Lecture 19: Action and Design research Flashcards
Action Research
Myers (2009
Engaged Scholarship
A form of inquiry where researchers involve others and leverage their different perspectives to learn about a problem
A relationship involving negotiation, mutual respect, and collaboration to produce a learning community
Action research
Action research aims to solve current practical problems while expanding scientific knowledge.
The action researcher is concerned to create organizational change and simultaneously to study the process
It is strongly oriented towards collaboration and change involving both researchers and subjects.
Qualitative researchers are active participants rather than interested observers as in case studies
Action research is an umbrella for other research methods
Types of approaches to action research
The types depends on the chosen paradigm
- Positivist action research
- Interpretive action research
- Critical action research
- Pragmatic action research
The action research process
In Susman and Evered’s model:
The first phase, called diagnosing, involves the identification of primary problems that are to be addressed within the host organization.
The second phase, action planning, specifies the organization actions that should be taken to relieve or address these problems. These planned actions are guided by the theoretical framework of the action researcher.
The third phase, called action taking, implements the planned actions.
The fourth phase, evaluating, includes analyzing whether the planned actIons achieved their intended effects.
The last phase, specifying learning, specifies what was
learnt during the action research project. This is when the knowledge gained is applied within the organization and communicated to the scientific community.
Another view on the action research process
Five elements of action research
Elden and Chisholm (1993)
Elden and Chisholm (1993) suggest five elements which would need to be present in some degree for any research to be classified as action research:
Purpose and value choice. While the purpose of scientific enquiry is to contribute to general knowledge, action research aims at scientific enquiry plus practical problem solving. Action research is change oriented and seeks to bring about change that has positive social value.
Contextual focus. Since the action researcher is concerned with solving real world practical problems, action research must focus on the wider context, as in case study and ethnographic research.
Change-based data and sense-making. Since action research is change oriented, it requires data that help track the consequences of intended changes. Action researchers need to have data collected systematically over time, and they need to interpret and make sense of these data.
Participation in the research process. Action research requires those who experience or ‘own’ the real-world problem to be actively involved with the researcher. This involves, at a minimum. the participants being involved in selecting the problem and sanctioning the search for solutions. They may also be involved with validating the results. Action research, by definition, is collaborative.
Knowledge diffusion. For action research to be regarded as research. it must be written up and diffused according to the canons of accepted social science practice. This involves relating the topic to the existing research literature in the attempt to generate general knowledge. This is typically the job of the researchers alone.
Advantages and disadvantages of action research
Advantages:
- Ensuring that your business research is practically relevant
- Practical over theoretical
- highly rewarding
Disadvantages
- Time consuming
- Difficult to actually do action and research
- There is a tendency for action researchers to distinguish researchers to overstate the importance of the intervention in the organization and the contribution to academic research.
Differences between action research and other methods
How does action research distinguish from positivist research and other research methods such as case studies and ethnographic research?
> It involves collaboration with business people in real organizations.
> Researchers using other research methods usually try not to intervene or to interfere with their subject matter. Any kind of interference, particularly in positivist research projects, is seen as a source of bias and can invalidate the research findings.
> Qualitative researchers using other methods such as case study research or ethnography tend to be interested observers, rather than active participants.
Design research
Focus on building artefacts e.g. IS, business models etc.
3 domains;
- Environment: practice and people
- Knowledge base: theories and foundation
- IS research: wants to combine the two other domains (Build the design aftefacts and processes)
