SYSTEMS THINKING AND ACTION RESEARCH
2.3 Action Research
2.3.1 An Introduction to Action Research
Traditionally, research has been achieved through scientific method that is characterised by three fundamental principles: Reductionism, repeatability and refutation (Checkland, cited in Checkland& Holwell, 1997). Action research evolved as a consequence of the academic movement in social sciences breaking out of the established modes of inquiry and the increasing demand for a more useful type of research that would lead to an improvement in practical affairs (Dash, 1999). Its primary application areas include the study of human relations, the study of society and organisations, the study of educational change, etc.
Action research in its present form dates back to 1946 when it was first coined by Lewin (cited by Smith, 2002). Lewin stated that a form of comparative research on the
conditions and effects of various forms of social action was needed that would lead to social action. Action research gained favour in the post second world war period, but its popularity declined in the 1960's. This was due to the recognition ofthe fact that people are constrained in their ability to change due to their cultural and social perceptions and the systems to which they belong.
Studies into people and their environment must take into account that the human being is both the subject and object of the study. There are two views that emerge in such studies;
i.e. that people respond mechanically to their environments or that people are the initiators of their own actions.
Argyris et al (cited by Checkland & Holwell, 1998) propose a different kind of research to traditional scientific methods be used in social situations. Since, in a social process, social reality is being continuously created and recreated, the fundamental elements in social research should comprise:
• The researcher and participants collaborating
• Critical inquiry
• Focus on social practice, and
• Deliberate reflection.
2.3.2 Definition of Action Research
Action research may be considered as a family of research methodologies that is aimed at improving the quality of a system and its performance by pursuing action and research simultaneously. Ituses a cyclical process that alternates between action and critical reflection. Itis an emergent process, since, in the later cycles, methods, data and its interpretation are refined based on the understanding gained in the previous cycles.
Action research is used by practitioners in order to improve their own practice and can be performed by individuals or teams. Itis used to produce valid and sustained
improvements to the system in which it is applied.
The following are some of the definitions of action research:
• Action Research is a three-step spiral process of (1) planning which involves reconnaissance; (2) taking actions; and (3) fact-finding about the results of the action. (Lewin, 1947)
• Action Research is "an informal, qualitative, formative, subjective, interpretive, reflective and experiential model of inquiry in which all individuals involved in the study are knowing and contributing participants" (Hopkins cited by Maclsaac,
1996).
• Action research is: " ...a form of collective self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out" (Kemmis &
McTaggart, 1988).
2.3.3 Distinguishing characteristics of action research
Post positivism developed due to the inability of the positive approach to deal with the complexity in large cybernetic, self-changing human systems (Wadsworth, 1998). An anti-positivist approach to research acknowledges that individuals' behaviour can only be understood if the researcher is able to share their frame of reference and their
interpretation of the world around them (eohen& Manion, 1994). This understanding must come from the inside. The authors cite Beck who states that social science must work with mans' definitions of reality and the rules that have been devised to cope with that reality. This reality (mental model) is different for each individual. Social laws are
not discovered and codified by action research in the same way that physical laws are (Checkland& Holwell, 1998). Whilst in the positivist approach research starts with a hypothesis, in action research a theme replaces this hypothesis. While in natural science repeatability is crucial to the research, in action research the previously identified methodology that described the process used must be recoverable by others who wish to scrutinise the research results, since repeatability cannot be achieved. The action
researcher can thus only strive for plausibility.
A feature of action research is that it promotes early action (Dick, 2000). Action research is systematic and reflective, and comprises iterations of four phases, i.e. planning, acting, observing and reflecting. Each iteration is repeated as new knowledge is obtained from the previous phase of the earlier cycle (i.e. the reflection) until the desired state is reached.
The participants in action research need to appreciate that there are a number of other people involved in the problem situation and that these people can thwart the outcome of the research prediction or make their own changes to get the outcomes they desire. Thus the researcher must acknowledge that neither the outcome of the research nor the new state of the social system can be predicted in advance (Wadsworth, 1998).
Action research focuses on an existing situationina local context. Inorder to be relevant to the situation under study, generalisation (or global relevance) is often sacrificed (Dick, 2000). Hence the interpretive paradigm is emergent and arises from particular situations (Cohen& Manion, 1994). Results of action research cannot be guaranteed to apply to similar situations elsewhere (Checkland& Holwell, 1998). The description of the epistemology is thus crucial in writing up the action research in order to evaluate the portability of the research to other situations.
Having considered some of the important distinguishing characteristics of action research, one needs to also consider the various action research methodologies that exist and which may be used in appropriate situations.
2.3.4 Variations of action research
There are number of different methodologies or approaches that one can apply when doing action research. These include Participatory action research and Soft systems methodology (SSM) amongst others.
2.3.5 Designing an action research project
In principle there are 4 stages in each cycle of an action research intervention (Kemmis and McTaggart, 1988). These are:
i) Develop an understanding ofthe problem and plan an intervention (planning) ii) Carry out the intervention (acting)
iii) Make and collect observations from this intervention (observing)
iv) Reflect on the outcome and plan the next cycle of intervention and continue until either there is a sufficient understanding ofthe problem or an acceptable solution emerges (reflecting).
The action research is thus seen as an iterative process that is intended to promote a deeper understanding of a given situation.Itstarts with the conceptualisation and
progresses through a number of cycles of interventions and evaluations (Maclsaac, 1996).
Knowing when to stop the research is a capricious act (Checkland and Holwell, 1998) that will be confirmed or otherwise when writing up the results.