THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF ACTION RESEARCH

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THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF ACTION RESEARCH

• UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
• FACULTY OF EDUCATION
• POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH CONFERENCE
• PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOP
• FRIDAY 3 JUNE 2005
• GWYN EDWARDS

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• ...... the quality of fundamental research and
  the quality of action research are to be judged
  by different criteria. The value of the former is
  determined by the amount of dependable knowledge
  it adds to that already recorded and available to
  anyone who wants to familiarize himself sic
  with it. The value of action research, on the
  other hand, is determined primarily by the extent
  to which findings lead to improvement in the
  practices of people engaged in the research.
•  
• Corey (1953)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• The fundamental aim of action research is to
  improve practice rather than to produce
  knowledge. The production and utilization of
  knowledge is subordinate to, and conditioned by,
  this fundamental aim.
•  
• Elliott (1991)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• Action research aims at feeding the practical
  judgement of actors in problematic situations.
  The validity of the concepts, models and results
  it generates depends not so much on scientific
  tests of truth as on their utility in helping
  practitioners to act more effectively, skillfully
  and intelligently.
• McKernan (1996)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• Action research rejects the concept of a
  two-stage process in which research is carried
  out first by researchers and then in a separate
  second stage the knowledge generated from the
  research is applied by practitioners. Instead,
  the two processes of research and action are
  integrated.
• Somekh (1995)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• Practitioner research can only be designated
  action research if it is carried out by
  professionals who are engaged in researching,
  through structured self-reflection, aspects of
  their own practice (emphasis added).
• Edwards and Talbot (1994)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• Defining characteristics of action research
• Practical
• Change
• Cyclical process
• Participation
• Descombe (2003)

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WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH?

• Action research is
•  situational contextual practice-based
• collaborative participatory collegial
• interventionist improvement-oriented
• practitioner-led
• scientific systematic rigorous
• self-reflective reflexive
• value-driven normative
• emancipatory empowering critical
• a single case
• methodologically eclectic
• dialogically validated

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THE PURPOSES OF ACTION RESEARCH

• Five interrelated purposes
• Action research as a model of curriculum.
• Action research as a strategy for curriculum
  development.
• Action research as a model of professional
  accountability.
• Action research as strategy for the professional
  development of practitioners.
• Action research as an alternative paradigm of
  educational research.

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REASON FOR DOING ACTION RESEARCH

• An interest in knowing how students learn
• An interest in curriculum innovation
• A desire to change ones teaching
• A search for connections and meanings
• Fischer (2001)

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THE STAGES OF ACTION RESEARCH

• Define the inquiry
• Describe the situation
• Collect evaluative data and analyse it
• Review the data and look for contractions
• Tackle the contradiction by introducing change
• Monitor the change
• Analyse evaluative data about the change
• Review the change and decide what to do next
• Bassey (1998) slightly modified by Robson (2001)
  

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THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE (Descombe 1999)

• Instigate change Identify problem
• or evaluate change
• Translate
  findings Systematic and
• into action plan
  rigorous enquiry

1 Professional Practice
2 Critical Reflection
5 Action
3 Research
4 Strategic Planning
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THE MOMENTS OF ACTION RESEARCH (Kemmis 1982)

• Plan
• Action
• Observation
• Reflection
• Revised Plan
• Action
• Observation
• Reflection

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THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE (Calhoun 1994)
1 Select Area
2 Collect Data
5 Take Action
3 Organize Data
4 Analyze and Interpret Data
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THE STAGES OF ACTION RESEARCH
A Finding a starting point
B Clarifying the situation
C Developing action and strategies and
putting them into practice
D Analysis and theory generation
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STARTING POINTS FOR ACTION RESEARCH

• Dadds
•   an interest
•  a difficulty
•   an 'unclear' situation
• Hopkins
•   a performance gap
• McNiff, Lomax and Whitehead
•   a contradiction

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EXAMINING STARTING POINTS FOR ACTION RESEARCH

• Altrichter, Posch and Somekh (1993) suggest that
  starting points can be examined in light of the
  following criteria
• scope for action
• relevance
• manageability
• compatibility

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GENERATING QUESTIONS FOR ACTION RESEARCH

• My students think that science means recalling
  facts rather than a process of enquiry. How can I
  stimulate enquiry in my students? Change the
  curriculum? Change my questioning? Settle on
  questioning strategies.
• Kemmis and McTaggart (1982)

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GENERATING QUESTIONS FOR ACTION RESEARCH

• My question emerged out of what I understood to
  be problematic classroom dynamics that surfaced
  immediately at the beginning of the year. For one
  thing . eight boys dominated the classroom
  especially during all class discussions. A second
  interesting pattern emerged. Whenever I asked the
  class to voluntary form groups, line up, or make
  a circle, they did so in exactly the same fashion
  - sorting themselves neatly first by gender, then
  by ethnic and racial affiliation. My questions
  were How can I increase participation in all
  class discussions by those less willing or able
  to share? How can I help the students in my
  classroom feel comfortable working with diverse
  groupings of classmates and ultimately overcome,
  at least part of the time, their desire to always
  be with their friends?
• Coccari (1998)

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JUDGING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTION RESEARCH

• Did the research provide you with any new
  insights into your practice?
• Did these insights lead to any changes your
  practice?
• Did these changes have any impact on pupil
  learning?
• Did the research provide the basis for further
  questions /inquiry?

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JUDGING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTION RESEARCH

• Was the research
• persuasive
• believable
• compelling
• authentic
• honest
• rigorous
• consistent
• sincere
• reflexive

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THE VALIDITY OF ACTION RESEARCH

• Democratic validity relates to the extent to
  which the research is truly collaborative and
  allows for the inclusion of multiple voices.
• Outcome validity relates to the notion of actions
  leading to outcomes that are successful within
  the research context.
• Process validity raises questions about the
  dependability and competency of the research.
  
• Catalytic validity relates to the extent to which
  the research allows participants to deepen their
  understanding of the social realities of the
  context and how they can make changes within it.
• Dialogical validity parallels the processes of
  peer review which are commonly used in academic
  research.

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APPROACHES TO ACTION RESEARCH

• Based on the work of Habermas, three forms of
  action research are widely recognised
• Technical
• Practical
• Emancipatory

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HABERMASS KNOWLEDGE-CONSTITUTIVE INTERESTS

• INTEREST SCIENCE
• Technical Empirical-analytical
• or natural sciences
• Practical Hermeneutic or
• interpretive sciences
• Emancipatory Critical sciences

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ACTION RESEARCH IN HONG KONG

• Facilitating teachers to learn from their own
  experiences and improve their practice by action
  research is an important means to teacher
  empowerment, school improvement and educational
  change. The idea of action research has never
  been well received in Hong Kong nor is the idea
  explicitly supported in the local context.
• Wai Shing Li (1999)

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• It is teachers who, in the end, will change the
  world of the school by understanding it.
• Lawrence Stenhouse