' Clinical Practice - Marcia D Hills

Collaborative Inquiry with African-American Community Leaders - James G Kelly, Lynne O Mock and S Darius Tandon

Comments on a Participatory Action Research Process

Participatory Research and Education for Social Change - Helen M Lewis

Highlander Research and Education Center

Creative Arts and Photography in Participatory Action Research in Guatemala - M Brinton Lykes

The Art of Clinical Inquiry in Information Technology Related Change - Joe McDonagh and David Coghlan

The Sights and Sounds of Indigenous Knowledge - Timothy Pyrch and Mar[ac]ia Teresa Castillo

Participatory Action Research in Southern Tanzania, with Special Reference to Women - Marja-Liisa Swantz, Elizabeth Ndedya and Mwajuma Saiddy Masaiganah

Six Street Youth Who Could... - Elizabeth Whitmore and Colette McKee

PART FOUR: SKILLS

Collaborative Off-Line Reflection - Jenny W Rudolph, Steven S Taylor and Erica Gabrielle Foldy

A Way to Develop Skill in Action Science and Action Inquiry

On Working with Graduate Research Students - Peter Reason and Judi Marshall

The Mirror, the Magnifying Glass, the Compass and the Map - Yoland Wadsworth

Facilitating Participatory Action Research

Self-Reflective Inquiry Practices - Judi Marshall

The Third Task of Universities or How to Get Universities to Serve Their Communities - G[um]oran Brulin

Conclusion - Hilary Bradbury and Peter Reason

Broadening the Bandwidth of Validity: Issues as Choice-Points to Ensure Quality in Action Research