Action research

Action Research

Action research is a flexible research methodology uniquely suited to supporting change. It integrates social research with exploratory action to promote development. The outcomes of action research are both practical and theoretical.

Action research is often used in fields such as education, social and health services, and community development, where there is a long history of difficulties in successfully transferring research knowledge into changes in practice.

Collaborative action research can also break down the separation between policymakers and practitioners, giving the former richer insights into practice and giving the latter an active role in policy development as well as its implementation.

The first person to use the term action research was probably Kurt Lewin, a psychologist who went to the United States from Germany during the 1940s and worked with immigrant groups to promote their better integration into U.S. society.

Lewin believed that human behavior was always a function of the situation at the time it occurred; therefore, he did not believe it was ever possible to make generalizations about human behavior that would apply to all contexts. Action research generates knowledge about the interrelationship between human behavior and sociocultural situations rather than generalizable truths, and it is important that it be reported in a form that includes narrative accounts and rich description as well as analysis and interpretation so that readers can make comparisons with their own situations.

In the United States, as well as in many other countries, there has been a blurring of the boundaries between action research and practitioner research in which the purpose of inquiry is to deepen understanding and enrich teacher learning rather than to bring about intentional change.

Action research is always grounded in the values and culture of the participant researchers who engage in it and, as a result, is a fluid methodology that adapts to fit different social contexts. For example, in developing countries where there is huge social inequality perhaps deriving from a colonial past, or in developed countries among groups concerned with issues of race or gender.

An important feature of action research is that it is carried out by a partnership of participants who are “insiders” to the situation under research and external facilitators/researchers/consultants.

One of the most important contributions of action research as a methodology for building understanding of change and development is its unique access to insider knowledge.